Talia Monroe
Senior Vice President of Commercial Growth
Stephanie Burman
vice president of retail
Equally important is ensuring on-shelf availability to support in-store picking for digital orders, reinforcing how critical shelf optimization is across both physical and digital shelves, Burman adds. “Through our retail partnerships, we focus on merchandising, signage and secondary displays that help improve the consumer experience and support category growth,” she says.
The growing availability of real-time, store-level data is fundamentally changing how retailers and brands make merchandising decisions. Rather than relying solely on historical performance, teams can now identify localized opportunities, respond more quickly to shifts in demand, and make more precise assortment and inventory decisions.
Chobani has partnered with a handful of retailers to provide a direct feed of data that will help the brand glean more information from a particular product in real time, Monroe says. This helps the retailer decide whether to increase an order next time or place an order for additional delivery.
“When we're able to do that, we can make adjustments a lot faster and respond quicker,’’ Monroe says. “I remember the days 15 to 20 years ago where you had to wait two weeks to understand what happened in the store, and now you can understand what happens within an hour, which is incredible — it's also helpful for consumers who are looking for something.”
“The partnership with our retailers that are sharing their data back and forth with us … allows us to provide support and helps everyone make better optimization decisions," Monroe says.
Retailers that deal with inventory inaccuracies on a weekly or monthly basis Source: IHL
78%
Ignoring the growing importance of what’s on a store shelf at any given time is costly. The total cost of inventory distortion (out-of-stocks and overstocks) reached $1.77 trillion globally in 2025, according to IHL Group. Factors include supplier missteps, which account for over $300 billion of total inventory distortion costs, the firm said. Up to 78% of retailers deal with inventory inaccuracies on a weekly or monthly basis, according to IHL.
Good data helps retailers optimize shelf space, Monroe notes. When thinking about SKU optimization, “every facing, inch and item matters — and they have to work hard for you and the retailer. ... That may not just be a trend, but a truth.”
Financial and Operational Impact of Poor Shelf Execution
Brands and retailers are betting on the categories they know are going to expand or contract.
“We have to make sure that we're helping support our retailers with the right data to talk about products pulling their weight, and making sure that they are optimizing every inch they have to be ready to provide good food for everyone that's shopping, whether it's in-store or digitally,” Monroe says.
On the flip side, strong shelf execution unlocks sales, drives merchandising impact and simplifies operations for both retailers and consumers, Burman says.
“When shelves are set on time, displays are in place and products are in stock, retailers can fully capture key consumer moments and deliver a seamless shopper experience — both in-store and online. Consistent execution also improves store team efficiency and helps create a more reliable, repeatable path to growth and consumer value.”
Consumers are shopping very visually now and they want to see “really neat packaging” and “a lot of call outs on the front pack," Monroe adds.
“Operationally, if there's not good shelf execution, it can be really cluttered, it can be overwhelming for the consumer and it ties up a lot of space financially for the retailer.”
In-stock availability has especially become an imperative for people who place orders online.
“There's a lot of people who don't want a replacement item; they want a specific item,’’ Monroe points out. Brands and retailers must ensure that days of supply on shelf is accurate to be inclusive of those online orders.
"But case pack doesn't always determine that," she adds.
With more shoppers now becoming omnichannel shoppers, “It's not always more products and more assortment. It's about the right products working really hard for the shopper, but especially the retailer," she says.
It’s no secret that there's a lot of pressure on suppliers and retailers to have the right level of in-stock, date and the right velocity. The ability to glean how things are moving from a supply chain perspective is the golden ticket, because that will determine success for that SKU and what is happening at the shelf, Monroe says.
Out-of-Stocks Remain Persistent Challenge Despite Advances in Retail Tech
"If something is out of stock, [about one-third] of shoppers will forgo the purchase, making that a huge miss for the retailer," she says.
The growing availability of real-time data is creating new opportunities for retailers and brands to improve inventory and merchandising decisions. However, McKinsey & Co. notes that advanced planning systems are only as effective as the data behind them.
Incomplete, inconsistent or poorly governed data can limit the value of forecasting and inventory tools, underscoring the importance of shared visibility and high-quality data across the supply chain.
“It's important that suppliers and vendors have a strong supply chain system and are transparent with the ability to fulfill,” as well as a view into shelf space and even fulfillment areas in stores, Monroe says. “We have a lot of stores or retailers that are turning portions of their back room, or even portions of the store, into picking locations for extra space for some of those higher velocity items.”
Still, AI is enhancing how brands and retailers are optimizing what products go on a store shelf.
A year ago, a recommendation for a peanut butter brand was more person-to-person based, Monroe says. Now, there is a ratio of people turning to ChatGPT or AI seeking that recommendation. "That’s a complete change as a consumer behavior, which then impacts the whole ecosystem.”
Because food science is very important to Chobani, officials want to ensure that the information that's "out in the wild," is hyper-focused around facts about what's in the food, she says.
How AI Helps Drive Shelf Intelligence and Analytics
There's a lot of areas that will be impacted by AI recommendations, which could influence how retailers change assortments.
This also changes how suppliers are supporting the retailers, Monroe says. Today’s reality is that a lot of trends are primarily driven from AI or social influence, she adds.
“It’s happening from pre-shop all the way to transaction and suppliers and retailers” that have their own tools. “You're talking about operationalizing moving quickly; you're having to make faster decisions based on the kinds of trends that are happening,’’ Monroe says.
AI helps turn large volumes of store data into faster, more actionable insights, echoes Burman.
“By helping teams spot patterns, identify gaps and prioritize where to act first, AI can improve speed and focus on merchandising and retail execution," she says. "In practice, that means helping teams identify store-level opportunities earlier and make smarter decisions about where to direct time and attention.”
“Store-level data is a powerful enabler for precision execution, allowing teams to prioritize with confidence and act on what is happening in each store," she adds. "By integrating POS, macro consumer data and advanced image-based analytics, teams can uncover high-impact merchandising opportunities and quickly close execution gaps, allowing us to continuously optimize in-store merchandising effectiveness.”
When Hershey pairs all of this with automation, Burman says, those insights sharpen the focus on the actions that matter most: driving stronger consumer engagement and scaling consistent, high-quality execution for both customers and consumers.
Optimizing the Shelf Influences Joint Business Planning
Shelf optimization is becoming a powerful catalyst for customer engagement, as retailers increasingly seek partners who can bring bold, integrated thinking and actionable consumer-guided insights to the shelf. Hershey’s recently released U.S. commercial operating model, ONE Hershey, integrates its confection, salty, and better-for-you and functional portfolios so officials can serve retailers with a more holistic view of total snacking.
This connected approach not only simplifies planning, but creates more relevance with customers and consumers through more seamless execution. It drives stronger, more sustainable growth over time, Burman says.
Connected assortment, placement and activation decisions simplify the shopping experience, improve findability and support category growth, Burman adds.
When retailers partner with brands, they can get ahead of demand, and as far as Monroe is concerned, close collaboration with your retail partners is a no-brainer. This gives someone leading innovation at Chobani, for example, a unique opportunity to say to a retail partner: “If your goal is this, here are things that we can do together,” she says, “and that all starts at the shelf.”
That kind of collaboration with clear, strategic priorities with decision-makers at retailers and suppliers, will allow the retailer “to optimize space and expand growth in a really meaningful way,’’ Monroe says, not just for now, but also in the future.
Selling groceries may seem simple, she adds, but changing consumer behavior has made it an imperative to think long term, “because the last thing you want to do is bring short-term solutions when you [need] to make sure you've got a long-term strategy to sustain growth with your retailer partners, and also make the right decisions for consumers.”
DATA
INSIGHTS
ACTION
salty
confection
better-for-you
total
snacking
“Shelf optimization works best when it is grounded in how shoppers actually browse and buy across both physical and digital shelves,’’ she says. Among the insights they have discovered is that “retailers who maintain best-in-class merchandising principles can see more productive assortments.”
Don't miss what's next from our
Subscribe to our newsletters
In Partnership With:
Prefer to download
to read? PDF version available
At a time when consumers are overwhelmed and the marketplace continues to rapidly evolve, retailers and brands are leveraging in-store technology to enhance visibility, execution and consumer engagement at the shelf. With over 80% of sales still happening in brick-and-mortar environments, real-time insights are a game-changer for improving on-shelf availability, planogram compliance and category performance.
Shelf optimization is increasingly important because nowadays, consumers are more value-conscious and expect stores to make discovery and decision-making easier during every trip, says Stephanie Burman, vice president of retail at The Hershey Co.
"The brands that win are the ones that turn shelf space into a conversion engine through strong visibility, simple navigation and consumer-first execution,” Burman says.
Sales occurring in brick-and-mortar stores in Q1 2026 Source: U.S. Census Bureau
83%
Learn more from Ty Kasperbauer
CEO, Storesight
Why Shelf Optimization Is Becoming a Business Imperative
Indeed, consumers continue to prioritize value, convenience and personalization as retailers navigate a more complex operating environment, according to Deloitte. Retail leaders cite rising consumer expectations around value as one of the defining dynamics shaping competition and growth in the year ahead.
Transforming
Optimization
Shelf
There are two mantras Chobani lives by when it comes to planning for shelf optimization: Every SKU earns its place on shelf, and the brand must know what the consumer needs a year from now.
This means officials are laser-focused on ensuring the right assortment is available, says Talia Monroe, senior vice president of commercial growth.
“There’s more noise than ever before around food,” Monroe notes, citing several inputs, including FDA requirements, greater focus around what's in food and what shouldn't be, and the quantities of protein and fiber. "That is impacting the physical and digital shelf, and I think we all know the shelf is not getting much bigger these days inside of brick and mortar.”
Meanwhile, consumers are turning to online pre-shopping, whether through social influence, retailer initiatives and retail media networks, and AI. “Every SKU matters and every moment matters,” Monroe says.
Get the insights, click here:
READ THE ARTICLE ---->
In Partnership With:
Presented By:
How CPGs such as Hershey and Chobani Are Partnering With Retailers to Rethink the Shelf
How CPGs Like Hershey and Chobani Are Partnering With Retailers to Rethink the Shelf
By Esther Shein
Transforming
Optimization
Shelf