Shelf Space

Now that we're underway in the simulation, things haven't exactly gone according to plan so far. My team is humbly bringing up the rear, and a big reason for that is my ill-fated decision to try to optimize Allround's distribution channels.

Allround started with a competitive advantage in two channels, Mass Merchandise and Convenience Stores. Considering that these were two lowest grossing channels industry wide, it seemed like it was in the brand's best interest to reallocate the shelf space budget toward higher grossing channels, such as drug stores and grocery stores. However, the end result of this was simply to concede a large amount of existing shelf space, gain a much smaller amount in the higher grossing channels, and barely get additional sales from this endeavor while tanking in Mass Merchandise sales in particular on the flip side.

This is the first of what is bound to be many real world lessons learned from the marketing simulation. Shelf space isn't guaranteed if you throw more money at retailers, and giving up existing positive relationships to attempt this can end up with absolutely disastrous results for distribution prowess and overall sales. These things should clearly be tweaked for improvement rather than blown up entirely, and it is certainly not something I'll forget if I end up in a position that makes similar decisions in my career one day.

Here's to hoping the next lesson learned is how to successfully reverse a major distribution decision error!