Successful retail execution requires making products more available, visible, and relevant to shoppers; it's a challenge that's grown increasingly complex in today's retail environment. For many retailers, leveraging image recognition technology has transformed how they approach in-store execution and display compliance.

"It's about making your products more available, more visible, and more relevant every day," said Sree Rajagopalan, vice president of executional excellence at Mondelez International, during an EMARKETER webinar.

The evolution of retail technology

Rajagopalan said Mondelez Canada's retail execution strategy looked dramatically different just a few years ago: The company had a single-person ecommerce team, limited digital capabilities, and faced significant challenges in monitoring in-store execution.

"COVID and the aftermath really accelerated what would've otherwise taken a long time to happen," Rajagopalan said. "While companies were mastering the art of Zoom or Microsoft Teams, we were also trying to master the art of how to find out what's actually going on in the field."

He said the solution came through investing in image recognition technology, which has become central to Mondelez's retail execution strategy. Using Trax's computer vision platform, field representatives capture images of displays and shelves, which are then analyzed to provide SKU-level data on compliance, positioning, and visibility.

"Image recognition for us plays two roles," said Rajagopalan. "First, understanding compliance to [visual representations of a store's products or services] because you don't always have the data for every retailer or banner or store. Second, and more importantly for Mondelez Canada, is the display component, which almost overtakes the shelf to some degree."

Measuring what matters beyond sales

While sales lift remains a critical metric, Mondelez has expanded its measurement approach to include more nuanced indicators of execution success. These include true compliance that measures actual execution against the plan, quantifying display size over time, and product mix adherence.

"All of this is how we measure success," said Rajagopalan.

He said this data-driven approach allows Mondelez to make more informed decisions about resource allocation, particularly important in today's inflationary environment where ROI is paramount.

Balancing technology and human expertise

As AI and automation continue to evolve, finding the right balance between technology and human expertise remains a critical consideration for retail execution.

"AI is very powerful…and the limits are, I think, still unknown," Rajagopalan said. "The smarter ones are the ones who are going to find a way to use AI to complement things that already work, versus just trying to replace, which could go the wrong way."

For field teams, maintaining motivation amid repetitive execution tasks presents another challenge. Rajagopalan said Mondelez addresses this through regular forums, town halls, and recognition programs that demonstrate the value field representatives bring to the business.

"We have what we call our rollouts every fall," he said. "These are the forums we use where we're interacting with two-way dialogue, trying to understand what they're dealing with and also coming to them with 'look at what you did and how it's helped us drive our business forward.'"

The road ahead

As execution continues to evolve, retailers strive to become increasingly granular in their approach and move from retailer-level strategies to store-specific execution plans.

"The data that's available now is so much more powerful versus using sample data or survey data," said Rajagopalan. "You're getting real-time data that is basically census data for all practical purposes."

With rising costs affecting all aspects of the industry, retailers can adapt by focusing on ROI and making strategic adjustments to display mix and materials. They can ensure resources are allocated to the most effective execution strategies.

Watch the full webinar here.

This article was prepared with the assistance of generative AI tools to support content organization, summarization, and drafting. All AI-generated contributions have been reviewed, fact-checked, and verified for accuracy and originality by EMARKETER editors. Any recommendations reflect EMARKETER’s research and human judgment.

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