Thinking Beyond the Store Visit: The Future of CPG Retail Execution

In an era where automation, AI, and predictive analytics are transforming every corner of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry, one legacy behavior remains stubbornly persistent: waiting for outages to show up in-store and then relying on the traditional retail visit to fix them. For decades, in-person store visits formed the backbone of retail execution, allowing field sales teams to assess shelves, fix out-of-stocks, check and sell-in displays, and maintain buyer relationships.

Thankfully, times are changing.

A growing wave of CPG manufacturers are now “thinking beyond the store visit”—not as a rejection of store-level engagement, but as an evolution towards more predictive, scalable, and efficient ways of influencing in-store outcomes. Retail execution can no longer rely solely on showing up and reacting. Instead, it's becoming a data-enabled, algorithmically guided function that prioritizes proactive intervention over reactive clean-up.

The Traditional Retail Visit: A Legacy Approach That’s Reaching Its Limits

The traditional model was built around physical presence. Retail reps were dispatched to cover a set list of stores, relying on instinct, routine, and often pen-and-paper checklists. Over time, CRM systems and field tools emerged to guide reps more intelligently—prioritizing the right stores and enforcing value-adding tasks.

This incremental improvement still hinges on a critical assumption: that the rep must be there to know what’s happening—and that action must be taken after issues are observed.

This reactive cycle poses several issues:

• It's expensive and inefficient, particularly in low-volume or remote locations.
• It lags behind the pace of the problem—by the time an out-of-stock is fixed, the opportunity is already lost and the root cause is not always addressed.
• It struggles to scale, as team coverage is inherently limited by “time in-store”, headcount and geography.

Beyond the Visit: Predictive, Algorithmic Retail Execution

The new frontier is about de-coupling influence from presence. It’s no longer about simply optimizing the visit—it’s about asking whether a visit is even required at all.

“Thinking beyond the store visit” means shifting from a coverage model to a prediction and orchestration model. This evolution includes:

• Predicting Outages Before They Happen: Leveraging real-time POS, inventory, and supply chain data to anticipate out-of-stocks and trigger action before the shelf goes empty.
• Remote Influence: Activating digital tools, retailer portals, and connected supply systems to resolve issues without needing to physically send someone to the store.
• Retailer Collaboration: Working more closely with retailers to share insights, co-own execution tasks, and embed accountability deeper into the joint business plan (JBP).
• AI-Powered Prioritization: Using machine learning models to determine where attention is most needed and what action is likely to drive the greatest commercial return.

Strategic Implications: Why This Matters Now

This shift is more than a tactical tweak—it’s a foundational rethink of how CPGs manage their salesforce, investments, and performance measurement.

1. Labor Cost Pressure & Talent Scarcity Field teams are expensive, and turnover is high. By reducing the reliance on store coverage, companies can reallocate talent toward higher-impact activities—like strategic customer development, digital activation, and omnichannel planning.
2. Retailer Expectations Have Changed Retailers like Walmart, Kroger, and Amazon are investing heavily in retail media, supply chain integration, and algorithmic forecasting. They expect their CPG partners to bring more than muscle—they want intelligence, agility, and automation.
3. Ecosystem Readiness The tech is finally ready. From advanced CRM platforms to shelf-scanning AI, from predictive ordering to syndicated POS dashboards, Accenture is helping provide the infrastructure to act without always being physically present.
4. Better Outcomes with Less Waste Studies show that reactive store visits often fix problems after the sales are lost. Predictive, preemptive action leads to improved on-shelf availability (OSA), stronger promotion execution, and reduced lost sales—all with fewer truck rolls and less rep burnout.

Enablers for the Shift

To successfully transition beyond the store visit, three key enablers must align:

1. Operating Model Redesign

Sales and retail teams must be reorganized to align around outcomes, not just coverage. Hybrid and true cross-functional teams that combine analytics, digital commerce, customer strategy, and traditional field roles are increasingly common. Next best actions are just as likely to be routed to Supply Chain, Operations and even to the retailers directly.

2. CRM Data & Insights

Data must move beyond reporting into true decision-making. That means real-time signals, predictive triggers, and next-best-action logic embedded directly into the sales workflow. The insights must be always on and even for those companies just starting their agentic journey, thinking in terms of data products and decision products will help drive re-use and scalability of insights.

3. Technology Platforms

Best-in-class tech stacks integrate execution planning, predictive analytics, remote actions (e.g., price corrections, promo adjustments), and retailer collaboration portals. Success will look like near real-time integrations where systems and/or their agents automatically adjust. Success does NOT look like a bunch of text messages or a hundred email alerts.

Call to Action: It’s Time to Move from Fixing to Anticipating

The old world of fixing what’s broken—store by store, aisle by aisle—is expensive and often fails to address the root cause. In a modern CPG ecosystem, success belongs to those who can anticipate problems, automate action, and amplify their influence—even when they’re not physically present.

“Thinking beyond the store visit” isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing better. It’s about unlocking a smarter, more agile retail execution model that benefits CPGs, retailers, and shoppers alike.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going If you're exploring how to modernize retail execution or shift from reactive to predictive ways of working, I’d love to compare notes. At Accenture, we’re helping CPG leaders reimagine what’s possible through our reinvention services—from anticipating out-of-stocks to orchestrating action across the ecosystem. Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in collaborating or sharing ideas.

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Originally published on LinkedIn on Jun 24, 2025; https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7343273181870202880/

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