The distribution panel provides continuous tracking of product sales to consumers based on information gathered at the retail point-of-sale. Information is primarily gathered from scanning cash-registers with supplementary store audits. Our read represents sales in about 45,000 retail outlets in the Markstrat world. The table and charts of this study provide the market shares, based on unit sold, by channel for each brand currently on the market. They also give the unit product category sales by channel and in total. The relative sizes of the channels are provided as well in Figure 23.
Figure 23 – Market Research – Distribution Panel – Channel sales
The distribution coverage figures in Figure 24 represent the proportion of stores that carry a given brand. The report gives the information for each brand currently on the market. The number of outlets in each distribution channel is provided as well.
Figure 24 – Market Research – Distribution Panel – Distribution coverage
Finally, this study gives the share of shelf space allocated to each brand in a given channel. Shelf space is usually measured in meters or in number of facings. If a product is given a large shelf space, it is likely to be highly visible and thus to be purchased more frequently. This is especially true for impulse product categories such as cosmetics. In addition, because shelves are used as stocking space, a product is less likely to be out of stock if it has been allocated a large share of the total shelf space. See for a sample share of shelf space table.
Figure 25 – Market Research – Distribution Panel – Share of Shelf Space