Sneha Jasrasaria Quick answer
A retail visibility audit sends trained auditors to stores to check how a brand’s products are displayed, priced and stocked against its plan. It covers shelf share, planogram compliance, pricing, stock and expiry, and point-of-sale materials, with photo-backed reports that help sales teams fix gaps quickly.
Key takeaways
- What is planned at head office is not always what is on the shelf
- Photo-backed audits show real compliance
- Out-of-stock and display gaps cost sales
- Regular audit cycles show improvement over time
What a retail audit checks
- Shelf share: your space compared with competitors.
- Planogram: products placed as per plan.
- Pricing: correct price labels and offers.
- Stock: out-of-stocks and low stock.
- Expiry: old stock on shelves.
- POS materials: standees, danglers, cooler branding.
Why brands run them
Sales teams cannot visit every outlet every week. Audits show where displays, stock or pricing slip.
Our retail audit results
- Britannia: 800+ outlets audited monthly, planogram compliance up 20 points, 1,200+ out-of-stock cases flagged.
- Cadbury: 1,000+ outlets audited, 91% display compliance, 300+ festive pack gaps flagged.
A good audit report includes
- Outlet details and visit time.
- Photos of shelves and displays.
- Scores per parameter.
- Issues flagged with priority.
- Trends across cycles.
How an audit cycle works
- Plan: the brand shares outlet lists, planograms, price lists and audit parameters.
- Train: auditors learn what to check and how to photograph it.
- Visit: auditors cover outlets on a set schedule.
- Report: photo-backed scores per outlet, shared within the agreed time.
- Act: sales teams fix gaps, like restocking or correcting displays.
- Repeat: the next cycle shows whether things improved.
Common gaps audits uncover
- Products placed out of the agreed shelf position.
- Competitor products blocking displays or coolers.
- Wrong or missing price labels.
- Out-of-stock bestsellers.
- Old or damaged point-of-sale materials.
- Festive packs not reaching the shelf on time.
Turning reports into action
An audit only helps if someone acts on it. Share outlet-level issues with the area sales team the same week, track how many are fixed by the next cycle, and recognise teams that improve the most. Over a few cycles, compliance scores usually show whether the process is working.
Related
Read what is a mystery audit and product sampling and in-store promotions.