Marketing at the retail shelf: an examination of moderating effects of logistics on SKU market share

Given that the impact of retail shelf facings and price on a product’s market share is of substantial interest to marketing managers in the retail supply chain, we examine whether these relationships may be interdependent with the firm’s supply chain activities. We offer predictions regarding the interdependence of the marketing and supply chain variables using monthly in-store observations from 62 different retail stores from five different chains, taken over a 24-month period. The in-store observations included price and number of facings, which is combined with data obtained from the manufacturer on case pack quantity and market share data from the ACNielsen HomeScan consumer scanner panel. Results indicate that shelf facings impact the effects of price and case pack quantity on market share. In addition, we explore the strength of relationships across retailers employing everyday low price versus HiLo pricing strategies. Generally, our findings suggest that retailers and suppliers must work to integrate marketing activities and supply chain processes both within and across firms to most effectively serve the consumer at the retail shelf and increase market share.