Are Your SKUs Ghosting the Shelf? Time to Investigate
Your product is in the system. Distribution says it shipped. Retailer reports say it’s “in stock.” And yet… your customer is staring at an empty shelf.
That’s phantom inventory—and it’s haunting your sales numbers more than you realize.
In today’s CPG landscape, especially across Canadian grocery and pharmacy retailers, phantom inventory is a growing problem. Your SKUs are technically “there,” but in reality? They’re not where they need to be: visible, stocked, and ready to convert.
Let’s unpack why this happens, what it costs you, and how to stop it.
What Is Phantom Inventory?
Phantom inventory refers to inventory that appears in the system but is not physically on the shelf. It might be in the back room. It might have been miscounted. It might be blocked by a competitor’s product. Or worse—it might have never been replenished in the first place.
The result? Your product is ghosting the shopper—and the sale goes to someone else.
Why It’s a Big (and Expensive) Problem
Missed sales are just the tip of the iceberg. Phantom inventory also creates:
- Inaccurate demand signals
- Over/under-ordering issues
- Loss of shelf presence and brand visibility
- Frustrated shoppers who won’t wait around
Even worse, your team may assume everything’s fine because the data says it’s in stock. This leads to overconfidence in performance—and underperformance in results.
How Merchandising Audits Catch the Ghosts
This is where shelf-level audits come in. At Marketsupport, we deploy retail teams across Canada to physically verify:
- Shelf presence
- Planogram compliance
- Tagging and signage
- Display accuracy
- Product rotation and replenishment
If your product is missing, we don’t just report it—we act. Our merchandisers can:
- Pull stock from the back room
- Correct shelf tags
- Alert store staff
- Fix misplaced displays
That’s the difference between “monitoring” and merchandising with purpose.
Real-World Example
One of our CPG clients assumed their product was underperforming at a key banner. They saw poor sales in a few high-traffic stores—but inventory reports looked normal.
We did a 10-store audit. The results? In 7 locations, the product was either out of stock on the shelf, buried behind unrelated SKUs, or missing signage.
Visibility + presence = velocity. It’s that simple.
What Brands Can Do Now
If you haven’t done a shelf audit lately, now’s the time. Here’s your checklist:
- Are my top SKUs consistently stocked and faced?
- Are my displays set up per agreement?
- Are shelf tags correct and visible?
- Am I trusting POS data blindly?
And most importantly: Do I have a team that fixes problems when they see them?
Don’t Let Your Product Disappear
Phantom inventory makes your best-selling SKU look like it’s taking a nap. It’s costing you sales, loyalty, and precious shelf equity.
With Marketsupport, you get more than data—you get action. Our merchandising teams don’t just check the shelf. We fix it.
📍Ready to bring your ghost SKUs back to life? Claim your complementary 10 store audit here. Visit www.marketsupport.ca and let’s investigate your retail reality—before more shoppers walk away empty-handed.
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