Siân Harrington Brand manufacturers are losing sales by failing to support new products in store from the outset, according to research from Sainsbury obtained by The Grocer. By waiting until the main above-the-line ads kick in, typically between weeks six and 12 after the product arrives on shelf, manufacturers are not maximising sales because there may be insufficient stock. This is because Sainsbury's automatic replenishment system, Autoreplen, supports products in growth. If products are not supported in store from day one, the growth figure will not reach the manufacturer's projected forecast and the system starts to lower the amount it orders. When the TV campaign then kicks in there will not be enough stock to cope with demand. "TV campaigns show sales increases of 12-18% but this does not reflect real customer demand but what the automatic stock system is allocating," said Jenny Gough of Litmus Research, employed by Sainsbury to examine instore media effectiveness. Sainsbury this week met 150 brand managers and media buyers to discuss the findings. "We are trying to encourage companies to advertise instore as soon as a product hits the market in order to stimulate demand and drive stock through the supply chain," said Sainsbury senior manager instore marketing Phil Smithson. "If you drive awareness and get a sales growth curve established, there will be enough stock in our stores when your TV campaign breaks." Sainsbury has been evaluating every trolley, six sheet poster and sampling campaign over the past year and providing the research free to suppliers. {{NEWS }}

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