Hershey VP of Retail on the role of seasonality, merchandising, and new technology in Halloween game plan

The Halloween season is getting longer, and that means more opportunities for companies like Hershey to capitalize on the holiday spirit. But the candymaker doesn’t just ship out more Halloween-themed products. It works closely with retailers on merchandising to drive sales and increase basket size across a multi-month period.

The early, middle, and late parts of the season each require their own strategy, Stephanie Berman, VP of retail at Hershey, told Retail Brew. In the early weeks, she explained, the focus is on personal enjoyment and small gatherings, so the product mix leans toward individualized snack sizes. Then consumers gradually shift toward events and celebrations, and larger packages come to dominate the mix.

Managing this changing flow of product is part of Berman’s job. She spoke with Retail Brew about how Hershey is collaborating with retail partners, using new technologies to track shelf conditions, and taking a hands-on approach to merchandising—as its 1,100-person retail field team hits the aisles this spooky season.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Let’s talk about Hershey’s retail strategy this year. What advice or guidance are you feeding retailers to help drive sales and basket size?

It’s all about making sure that we’ve got an aligned set, and that stores are setting out of the back room seasonally and digitally early. Then we want to be very mindful of how we map the displays with our retailers, and this is again a real partnership of collaboration. It’s prominent high-traffic locations, and as our product hits the floor, we’ve got really tight prescriptive communication to the operators on where the product should go.

The flow is really important, and so working with them as we evolve the mix, we also evolve the merchandising space around the store. I think one of the biggest things for us that we’ve been able to do is this ability to stay more agile. In conjunction with our retailers, we monitor sell-through and work to ensure we’re supporting replenishment. Display tracking throughout the season is really important.

How is Hershey creating more of a feedback loop so it can see exactly what’s happening in stores?

The role of technology today has been so invaluable for us, and quite honestly, I feel like we’re just cracking the surface. If we think about things like computer vision and image recognition, our teams are using them to understand real-time shelf conditions. It helps us verify execution, then identify where we need real-time attention. Our teams are also using augmented reality, which helps us and our retail partners preview what a display could look like in store.

We’re able to use AI, which analyzes the data we’re getting and provides real-time insights. So you have the pictures of what’s happening in real time, and you overlay that with data, and then that provides that feedback loop.

Hershey just deployed a 1,100-person retail field team to support retail partners. Tell us more about what these teams do to help execute your strategy.

Our teams focus on on-shelf availability, plan compliance, [and] merchandising to ensure product is [moving] from the back room onto the sales floor into strong locations. Our snacking portfolio is highly responsive to displays. So our teams do a lot to ensure that we’re merchandising the best locations, and then our teams work at the store level to identify the best-selling items.

Why is merchandising such an important lever for retailers and brands in this environment?

The role of driving unit velocity and building baskets is critical for all, right? The role of display and optimized locations helps you do that. So, how do you amplify when the consumer comes in and they’ve got their list? How do you make sure you capture their attention with points of inspiration to drive unit increases? That’s what every retailer is looking for. You also have the role of online, and for in-store picking, the on-shelf availability and merchandising on in-stock is so important. Every retailer is talking about how they optimize their on-shelf availability, and there’s so much upside there.