Alcohol brands face a daunting challenge in the crowded aisles of grocery stores: capturing shoppers’ attention amidst a sea of competing products. They manage hundreds to thousands of active items sold across millions of stores worldwide. They face this complexity daily and need to decide which stores to focus on, how to stock, and do all that across thousands of retailers, infinite store types, and global geographies.

An effective solution for visibility is integrating AI-powered image recognition (IR) technology. IR technology gives brands a detailed understanding of store conditions with real-time data to monitor and optimize their in-store presence, ensuring their products are well-stocked, properly displayed and priced, and visually appealing. The technology is increasingly critical in retail execution and is highly differentiated in providing real-time visibility and predictive solutions.

At Trax, we digitize over 40 billion images across 3.5 million stores monthly. Our technology identifies and recognizes over 1 billion products monthly for global blue-chip customers, including major alcohol brands, providing near real-time visibility at the shelf, SKU, category, and store—all at scale. IR isn’t just about real-time insights, it also provides the ability to make informed decisions across the entire organization. When done correctly, it can impact “perfect store” execution, category management, supply chain performance, marketing, branding, and advertising, giving brands what they need to improve shopper experience.

Processing data is just the start. At Trax, we convert insights into action with our proprietary Signal-Based Merchandising approach. We leverage IR data from over a million shoppers to detect issues like out-of-stock trends, pricing errors, and poor shelf conditions to pinpoint which stores urgently need support. By analyzing millions of data points and considering each store’s value, we generate an actionable execution score that directs our on-demand labor to maximize sales impact. In short, we identify problems and ensure the right actions are taken at the right time.

In the first weeks of their Signal-Based Merchandising subscription, our customers get answers—and proof—and can leverage the data to help retail buyers understand the shopper experience at the shelf. This makes a strong case for increased holding power, space, order sizes, product SKU range, shelf placement, and inventory. The result has led to 2 to 5 times ROI within 12 weeks.

With thousands of alcohol brands vying for space, standing out on the shelf is no longer a marketing strategy—it’s a necessity for survival. As consumer preferences evolve and the retail landscape becomes digital, alcohol brands must adapt to stay ahead.

The best way to gain an advantage over the competition is by partnering with a solution that has harnessed IR capabilities and can deliver actionable data for merchandising decisions.

Download EMARKETER’s latest analyst report, “Alcohol 2025: Steady Growth on Tap for Ecommerce Sales, But Dry January Gains Steam,” compliments of Trax, to learn more about evolving alcohol retail and ad spending trends.

—Brittany Billings, CMO, Trax Retail