Frequently Asked Questions
What difference can TrueDemand solutions make for consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers?
TrueDemand enables CPG manufacturers to find and capture new sales opportunities. Our solution helps retail account teams establish an effective process to address inventory and product availability issues at the store shelf, thereby capturing sales that would otherwise be lost. The bottom line impact is significant and conservatively estimated to provide at least 2-3% lift to overall sales.
How do TrueDemand solutions work?
TrueDemand provides daily access to retailer-specific demand data combined with proprietary forecasting science and a business process workflow. The solution gives account teams unparalleled shelf-level visibility and the means to drive rapid action to address sales opportunities. Our science is based on multiple overlapping forecasting algorithms designed to generate a daily, shelf-level sales forecast, calculate “shadow inventory,” calculate lost sales, generate both historic and forecast-based metrics, and automatically determine root causes for problems and recommended actions for resolution.
Is this software or a service? What does the user actually use?
TrueDemand is software-as-a-service (SaaS), meaning we deliver our solution over a secure, web-based interface. TrueDemand is an integral part of the daily routine for retail account team members, helping them handle market execution and merchandising issues such as store replenishment, inventory management, trade promotions and new product introductions. Some users also access the data in the field via handheld devices (provided by partners).
What sets TrueDemand apart from other solutions on the market?
TrueDemand is known for the quality of our forecasting science and for our focus on making market execution a sustainable sales advantage for our clients. Unlike other solutions on the market, TrueDemand taps into existing data sources to get clients up-and-running quickly identifying sales opportunities while enabling the most efficient and profitable actions for CPG sales/account/merchandising teams. At a functional level, our key differentiators are:
- The speed with which we sense and respond to issues at the store shelf;
- Our ability to delivery accurate, highly relevant alerts and recommendations for action;
- The workflow aspects of our solution that help standardize account team processes; and
- The scalability of the solution – versatile enough to handle all SKUs/stores for the largest CPG companies.
How many different solutions does TrueDemand offer?
TrueDemand provides a flexible, core solution — an “engine” in a sense — that powers a range of solutions for sales, merchandising, supply chain and overall account team priorities. Regardless of the configuration, TrueDemand provides a single solution for:
- Retail Out-of-Stock Prevention
- Sales Reporting and Analytics
- Retail Forecast Exception Management
Why does TrueDemand focus on CPG account teams?
Account teams are increasingly important because they influence sales and strategy at the critical point of interaction with retail partners. As those retailers put increasing pressure on their suppliers to sense and respond to store-level issues, account teams must figure out how to deal with increasing amounts of data, shortening response times and a never-ending list of retailer demands for better execution.
Ten years ago, there were fewer than 100 account teams based in and around Bentonville, Ark., serving Walmart. Today there are more than 1,500, ranging in size from a few dozen people to more than 200. This is a relatively new phenomenon and those teams are not well served by the traditional enterprise software and supply chain resources of a previous generation.
TrueDemand Software solutions provide proactive recommendations to users. How are those recommendations developed?
TrueDemand solution uses a proprietary, patented approach that leverages multiple forecasting algorithms to develop a “bottom up” view of shelf-level demand (what should be selling) and compare those results to what is actually selling; this is done daily. The variance between those values is considered lost sales, and through additional science based on historic data and observed conditions (when available), TrueDemand is able to identify the root causes for those lost sales with a high degree of confidence. From the root causes, we extrapolate actions that can be taken to address the conditions that have the greatest lost sales impact to the bottom line – and then can see the impact of those actions on future sales.
Are the reports and recommendations generated by the solutions customized to individual clients?
The reports and recommendations are aligned with the user’s plan and the specific SKUs, stores and distribution centers they are managing.
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