How robots help CPGs and retailers get complete inventory visibility

In consumer packaged goods (CPG), merchandisers play a critical role in execution. They manage shelf availability, display compliance, pricing accuracy, and product visibility—often across large store networks. Their impact is felt on both sides: they drive brand presence and support retail operations by helping store teams keep pace with promotions and standards. 

When a planogram suddenly changes or a high-velocity SKU goes out-of-stock midweek, the merchandiser is often the one who steps in to fix it. But as store complexity grows and the pace of retail accelerates, the job becomes harder to manage at scale. Retail robots, specifically inventory scanning autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), can ease that burden by providing consistent, ground truth visibility that helps merchandisers pinpoint issues faster, act with confidence, and improve both brand and store outcomes.

The reality merchandisers face today

Every day brings a new set of tasks. One visit might mean reworking seasonal displays, flagging pricing errors, and replacing out-of-stock items. Another might require reviewing promotional execution or relaying feedback from store associates to corporate teams. These aren’t one-offs—they’re constant. And they’re often made harder by outdated systems or siloed tools that don’t provide the visibility needed to prioritize. 

Think of a merchandiser covering multiple stores in a region for example. If they rely on manual reports or store staff flagging issues, they may drive across town only to find the problem resolved—or worse, find a bigger issue at another store they weren’t aware of. That inefficiency costs time and affects trust on the retail side. When merchandisers have to guess which store to visit first or what issue to solve, both brand consistency and store execution suffer.

‍Automation has value

The right automation doesn't complicate—it clarifies. Robots can’t solve every problem, but when they’re integrated thoughtfully, they free up associates and merchandisers to focus on high-impact work. The challenge is making sure that technology fits the operational reality of both brands and retailers. A robot that flags a shelf gap is only useful if that insight is clear, timely, and relevant to the field team who needs to act on it. If it takes five tools to find one actionable takeaway, the system fails. 

Consider a scenario where an inventory management robot scans a store overnight and sends a morning report showing that four high-margin products are out of stock, with exact aisle and bay locations. A merchandiser heading in that morning doesn’t waste time walking the store—they walk in ready to fix what matters. But that only works if the data is accurate, accessible, and timely. Rigid systems that assume uniform store layouts or connectivity levels won’t hold up in the real world, where no two locations are the same. They can reroute their visit order, show up prepared, and fix the issue before it affects inventory movement.

The work hasn’t changed, there’s just new expectations

Out-of-stocks, misplacements, pricing errors, and expired products are still daily challenges—but now merchandisers are expected to resolve them faster, with more accountability. Retailers depend on them to fill in the gaps—literally and figuratively. A missed restock during a back-to-school promotion or a delayed correction on a promo endcap doesn’t just mean a lost sale, it could mean a lost customer. 

In peak periods, those small gaps can add up quickly. When merchandisers lack clear insights into where they’re needed most, they’re left reacting instead of planning. That creates friction—not just for them, but for store managers trying to coordinate floor teams and hit operational targets.

Where robots come in: streamlining not replacing

Our solutions are designed with real store environments in mind. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) powered by BrainOS® scan thousands of SKUs, identifying issues like empty shelves, misplaced products, or pricing errors—all without manual input. The insights they gather are compiled into clear, actionable reports that merchandisers can use immediately, without digging through raw data. This reporting is part of a broader suite of enterprise tools that give teams consistent operational visibility across locations.

This means that if a BrainOS®-powered inventory robot detects that a top-selling cereal is missing from four stores in the Northeast region, it flags the issue, localizes it by shelf location, and alerts the merchandiser—preventing delays that would otherwise rely on sales dips to signal the problem. 

At a local level, this helps the merchandiser respond faster and more accurately. Instead of manually checking shelves or relying on delayed sales data, they’re notified the moment a product goes missing—along with the exact shelf location—so they can act immediately. That saves valuable time, reduces walkouts, and ensures the store remains well-stocked with high-priority items.

At a broader level, these insights also serve the supplier. By aggregating data across regions, divisions, or even national chains, the supplier gains visibility into emerging trends—such as repeated stockouts of a particular SKU in specific markets. These patterns can inform supply chain adjustments or trigger proactive outreach to local teams. What makes this powerful is the dual benefit: the system doesn’t just show a red flag on a dashboard, it also empowers the merchandiser on the ground to take action—closing the loop from insight to execution.

The result is smarter time management, fewer delays, and more productive field visits. And since we provide onboarding and support that’s tailored to each deployment, merchandisers don’t need to change how they work to get started—they just get better visibility into what’s happening.

Putting merchandisers (and retailers) in a better position

With autonomous inventory robots providing shelf-level data, merchandisers can spend less time reacting to problems and more time solving them. That benefits both the brand and the retailer.

Execution improves, store teams get stronger support, and the relationship between the two grows more collaborative. Whether it’s catching a gap before it impacts sales or validating a display rollout in minutes instead of days, the result is the same: fewer surprises, better outcomes, and more time focused on high-impact work.