Roamler Blog
Guides, reports and data insights for FMCG brands looking to improve retail execution, win in Foodservice, and make smarter decisions at the point of sale.
High Temperatures: How Are Retailers Performing in the UK?
A heatwave audit across four UK supermarket chains: 68% fridge fill, 51% freezer fill, and Magnum absent from 47% of stores.
Aldi, Lidl, B&M, Home Bargains: The Rise of UK Discounters
The combined market share of Aldi and Lidl has tripled to 19% since 2010. What this means for FMCG brands and their distribution strategy.
Private Labels in the UK: From Budget Range to Full Brand Portfolio
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, M&S and Waitrose now operate full own-brand portfolios with premium sub-brands. How FMCG brands compete.
How Coffee Prices Vary Across the Netherlands
Roamler analysed 6,904 verified coffee prices across the Netherlands. Amsterdam averages €3.50; Nijmegen €3.30. The regional breakdown and what it means for on-trade brands.
Dutch On-Trade Beer Market: A 2026 Update
Heineken holds 32.8% national distribution, up 3.2pp since 2024. But in Overijssel, Grolsch dominates with 41.9%. A full market update across provinces.
How to Build a Mystery Shopping Project: A Step-by-Step Guide
From defining clear goals to reporting the results — the six steps behind every well-run mystery shopping programme.
Mystery Shopping: The Key to Optimise Your Retail Performance
How AB InBev used mystery shoppers to lift Corona sales by 60% — and what mystery shopping can check for your brand.
How to Organise Tomorrow's Sales Force?
A survey of 126 sales representatives in the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom: 3.4 hours a day on the road, a 62% store contact rate, and merchandising work as the most time-consuming daily task.
All You Need to Know About POSM: Definitions and Terms Explained
FSDUs, gondolas, shelf talkers, floor stickers — every POSM format explained, plus the real difference between POS and POP.
Spotlight on Christmas Chocolates: An Impactful POSM Example
100 hypermarkets and supermarkets surveyed: how Ferrero, Lindt and Nestlé battle for the Christmas chocolate aisle.
Store Audit vs. Mystery Shopping: How to Get Instant Store KPIs
Execution or perception? Two crowd-powered tools serving two very different strategic masters — and when to use both.
The Shift in European Outlets: From Nightlife to Daytime Coffee Culture
Coffee bars are up 41% across 6 European countries since 2019, while nightclubs decline -12.5%. A country-by-country breakdown.
What Are the Most Popular Coffee Brands in the Dutch On-Trade Market?
JDE leads with 8.7% distribution, but Lavazza is gaining ground. A province-by-province look at Dutch bar & café coffee brands.
What Is Retail Execution? Definition, KPIs & Best Practices for FMCG Brands
Retail execution is everything that happens after the deal is signed — availability, shelf placement, pricing compliance. The Perfect Store framework and the KPIs that measure it.
A Look at the Most Popular Beer Brands in the Netherlands
Heineken leads nationally, but Grolsch dominates Overijssel and entirely different brands win in Limburg. An interactive province-by-province map of who's really winning the tap.
What Is Share of Shelf? Definition, Measurement & Why It Drives FMCG Sales
Share of shelf is the physical display space a brand actually occupies versus its competitors — and one of the most reliably under-measured metrics in FMCG.
What Is Numeric Distribution? Definition, Measurement & How to Improve It
Numeric Distribution measures what share of stores actually stock a SKU, regardless of size. The formula, how it differs from Weighted Distribution, and how to close the gap.
What Is the HoReCa Channel? Definition, Opportunities & How FMCG Brands Win in Out-of-Home
HoReCa — Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés — is where brand preference gets formed and premium pricing lives. What the channel covers, and how brands win it.
What Is Planogram Compliance? Definition, Measurement & Why It Matters for FMCG Brands
A planogram is only valuable if it's actually on the shelf. Why compliance breaks down, and how to close the gap at scale.
What Is Out-of-Stock (OOS) in Retail? Definition, Causes & How FMCG Brands Reduce It
A product that's listed but missing from the shelf is the simplest execution failure to describe — and the hardest to catch in real time. Five root causes and how brands cut it down.
The FMCG Dictionary: Essential Retail Definitions
From Annual Negotiations to Weighted Distribution — an A-Z reference of the commercial and in-store terms FMCG teams use every day.
On-Demand Retail Audits vs. Traditional Field Agencies: A Comparison
Traditional agencies vs. on-demand platforms: speed, cost, scalability, and when to use which. A practical comparison for FMCG brands planning field programmes.
How to Build a Strong Route to Market (RTM) Strategy in the On-Trade Market?
Outlet mapping, segmentation, activation standards, and KPI tracking. A four-step framework for building a data-driven RTM strategy in the Foodservice channel.
What Is Sales Force Automation (SFA) in Foodservice? Definition, Benefits & How Brands Use It
SFA in Foodservice is the difference between a field team that guesses where to go and one that always knows. What it does, why it matters, and common questions answered.
The Dutch Hospitality Industry in 2025: A Slight Decline in the Number of Locations
Restaurants, bars and cafés, hotels, and fast-food outlets compared year-on-year: the Dutch hospitality market contracted by around 1% in 2025, using figures from the Roamler Foodservice Database.
Christmas Displays: Key Insights From German Stores
600 Christmas displays audited across German stores: 87% in the promotional area, chocolate at 77% of the category mix, and Lindt, Ferrero and Milka leading brand presence.
The French Bakery Market Under Pressure: Is Your Data Up to Date?
Around 30,500 bakeries in France in 2025, a network contracting since 2022, and a market still dominated by independents — why a once-a-year directory can't keep up.
Easter 2025: How Did Brands Perform In-Store?
Field observations from ~100 French supermarkets: centre-aisle dominance, Ferrero and Lindt's biggest displays, and how brands used smaller formats to absorb a 14% price rise.
How AVIA Picoty Monitors and Improves the Performance of Its Service Stations
Mystery shopping across 23 highway service stations: how AVIA Picoty tracks welcome, maintenance, cleanliness and product availability wave after wave.
How to Use Your EPOS Data to Optimise Your Retail Actions
How anomaly detection turns EPOS data into Lost Sales Value, so field visits get triggered by opportunity rather than a fixed route — with roughly 80% of signals turning out to be genuine issues.
Festive Season: What Are the Challenges for FMCG Brands and Retailers?
Promotion execution, out-of-stock risk, seasonal merchandising and online reviews: the four in-store challenges that decide how the festive season goes, with a real client case from Labeyrie.
The Evolution of Fast Casual and Social Dining Restaurants Across Europe
Fast casual keeps growing while social dining contracts almost everywhere: restaurant numbers, cuisine trends and meal-service patterns across six European markets, 2021–2024.
Hospitality Trends: An Overview of the European Market in 2024
Mid-year 2024 data across fast casual, social dining, bars/cafés and coffee bars in five European markets: bars and cafés declining everywhere, fast casual still growing, and deceleration across the board.
Key Insights Into the Evolving Dutch Soda Market
The sugar tax has pushed listed prices up 5% on average, while distribution keeps shifting towards sugar-free, ginger beer and functional drinks — and away from regular cola and energy drinks.
How to Optimise Your On-Shelf Presence: An Interview With Emmanuel Ansoud, Category Management Expert
Category management expert Emmanuel Ansoud on why the shelf still decides most FMCG sales, what makes a display work, and how to activate a category without overloading it.
How AVIA Used Roamler to Check Its Tobacco Sales Compliance
Facing NVWA enforcement on tobacco age verification, the AVIA cooperative built a plan-do-check-act cycle and used Roamler mystery visits to measure it — correct age checks rose from around a third to 70% across three waves.
What Are the Latest Trends in the Dutch HoReCa Sector?
Dutch HoReCa outlets fell 1.4% between November 2023 and April 2024. Which segments and provinces were hit hardest, and where the market is still growing.
The On-Trade Market: Lessons from 2024 and Opportunities for 2025
A preview of the Roamler Foodservice Trend Report: how Dutch hospitality segments performed in 2024, the role of terraces, the rise of fast casual, and shifting cuisine preferences.
Trends and Developments in the Dutch Fast-Service Channel
After five years of growth, three of four Dutch fast-service segments lost outlets in 2024. Provincial detail, and Market Monitor data on luxury croquette brand distribution.
The Evolution of Bakeries and Coffee Bars in the Netherlands
Over 3,700 Dutch bakeries and 1,400 coffee bars: digital presence, delivery uptake, terrace availability, and the shift towards coffee beans in both segments.
The Dutch Terrace Culture: Figures and Insights
Over 25,000 Dutch dining and drinking outlets have an outdoor terrace — 55% of the sector. Which segments and provinces lead, and what appears on terrace menus.
Flat Growth in the Dutch Eat and Drink Universe: Which Segments Are the Most Impacted?
Dutch eat and drink growth has fallen from 3% a year to zero. Fast casual restaurants continue to expand while social dining and bars and pubs lose outlets.
How to Grow the Performance of Your Retail Promotions: The 1% Approach
Twelve years of promotion monitoring shows execution scores above 80% are the exception. Adding around 1% to the promotional budget for in-store visibility protects the other 99%.
Data and Tech: A Revolution in Retail Execution
Thomas van Zoggel, Team Lead Customer Success at Roamler, on linking EPOS data to field routing, moving from fixed routes to next best store visit, and where to start with a data-driven execution model.
The Perfect Serve: Driving Sales With On-Trade Mystery Shoppers
Following the UK launch of Corona on tap, AB InBev used Roamler mystery shoppers across 4,000 on-trade outlets to verify perfect serve compliance with photographic evidence.
Three Foodservice Market Trends to Watch
Plant-based, fast casual and low-and-no alcohol: three trends observed at Horecava, set against Roamler Foodservice Database figures and a 1,411-respondent consumer survey.
Understand the Implementation of Your Category on the Shelf: The Example of Energy Drinks
A 150-hypermarket audit of the energy drinks category in France — assortment, shelf space, signage and point-of-sale material, retailer by retailer.
Alcohol-Free Beer in Dutch Out-of-Home: Four Insights
Sales of alcohol-free beer in the Netherlands have risen almost 500% since 2010. A closer look at availability by brand, region, venue type and packaging.
Ensuring Compliance on Display and Promotion Execution
Brands consistently overestimate in-store promotion compliance. A look at the real gap between planned and executed displays, and how to close it.
The Three Main Implications of Planogram Non-Compliance
Implementing a planogram is not enough: checking that it is correctly executed is what decides the outcome. Three consequences of getting it wrong.
Is Your Seasonal Merchandising Managed Correctly?
Seasonal sales weigh heavily on margins. The harder question is whether that seasonal activity is actually planned and executed properly.
Roamler Acquires Mobeye and Expands Its Field Marketing Services in the French Market
Roamler, through its Retail division, has acquired Mobeye, one of its strongest competitors in field marketing services in the French market.
Roamler and Trax Join Forces to Digitalise In-Store Execution
Roamler and Trax are partnering to combine flexible field marketing with computer vision, giving manufacturers a real-time snapshot of shelf conditions in store.
All European Tomato Data in One Dashboard
Following the Berry Monitor, Roamler has launched a Tomato Monitor, bringing European tomato data together in a single dashboard. Originally published by Fresh Plaza.
The Challenges of Out-of-Stock in Europe
European retailers see an out-of-stock rate of around 8.6%. A look at what drives it, how shoppers respond, and where the causes actually sit.
Getting Ready for Black Friday with Online Product Reviews
Around 70% of Europeans look for reviews before buying, yet only 3 in 10 products ever receive one. Why reviews decide Black Friday sales, and how to close the gap.
Four In-Store Issues an On-Demand Community Can Solve for Retailers
Availability, compliance, service and competitive intelligence: four blind spots retailers can close with the same real-time field data manufacturers already use.
Kombucha: Consumer Needs and the Potential in Foodservice
60% of Europeans aren't familiar with kombucha — but 85% of those would like to try it. What our consumer research and Market Monitor data show about the foodservice opportunity.
Snack Bars and Fries: What the Data Shows in the Netherlands and Belgium
Snack bar numbers grew 2% in the Netherlands and 4% in Belgium — and fresh fries are gaining ground on frozen. What our Market Monitor shows on the Benelux snacks segment.
Roamler Acquires Datlinq
Roamler and Datlinq join forces across data collection, insight creation and community-powered in-store activation — combining a 3-million-location database with field execution across Europe.
Roamler Raises €20 Million to Accelerate European Expansion
Endeit Capital, SmartFin and Achmea Innovation Fund back a €20 million round to fund Roamler's international expansion into on-demand installation, service and repair.
What Actually Drives Shoppers Into Convenience Stores
A survey of 4,232 shoppers across seven European markets: location and opening hours drive the channel, not price. 81% of trips are last-minute, and 73% are made without a list.
What Shoppers Actually Look for When They Buy Strawberries
A survey of 3,808 shoppers across seven European markets: freshness, price and red colour drive the purchase, and 93% eat strawberries — but seasonality differs sharply market to market.
How Europeans Buy Ice Cream: Flavour Beats Brand
A survey of 5,357 shoppers across six European markets: flavour drives the purchase at 86% against brand at 27%, and half the market buys across both premium and private label.
Checking OTC Execution in Pharmacies
Pharmacies remain the key channel for over-the-counter medicines in Europe. How to check distribution and visibility, and how mystery visits measure what pharmacy staff actually recommend.
Ratings and Reviews: Why Brands Struggle to Get Them, and What to Do About It
Most brands know reviews sell products, but far fewer have a plan for getting them. What ratings and reviews actually do, why the supply is structurally short, what the Omnibus Directive requires, and four ways to build coverage.
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