Retail Audit Caribbean: Store Audits, Shelf Intelligence & Distribution Tracking

Caribbean organized retail is growing at 6.2% CAGR (Euromonitor, 2024), yet brands face a persistent challenge: a 15-25% gap between distributor-reported distribution and actual shelf presence (HRG audit data, 2024). With out-of-stock rates averaging 8-15% in Caribbean markets compared to 3-5% in the US and EU (industry benchmarks, 2024), retail audits are essential for brands that need to understand what is actually happening at the shelf. HRG conducts comprehensive retail audits across 15+ Caribbean markets with GPS-verified, photo-documented data collection.

What We Measure

HRG retail audits capture a comprehensive set of in-store metrics designed to give brands a complete picture of their market presence. Our core measurement areas include:

• Distribution: Numeric distribution (% of outlets stocking your product) and weighted distribution (% weighted by outlet sales volume)
• Pricing: Shelf price, promoted price, price compliance vs. recommended retail, and competitor pricing across all tracked SKUs
• Shelf Share: Number of facings, linear shelf space in centimeters, and share of shelf vs. competitors by category and sub-category
• Visibility: Point-of-sale materials, secondary displays, end-cap presence, cooler branding, and promotional execution compliance
• Planogram Compliance: Adherence to agreed shelf layouts, brand blocking, category arrangement, and product adjacency rules

Beyond core metrics, HRG retail audits can incorporate custom measurements such as freshness dating compliance, promotional price tag accuracy, staff product recommendation tracking (combined with mystery shopping), and competitive new product alerts. This flexibility ensures that audit programs deliver precisely the intelligence each client needs to optimize their retail execution.

Audit Methodology

Our audit methodology is built for the unique challenges of Caribbean retail. Unlike mainland markets with centralized chains and uniform store formats, Caribbean retail includes a diverse mix of modern supermarkets, traditional grocery shops, mini-marts, rum bars, and roadside vendors. HRG's methodology accounts for this fragmentation by stratifying audit samples by outlet type, geographic zone, and sales volume tier to ensure representative coverage across the full retail landscape.

Every audit visit is GPS-verified to confirm auditor presence at the correct location. Auditors capture photographic evidence of shelves, displays, and pricing using our proprietary mobile application. Data is uploaded in real-time to our central database for automated validation checks before being processed into client reports. This approach directly addresses the 15-25% discrepancy between distributor-reported distribution and actual shelf presence (HRG audit data, 2024).

Quality assurance protocols include automated consistency checks at the point of data entry, supervisor spot-checks on 10-15% of completed audits, back-office review of all photographic evidence, and statistical outlier detection in the final dataset. These layers of verification ensure that the data delivered to clients is accurate, reliable, and actionable.

Markets Covered

HRG conducts retail audits across Jamaica (3,500+ outlets), Trinidad & Tobago (2,800+ outlets), Barbados (1,200+ outlets), Bahamas, Guyana, St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua, Belize, Cayman Islands, and the wider Eastern Caribbean (national statistics, 2024). Our outlet database is continuously updated and geocoded, allowing clients to visualize distribution patterns and identify coverage gaps at a granular level. For brands entering Caribbean markets, see our Caribbean market entry strategy guide.

Each market's retail landscape has distinct characteristics that influence audit design. Jamaica's retail sector includes major supermarket chains alongside thousands of small "shops" and roadside vendors. Trinidad & Tobago has a more concentrated modern trade sector but significant traditional trade in rural areas. Barbados has high modern trade penetration relative to population size. Understanding these differences is essential for designing audit programs that deliver actionable results for each market.

Technology We Use

HRG retail audits leverage mobile data capture technology that ensures accuracy, speed, and verifiability. Our technology stack includes GPS-verified check-in at every outlet visit, timestamped photographic evidence of shelves and displays, barcode and image recognition for product identification, real-time data upload with automated validation rules, and cloud-based reporting dashboards with drill-down analytics. This technology eliminates the data quality issues common with paper-based audits and enables faster turnaround of results.

Our mobile platform works offline in areas with limited connectivity — a critical requirement in Caribbean markets where rural outlets may have intermittent cellular coverage. Data captured offline is automatically synchronized when connectivity is restored, ensuring no data loss during field operations. The platform also supports configurable questionnaire logic, conditional branching, and mandatory photo capture to enforce data collection standards in the field.

Types of Audits

Industry-Specific Audit Programs

Different industries require tailored audit approaches. For FMCG brands, audits focus on distribution breadth, shelf share, and promotional compliance across both modern and traditional trade channels. For beverage companies, we track cooler presence, on-premise vs. off-premise availability, and draught vs. packaged share in bars and restaurants. Pharmaceutical audits verify product availability, pricing compliance, and cold chain integrity across pharmacy chains and independent outlets.

Personal care and beauty brands benefit from audits that track distribution across supermarkets, pharmacies, beauty supply stores, and salon channels. Tobacco and spirits audits incorporate regulatory compliance checks alongside standard distribution metrics. Each audit program is designed with industry-specific KPIs and benchmarks that reflect the competitive dynamics and channel structures unique to that category in Caribbean markets.

Out-of-Stock Analysis & Root Cause Identification

With Caribbean out-of-stock rates averaging 8-15% compared to 3-5% in US and EU markets (industry benchmarks, 2024), understanding why products are missing from shelves is as important as measuring the gap. HRG's out-of-stock analysis goes beyond simply recording empty shelf positions to identify root causes: distributor supply chain failures, store ordering inadequacies, planogram implementation errors, seasonal demand spikes, shelf space reallocation by retailers, and competitive displacement.

Our analysis categorizes out-of-stock events by cause, duration, and revenue impact, enabling brands to prioritize corrective actions with the highest ROI. For products with high price points or strong promotional support, even small reductions in out-of-stock rates translate to significant revenue recovery. The integration of out-of-stock data with distribution audit findings reveals whether stock-outs originate at the distributor, wholesaler, or retail level.

Promotional Execution Compliance

Brands invest heavily in trade promotions across Caribbean markets, yet execution at the retail level often falls short of planned specifications. HRG retail audits measure promotional compliance including correct promotional pricing on shelf, presence and accuracy of promotional point-of-sale materials, secondary display placement and product availability, promotional product stock levels, and promotional timing compliance (start and end dates). Promotional compliance audits can be conducted as standalone projects timed to specific campaigns or incorporated into ongoing tracking audit programs for continuous monitoring.

Competitive Intelligence at Shelf

Beyond tracking your own brand's performance, HRG retail audits capture comprehensive competitive intelligence including new product introductions and their distribution speed, competitor pricing strategies and promotional activities, competitive shelf space gains or losses over time, competitor point-of-sale investment levels, and private label penetration trends. This competitive data is essential for brands operating in the Caribbean's increasingly competitive retail environment where both regional and multinational brands are expanding their distribution presence.

Reporting & Dashboards

Retail audit results are delivered through interactive dashboards that allow clients to filter by market, outlet type, product SKU, time period, and geographic zone. Standard deliverables include distribution scorecards, pricing compliance reports, shelf share rankings, out-of-stock analysis with root cause identification, photo galleries organized by outlet, and geospatial coverage maps with distribution heat maps.

Quarterly strategic reviews provide executive-level analysis of distribution trends, competitive dynamics, and recommendations for improving retail execution. These reviews integrate retail audit data with complementary intelligence from distribution audits and consumer surveys to provide a complete picture of how distribution performance impacts brand health and market share. For more on our retail distribution methodology, visit our research blog.

Price Intelligence & Monitoring

Pricing is one of the most critical competitive levers in Caribbean retail, yet many brands lack visibility into actual shelf prices across their distribution network. HRG's price monitoring tracks recommended retail price compliance, actual shelf prices by outlet type and geography, competitive pricing and gap analysis, promotional pricing execution and discount depth, and price elasticity indicators based on distribution and out-of-stock patterns. Price intelligence is delivered as a standalone service or integrated into comprehensive retail audit programs for ongoing monitoring.

Traditional Trade vs. Modern Trade Analysis

Caribbean retail markets are characterized by a mix of modern trade (supermarkets, hypermarkets, chain stores) and traditional trade (independent shops, mini-marts, market vendors). HRG retail audits segment results by trade channel to reveal performance differences that are invisible in aggregate data. Traditional trade typically accounts for 40-60% of FMCG sales volume in Caribbean markets, making it impossible to ignore despite the complexity of reaching thousands of small, independently operated outlets.

Our audit methodology is specifically designed to capture traditional trade dynamics including product availability in stores with limited shelf space, pricing practices in outlets without barcode scanning, display and visibility in stores with non-standard fixtures, and competitive product presence in outlets where shelf position is negotiated with individual owners. This granular channel-level intelligence helps brands optimize their trade marketing strategies for the Caribbean's unique retail landscape.

E-Commerce & Online Retail Monitoring

As Caribbean e-commerce grows rapidly, HRG extends retail audit capabilities to online channels. Our digital retail monitoring tracks product availability on major e-commerce platforms, online pricing accuracy and consistency with brick-and-mortar retail, product listing quality including images, descriptions, and search positioning, competitive online presence and sponsored product placements, and customer rating and review trends. This omnichannel retail intelligence helps brands manage their presence across both physical and digital shelves in Caribbean markets where online shopping adoption is accelerating.

Seasonal & Event-Driven Audits

Caribbean retail experiences significant seasonal variations driven by carnival seasons, Christmas, back-to-school periods, and tourist high seasons. HRG offers event-driven audit programs timed to these peak periods to capture promotional execution, seasonal product availability, competitive activity during high-demand windows, and retailer compliance with seasonal merchandising plans. These targeted audits complement ongoing tracking programs by providing detailed intelligence during the periods that matter most for sales performance.

New Product Distribution Tracking

Launching new products in Caribbean markets requires careful monitoring of distribution build. HRG offers dedicated new product tracking audits that measure distribution rollout speed by channel and geography, initial shelf placement quality and visibility, pricing accuracy compared to recommended launch pricing, point-of-sale material placement compliance, and competitive response to new product introductions. These time-sensitive audits provide the rapid feedback that brand teams need to course-correct distribution strategies during the critical launch window when first impressions with retailers and consumers are formed.

Post-launch tracking continues to monitor distribution stability as the product transitions from new to established, identifying early signs of delisting risk or distribution erosion that may not be visible in distributor shipment data alone. This launch-to-sustain audit program ensures that the investment in new product development is protected by maintaining distribution gains achieved during the initial launch push.

Planogram Compliance Verification

For brands that invest in planogram development and shelf space agreements, HRG offers planogram compliance verification as a specialized audit module. Our auditors compare actual shelf layouts against agreed planogram specifications, measuring SKU positioning accuracy, facing counts, shelf flow compliance, adjacent product placement, and point-of-sale material presence. Compliance scores are calculated at the individual store level and aggregated by retailer chain, region, and market for strategic review.

In Caribbean markets where planogram compliance in Caribbean retail outlets typically lags behind global benchmarks, regular verification audits create accountability mechanisms that drive retailer adherence to negotiated shelf arrangements. The photographic evidence collected during compliance audits provides indisputable documentation that supports productive conversations with retail partners about improving execution.

High-resolution shelf images captured during audits enable remote shelf review by category managers and trade marketing teams, reducing the need for personal store visits while maintaining visibility into retail execution across multiple Caribbean markets simultaneously. Brands can use this visual database for internal presentations, category reviews with retailers, and cross-market comparisons of execution quality.

Why Choose HRG for Caribbean Retail Audits

HRG offers the Caribbean's most comprehensive retail audit capability backed by three decades of market research experience in the region. Our advantages include the largest geocoded outlet database across Caribbean markets, proprietary mobile technology with GPS verification and photo evidence, field teams with deep knowledge of local retail landscapes and trade channels, flexible audit programs from single baseline studies to continuous tracking, and integration with complementary services including mystery shopping, distribution audits, and consumer surveys for comprehensive market intelligence.

Contact HRG today to discuss how retail audit intelligence can strengthen your brand's performance across Caribbean retail channels.