Case Study : Outsourced Merchandising Team for Coca Cola Trinidad

Caribbean Bottlers Trinidad and Tobago Limited (CBTTL), is a major regional bottler, producing some of the biggest beverage brands in the market such as Coca Cola, Sprite, Schweppes, Minute Maid, Dasani Water, Corona, Modelo and Angostura Chill.

CBTTL partnered with Cite Up in 2021 to outsource its merchandising execution which was previously internally run, and presented challenges including, resource allocation, operational oversight, and employee management. 

Team Composition: Cite Up deploys a dedicated team of 126 team leads and merchandisers to service CBTTL’s Trinidad and Tobago’s trade universe

Coverage: Cite Up’s team covers over 400 accounts across Trinidad and Tobago, spanning various channels and regions of the country and well exceeds 5000 store visits per month

Scope of work:

• Comprehensive Operations Management: Cite Up manages all aspects of CBTTL’s merchandising operation . This encompassed managing employee-related issues such as human resources (HR) and industrial relations (IR) matters.
• Reporting: Cite Up provides regular reporting to CBTTL on key metrics such as route compliance, expiries, on shelf availability and trade activities, to support data-driven decision-making.

Cite Up continues to strive to provide the following deliverables for its client:

• Product Visibility & Planogram Compliance: Through its daily activities Cite Up works to enhance share of visible inventory and on shelf availability of CBTTL products; increasing brand visibility and consumer engagement. The team also adheres to planogram guidelines and brand standards maintaining consistency in product placement and presentation across various retail outlets.
• Loss Mitigation: Cite Up’s team employs industry best practices  and works closely with CBTTL’s distribution and trade-marketing teams to protect CBTTL from losses due to expired products or shrinkage on the trade. 
• Support Revenue Growth: The ultimate goal of the Cite Up team is to support the revenue growth of its client CBTTL and to mitigate the potential for losses on the trade. Our team leads work closely with CBTTL’s sales and distribution, collating and providing stock level reports to support sales efforts and avoid out of stock incidents.

Cite Up’s outsourced merchandising solution continues to be effective in addressing CBTTL’s operational challenges. Through effective resource management, strategic oversight, and streamlined execution, the partnership empowers CBTTL to optimize its merchandising operations toward sustaining its success in the competitive beverage market of Trinidad and Tobago.

Notable Consumer Brands: Coca Cola, Sprite, Schweppes, Minute Maid, Dasani Water, Angostura Chill, Presidente, Corona, Modelo