Client Stories

Spindrift Enhances Trade Spending With New BluePlanner Retail Sales Integration  

Faster updates, little maintenance, new insights  

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In a digital transformation of their gross-to-net revenue management process, Spindrift Beverage Company deployed BluePlanner Trade Promotion Management (TPM). This facilitated building a bottom-up sales forecast in a more structured, standardized, and detailed way than the spreadsheet-based planning method that was previously used. It also enabled faster access to more detailed business insights.   

Beyond planning, BluePlanner TPM also actualizes the plan by importing actual sales data, including manufacturer shipments, distributor shipments, and retail sales. This is enabled in multiple ways including, APIs, flat file interfaces, and self-service uploads.  

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In collaboration with long-time partner, Atheon Analytics, UpClear recently launched a new capability for BluePlanner clients, turn-key integration of retail sales and inventory data.  This is facilitated by Atheon’s SKUtrak, a capability that automatically retrieves and transforms retail sales data.  A connector to BluePlanner automatically loads the retail sales data every day.   

This new capability was presented to the team at Spindrift.  They quickly saw four big benefits of this integration and automation: 

  1. Improved analysis of the relationship between shipments and consumption 
  2. More efficient trade spending forecasting 
  3. Daily data updates minimized latency issues  
  4. Improved efficiencies for resources managing data   

Fast Value

Spindrift now has access to both shipments and retails sales in BluePlanner that is updated daily.  Reporting that presents the data together enabling fast identification of differences between consumption and shipments.  This facilitates quick collaboration with buyers to address issues that are found. 

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On the spending side of the equation, the new integration facilitates fast processing of BluePlanner’s “Projected” spending metric.  Also referred to as the “Latest Estimate,” this metric recalculates trade spending as actuals come in.  Instead of relying on the original forecast of spending until deductions are cleared, promotion spending refreshes as actual sales are imported each day.  This gives the Spindrift team a better, faster understanding of trade spending exposure for individual promotions and roll-ups for the customer across the year.       

Pete Paris is the Vice President of Business Intelligence/Analytics at Spindrift Beverage Company:
“This new integration has done exactly what was promised. We have driven greater collaboration internally and externally with our customers.  Just as important, our forecast accuracy has improved about 20%, while having the capability to identify/react to opportunities and identify potential headwinds.”   

Adding perspective from UpClear is Andrew Dentinger, Product Management Director:
We believe the integration of retail sales and inventory data not only helps manufacturers improve the accuracy of spending forecasts and anticipate short-term retailer purchase behavior, it also identifies longer-term patterns in replenishment for more accurate sell-out to sell-in forecast conversion. We are excited to continue to help Spindrift excel in both.”

If you’d like more information on UpClear’s Turnkey Data Integration, visit the capability page on upclear.com or contact us to request a meeting.  

About UpClear

UpClear makes software used by Consumer Goods brands to improve the management of sales & trade spending. Its BluePlanner platform is an integrated solution supporting Trade Promotion Management, Trade Promotion Optimization, Integrated Business Planning, and Revenue Growth Management

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