Report
On-Shelf Availability Barometer
Maintain your sales at the shelf by quickly identifying out-of-stock risks and reducing supply chain disruptions.
Losses pile up with out-of-stocks
Quickly identify the location and timing of future out-of-stocks to prevent supply chain disruptions and maintain on-shelf availability. With NielsenIQ’s unmatched data and technology, you can pinpoint risk areas before they become lost sales.
- Identify risks with advanced algorithms
- Find your out-of-stocks before competitors
- Align distribution to maximize promotions
Pinpoint potential out-of-stocks before they occur
Discover on-shelf availability trends across retailers and categories, identifying risks due to out-of-stocks and missed promotional opportunities. Leverage intuitive NielsenIQ Connect reports—powered by NielsenIQ’s granular data and advanced algorithms—to determine your position before competitors do, enabling you to gain better distribution and preserve revenues.
1
Accurate
predictive capabilities
Predict where and when out-of-stocks will happen by merging NielsenIQ data with advanced technology-driven analysis.
2
Timely,
actionable
insights
Pinpoints where you need to address issues and invest resources so you can act fast.
3
Broad and
detailed
coverage
See out-of-stock impact on sales across brands, categories, and retail stores.
How can we help you?
We know that there is no one simple answer to every question. Tell us what your unique situation and needs are, and we’ll work with you to find a solution that makes your life easier.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the NielsenIQ OSA Barometer?
NielsenIQ OSA Barometer is an AI-powered supply chain benchmarking solution that helps manufacturers measure and benchmark on-shelf availability across markets, retailers, and categories. Using advanced algorithms applied to daily store-level POS data, the solution identifies out-of-shelf events, quantifies missed sales, and provides a fact-based view of availability performance versus the market. Embedded, decision-grade AI ensures consistent and explainable measurement of OSA and lost sales opportunities.
- How does OSA Barometer use AI to identify out-of-shelf issues?
OSA Barometer uses multivariate AI algorithms to estimate expected sales at the store-item-day level based on historical patterns, seasonality, promotions, and store behavior. When actual sales fall significantly below AI-modeled expectations, the solution identifies potential out-of-shelf events. This embedded AI approach enables accurate detection of availability issues beyond traditional inventory-based in-stock measures.
- How does OSA Barometer quantify lost sales due to out-of-stocks?
AI-powered expected sales models estimate how much a product should have sold under normal availability conditions. The difference between expected and actual sales is automatically translated into missed units and lost sales value. This decision-grade AI quantification allows teams to prioritize availability issues based on true financial impact rather than volume signals alone.
- Can OSA Barometer benchmark availability performance against the market and competitors?
Yes. OSA Barometer applies standardized AI models across syndicated market data to provide consistent benchmarks by category, brand, retailer channel, and key account definitions. This enables manufacturers to compare their on-shelf availability, promotional availability, and lost sales impact versus the total market and relevant competitors using a trusted, third-party framework.
- How do manufacturers access OSA Barometer insights?
OSA Barometer insights are delivered through the NIQ Discover platform and related analytics tools, with AI-powered metrics available via dashboards, Excel add-ins, or structured data extracts. Automated data processing ensures consistent refresh cycles and decision-ready outputs while adhering to manufacturer release rules and data governance standards.
- How does OSA Barometer help prioritize corrective actions?
By combining AI-driven detection of availability gaps with automated lost sales valuation, OSA Barometer highlights the stores, products, and categories with the highest opportunity. This prioritization enables manufacturers to focus resources on the issues that matter most, supporting faster alignment with retailers and more effective supply chain decisions.
- Why is OSA Barometer considered a decision-grade, AI-powered solution?
OSA Barometer is built on explainable AI methodologies that use transparent rules, thresholds, and multivariate modeling to identify out-of-shelf events. Human-in-the-loop governance and standardized definitions ensure results are consistent, auditable, and trusted. This decision-grade approach makes OSA Barometer suitable for executive reporting and retailer collaboration.
- How is AI-powered OSA different from traditional in-stock metrics?
Traditional in-stock metrics rely on inventory signals, which may not reflect shelf reality. OSA Barometer uses AI applied to actual sales behavior to infer whether products were available on the shelf. This shopper-centric, data-driven approach reveals blind spots that inventory-only measures miss and provides a more accurate view of availability performance.