Small supplier, big data: Brand breakthrough enabled by fresh insights
The Jel Sert Company turned 2.5 weeks with Scintilla into a standout Line Review—and a successful new brand and product launch
“Within Scintilla, we move from just analyzing information to transformational growth.”
To enhance performance in the Functional Drink Stick category, especially in Energy and Hydration, The Jel Sert Company used Scintilla to identify the key factors behind customers’ decisions to purchase or pass on a product. This analysis helped inform the successful launch of a new Functional Drink Stick brand, which quickly became a top performer in terms of add-to-order rate and composite rank among new items.
Here’s how Jel Sert turned insights into a standout Line Review and a successful brand launch—all after just three weeks with Scintilla.
The opportunity: Identify new product recommendations ahead of a line review
Jel Sert was facing a tight timeline—they had a Line Review scheduled in three weeks. To come prepared with recommendations that would help the Functional Growth Stick category grow at Walmart, they would first need a deep understanding of the space.
That meant ingesting sales data, analyzing shopper behavior, and developing product recommendations that would meet customer needs and fill gaps in the category, all before their Line Review.
The approach: Build category expertise in three days
Jel Sert decided to implement Scintilla to gather insights for their Line Review. Despite the short timeline, Scintilla’s modular reports and short setup time could help them get the data they needed in time.
They signed a contract to adopt Scintilla and began working with it the next day. Extra training from the Walmart Data Ventures team helped Jel Sert accelerate their ramp-up and identify key factors and reports to explore.
Step 1: Attribute all category items for robust analysis
Jel Sert started their analysis in Shopper Behavior. First they used Custom Attributes to classify products in their catalog based on specific characteristics, like drink mixes that boost energy or focus. Then they used Assortment Deep Dive to see how customers make purchasing decisions within this custom product hierarchy.
Step 2: Point of sale (POS) analysis: The “what”
After establishing this framework for catalog analysis, Jel Sert began to examine POS data from various Scintilla modules to better understand category performance trends.
With the Shopper Behavior Performance in Detail report, they could view unified POS and shopper behavior metrics according to the custom product attributes they had established earlier. This eliminated any issues caused by mismatched data or definitions.
They also combined channel trends from the Channel Performance Insights Dashboard with syndicated market share data to gain a complete view of category performance.
Step 3: Shopper analysis: The “why” to understand what’s contributing to sales change
Next, Jel Sert dug deeper into the performance trends they had found. They identified category segments that were losing customer penetration, along with indications that those lost customers were leaking to other channels—a possible sign that the category was missing customer needs due to a gap in assortment.
Step 4: Survey work: The context behind the “why”
Jel Sert used Customer Perception to speak directly to Walmart shoppers and find the factors that might be driving them toward other products or categories. In just a few days, they gathered responses that aligned with the assortment gap they had identified earlier.
The results: Fast insights led to brand launch in 3,500 Walmart stores
Jel Sert had used Scintilla insights to spot a problem. Next they used the same insights to advocate for the solution. They brought their findings to their Line Review and recommended that their Walmart merchant stock their new brand Pure Kick, which had the potential to fill the assortment gap.
Jel Sert may not have had much time with Scintilla, but the insights they gained were compelling. Their Walmart merchant agreed to launch Pure Kick in 3,500 stores.
Post-launch metrics indicate that customers have responded favorably. Pure Kick placed among the top ten launches by composite rank, and 41% of sales gained were from customers new to the category—contributing to growth both for Jel Sert and for Walmart.
