Retail execution is the classic gap between what was agreed and what is on the shelf, and it is invisible from head office. The task is small, the logistics are the hard part, and most briefs fail on frame consistency rather than on anything about the shop.
What to put in the public brief
- The retail chain or type of store, and the city
- That in-store photography is required
- Roughly how long it takes
- That they will be paid if staff ask them to stop
- The category, without the brand
Keep the brand, the specific stores and any planogram private.
What to put in the private instructions
Name the store and the aisle
Not the brand alone. "The chilled drinks aisle" saves a worker ten minutes of wandering and saves you the cost of it.
Specify the frame precisely
Distance, height, whether to include the shelf edge label. Consistency across stores is the entire value; inconsistent photos cannot be compared.
State the in-store rules plainly
Discreet, stop if asked, never argue, no moving product to improve the shot. That last one matters: a rearranged shelf is a falsified observation.
Ask for the store identifier and time
Branch name or number, and when. A photo without a location is an anecdote.
Proof worth requiring
Ask for
A wide category shot and a closer facing shot, plus the branch and timestamp. Two photos, specified, beat ten unspecified.
Do not ask for
Photographs of staff or other customers. It is unnecessary, it raises a privacy problem you do not need, and it makes the worker conspicuous.
When this task type is the wrong tool
If you need a full audit across hundreds of stores on a schedule, a retail audit provider does this at scale with trained staff.
If what you want is the shopping experience rather than the shelf, that is mystery shopping, and it prices and briefs differently.