Retail Case 01 · Independent Grocery

90-day crisis stabilization

Uncontrolled production and shrink pressure were suppressing margin despite active demand.

+5.8 pts Gross Margin Recovered

The Problem

Daily production was set from habit, not demand, and end-of-day shrink was treated as noise. The department looked busy, but cash conversion was deteriorating every week.

Root Cause Diagnosis

Batch sizing ignored hourly movement by cut family, markdown timing was late, and labor sequencing pushed expensive prep too early in the day.

What PRO Evaluated

SKU-level yield variance, trim leakage, markdown latency by shift, labor-to-throughput ratio, and reorder velocity by daypart.

The Intervention

Reset prep cadence into two controlled production windows, added same-day markdown triggers, and built a 7-day movement guardrail for top shrink drivers.

The Outcome

Margin stabilized within 30 days and climbed 5.8 points by the end of the 90-day cycle with lower throwaway volume.

The Lesson

When movement discipline leads production discipline, margin stops leaking even before traffic changes.

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