Calling All CPG Brands: Join Our First Industry Benchmarking Report

How does your deduction recovery rate compare to other brands in your category? Is your trade spend as a percentage of gross sales above or below the industry average? Are your promotion ROI numbers competitive? These are questions that every trade manager asks, and almost no one can answer with data. We are changing that.

What We Are Building

AisleCore Research is compiling the first comprehensive benchmark report focused specifically on trade management practices and performance among emerging and mid-market CPG brands. This is not a survey of opinions. We are collecting actual operational metrics to establish data-driven benchmarks that the industry can use.

What We Will Measure

The benchmark report will cover five dimensions of trade management performance:

• Trade Spend Efficiency: Trade spend as a percentage of gross sales, broken down by channel, retailer tier, and brand size
• Deduction Management: Recovery rates, dispute win rates, time to dispute, deduction aging, and write-off rates
• Promotion Performance: Average promotion ROI, incremental lift by tactic type, and promotion frequency by retailer
• Fund Management: Budget accuracy (planned vs. actual), commitment rates, and reconciliation timeliness
• Operational Maturity: System usage, process automation, team structure, and technology investment

How Data Is Protected

We take data confidentiality seriously. All submitted data will be:

• Anonymized before analysis—no brand names, retailer-specific data, or identifiable information will appear in the published report
• Aggregated into cohorts of at least 10 brands to prevent reverse-identification
• Stored securely and deleted after the report is published
• Used exclusively for this benchmark report—not for sales, marketing, or any other purpose

What You Get

Every participating brand will receive:

1. The full published benchmark report with industry-wide findings
2. A personalized scorecard showing how your metrics compare to your cohort (brands of similar size, category, and channel mix)
3. Specific recommendations for the areas where your performance lags the benchmark

How to Participate

We are currently recruiting brands with at least $5M in annual revenue and active trade management operations. Participation involves completing a structured data submission (approximately 30 minutes) and an optional 15-minute interview with our research team.

To volunteer or learn more, contact us at benchmarks@aislecore.com .