What does a shelf audit actually check?
A shelf audit checks whether the products that should be on the shelf are actually there, in the right quantity, position and price. Audits focus on SKU-level availability, facing alignment, promotion-period readiness and backroom-to-shelf movement 1. In a sales force automation visit flow, the audit form walks the rep through a structured sequence of questions: is the product present, how many facings are visible, is it in the correct shelf position, and is pricing correctly displayed 2.
Availability and gaps
The availability part of a shelf audit counts what is physically present against the listed range. In a worked example, a store carries 100 listed SKUs for a category; during the shelf audit 92 SKUs are physically present and visible and 8 SKUs are missing from the shelf 1. Field teams using mobile audit tools record missing SKUs instantly, flag empty facings and capture replenishment delays, which shortens the time between detection and corrective action 1.
Placement and compliance
The placement part of a shelf audit measures planogram compliance, meaning the degree to which actual shelf execution matches the brand's intended layout 2. Photos attached to the audit make planogram deviations visible, allow reported stock gaps to be verified, and reduce false compliance reporting 1. Managers reviewing audits remotely can see both the raw photo and the annotation without visiting the outlet 2. Some implementations use image recognition to identify products, count facings and estimate share of shelf automatically 2.
Stock records
Inventory audits are a related check, cross-referencing financial and inventory records against the physical inventory count to identify discrepancies and reasons for shrinkage 3.