For Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and retail brands, shelf merchandising is where strategy meets execution. And yet, this critical touchpoint is notoriously difficult to manage on a scale. Training merchandisers, brand reps, and in-store teams on perfect shelf execution has always required a delicate balance of travel, observation, manuals and luck.

But now, that’s shifting.

Welcome to the age of Extended Reality (XR), where teams can step inside a hyper-realistic retail environment and master the art of shelf merchandising before ever setting foot in-store.

The Challenge: Shelf Execution at Scale

Ask any CPG leader, retail operations manager, or visual merchandiser, and they’ll tell you the same thing: a perfect plan on paper doesn’t means anything if it isn’t executed on the shelf. Despite millions spent on shopper insights, product packaging, and campaign planning, the moment of truth happens when a customer scans the shelf. And often, what they see doesn’t match the brand’s intent.

Here’s where the breakdown usually happens:

• ‍Inconsistent execution across geographies

Store associates and field reps often interpret visual guidelines differently, - or don’t receive them at all. Often a seemingly pristine seasonal display in one flagship store can turn into a cluttered, off-brand mess in another region.

• ‍Planogram non-compliance due to unclear or inaccessible guidelines

Even the best planograms can be confusing without proper context or training. Reps may lack access to up-to-date layouts, forget key compliance rules, or miss small but critical details like promo tags or facing counts.

• ‍Slow onboarding of new merchandisers or brand reps

New team members often face steep learning curves. They’re expected to know store layouts, merchandising rules, and compliance expectations, and usually after a rushed training session or PDF deck. The result? Mistakes, delays, and inconsistency.

• ‍Limited visibility into store-specific layouts or seasonal variations

Field reps are expected to execute without fully understanding the environment they’re stepping into. One store may have unique shelving, lighting, or traffic flow issues that require nuanced adjustments, none of which are visible in traditional training materials.

• ‍High cost of physical training sessions and in-store shadowing

Flying regional reps to training hubs, coordinating store visits, or assigning mentors is time-consuming and expensive. And even then, the experience is rarely repeatable or scalable.

These aren’t minor inconveniences. They are execution gaps that drain ROI from national campaigns, erode brand equity, and lead to lost sales right at the point of decision. Moreover, they’re hard to diagnose until after the fact, when poor performance is reflected in out-of-stocks, missed promotional lifts, or shopper feedback.

In an era where every square foot counts and every second of shopper attention matters, shelf-level excellence must be built from the ground up with training that works as hard as the teams doing the job.

The XR Advantage: Train in the Aisle, Without Being There

Traditional merchandising training relies on static materials, like PDFs, slide decks, and the occasional ride-along. But, when it comes to in-store execution, the gap between reading and doing is where mistakes happen.

Extended Reality changes that. By combining Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), it creates immersive digital environments where teams can practice and master merchandising skills as if they were inside the actual store - without ever leaving their home or office. Here's how it works:

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A Virtual Store That Feels Real

Extended Reality empowers trainees with immersive, practical tools for mastering shelf merchandising:

• ‍Walk through a fully interactive store aisle

Users can move through a lifelike retail environment, browse displays, crouch to inspect bottom shelves, and turn around to check sightlines - just like in the real world.

• ‍Implement planograms with real-world precision

Planogram training modules use real SKUs, shelf dimensions, and fixture specs. Trainees learn how to place products correctly, follow facings, and adapt to various shelving formats.

• ‍Spot and correct errors in real time

XR simulations guide users through exercises that help them recognize common mistakes, like:  - incorrect product sequencing, missing promotional materials, out-of-stock flags, or compliance breaches.

• ‍Learn store-specific rules and layouts

Whether it’s a flagship store in Paris or a regional format in the Midwest, XR modules can be customized to replicate the unique layout, pricing strategy, and merchandising priorities of each location.

• ‍Collaborate remotely with team leaders and experts

Reps and managers can “meet” in the same virtual store, review execution together, provide feedback, and even test new display setups collaboratively - no travel required.

Why This Isn’t Just Better - It’s Smarter

This isn’t a video, a multiple-choice quiz, or a 360° photo. XR brings full immersion and interaction:

• ‍Physicality: Trainees reach, move, stack, and correct in real-time.
• ‍Muscle memory: Just like a real store visit, XR builds spatial and process memory that’s proven to increase retention.
• ‍Instant feedback: Smart prompts and performance analytics track accuracy, speed, and decision-making - turning training into measurable skill-building.

And because these simulations are built using photogrammetry, digital twin tech, and Gaussian splatting, they offer photorealistic accuracy, with real-world lighting, textures, and environments that feel indistinguishable from the physical store.

Scalable, Repeatable, Always-On Training

Traditional training methods are tethered to physical limitations: rooms to book, trainers to schedule, travel to arrange, and materials to print. But in the fast-paced world of retail and CPG, where product assortments shift weekly and store formats constantly evolve, this model just doesn’t keep up.

Extended Reality breaks those limits and delivers a new standard of training that’s accessible anytime, anywhere, for anyone.

Here’s how it transforms shelf merchandising training into a truly competitive advantage:

Scalable: Train Teams Across Cities or Continents

Whether you're onboarding a single brand ambassador in Lisbon or an entire field team across North America, XR allows you to roll out consistent, high-impact training on a scale.

• No logistics bottlenecks.
• No training delays due to staffing or availability.
• No trade-offs between reach and quality.

Every user gets the same immersive, guided experience —regardless of location or device.

Repeatable: Practice Until Perfect - No Pressure

In retail, repetition builds confidence, but in traditional settings, reps often get one shot at shadowing a mentor or attending a live training, after that, it’s sink or swim.

With XR:

• Reps can redo modules as often as needed, without waiting for approval.
• Mistakes become learning moments, not liabilities.
• Confidence builds organically through hands-on, self-paced practice.

This supports both fast learners and those who need a bit more time,—without slowing down the rest of the team.

Updatable: Stay Current in a Changing Retail Landscape

Product launches. Seasonal resets. Promo shifts. Store redesigns.

Every one of these events requires updated training, and in traditional models, that means reprints, retraining, and re-coordination.

With XR:

• Digital twins can be updated instantly with new shelf plans, products, or displays.
• Training content is always aligned with current campaigns, guidelines, and objectives.
• Teams stay ready —because their training environment evolves with the business.

This agility is critical in industries where speed to shelf equals speed to revenue.

This isn’t just a training solution - it’s a merchandising enablement platform. With XR, training shifts from a one-time event to an always-on resource that continuously improves team performance, enforces brand consistency, and ensures that your shelf strategy doesn’t break down at the last mile.

How It Works: A Shelf-Level Digital Twin

At the heart of XR training for merchandising is one powerful innovation: the digital twin. Using cutting-edge technologies like Gaussian Splatting, photogrammetry, and 3D rendering, brands and retailers can now create hyper-realistic replicas of physical retail spaces; even down to the exact product SKU, shelf height, lighting condition, and endcap design.

This is not a 3D mock-up or a gamified approximation. It's a visually precise, data-rich environment that mirrors the store down to the smallest merchandising detail.

From Real-World Store to Virtual Aisle

1. Capture

Physical stores are scanned using high-resolution cameras and spatial mapping tools. Technologies like photogrammetry stitch together thousands of images to produce a complete 3D model, while Gaussian splatting fills in naturalistic lighting, reflections, and depth which results  in producing photorealistic environments.

2. Transform

These captures are converted into fully interactive training modules. Each shelf, display, or promotional unit becomes a manipulable object within the XR environment. SKUs are tagged, product attributes defined, and layout rules (like planograms) embedded into the system.

3. Deploy

Trainees access the simulation using Meta Quest headsets, tablets, or laptops - —no technical background needed. They can walk through the store, interact with shelves, follow guided tasks, and test their ability to execute store-level merchandising initiatives.

Simulate Real-World Tasks and Challenges

Trainees engage in real merchandising workflows through a live-simulated environment, practicing FIFO stock rotation, replenishment, and detecting low-stock signals. They assemble seasonal or campaign-specific endcap displays per store guidelines without physical store visits and learn to identify and adjust for competitor encroachments or planogram violations. Trainees also implement POS materials like signage, shelf talkers, wobblers, and in-store media with precision, and trial new product launches to ensure flawless execution before rollout. Real-time feedback, performance tracking, and built-in guidance support learning through hands-on practice.

Insights for Managers, Without Stepping Foot in Store

From a centralized dashboard, managers and trainers can:

• Monitor completion rates and task accuracy
• See where reps are struggling or skipping steps
• Compare performance across regions or store types
• Assign personalized follow-up sessions based on real behavior

This removes the need for constant shadowing or on-site coaching and ensures a data-driven approach to merchandising capability development.

In short, digital twins bring the store to the learner - not the other way around. And that shift opens the door to consistent execution, faster ramp-up times, and smarter decisions from HQ to the aisle.

Real-World Impact: Faster, Smarter Merchandising Teams

XR training isn’t just innovative, - it’s proven to deliver measurable results for retail and CPG organizations looking to scale merchandising excellence across markets.

Teams that adopt XR see tangible improvements across multiple areas of field execution and team performance. From onboarding to planogram compliance, the results are consistent: better execution, lower costs, and stronger brand performance at the shelf.

Let’s break it down.

40% Faster Onboarding for Field Teams

What used to take weeks of shadowing, trial, and error can now be completed in days. XR training immerses new hires in lifelike store environments where they can practice key merchandising tasks repeatedly until confident - —all without disrupting store operations.

• Faster time-to-productivity
• Less dependency on in-store trainers
• Standardized knowledge transfer across regions

Up to 30% Higher Planogram Compliance

By training reps in exact digital replicas of stores —with actual planogram rules built into the simulation, —brands ensure that visual merchandising standards are not only understood, but practiced before reps ever step into a store.

• Fewer compliance errors
• Better display accuracy
• Increased promotional effectiveness

Reduced Travel Costs for Store Visits and Training

Traditional training often requires site visits, travel days, and classroom sessions, whicheat  into time, budgets, and operational bandwidth. XR replaces all that with immersive virtual training that can be deployed globally with minimal overhead.

• Lower T&E spend
• Less disruption to store staff
• Scalable training without added logistics

Stronger Brand Consistency Across Regions

With XR, every field teams fromin Tokyo, Toronto, or Tampa —receives the same gold-standard training experience, aligned to the same visual guidelines. This ensures that your brand is consistently represented, no matter the geography or store format.

• Uniform shopper experience
• Aligned execution of national campaigns
• Stronger brand equity at shelf level

Higher Confidence and Retention Among Field Reps

When reps feel prepared, they perform better —and stay longer. XR provides a low-pressure environment where they can build hands-on skills, receive feedback, and master store scenarios without the fear of messing up in front of customers or supervisors.

• Increased job satisfaction
• Better performance on day one
• Reduced turnover in high-churn roles

Training That Evolves With Your Business

Perhaps most importantly, XR training environments are easy to update. As products change, new promotions roll out, or store designs shift, simulations can be refreshed in a matter of hours -—not weeks.

• No reprinting of training manuals
• No need to fly teams in for every change
• Always-current content keeps reps aligned and effective

XR training doesn’t just improve field team performance. It unlocks a new level of agility and consistency in how merchandising gets executed. For companies operating at scale, that translates into sharper campaigns, stronger retail partnerships, and more sales driven directly from the shelf.

Why It Matters Now?

With rising expectations at shelf level, labor shortages, and constant product rotations, the retail industry needs smarter tools to stay agile.

XR offers a powerful way to scale shelf merchandising excellence training teams in context, with clarity, and at speed. It removes the guesswork, standardizes execution, and turns training into a strategic asset.

This is not the future of merchandising. It’s what the most innovative brands are doing today.

The Bottom Line: Merchandising That Delivers

At Customertimes, we help CPG brands and retailers transform how they train merchandisers and field reps. With XR-based shelf merchandising modules, we enable organizations to deliver consistent, high-impact shelf execution at scale.

Because when the shelf is your battlefield, training your team like it’s the real thing is the real thing.

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