Nine in ten grocery brand professionals lack reliable processes to prevent promotional production failures putting revenue at risk

AALST, Belgium: 2nd June 2026: Nearly nine in ten grocery brand professionals say they lack reliable processes to prevent promotional production failures, according to new research by creative automation specialist CHILI publish. At the same time, 71% report experiencing failures in the last two years, with most saying the impact is felt commercially, through missed revenue from the promotional window.

This points to a growing paradox at the heart of modern grocery marketing: despite high levels of campaign output designed to drive revenue, the industry is struggling to deliver it reliably, putting that growth at risk. The findings come from CHILI publish’s Brandwidth 2026 report, based on a survey of 256 grocery retail leaders across brand, marketing, operations and procurement directly involved in promotional production.

As campaign demands grow, grocery promotional production is becoming increasingly complex. Campaigns now span multiple markets, languages and formats, from weekly circulars and flyers to posters, shelf danglers, floor stickers, web banners and in-store LCD graphics, generating hundreds of asset variants against fixed deadlines. Nearly six in ten respondents say each campaign often requires between 50 and 200 formats or variants. More than half of respondents (54%) run between three and ten promotional campaigns per month, while a further 16% run more than ten.

That level of volume and complexity is putting significant strain on existing operating models. Approval cycles are a major constraint, with 40% identifying them as the biggest barrier to speed, while 36% report that late data and content is delaying campaign delivery. Tensions are also emerging between central brand consistency and the speed of local execution. 52% reveal that central teams have become bottlenecks that local teams work around, while more than half report inconsistent application of brand guidelines across markets and stores, highlighting growing challenges in maintaining control at scale.

As these pressures intensify, many organisations are relying on short-term fixes rather than systemic change. 43% say last-minute changes are absorbed through overtime or emergency agency support, increasing pressure on teams and introducing additional risk into already complex workflows.

This highlights a clear gap between the demands of modern campaign execution and the systems in place to support it, leaving teams exposed to ongoing failures. And the commercial impact is immediate. In a low-margin industry, even small production errors can have significant financial consequences. When promotional materials fail to launch, contain inaccuracies or are pulled from circulation, the effects are felt quickly through lost sales, missed footfall, compliance issues and, in some cases, strain on partner relationships.

Taken together, the findings suggest these failures are not isolated incidents but the result of complex, highly interdependent production processes involving multiple systems, manual handoffs and layered approvals. As campaign volumes remain high, the risk of breakdown across this chain increases, reinforcing the need for more connected and scalable approaches.

While the research spans multiple regions, the challenges appear consistent across markets, pointing to a structural issue rather than a localised one. Respondents report similar demands around campaign complexity, production bottlenecks and maintaining consistency at scale. Organisations are adopting different approaches in response, but the underlying tension between scale, speed and control remains unresolved.

Kevin Goeminne, CEO of CHILI publish, said: “Grocery retail is one of the most demanding production environments in marketing. Campaigns are complex, high-volume and time-sensitive, and they operate on very tight margins. What this research shows is that the systems behind those campaigns have not kept pace with the demands being placed on them.

The result is a clear paradox. The more campaigns teams produce to drive performance, the harder it becomes to deliver reliably, and when that breaks, the impact is immediate and commercial. The challenge now is not just producing more content, but ensuring it can be delivered consistently, accurately and without introducing risk. To do this, organisations need more connected and scalable production models that can keep pace with demand.”

For more insights into the state of creative operations in grocery retail, access the Brandwidth 2026 research report here.

About the Brandwidth 2026 research

The findings are based on CHILI publish’s Brandwidth 2026 report, which surveyed 256 Grocery Retail leaders across Brand, Marketing, Operations and Procurement directly involved in promotional production across organisations in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The research explores how grocery retailers plan, produce and deliver promotional campaigns across in-store, print and digital channels, with a focus on creative production processes, operational challenges and performance outcomes.