Gem — Grocery Retail Impact

About the Client

Gem is an Australian personal care brand known for elevated yet accessible products that blend thoughtful design, everyday function, and modern usability. As the business expanded into new categories and accelerated across channels, grocery became a major growth opportunity — and with it, the need for a stronger, more disruptive in-store presence.

The Challenge

As Gem prepared to scale in major grocery retailers, the brand faced several key hurdles:

• Winning attention at head office in highly competitive categories
• Standing out in crowded aisles dominated by established FMCG incumbents
• Securing meaningful secondary placement beyond standard shelf allocations
• Accelerating the sell-through of legacy SLOB inventory as new categories took off

Gem needed a strategy that could cut through quickly — while also improving the commercial health of the business by converting dormant stock into revenue and freeing up working capital.

GLOWPATH’s Role

GLOWPATH partnered closely with Gem across multiple initiatives to strengthen retailer relationships, maximise in-store impact, and support rapid growth across key grocery accounts.

From head office engagement to high-impact activations and scalable in-store execution, GLOWPATH helped Gem show up in a way that was bold, effective, and cost-conscious — while also developing retail moments designed to move SLOB inventory at scale, improving operational efficiency and cash flow.

Strategy Overview

Working within a fast-moving, high-growth business, GLOWPATH developed and executed a retail strategy centred around disruption, differentiation, and retailer value creation.

Key projects included:

• Coles + Woolworths Head Office Takeovers — showing up in a big way to drive alignment and excitement
• A redefined VM approach to create disruptive in-store moments, including never-before-seen Coles store takeovers
• High-impact event activations for Priceline and Chemist Warehouse
• End-to-end planning and production of Woolworths FSDUs across 400 stores nationally
• Atomica in-store takeover displays running for a full month

Each initiative was designed to deliver mutual value — increasing visibility, strengthening relationships, and unlocking commercial efficiency through strategic inventory sell-through.

Execution Details

GLOWPATH led the end-to-end execution across strategy, design, planning and rollout, including:

• Retail strategy and activation planning aligned to retailer priorities
• Concept development and visual merchandising direction
• Design and production management across multiple formats
• Retailer event planning and implementation
• National rollout coordination, logistics, and store execution
• Cost optimisation to maximise impact within budget
• Retail-led sell-through planning to support the movement of SLOB inventory

Results & Impact

• Secured first-of-their-kind head office takeovers at Coles and Woolworths
• Delivered a standout premium presence within Coles grocery environments
• Increased brand visibility through high-impact secondary placements across Coles and Woolworths
• Drove measurable sales uplift and stronger sell-through performance
• Enabled six-figure SLOB inventory movement, improving operational efficiency and cash flow
• Strengthened relationships with key retail partners through high-profile events, supporting future growth and expansion

Key Takeaway

Gem’s trade activation strategy demonstrates the power of combining strong retail storytelling with disciplined execution. By pairing JBPs with bold in-store experiences, GLOWPATH helped Gem cut through the noise, win retailer confidence, and accelerate performance in one of Australia’s most competitive retail channels.