Measures of an Effective Recall

By Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink

Key takeaways

• No industry standard exists yet for recall effectiveness. Until the Alliance for Recall Ready Communities finishes its benchmark, brands need their own metrics across five categories: decision-making, communication, product removal, sentiment, and documentation.
• Decision speed and communication speed are key. The time to identify an issue, decide to recall, and notify trading partners determines how much compromised product stays in circulation and how much exposure the brand absorbs.
• Documentation is a compliance requirement, not an afterthought. Regulators, insurers, and leadership need timestamped records of communication, removal, and disposition, and that trail has to be built during the recall, not reconstructed after.

Ineffective recalls put consumers at risk, expose companies to reputational and financial damage, and erode trust with trading partners. Effective, well-managed recalls minimize that damage, but knowing whether a recall was effective requires advance work to define what success looks like. A clear framework for measuring recall effectiveness gives companies a plan that points them in the right direction, objectives to execute against, and a way to assess how well they protected public health and their brand when it’s over.

Currently, there’s no shared standard to measure recall effectiveness, although the Alliance for Recall Ready Communities is working to create an objective benchmark and common language to define success. In the meantime, it’s up to companies to set metrics for recall effectiveness. These should include the following.

Decision-making

Making quick, confident recall decisions helps companies minimize damage. Proper decision-making reduces the time that compromised items remain in supply and limits the amount of product that reaches consumers. Before a recall, identify the decision-makers and define their decision-making criteria to set the team up for success. Then, track these metrics to measure decision-making effectiveness:

• The time it took to identify the issue and mobilize the recall team
• The time from issue identification to recall decision
• The accuracy of the initial scope

When companies make swift, informed decisions based on best practice protocols, it demonstrates that the brand is working actively to protect public health.

Communication

Slow, unclear, or unconfirmed notifications mean trading partners and consumers may not understand what to do, causing affected product to stay in circulation longer. To set your team up for success, build a communication plan that ensures you can deliver accurate messages through multiple delivery channels to maximize reach. Implement systems that make contact data easy to access and use. Similarly, utilize systems that allow you to track deliverability, open rates, and responses. Then, track these communication metrics:

• The time it took to pull customer info/shipping records and product data
• The time from the recall decision to sending notifications
• The deliverability, open, and acknowledgment rates of notifications
• The rate of follow-up questions from trading partners
• B2C reach to ensure that messages effectively reached consumers through social media, media outreach, in-store signage, loyalty program pushes, and other communication efforts

Product removal

The most important part of a recall is getting product out of supply. Track these metrics to determine how effectively product was pulled:

• Quantity of product in distribution
• Product removal from point of sale, response rate, and time to completion
• In-scope vs. out-of-scope product removal 

Before a recall, establish removal confirmation requirements with trading partners. Consider using tech tools to automate notifications, responses, and reporting. Product removal verification must be a clearly defined process and a non-negotiable in your recall plan.

Consumer and public sentiment

Public perception of a recall is a legitimate indicator of effectiveness. Poorly managed recalls often spark negative consumer sentiment, frustration, and sometimes even outrage. Alternatively, a recall handled with speed and clarity typically generates less sustained negative attention, and can even increase trust with consumers and trading partners.

Although not often considered as part of a recall process, there are ways to track social media and press sentiment, the volume and tone of consumer complaints, and the recall’s impact on consumer trust and brand perception. Before a recall, determine who’s responsible for monitoring and responding to public sentiment, including social media comments. Include your learnings in post-recall effectiveness conversations.  

Documentation and resolution

Clean documentation is a compliance requirement. Regulators, insurers, and company leadership will need this documentation when the event is over. It also provides a valuable record of how the recall was managed, and will guide discussions during post-event debriefs. Track:

• Communication records: notification and confirmation with timestamps
• Product removal records: accurate disposition and quantification
• The time it took to assemble/pull reports

Confirming the documentation your regulatory contacts and insurance carrier require, and building these documentation requirements into your recall process, will make it easier to meet compliance requirements and close out the recall effectively.

Being recall ready means that companies have a plan, have practiced with trading partners, and are prepared to act swiftly and confidently. It also means that companies have metrics in place to track the success of their actions, decisions, communication, and reporting. Having proper plans, frameworks, and tech solutions in place before an incident occurs is essential to managing recalls effectively, to protect public health and brand reputation.

Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink, is one of the world’s foremost experts on recalls, with experience that spans the retail, tech, data, regulatory, and supply chain. Recall InfoLink, makes recalls faster, easier, and more accurate across the supply chain to protect consumers and brands. As the only company focused entirely on recalls, Recall InfoLink’s solutions drive immediate action, streamline the recall process, and simplify compliance. Roger is also a steering committee member of the Alliance for Recall Ready Communities.