Field marketing and retail merchandising are complex sciences. They both rely on data from a large number of geographically dispersed stores and, therefore, also rely on the large number of people collecting such data.
However, many retail-focused businesses – CPG manufacturers, distributors, and BTL agencies – are still dispatching reps and using the traditional pen-and-paper method of collecting data.
While dispatching reps will still be a reality, there is one way out of the cumbersome and time-consuming pen-and-paper: Mobile field marketing technology, which grants several competitive advantages to the businesses that adopt it, among them the following:
Improved brand consistency
Mobile field marketing software makes it possible to capture images and customize checklists and forms. It also allows creating tasks that are set up by the office, as well as ad-hoc tasks that reps can assign themselves, such as in the case of out-of-stocks or damaged products.
With these features in hand, merchandising and brand management can make sure that their strategies are being properly implemented.
GPS verification of store visits
One of the most common issues that merchandising teams face is, unfortunately, the number of fraudulent visits. Some of the mobile field marketing technology solutions available in the market provide GPS verification of visits, increasing accountability as well as data accuracy and brand compliance.
Real-time access to data
The lag time between data collection and running reports can be significantly delayed by the data transcription necessary to the traditional pen-and-paper audits. With a Cloud-based mobile field marketing solution, managers at the office can access data as soon as reps finish their visits and synchronize their devices, leading to faster and more effective decision-making.
Want to know how to implement mobile merchandising technology for your business?
