Social distancing measures have generated disruptions in retail inventory and replenishment so it has become increasingly difficult for CPG merchandising and category managers to know whether their products are being properly stocked.
On top of that, store personnel is overwhelmed and under stress, so empty shelves tend to go unnoticed for longer periods of time.
Reduce out-of-stocks
Having a retail execution platform on hand can make a significant difference in reducing out-of-stocks at stores: By implementing a retail audit software solution, managers at CPG companies can schedule frequent recurring store visits and keep a close eye on stock levels. This would be unthinkable with traditional pen-and-paper audits since the volume of data to be transcribed would create a time lag between data collection and reporting that potentially delays any effective action.
Cover more stores
Another advantage of implementing a retail execution platform during social distancing times is that one rep or merchandiser can cover a larger number of stores. After all, retail audit software reduces the duration of visits as it runs as an app on mobile devices and offers productivity features such as filtering and searching through the sometimes hundreds of SKUs when answering questionnaires.
More benefits
In addition to that, mobile location services allow not only for route optimization but also for GPS verification of visits, assuring management that the audits were performed at the correct store.
Would you like to learn more about VisitBasis retail execution platform and how it can benefit your business?
