In-Store Retail Data Capture Software: What It Is and How to Use It In today’s competitive retail landscape, businesses need to have access to accurate and up-to-date data in order to make informed decisions about everything from product placement to pricing. In-store retail data capture software can help businesses collect and analyze this data in …
A field marketing system allows reps, store personnel, and retail auditors to capture data on their smartphones and tablets. The information is then stored in the Cloud, where managers can run reports and follow in real time what is going on with their brands or territories.
Holidays, as a shopping-intensive season, are prime time for retail and, with the competition from online alternatives, in-store presentation of products must be at its best so shoppers are enticed to stay and spend at the store. But how can marketing and merchandising managers know that the holiday displays they developed are being consistently implemented and remain in good condition even after weeks of intensive use?
In supermarkets, convenience stores, drugstores, etc., competing products can be side-by-side on a shelf. Therefore, for the consumer, it becomes easy to differentiate and the alternative to the original product choice is readily available, just inches away. This is why in retail, more than in any other industry, it is of utmost importance to know what your competitors are doing at the points-of-sale.
Platforms for auditing in store have become a must-have for category managers. Not only are they a key data collection instrument when reviewing and assessing category performance but these apps also assist in implementing category plans. But how can a platform for auditing in store be used in gathering shopper insights so these can be incorporated into category strategy reviews?
Merchandising activities are traditionally natural resource intensive, from the piles of paper necessary to perform numerous daily audits to the amount of fuel used by reps in their daily routes.
Smartphone use during working hours is frowned upon in most businesses, especially when it involves outside contractors or field staff – such as merchandisers and marketing reps – or, even worse, store employees.
Big data is the word “du jour”. While being able to analyze large amounts of data and detect patterns, trends, and associations from such analysis might be beneficial for retail businesses, small manufacturers, distributors, and channels might feel like they are left out, since the cost of implementing Big Data can be prohibitive. However, recent cloud-based technology means software for retail execution has become easier – and more affordable – to subscribe and implement, opening the door of Big Data to small businesses.
Mobile technology revolutionized many industries and retail is no exception. Working with an in store audit system is now a welcome reality for sales and marketing agencies, retailers, and manufacturers alike, since they streamline an old-fashioned, cumbersome process.
New advances in artificial intelligence have given rise to much-needed image recognition technology for in store audit apps, which allows quantifiable data to be extracted from pictures.
