High rep turnover in merchandising field teams is seen as a chronic, inevitable situation in the industry. Reps come and go due to many reasons that can include unreasonable expectations concerning hours and amount of work, lack of experience, poor performance, fraudulent check-ins and reports, among others.
Supervising outside staff and field reps is one of the hardest parts of a manager’s job description, just because there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the activities being performed by the team members throughout the day. That is the main reason many companies are implementing solutions for field marketing. Through mobile technology, smartphones and tablets have become an essential tool for outside teams. But what are the main benefits of a solution for field marketing?
Most retail manufacturers, distributors, and agencies have adopted digital tools for merchandisers to perform in-store activities. The advantages are clear, from having all data in digital format from the moment it is captured to the ease of scheduling and planning in-store tasks for reps.
Calculating retail merchandising metrics such as product, category, and store KPIs is an essential part of many businesses, from large CPG companies to supermarket and drugstore chains. However, collecting the source data beyond what is supplied by cash registers can be incredibly complex, since it might involve ground teams with dozens or even hundreds of people.
