Winning the Shelf: How Retail Execution Software Can Help You Succeed

It’s no secret that it’s getting harder and harder to succeed in retail. Putting aside the obvious threat of online shopping, there are challenges within the shops themselves. The number of products is increasing but shelf space is shrinking, thanks to smaller retail formats.

As a result, sales staff are faced with complex merchandising decisions leaving shelves cluttered and promotions incorrectly executed.

As a brand or wholesaler, how can you ensure your products are merchandised correctly and it’s not your products getting left on the shelf? Retail execution software can be used to manage inventory, displays, product placement and more.

Brand Visibility: Know the Whereabouts of Your Products on the Shelves

Do you feel like you spent months bringing your products to market, but as soon as they arrive in store, you lose visibility and control? You’re not alone. Only 20% of brands or wholesalers feel they are in control of how their products are displayed.

Retailers are focused on making their store profitable and quite rightly so but it doesn’t always mean they are putting your brand where you want it to be. If you are a brand, wholesaler or distributor you need access to accurate date and intel on your products performance and also where on the shelf you should be. Mobile Merchandising software can help with both of these.

The answer is providing real-time insights to brands and wholesalers about what’s happening in the field, so they can make changes quickly and efficiently.

Retail execution software – Collect All Relevant Data

The key benefit of retail execution software is your sales rep can access and share all the data you need to monitor your product on the shelves. The information it gives you includes:

Data on each retail outlet

Are you selling to a Mom & Pop store, a supermarket or Big Box store? Where is it located? A mall or on the Main Street? This data is often overlooked but can provide important information about how to merchandise your products. When viewed in context with sales and other sources this data can help identify retail execution issues.

Point-of-sales analytics

There are huge advantages to be gained from brands and retailers both looking at the same sell through data, especially when it comes to inventory levels. You both want to make sure your best-selling items never run out in-store. Now, your sales reps have the tool to monitor inventory levels and take new orders on a mobile sales app, so you know your products will always be available for sale, and your retailers aren’t left with empty shelf space.

On-the-ground data

Real-time ground data tells you about the factors that fluctuate between sales rep visits, which can have a major impact on sales. Information sales reps can gather includes the location of the product in the store or on the shelf, where the signage and displays are placed and more.

Because the software is located on your sales reps’ mobile device, it’s simple to use the built-in camera to take photos which can be quickly sent back to you for a visual confirmation of retail compliance. It’s easier than taking a selfie.

External data

There is a range of external date that can be recorded and used for analysis. Sales reps can note down footfall for each store, shopper demographics, online store reviews, and more. All this data can be used for future analysis to help promote your products better.

Using retail execution software to combine all the above data will put you in the very best position to develop action plans to remedy retail execution issues today, but also to plan for higher sales tomorrow.