Every morning at supermarkets, field force agents walk around the stores with their tablets, checking inventory and placing orders for low-stock products. These people are called presellers, who play a major role in generating demand and forecasting sales even before selling.

As a consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturer, there are several strategies you should consider to boost sales. Pre-selling can be an exciting option for some businesses, especially for those short-lived products. However, its effectiveness may vary depending on your specific circumstances. Here are some common features to incorporate into your field force automation software to help boost sales as a CPG manufacturer:

1. Marketing and Advertising

Invest in targeted marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness and reach your target audience. Using various channels such as social media, online ads, television, radio, and print media to promote your products effectively is a great idea to increase reach amongst the final consumers. However, as a manufacturer, you must focus on increasing brand awareness amongst distributors and retail outlets who can help boost your sales. A channel within your field force application will help you reach your biggest salespersons with a single click.

2. Product Packaging and Design

Enhance your product packaging and design to attract consumers’ attention and create a positive brand image. Eye-catching packaging can help differentiate your products on store shelves and increase their appeal. Revamping product packaging without the right publicity and social media awareness is a sure shot to failure. Having in-built marketing modules will help achieve promotions easily.

3. Product Placement on Aisles

Work closely with retailers to secure prominent shelf space and end-cap displays. Ensure your products are positioned strategically within stores, making them easily accessible and visible to customers. Key factors like eye-level placement and centrally allocated shelf space are essential for brands. Customers can see and pick up the products faster from the aisles, boosting sales.

4. Pricing Strategies and Promotions

Evaluate your pricing strategy to remain competitive in the market. Consider offering discounts, coupons, loyalty programs, or bundled offers to incentivize purchases and attract new customers. Above all, maintaining relatively similar pricing with competitors helps your customers to choose your brand over competitors by considering more relevant features and offerings.

5. Online Presence and E-commerce

Establish a strong online presence through an engaging website and active social media channels. Embrace e-commerce by selling your products through your online store or partnering with established e-commerce platforms. Having DMS Software integrate the inventories from different channels will prevent out-of-stock situations, enhancing sales capabilities.

6. Data-driven Insights

Leverage data analytics to gain insights into customer behaviour, market trends, and preferences. Use these insights to tailor your marketing strategies and product offerings for maximum impact. Having an in-built data-driven technology will help provide real-time insights that work in aiding organizations to make better decisions.

Perks to pre-selling

Pre-selling allows you to generate revenue and gauge customer interest before the official product launch. However, it requires careful planning and execution. You must communicate the value proposition effectively, offer incentives to early adopters, and ensure a seamless product delivery process. Pre-selling is particularly suitable for highly anticipated products, limited editions, or products with loyal customer bases. Consider your target market, product type, and overall marketing strategy to determine if pre-selling aligns with your business goals and customer expectations.

Pre-sellers can be a great business phenomenon for increasing sales of consumer goods categories for several reasons:

1. Generating Buzz and Anticipation

Pre-selling creates excitement and anticipation among consumers. You can generate buzz and build hype around your products by allowing customers to purchase products before launch. This heightened interest can translate into increased sales once the product becomes available. Manufacturers can seamlessly promote their newest products to distributors and retail stores using features like digital content.

2. Cash Flow and Revenue Generation

Pre-selling enables you to generate a pipeline of revenue and cash flow before the actual product launch. This prediction helps you analyze different overhead costs, production costs, marketing expenses, and other operational needs effectively. Since most CPG companies works on credit schemes, it doesn’t necessarily mean advance revenue.

3. Demand Forecasting and Inventory Management

Pre-selling provides valuable insights into the demand for your consumer goods products. By monitoring pre-sales numbers, you can estimate the expected demand and adjust your production and inventory levels accordingly. Thereby helping optimize inventory management and reducing the risk of overstocking or understocking. It helps CPG companies save on revenue and overhead expenses.

4. Customer Engagement and Loyalty

Pre-selling offers an opportunity to engage with your customers directly. You can build loyalty and connection by involving them in the product launch process. Customers who participate in pre-selling may feel a sense of ownership and become more likely to advocate for the product, driving further sales through word-of-mouth marketing. It forecasts how your product will perform in the market amongst customers.

While pre-selling can be a powerful strategy, planning and executing is tedious but essential for it to work. For CPG companies looking to expand their product line, this is a sure-shot way to push sales via distributors and retail stores who already know and trust their brands.

If your CPG company wants to enhance or expand your pre-sales capabilities, consider talking to our sales team. Book a Demo to see our capabilities in real-time.