As a CPG manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or merchandising agency, what retail execution challenges are on the top of your list? How do you plan to address them? According to a POI report on Retail Execution for global consumer goods, 81 percent of companies are unsatisfied with their retail execution implementation. The number implies that organizations have unaddressed challenges and difficulties meeting their Retail Execution goals.

How to tackle the situation?

An effective retail execution solution is the answer. The solution can increase the efficiency of your retail operations and improve the productivity of your sales reps. A simple and powerful interface can gather data directly from sales reps and the mobile devices of merchandisers. Activities from the start of the day to the end instantly sync to your system. Managers receive real-time insight into what is happening in the field. In short – you need a retail execution solution to carry out the activities for in-store execution to achieve a perfect store every time.

What are the Must-have Components of a Retail Execution Solution?

1. Real-time Analytics

The vast range of retail data from the field poses challenges to real-time data processing. However, a unified data analysis feature can encompass many data types within Retail Execution. An efficient data tool delivers real-time analytics to view, analyze and garner insights. It also includes data from the real-time monitoring of brand distribution and purchase trends by channel or by market. When your data is structured, your teams can automatically track all your business metrics on one screen, conduct competitor analysis, and get a competitive advantage.

2. Revamping the Point of Purchase Display Strategy

If Point of Sale Materials (POSM) do not have optimum placements, they tend to be ineffective. Your merchandisers have to diligently carry out a POSM Check with targets against their actual value to confirm proper or inadequate utilization of POSM in a store. When combined with the Promotion Monitoring feature, the solution can assist merchandisers or sellers with promotion execution and comparing them against competitors.

3. Implement Best Practices in Share of Shelf

Optimizing the Share of Shelf secures visibility and on-shelf availability of products every time. Image Recognition (IR) can transform your in-store shelf management and help to achieve a Perfect Store. Modern IR technology with an intelligent color-coded grid feature helps merchandisers analyze the position of the products on the shelves with ease.

4. Reconciling Disparities and Preventing Stockouts

The most visible Out of Stock (OOS) occurrences or OOS of bestseller items hurt the most and can damage your chance at recurring sales in the future. Avoid this situation by extending a unified solution to your sales reps and merchandisers and having mobile sales built-in. They can quickly perform stock checks in the field and place replenishment orders.

If the solution has an Order Recommendations feature that provides sales guidance to your merchandiser in replenishing the shelves and avoiding stockouts, nothing like it. AI-enabled solutions can analyze the previous purchase patterns to put forward better order recommendations to fill the shelves. With the right tools and just a little planning, your merchandisers can proactively avoid out-of-stocks, accurately predict product demand and ultimately – ensure customer satisfaction.

5. Drive-up Store Sales

The retail execution solution must include a 360-degree view of customers, where they can see past orders, assets assigned, invoices, and more. Built-in intelligence available in the solution can help your merchandisers with Must Stock List, Next Best SKU, and other recommendations. Extend the opportunity to cross-sell and upsell, and increase sales and efficiency with a Retail Execution Solution with all the latest features and technology.

Final note

If you don’t constantly adapt your business to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of retail execution, you will fall behind. So, consider investing in a solution that combines execution capabilities with other key data points to enhance your audit and business processes, and improve your topline.

Explore Ivy Retail Execution solution that works with an intelligent Route-to-Market platform and automates business processes to improve field rep productivity and drive more sales. With best-in-class image recognition, augmented reality, and a recommendation engine, empower your merchandisers to deliver a perfect store every time.

Book a demo with us today.