Mobile Data Collection in Retail and Its Surprising Real-Time Benefit

Mobile data collection apps have revolutionized the way retailers, CPG manufacturers, and sales and marketing companies perform merchandising and other activities at the point-of-sale.

Not that long ago, in order to perform and report in-store activities, field reps relied on the almost-anecdotal process comprised of paper and digital camera and then had to transcribe everything onto computers, sometimes long after completing the actual activity.

With a mobile data collection app, field reps can capture and synchronize answers, pictures and signatures on the spot, translating into more accurate information reaching management, faster.

Surprisingly, the real-time characteristic of mobile data collection apps has led to one additional benefit: Because the focus is no longer in the data collection itself, since it becomes second-nature on a mobile device, field reps can now shift their attention to customers and store managers.

This focus-shifting by-product of mobile data collection apps translates into better relationships with target audiences and decision-makers, with more meaningful information-gathering and, therefore, potentially increased sales and market share.

VisitBasis Mobile Data Collection App allows creating custom task templates for every in-store activity, from planogram checks to customer surveys, and helps you streamline your data collection so your field reps can increase their customer-facing time and be more productive. VisitBasis Mobile Data Collection App is available for both Android and Apple mobile devices, so field reps can keep their own devices and shorten the learning curve.

Sign-up today for a free trial of VisitBasis Mobile Data Collection App!

 

The Best-Kept Secret in Retail Mobile Data Collection

It is no secret that retail-related businesses capture massive amounts of information through field reps using mobile data collection software.

Mobile data collection software can help keep track of product and category availability, pricing, location, presentation, perception, and competition, among others. Therefore it is no surprise that this information is invaluable when it comes to planning and creating future marketing campaigns, and is proven to be decisive on a make-or-break scenario in an industry that deals with the slimmest of margins.

Recent developments in mobile data collection software, moreover, have brought retail mobile data collection to a new, higher level, where all information is interconnected and automatically accessible. It is now possible for a category manager in, let’s say, Cleveland, to know immediately that an out-of-stock of one of his/her products has been detected by a field rep in Paris, France.

State-of-the-art mobile data collection software makes it possible for automatic notifications of less-than-desirable retail situations that may negatively affect sales and, therefore, allows for an immediate action by stakeholders, with less time (and money) lost. Any retail-related business that still has not implemented a mobile data collection software solution should look immediately at the options available on the market.

Watch the below video to see how VisitBasis mobile data collection software sets up automatic alerts for specific retail tasks or locations:

Ready to try the benefits of mobile data collection software? Sign up today at www.visitbasis.com for a free trial, or book a free online demo and let us show you how it works.

Field Team Management Software to Organize Retail Data

Managing a team of field sales reps involves dealing with many people, at many different locations, bringing in a lot of information on many products. Field reps schedule, territory management, task execution, inventory levels, customer relationships, sales figures, and marketing data – it often looks like too many balls in the air.

The good news is that today with the development of mobile technology, Cloud storage and personal mobile devices, a field team manager can afford being more effective without spending much effort. The key step is to organize your sales data in one place, making it easy to access, manage, analyze, transfer and share. To find the right place for your corporate data, look for comprehensive field team management software solutions, which allow managing all the information on customers and products, monitoring of field reps, and field sales operations, organizing retail auditing, merchandising and field marketing activities, and analyzing various types of data to create automatic reports. The more comprehensive field team management solution you have, the more time you can save, when there is no need to constantly move from one data storage system to another.

In most of the companies corporate data is typically spread out over multiple channels, which means a field team manager has to constantly move from one system to another, without having a comprehensive picture of retail conditions. Besides, field team managers often spend a lot of time solving issues at points of sales that require their attention. Adding to these the need to regularly create reports on sales figures and field team performance, we can easily understand why field team managers have no time and enthusiasm to analyze retail data to get valuable insights for strategic decisions.

If you want to improve the efficiency of your field team management, look for all-in-one solutions that offer the following opportunities:

• Manage customers, products and mobile users
• Plan retail visits in bulk and in advance
• Create task templates for everything that needs to be checked
• Process product orders and returns
• Easily assign and re-assign territories between field reps
• Monitor field team activities live on the map
• Optimize field reps’ routes
• Communicate through built-in messenger if necessary
• Get real-time data as soon as it is collected
• Get GPS-confirmation of executed visits and tasks
• Analyze data, captured at points of sales via built-in analytic tools

Today there is great variety of field team management software solutions on the market, which makes difficult to find the one that best fits your company. To get from the software the exact features and opportunities you need, analyze your key business operations that your need to automate and different types of data you manage. Determining what has top priority for your business is the key to improving field team management efficiency by organizing your data in the most sophisticated way.

To try a comprehensive field team management software solution free of charge, sign up at www.visitbasis.com or book a free online demo to see how it works. Check out our previous articles to get more information about field team management.

3 Steps to Becoming an Effective Retail Field Manager

Top 4 Ways to Keep Your Sales Reps Engaged

Field Team Management Software Through the Eyes of Your Field Reps

Mobile Data Collection Software

Retail data collection is one of the most important business units in CPG and FMCGcompanies, since its main objective is to generate insights for marketing strategies.

Data collection automation refers to the use of technology to collect retail data in real time using wireless devices, tablets and smartphones, to capture data. All the data, collected at retail locations, is transferred immediately to back end systems through Wi-Fi, 3G or GPRS).

Retail data collection automation avoids manual double entry data errors, reduces time delays, and enhances field reps’ productivity. Availability of retail data in real time allows planning delivery schedules and reducing inventory levels, improving customer service, and a company’s bottom line.

An effective data collection solution needs to empower field reps with real-time access to corporate data (customer database, product catalog, retail locations info and history of previous retail visits), and mobile tools to quickly capture various types of data (photo reports, automated data entry, bas code scanner, electronic signature and task templates).

VisitBasis is a mobile data collection and field representative management software for businesses with field merchandising, field sales and store audits operations. VisitBasis is a complete data collection solution: It improves communication between the office and the field so outside reps can have everything they need to succeed, at their fingertips. VisitBasis mobile data collection software allows field operations managers to oversee all stages of the store audit, field merchandising and field sales processes, from assigning territories and scheduling visits/tasks to immediately retrieving results through VisitBasis online dashboard and reports. And there is no need to invest in new hardware since the VisitBasis data collection app works on most smartphones and tablets.

Create a free account today at www.visitbasis.com to learn more about mobile store data collection! Start your own data collection automation campaign just after the registration! You can also schedule a free online demo here to see for yourself how it works.

Retail Data Collection Outsourcing: The Pros And Cons Of Delegation

Retail data collection, including merchandising audits, customer survey and competitor analysis, are also among the activities that are often being outsourced. On the one hand, when outsourcing retail data collection activities, a company can concentrate on manufacturing and distribution. On the other hand, using a third party for retail data collection may impact company’s bottom line due to the lack of control. Check out pros and cons of retail data collection outsourcing to choose which is better for your company: in-house or a third party retail data collection.

When Retail Data Collection Activities Are Outsourced You Can

• Receive professional approach to retail data collection
• Reduce costs due to economies of scale
• Concentrate on critically important aspects of your business
• Get broad coverage of retail locations

Retail data collection outsourcing may have the following disadvantages:

• Formal attitude to the work that has to be done
• Loosing some important part of retail data
• Lack of control of retail data collection activities
• Big time gaps between the data being collected and reported

In general, when you hire a third party to perform retail data collection for your company, you run the risk of poor customer service, lower levels of brand loyalty and drop in sales due to weak control of data collection activities and lack of cooperation between your management and a third party field team.

Today there is a great option to reduce the costs of in-house retail data collection, which consists in adopting of retail data collection software. Software vendors offer comprehensive retail execution solutions, to automate store data collection, so every company can afford in-house merchandising audits, surveys, compliance checks, getting broad coverage of retail locations and real-time data from points of sale.

VisitBasis is up-to-date mobile data collection software that requires almost no time and resources to implement. After registration at www.visitbasis.com you get free access to our data collection software and will be able to organize your first automated data collection activity in 15-20 minutes. You will not incur any costs to hardware or training – VisitBasis Data Collection App works from browser (for office managers) and can be downloaded for free on Google Play and App Store (for merchandisers). Your team members can use their own mobile devices to perform data collection activities and you don’t have to invest in training, as VisitBasis Data Collection App is intuitive and user-friendly.

Schedule a free online demo today, or find demo videos on our YouTube channel to see how it works.

The Benefits of Paperless Field Data Collection

There are many advantages that mobile data collection has over paper forms. For field reps, who are permanently on the go, having mobile tools for paperless data collection means real-time access to corporate data from anywhere and streamlined data workflow.

In order to get access to the digital methods of store data collection a company has to purchase some kind of data collection software solution. It usually consists of a Web application and a mobile app, allowing your field reps to collect store data using their tablets and smartphones and your office managers to monitor and analyze field team activities using web-based dashboards and reports. Empowered with a mobile data collection solution for tablets and smartphones, your field reps are able to:

• Simplify task performance.
• Increase the speed of data collection.
• Minimize data-entry mistakes.
• Eliminate after-hour reporting.

The VisitBasis store data collection solution allows field reps transmit store data to the office while being in the field. The transmitted data is instantly visible to the management and available for analysis to provide data-driven decision-making. The solution has a simple user-friendly interface that allows field reps to collect data accurately and efficiently as well as to perform tasks planned by their managers.

Since VisitBasis mobile data collection platform is a Google Cloud implementation it has the capability to unify business operations on a global scale. Providing the best service availability for companies that are multinational and run in different countries and time zones, VisitBasis data collection software provide a centralized view of all operations in the field worldwide.

See VisitBasis in action now! Just register account at www.visitbasis.com and get your free access to our powerful data collection software.

To get more information, read our previous articles on paperless data collection or check out our Guide for Paperless Data Collection. 

Key Benefits of Data Collection Software

How to Improve your Bottom Line with BYOD Field Data Collection

How to Reduce Cost of Going Paperless

Offline Mode Slashes Costs of Mobile Data Collection

How to Reduce Cost of Data Collection Software

Unlike traditional paper-based approach that is time consuming and subject to data-entry errors, mobile data collection software provides accurate and efficient data transfer directly from your workforce into your workflow. Due to mobile data collection software all the information from the field is uploaded as it is collected to corporate database, which eliminates the time wasted from using paper forms and streamlines your data collection processes.

Most of the companies opt for SaaS solutions for paperless data collection to avoid the extra costs of server hardware and IT support. Even so there are at least two things to be considered when deciding to go paperless: the cost of software itself and the cost of hardware. Here you’ll find the best ways to reduce costs of going paperless:

• Opt for a SaaS data collection solution to avoid the extra costs of server and IT support
• Implement BYOD allowing employees to use their own tablets and smartphones for task performance to eliminate hardware costs and save time and money on staff training
• Choose Cloud data collection software to cut data storage costs and get the best service availability
• Open up pay-as-you-go pricing to only pay for what you use, to reduce software expenses, and to start your data collection automation at no risk.

Mobile data collection forms help to improve the accuracy of data collection process, reduce data-entry errors, and instantly aggregate the data collected. Paperless data collection eliminates the time wasted from using paper forms and streamlines your data collection processes. Data collection automation allows companies to improve productivity of field reps that immediately increases the overall efficiency of an organization.

Data collection automation software grants your field reps the ability to capture data anytime and anywhere using their own mobile devices. Besides your office managers using automated data collection system are able to process large amounts of data by pushing a single button. Data collection automation eliminates manual data entry, saving time and lowering the rate of errors, increasing efficiency and revenue.

www.visitbasis.com

Please, watch the demo videos to see for yourself how automated data collection solution can help to improve your field team performance.

Retail execution and mobile data collection app

Field merchandising software.

Improving Your Bottom Line with BYOD Retail Data Collection

Today you can completely eliminate paper forms by implementing a retail data collection software solution. Automated data collection allows companies to reduce the cost of its operations by cutting the amount of paper used in the field and large number of staff and office space required to handle that paper.

Of course, if a company decides to develop its own software solution for retail data collection, and to specifically provide its field reps portable mobile devices so they can go paperless, it can quickly get very expensive. The cost of a software development varies greatly depending on the needs and opportunities of a company. Usually it works for large companies that are able to invest in new technologies to obtain competitive advantages and to be up-to-date.

Therefore most of the companies opt for SaaS solutions for retail data collection to avoid the extra costs of server hardware and IT support. Even so there are some things to be considered when deciding to go paperless. Although up-to-data data collection software provides the ability to capture data offline, your field reps still need Internet connection to synchronize and share the information. Corporate business plans for 10 lines start at $90/month for 20GB shared data. Adding unlimited talks and text we get $240 – $440 per month, and $2280 – $5280 per year. Assuming that field reps also need the devices to store mobile forms and collect data we may think that the idea of going paperless is not cost-effective at all.

Fortunately the advanced software solutions for data collection offer BYOD implementation to reduce communication costs and to completely eliminate the cost of hardware. Instead of the company purchasing tablets and smartphones, the employee uses their own devices to perform data collection. Besides saving on hardware, you save time and money on staff training and your field reps can be more effective using devices they already get used to.

Data collection software implementation allows companies to improve the accuracy of data collection process and to reduce data-entry errors that immediately increases the overall efficiency of an organization. VisitBasis retail data collection software is extremely easy to deploy and deal with. And you can do it completely free. To automate you retail data collection activities with VisitBasis just register free account at www.visitbasis.com, then download free VisitBasis Retail Execution App on Google Play or App Store and start working.

 You can also watch the demo videos to see for yourself how automated data collection solution can help to improve your field team performance. 

Field force automation solutions.

Retail audit software.

Automated Data Collection Solution

Retail data collection software can help to increase the efficiency of retail operations and improve field reps productivity. Here are the key benefits of retail data collection software, that some of the most experienced and sophisticated retailers adopt to become more efficient both in the field and in the back-office.

When collecting retail data great number of companies relies on traditional paper-based forms and general-purpose software like MS Word and MS Excel, Google Docs, Notes and etc. They also use traditional ways of communication with field reps – paper reports, phone calls, SMS, and email messages. At first glance it may seem economical and cost-effective, but as a matter of fact it can really be costly in terms of time expenses and low productivity.

Therefore some of the most experienced and sophisticated retailers opt for paperless data collection to reduce costs and become more efficient both in the field and in the back-office. In this article we’ll consider in what ways paperless data collection can improve the bottom line of the company and increase the efficiency of field force management.

1. Timely and accurate data. Through GPS-technology, track your field reps positioning and activities live on the map. See all the retail data as soon as it is collected with activity dashboards and reports. Every mobile activity is GPS and time-stamped. Fraudulent check-ins become easy to detect and dealt with.
2. Sophisticated data harmonization and aggregation. Using retail data collection software you can instantly aggregate store data, anytime get exact data you need due to analytic capabilities and data filters, provide role-based access to information, and easily integrate retail data to your corporate database.
3. Streamlined retail data workflow. Retail data collection software allows you to coordinate all the stages of your data collection operations to improve your retail management and enhance the productivity of your field reps. Using retail data collection software you can easily organize the schedule of visits for any period of time and improve your field team bottom-line by reducing their time traveling to appointments, planning routes and accessing information.
4. Less time spent on data entry. Retail data collection forms are faster than paper forms due automated task templates, drop down lists, bar-code scanner, search boxes and built-in photo-reports. Besides, field reps, who use a retail data collection app, don’t have to visit the office to provide a report. All the data collected in stores is automatically synced with the corporate database.
5. Eliminate hardware costs. Top retail data collection software solutions work on newer mobile platforms such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, which enables BYOD policy implementation. Use BYOD policy to leverage common tablets and smartphones in the field so your field reps can bring their own devices and be more effective. Field team members will save time on training by using the devices that they already know and you save on hardware costs.

www.visitbasis.com

You can also watch the demo videos to see for yourself how automated data collection solution can help to improve your field team performance.

Retail data collection.

Mobile data collection software.

Field Data Collection Automation

Automated data collection allows companies to reduce the cost of its operations by cutting the amount of paper used in the field and large number of staff and office space required to handle that paper. Using a retail data collection solution for tablets and smartphones can help to completely automate data collection, data capture and data processing operations.

When implementing data collection automation you are able to:

• Eliminate paper forms and spreadsheets
• Get real-time data back in the office as soon as it’s collected
• Make changes to the schedule and tasks of field reps in real time
• Increase the efficiency and the accuracy of field data collection
• Integrate the data to your corporate database

Field data collection automation software grants your field reps the ability to capture data anytime and anywhere using their own mobile devices. Besides your office managers using automated data collection system are able to process large amounts of data by pushing a single button. Data collection automation eliminates manual data entry, saving time and lowering the rate of errors.

Data collection automation empowers your field reps with all the variety of tools and information to perform data collection tasks, and gives them ability to access and update data from anywhere. This enhances field reps productivity and allows you to use your field force for more rewarding work.

To get you data collection software solution completely free, just register at www.visitbasis.com or request a demo to learn more about how it works.

You can also watch the demo videos to see for yourself how automated data collection solution can help to improve your field team performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgCcSLMuVrk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZWt3oVNgmU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4aYzfRH0kM