To improve the visibility, quality, and serviceability of their products, CPG companies invest in placing different types of assets in the store. By investing in these assets, companies aim to gain market share and improve the quality of their products and to keep them fresh at the time of purchase. But while it is an important channel to look after, it is hard to track the assets.
One of the biggest challenges CPG companies face is to streamline sales and manage and track assets once they have been placed at the store. They rely on their field force to audit the assets at the store but most sales teams still run inefficient and manual processes and get a little lost in their day-to-day activities, such as:
Manual processes are prone to errors and delays and can hamper offtake, quality of product, and customer perception. While an asset’s productivity and serviceability can be improved by planning its upkeep for seasons and markets but it also depends on nuances like how it is placed in the store.
Asset management automation is vital to ensure the right assets are in the right place and to decrease their downtime. First, the placement of the assets needs to be in the right market and at the right store. This needs analysis of the potential of the geography and an understanding of the footfall at the store to ensure the effectiveness of the assets.
Secondly, once the assets are installed, the companies need to track them regularly. This is usually done by sales officers who audit the stores during their market visits and report back the health of the asset. This part of the process can get tedious, and manual and can be solved with a flexible system in place which can solve the different nuances of asset tracking –
Track assets by capturing photos & geolocation
Capture photos of the assets and store them in a secure database. Automatically provide information such as date, shoot, location, and other useful metadata.
QR & Barcode validation of asset
Companies can choose to get the presence/health of the asset validated by QR or barcode validation (or serial order tracking) to ensure that the asset tracking is accurate. When this is combined with geo-fencing (where the validation can happen within a certain distance from the store) to make the validation more powerful. This ensures that theft or change in the placement of the asset is identified quickly.
Capture information through dynamic forms
There are different types of assets and companies may require certain flexible forms to know if the asset placed is being used judiciously. This may include dynamic forms to track nuances of the assets like capturing security details of the asset, visibility or placement of the asset in the outlet, and the maintenance of the asset. Companies would like their field force to look at certain qualitative aspects of the asset to be assured that their investment is implemented correctly.
Asset dashboard
Look for KPIs like asset density in the market, track downtime at the asset level, fill rate, and overall effectiveness on offtake with and without the assets in the market. The dashboard can also give the managers a birds-eye view of the tasks assigned to service/replace/improve the assets making it easier for them to track the health of their investment
A smart automated SSFA platform makes it easy to keep track of all your assets, provide reports on how they’re used and ensure they’re getting the attention they deserve. Botree’s SSFA has can help manage, track and leverage brand assets, with QR code validation, geolocated photo verification and comprehensive dashboard support.
