By Carl E. Rosen, Shelter Rock International
Is your brand truly prepared to grab maximum market share this holiday shopping season? Several retail brands are already employing a robust mobile data collection platform to give them the information they need to hone their go-to-market strategy in early Q4. In the past, we would have to wait until after the holidays to understand whether our retail execution was optimal during this pivotal sales season.
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Any executive at a consumer goods company will tell you that the time between Thanksgiving and the end of December is vital to success. More than 20% of total annual retail sales take place during this time period and sales are expected to rise 4% over last year’s $600 billion spent by American consumers on holiday shopping.
With this crucial sales period taking place during such a short time period, it is critical that brands prepare, forecast and plan appropriately for shifting market conditions to realize the largest sales gains during this busy season. Mobile data collection can now help brands to perfect their retail strategy well in advance of Black Friday and more importantly help them quickly make adjustments, if necessary.
Mobile data collection transmits data and photos in real time from field teams to decision makers and provides precise depictions of the dynamic retail landscape. By automatically aggregating and streamlining data on the backend, this software grants sophisticated high-level views of the field. Imagine getting an instant understanding of merchandising, pricing and competition in the market prior to the holiday season. That type of information allows brands to execute, validate and quickly change course as needed to ensure success at the end of the year.
According to an In-Store Implementation Sharegroup report, $10 billion to 15 billion in food, drug and mass merchandising annual sales is lost due to non-compliance involving displays, promotions and product placements. This type of poor retail execution can sink a brand, particularly during the holiday sales season.
A robust mobile data collection application with real-time capabilities and a streamlined design supported by rich media enhancements can boost productivity, improve retail strategy, and ultimately increase sales. By using a GPS-based app, brands see a huge boost in efficiency versus traditional methods like handwritten notes, spreadsheets and emailed photos. This productivity spike allows for more store visits in a given day because antiquated, inefficient data collection tactics no longer burden field teams. Not taking advantage of the technology on the table is akin to leaving money on the table. A responsible business owner shouldn’t leave something like data collection open to human error.
With structured data flowing in from the field in real time, decision makers are able to understand what’s happening in market as it happens. The data is presented in an easy-to-digest format complete with infographics and photos to give management what they need to improve their retail strategy. Leading outdoor brand, Gerber Gear, uses mobile data collection to enhance their go-to-market strategy. Gerber Gear estimates that mobile data collection enabled by enterprise software company GoSpotCheck has helped increase their gross profits by 10% to 15% per year.
If you think your brand is ready for the holidays, mobile data collection can help you truly know. It is essential for your company to capitalize on the busy holiday shopping season and with technology available that can offer real-time data collection, there’s no excuse not to. If you have any uncertainty around your retail execution leading into the holidays, there is now an affordable and easy-to-implement tool to help you know what’s happening in market. Make sure your company increases its slice of that $600 billion-plus pie this holiday season via mobile data collection.
Carl E. Rosen is Principal of Shelter Rock International and former Chief Operating Officer for Bulova Corporation and Chief Information Officer for Loews Corporation. He has been responsible for sales organizations and has implemented field sales automation initiatives.
