In an era of hyper-competitive retail markets, it is imperative to ensure your sales team and distribution network are up-to-date with the changing landscape.
In order to effectively compete in today’s retail environment, it is important to have a strategic plan that includes retail channel outlet mapping and transaction monitoring.
Channel outlet mapping is the process of analyzing which channels are most profitable for your company.
Outlet mapping helps a company identify the outlets as well as dealer points through which it sources, markets and sells its products. A good channel outlet map should have a clear picture of various relevant field data that are necessary for your supply chain operations in every distribution route. Retailers, wholesalers and distributors must all be included in your retail outlet mapping software to maximize the benefit from this process.
A retail outlet map is a diagram that shows the points of transection of your business in the supply chain process. It shows all the retails outlets in a particular region where your products are being carried for secondary sales.
It is vital for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors to have an accurate map because it will help them understand the locations where they are making their most money. Using this information, a business can opt for more ways to become more profitable.
It’s also helpful if you want a better understanding on how everything connects together or what needs done next along your value chain. This could include improving inventory management, resource management and other practices as well.
Channel outlet mapping tells a company what channels are most profitable for them. It also helps to plan the future of their business by showing where they need to invest in sales forces, marketing campaigns or even create new products. For example, if your company only has only a few dealers but you know that there is a high demand in a certain area, you may want to invest in opening more dealer points in a particular city.
Location information is very useful when planning outbound logistics strategies. If you know exactly where all of your retailer points are, you can properly adjust your dealers point to reduce the delivery time hence fasten the operation. This helps you determine which areas should get priority attention from your sales force. It also gives you insight into what kind of products or services are most popular among consumers in different locations.
Refers to the amount of product sold in each outlet. Knowing this information will allow manufacturers to optimize their supply chain management processes. They can determine how much inventory needs to be stored at different locations based on current market conditions. This data can help companies make decisions about whether to increase production capacity or reduce inventories.
If you find that one particular store isn’t performing at par compared to others, you’ll be able to make adjustments accordingly. This could mean increasing advertising budgets, hiring additional staff members or simply closing down unprofitable locations altogether.
Knowing how much money was made from each location gives retailers insight into whether they’re making enough profit on every sale. By comparing these numbers against previous years’ data, companies can determine whether they’ve been successful in meeting their goals.
By identifying areas where your current distribution strategy doesn’t work, you can consider alternate methods such as direct mailers, online portals or even mobile apps. These options provide consumers with convenient ways to purchase your goods without ever leaving home.
Moreover, you can also use this information to determine where to invest more resources into sales or product development. Transaction monitoring allows retailers to track their transactions as well as inventory levels at each point of sale. So, if there is any discrepancy between what they see on paper versus what actually happens when sales reps go to sell, immediate actions can be taken. This will help in avoiding losing money on any type of laundering.
Using a retail outlet mapping process will help you to calculate where you are making the most profit within your supply chain. This information, when included in your strategic business plan, can help you map out tasks and goals more effectively.
A good retail outlet mapping system should give accurate information on:
The retailer’s sales trend report shows the overall performance of individual stores within a given time period. It compares the actual results to forecasted values.
You can view the following reports:
By knowing each distributor’s inventory data , you can easily monitor fluctuations in demand. The Inventory status report displays all available inventory levels for each item.
With proper forecasting, you can ensure that you always have enough product to meet customer demands. This allows you to quickly identify items that are running low and thus require replenishment.
As a result, you can quickly react to changes in consumer preferences and adjust your business operations accordingly.
A vendor performance report gives you insight into the financial health of vendors based on historical transactions. By comparing these numbers against previous years’ figures, you’ll be able to spot patterns and predict future trends.
For example, you might notice that certain vendors consistently underperform others. If this happens frequently, you could take steps to reduce expenses or increase revenues.
If there are no significant differences between past and present year’s figures, then you’re probably doing everything right!
One of the major benefit of mapping out your retail outlets is understanding how your products move throughout your entire system. You can see where your products go after primary sales and how long it takes to reach the retail outlets. Again, if you have accurate location data on your retailers, you will be able to plan better routes that would help save fuel costs as well as cut down on traffic congestion.
This type of analysis provides valuable insights into how efficiently your organization operates. With accurate data, you can improve efficiency across departments while reducing costs associated with overstocking and excess inventory.
The goal when creating an outline or map is not only finding locations but also understanding the potential of each channel and finding more opportunities. This means assessing things like traffic pattern(selling frequency) in regards to location accessibility; how frequently they sell, and how often they refill their stocks.
It is never easy to make the right decisions about how your business needs to be changed in order to make profit financially. The retail channel outlet map can help with that because it shows exactly the interaction points of your product in the supply chain process and how those operations are performed; as a result you have ins and outs of the stores and know what and when to offer lucrative deals according to the demand.
Retail outlet mapping software is a useful step for understanding the supply chain process and ultimately improving company performance, hence sales and profitability levels.
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