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The more uncertain the environment, the more businesses need benchmarks to rely on. The solution is to use and interpret the data wisely to make the right decisions.
In this article, we'll take a look at the sales data that will be most useful to your area managers, and the best practices for making the most of them.
As a national brand, you can exploit a large amount of commercial data:
This wealth of data offers many opportunities, but it's essential not to lose focus. Focus on the data most relevant to your brand, the data that will enable you to make the best strategic decisions. Here, we'll focus on four types of data frequently used by brands distributing their products in supermarkets.
The pandemic has prompted consumers to turn to e-commerce, a trend which, although slightly down in 2023, remains robust. In Europe, around 5% of consumers now shop online, while in France this figure rises to 12%, an increase of 7 points compared to 2023.
This represents a significant opportunity to collect valuable data.
If you've set up an e-commerce site, you can also track trends relating to your products or the marketing strategies you've adopted. However, it's important to note that online sales volumes tend to be lower than those in supermarkets and hypermarkets. This information may reveal general trends, but you shouldn't rush into anything without a thorough analysis.
And with good reason: online and offline shopping often differ significantly. For example, supermarkets' online offering is increasingly evolving into a profitable, independent format with a unique value proposition. According to McKinsey, supermarket e-commerce sites are set to grow faster than the overall grocery/retail market over the next few years, including pure-players.
McKinsey also points out that consumers expect different value propositions depending on whether they shop online or offline, as these channels cater to distinct shopping needs. For example, 37% of UK consumers (an increase of two percentage points on 2023) still choose different retailers for their online versus offline purchases, reflecting their channel-specific needs. In addition, UK consumers place more importance on in-store promotions, whereas for online purchases, price takes precedence over promotions.
So, limiting yourself to e-commerce data is not enough to fully meet and satisfy the diverse expectations of consumers, and intrinsically increase your sales.
More specifically, data from retailer panels. Panels are marketing research tools that systematically and continuously collect data from a representative sample of sales outlets. This data is then analyzed and communicated to manufacturers and brands operating in the mass retail sector, not without a financial consideration.
This information provides valuable insight into sales, stocks, prices and other aspects of product distribution in supermarket networks. Panellist data will enable you to decipher the overall performance of products sold in supermarkets, track market and sales trends, and assess the effectiveness of marketing and sales strategies.
The data collected by your sales reps in the field is probably the most crucial source of information for several reasons:
It's essential to structure the way this information is fed into your crm. This data is generally collected by your area managers, and a data entry error or oversight can quickly occur. To minimize these risks, it's crucial to equip your teams with an adapted CRM system, functional on mobiles and tablets. Such a system must enable them to fill in their shelf-space statements even without an Internet connection, directly in-store. This level of detail and accessibility optimizes the quality and usefulness of the information collected, reinforcing your sales and marketing strategies.
Last but not least, as our British neighbors would say: your sell-out.
Sell-outs are the data that retail outlets collect when consumers pass through the checkout while shopping. It's also known as datasharing, as retailers share this data with brands, but not without a financial consideration or at least prior negotiation.
We've written an article on how to obtain and analyze your sell-outs.
Datasharing analysis enables us to determine which products are selling well, when, and in which stores. This data, a veritable log of store transactions, can be enriched by loyalty card scans, enabling purchases to be linked to specific customers.
Sell-out represents actual sales made in-store. It's the most reliable way of knowing the real value of your sales. But beyond that, datasharing offers valuable insights into consumer buying behavior, at a highly granular level of detail. This data also supports your area managers when they're swamped: having this automatic feedback enables them to keep track of sales without the need for systematic site visits.
There are commercial data and commercial data. We began to see this a little earlier with the data collected in the field by area managers: how can we be sure that the data collected is reliable? We assure you, this is one of DNV's major problems.
If you want to make your data reliable, it's important to simplify the work of your sales forces in the field. Once collected, we advise you to follow a few key principles to make the most of it.
Beware of silo effects: everyone at the same hierarchical level must have the same level of information. The more data is shared, the better the organization's responsiveness.
If your area managers have easy access to the sales data that can help them, they'll use it in their sales pitches.
The solution with Sidely: Share relevant information via reminders on their agendas and mobile/tablet apps. For example, if your area managers visit a store to sell a pirate promotion, as soon as they open their app, the relevant information should be highlighted on the store card, such as the purpose of the visit, the product involved, as well as sales data from the last promotion for that same product or store.
Our CRM enables collaborative sharing of information (appointments, notes, progress on objectives, contacts...), facilitating day-to-day management and improving your team's performance.
Data is by its very nature delicate, for two main reasons:
The solution with Sidely: Use Sidely's rights and roles management to determine who has access to which information. This makes data management safer and more efficient.
For an area manager, access to real-time data is an undeniable asset. This immediacy of information means they can react quickly in the field. And for strategic decision-making, it's just as important for head office to have real-time information from the field.
It's truly a collaborative effort. For example, when an area manager detects a stock shortage in a store, he or she can immediately pass on this information to the logistics team. An order is then placed without delay, and delivery is rapidly organized. Responsiveness is one of the keys to good customer service.
The solution with Sidely: The ability for field sales staff to use Sidely on their mobile, even offline. Our CRM automatically synchronizes, so that information can be transferred from mobile to web, and from field to head office, in real time.
Data are multiplying and are sometimes difficult to interpret. To overcome this problem, data traceability is essential. Where does the data come from? How did it evolve during its life cycle? The answers to these questions are difficult to obtain with human processing alone. Here again, the power of tools is often the answer to the problems encountered.
The solution with Sidely: commercial follow-up accompanies the field workers from the preparation of their tour to their customer relations.
When it comes to data, you don't want to spread yourself too thin! For this reason, having a single tool is an extremely advantageous solution. There are several advantages to having a centralized, reliable source of data. Indeed, integrating and entering data from numerous points of sale every day will directly facilitate sales decision-making. The competitive advantage is therefore considerable, especially when the data can be easily exploited by all stakeholders.
Trusting your data and sharing it with all those involved in your day-to-day business success is the key to success, especially when uncertainty reigns! Crises are often an opportunity to correct what's not working, and get back on track... And what if Sidely could help you do just that?
As you can see, data is indispensable... as long as you know how to use it!
You're a brand that sells fruit-based desserts.
For this store, your Area Manager has a dual objective:
Having access to panellist data and your own sales and merchandising data will enable him to negotiate more effectively. Your area manager will therefore negotiate with the floor manager to find the 2 missing references, highlighting :
Your data will also help you to optimize your product assortments in supermarkets or to better sell your promotions.
