Beyond the clipboard: How a unified CRM platform solves retail audit challenges

Retail audit tools have long been digital clipboards; good at capturing data, bad at making sales representatives' jobs easier. The result? Frustrated reps, incomplete audits, and unreliable data for business decisions. In the fast-paced world of food & beverages, these shortcomings can have serious consequences: missed compliance checks, lost promotional opportunities, and a lack of actionable insights for business strategy.

In food & beverages, missing a shelf audit can mean losing prime placement for a new SKU. Compliance, competitive intelligence, and promotional execution are critical, but manual tools fall short. Reps are expected to check dozens of data points per visit, but without guidance and automation, details are missed, and data quality suffers. Fragmented processes; one app for audits, another for orders, spreadsheets for competitive intel, create silos and slow down decision-making.

Data scattered everywhere

When tools don’t help, reps find workarounds: personal phones, spreadsheets, emails. This shadow IT creates data silos and compliance headaches. IT teams struggle to maintain security and data integrity, while business leaders lack a single source of truth. The result is inconsistent execution, increased risks, and missed opportunities for growth.

The visibility problem gets worse when your internal data is a mess. And if you’re honest, it probably is. Take a generic product for example, it could have multiple names in different systems:

• Your ERP system calls it: “Premium Beef Mince 500g”
  
  
• Your CRM system calls it: “Beef Mince Premium 0.5kg”
  
  
• Your sales reps call it: “The premium beef, half kilo”
  

But it's the same product, just with three different names. Now try to analyze which product is actually selling well across territories. Impossible.

The Copilot paradigm

Most retail execution tools were designed with one goal: get data from the field into a database. They succeeded at that goal. But they failed at something more important: making the rep’s job easier.

What if technology could flip the script? Instead of being a burden, let technology become a copilot. It can remind reps what to check, do the heavy lifting, and let them focus on what humans do best: building relationships and solving problems.

• Guided workflows: Technology acts as a copilot, reminding reps what to check and automating tedious tasks. Structured workflows ensure every audit is complete and consistent. 

• Machine vision: Reps scan shelves, and AI identifies SKUs, calculates share of shelf, and flags planogram violations. Automation reduces errors and speeds up data capture. 

• Real-time sync: Data flows instantly, ensuring a single source of truth and compliance. Managers and IT have full visibility into execution and can respond quickly to issues.

Business strategy deployment

IT becomes a business enabler; strategies are embedded in the platform, deployed to the field, and measured in real time. Launches, competitive responses, and promotions are executed consistently. New requirements can be configured once and rolled out instantly, with no need for retraining or manual updates.

Driving real impact

Reps save time, adoption soars, and data quality improves. The platform empowers people, not just processes. Teams become more engaged, confident, and effective, driving better results for the business. Curious to find out how this can become a reality? Let us inspire you with a real-life customer story:

How Cegeka Field Sales App Drives Mentos Sales

Perfetti Van Melle, the global confectionery company behind Mentos, Chupa Chups, and Fruittella, equips its Benelux sales team with the Cegeka Field Sales App. With over 45,000 store visits annually, their field staff use the app to provide valuable advice to retailers, optimize shelf presentation, and ensure product visibility. The app’s automation and digitization have streamlined processes, improved efficiency, and strengthened customer relationships, while all data flows seamlessly into Microsoft Dynamics 365 for a single source of truth. 

Perfetti Van Melle’s experience demonstrates how a unified platform and a specialized field sales accelerator can drive growth, enhance collaboration, and deliver actionable insights for both local and international teams. By integrating technology into daily operations, Perfetti Van Melle has empowered its teams to work smarter, respond faster, and deliver greater value to customers.

Curious for more? Read the full case study here.

Let’s build your transformation on a robust CRM-foundation

The transformation is possible when you build on a robust foundation. Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides the platform for retail execution, offering robust customer management, real-time analytics, and enterprise-grade security. The Cegeka Field Sales App acts as an accelerator, seamlessly integrating with Dynamics CRM to deliver guided workflows, machine vision audits, and instant data sync; ensuring all retail execution data flows directly into Dynamics CRM for a single source of truth and compliance. 

This unified approach eliminates silos, reduces risks, and enables continuous improvement. IT teams can focus on strategic initiatives, while sales operations gain the tools they need to execute flawlessly. The result is a smarter, more resilient retail execution process, ready to meet the demands of a dynamic market.

Be a transformative leader 

The retail execution space is transforming. Will your organization lead with a platform that unifies, inspires, and delivers results? The future belongs to those who embrace technology as a copilot; empowering people, streamlining processes, and unlocking new opportunities for growth. Discover how the Cegeka Field Sales App can help your team work smarter on our website.