When choosing the stores to visit, your Sales Representatives usually focus on some fundamental logistical aspects. Most of the consumer goods head offices also take these factors into account for driving prescriptive routes. It is essentially the industry standard. So far, so good. However, Artificial Intelligence may bring your answer to the question “Where-to-go” to the next level leveraging additional data chunks.
When empowering Route Optimisation with AI, you can use a massive amount of sales data to generate particular insights and turn those insights into valuable “Where-to-go” recommendations for your field sales force. As a result, you can use more flexible commands when determining the best possible daily routes for your mobile staff. These may include both the more traditional logistical and growth-driving business factors.
What does AI-driven Route Optimisation cover? Here are our two cents worth:
- It all starts classical with the well-known logistical optimisation factors like territory, mileage, resulting travel time and POS’ opening hours.
- It goes beyond including a visit frequency, calculated dynamically based on AI-driven dynamic customer segmentation.
- It leverages additional data chunks describing best the sales potential of the stores, determined by AI-powered Retail Activity Optimisation. It adds points of sales with the need for action dynamically to your routes, e.g. if a consumer promotion needs to be activated or a different assortment should be placed.
What are the benefits?
AI-powered Route Optimisation allows FMCG companies to plan the best and optimal route. It updates the route dynamically taking the changing circumstances into account to help you improve retail execution excellence. It recommends the most relevant customer visits into your sales forces’ daily route to guarantee that each of the calls is successful. Consequently, you increase sales productivity and effectiveness of your mobile staff. In other words, you reach the right stores, at the right time, in the right order and with the right financial contribution.
POI “Best-in-Class Distinctions” for Retail Activity Optimisation*
Every year the Promotion Optimization Institute highlights the innovations which help consumer goods companies to acquire sell-more competencies more easily, execute better at POS level and create a competitive advantage in retail execution. RAO is one of them. In recent years, Mobile Touch Retail Activity Optimisation by Asseco had received the prestigious POI Best-in-Class award for its excellent recommendation features.
Learn more about Mobile Touch Retail Activity Optimisation by Asseco.
* Source: POI 2019 Vendor Panorama for Retail Execution and Monitoring in Consumer Goods. Read the entire report.
