Most consumer goods manufacturers recognize the significant value of Image Recognition in the POS auditing process. Still, it is important to answer common questions such as: “Do the efficiency gains justify the investment for my company?”, “What if there are connectivity problems or disruptions in the store?”, “How can I maximise the impact of IR?”, “Can I scale digital data collection across channels?”. We wanted to answer these questions and share a few suggestions on the most effective use of Image Recognition in the consumer goods industry.
Guarantee efficient On-Device Recognition in all circumstances
The in-store environment can sometimes be challenging, due to the potential limitations and network disruptions faced by the sales force in the field during data collection. These factors can make analysis difficult or even impossible. To minimize this risk, it is essential that image recognition works seamlessly anywhere, anytime.
Key aspects of the Image Recognition solution:
- highly portable and ready for offline analysis to generate real-time KPIs,
- flexible enough to scan shelves in any order and dynamically combine shots, regardless of whether the process is interrupted (e.g., by shoppers),
- capable of guiding the user, showing him what has already been scanned and what is missing,
- flexible enough to handle unusual placement (products on the side, special displays, coolers, etc.).
Image recognition is more than an automated data collection tool; it should not be reduced to a simple scoreboard. It should be viewed as a source of actionable insights and a data pipeline for a comprehensive system. With AI-based analytics, you will better understand the market across all channels, addressing not only the immediate issues, but also the broader challenges in your Route-to-Market strategy.
Using the automatic image recognition function and image capture modules, Image Recognition allows you to obtain more quality data from shelf or exposure photos. Importantly, the process of their collection and analysis is carried out without the human factor - so it is more objective, precise, and error-free. Acquiring information in such an automated manner relieves representatives from the tedious process of data recording. The only activity that sales representatives have to perform in connection with the audit is to take pictures in the store and follow the suggestions.
