How to really measure promotion and POP execution

The job of POP material is to stand out in an ever more competitive environment: through its design, its size, its cleverness, it gives visibility to a particular product and communicates a message about that product or the brand. POP material often sets out to delight shoppers with its design or with a humorous line that draws them closer, but all of that is lost if it is not properly displayed at the point of sale. 

If there are faults in the display of that material, if its visibility is compromised, if it is not placed at the agreed spot for the agreed time, or if for some reason it gets damaged, it will not reach its full effectiveness. Some promotional materials can be expensive and, like any action at the point of sale, how they are executed and how well they work deserves analysis. That comes from digitally recording promotions, done by a trade marketing team specifically equipped for it.

What impact do information and tracking of these promotional actions have at the point of sale?

It allows commercial agreements to be audited

A trade marketing team equipped with digital tools can capture exact records, through photographs, to audit the condition of POP material at the point of sale and so assess its visibility and correct display. That brings the transparency and follow-up the commercial action needs, letting us weigh and improve our relationships with retailers and giving us information to negotiate better contracts. 

It complements and strengthens sales force monitoring

First, a digital tool makes it possible to guarantee that visits, schedules and field activities — promotional work among them — actually happen. 

But there is more: a sales team motivated by what digital tools give them to improve their work and make it visible is able to make better decisions and to communicate what they do effectively. A great many decisions are taken by each field worker right there at the point of sale and, thanks to communication and digital data capture, we can control, follow or redirect their work, and see the photos and video they capture first-hand of their own activity or of what the competition is doing.

It improves POP material inventory control

Digital records also help prevent damage and loss of promotional material. They give the merchandiser a greater sense of responsibility in field work and equip supervisors with immediate information and follow-up, to guarantee the traceability and good condition of that material. 

It ensures the commercial action happens as planned

Finally, geo-management tools support the proper analysis of the commercial actions we set out to run because they are, ultimately, a way of establishing through digital control that the promotion was implemented as designed and that the POP material was used for its intended purpose. Only through that proper analysis, which incorporates the information captured while the action was carried out, will we understand how effective our promotions were and be able to design better strategies going forward. 

With a digital tool such as GDW Trade, which centralizes that information and systematizes how it is captured, these improvements happen easily and become just another part of the everyday work of supervisors and promoters.