When retailers or restaurant operators need to verify promotional rollouts like Limited-time Offers, time is of the essence. Limited-time offers are exactly what their name implies—you simply don’t have a couple of weeks to verify that your stores are maximizing the potential of the latest promotion. Fortunately, there is already technology that helps you streamline and share information quickly - and it’s not email. Mobile software takes real-time communication out of email chains and makes confirmation of key tasks easier.
Let’s say that your team decides to roll out a new promotion called “Summer Fling Drinks.” This is a seasonal promotion that allows your customers to purchase a limited-edition plastic cup that can be refilled with various cold beverages during the summer.
Here’s how the verification of this promotional rollout might look:
Day 1: Verifying Preparation
Your fountain drink area is about to experience a lot more traffic, which may impact other areas of your stores. To prepare, you might check that all the machines and dispensers are functional and that the lines are working. You would also want to make sure that supplies, including syrup and soda water, are readily available. Maybe you also want to confirm that your team is doing what it’s supposed to—who’s in charge when a backroom supply, like soda water, runs out vs. a front-room supply like lids and straws?
Perhaps the summer beverage promo also includes discounts on foodservice items or packaged snacks, so preparation might include checking those specific supplies. Each of these key tasks is listed on the mobile form, allowing managers to check them off as they walk throughout the store.
Day 2: Verifying Delivery
On the designated day, regional managers confirm delivery at all locations, and they also confirm that the right materials—cups, straws, lids, signs, displays, banners, stickers, etc.—have been sent. Again, the mobile form has checkboxes that remind managers of exactly what each location needs. By the end of the second day, senior managers can see progress and compliance from a mobile dashboard. They can also virtually check into any store for a closer look at specific problems. Any lapses in delivery can be resolved that night or early the next morning.
Day 3: Verifying Execution
Displays, product facings, and signage are all crucial elements of execution. Tasks range from the basics, like making sure cups, lids, and straws are properly displayed, to making sure signage begins in the forecourt to help guide thirsty customers inside the store.
Again, senior management can clearly outline each of these tasks in the mobile form, and regional managers can check them off as they work their way through each store. Regional managers also have the ability to visually confirm signage and displays by taking a photo with their mobile device.
Of course, verifying a promotion is a continual process that goes beyond the initial three days. Mobile software provides managers an excellent communication platform and an ability to elevate key concerns to the appropriate people.
For instance, senior managers can set up alerts for answers to questions like, “Is promotional signage properly displayed?” If the answer is “no,” senior managers are then alerted to the problem can respond more quickly. The same goes for beverage dispensers that have malfunctioned and any other store conditions that might sabotage the promotion.
Read More: The Importance of Follow-Up Tasks for Efficient Operations
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