The solution designed by Axiante experts allows you to transmit documents and assign specific tasks, from the implementation of planograms to the collection of returns
Axiante, a Business Innovation Integrator that supports local and international companies in their digital transformation, has developed the solution for organizations in the retail sector "StoreConnect”, designed to encourage dialogue between the headquarters and the network of sales outlets.
Born in an initial phase as the "Retail Viewer", to allow the simple visualization of the planograms assigned to the stores, and then evolved into the more modern "InStore", with dashboarding, monitoring and reporting functions, the current StoreConnect is the most recent and mature version of the project, capable not only of managing the entire process of implementing the planograms in the various stores, but also of acting as a single portal for the transmission of documents and the assignment of tasks from the headquarters to the stores.
The solution allows the complete management of the process of publishing and distributing planograms to points of sale, respecting the time windows defined by the company and the group of recipients of each planogram. Unlike other solutions, it allows you to send additional information to facilitate better implementation of the planogram and allows the point of sale to provide more timely feedback. In addition to confirming the implementation, the store can in fact send photographic proof of the result or report any problems that prevent its full implementation, from the unavailability of the products to the unsuitability of the structures, up to the lack of staff.
“It is a tool that allows the shop to manage the work completely, evaluating the commitment of resources, communicating with the headquarters and communicating any discrepancies, as well as having the planograms available easily and immediately,” he explains Carlo Giuliano, Project Manager of Axiante. “Having classified the possible responses sent by the points of sale also allows area managers to have a clear picture of the progress of the creation of the planograms, any delays and the most frequent reports and to be able to draw from this percentage information and useful statistics such as KPIs”.
In addition to planogram management, the new extension of the solution offers the company the possibility of assigning specific tasks to individual stores, such as replacing price labels, launching promotions, disposing of stocks that are no longer part of the assortment and collecting returns. This simplifies the work of store employees, eliminating the frequent use of emails and phone calls between the head office and the individual stores.
StoreConnect also allows the transmission of files, documents, images and maps, useful both for providing additional information from the headquarters - for example, on the creation of the planograms sent or on the material necessary for assembling the shelf - and for carrying out communications intended for a specific store or the entire sales network, as in the case of ongoing promotions or product recalls.
Unlike the solutions proposed by other vendors, StoreConnect is not bound to the type of software used for the production of planograms, because it has its own database that can be fed by any upstream system, even by data contained in Excel files and planograms designed on PowerPoint or PDF. Whatever solution the company uses and even in the absence of a specific software package, StoreConnect can still operate, implementing a fundamental part of the Category Management process.
“The StoreConnect solution is built in PHP, with the proprietary Axiante framework,” he points out Stefano Brambilla, Application Consultant of Axiante. “The recent history of the application, as well as a functional evolution, has also seen several upgrades at a technological level: one of these is the possibility of publishing via Docker, which makes StoreConnect independent also from a technological point of view, as it frees it from the underlying infrastructure, and allows its use in the cloud and scalability”.
For each functional role, StoreConnect provides a dedicated dashboard that summarizes the progress of the tasks assigned to the stores. The user can then go into detail about the individual operations to examine all aspects. This allows for greater control, a global vision of the situation in all stores and timely verification of the implementation status of the assigned tasks, as well as time savings thanks to the automation of activities.
