Are You Trying to Manage POS Marketing Without the Proper Tools

I’d like to use this week’s blog to address one of the largest — and growing — issues we frequently hear about when we talk with prospective users of our suite of point-of-sale (POS) tracking software tools.

Considering that we have found no other tools on the market today that provide the capability to track, measure and manage POS marketing campaigns, I will reference OnTrak’s products as I describe the consequences of trying to control POS marketing initiatives without purpose-built software tools.

The Home-Grown Approach

Excel spreadsheets and Access databases, for example, even if elaborately designed and developed, can provide only some of the features and functions of our software applications. Typically these ‘home developed’ solutions are designed for a single-user, like a POS manager, or cannot be executed from a web-based, cloud computing environment. Even when these spreadsheets or database programs are made available across many devices, the opportunity for user error is often very high since neither Excel nor Access provides a single point of control, leaving you with multiple versions of the ‘truth’.

So what are the ‘issues’ associated with attempting to control and manage POS marketing initiatives without the proper tools?

If you don't have the right (or any) POS tracking and measuring tools, your ability to control and manage your POS marketing — in terms of spending, sales impact, greater market share and ROI — is severely limited. In fact, without POS tracking and measuring tools, you’re basically positioning your beverage distribution business for sharply limited success — at best, or failure — at worst.

If you have a POS ordering system without tracking and measuring capability you have virtually no visibility to:

• What brands or products are being promoted and when, or for which customers it has been placed, or
• How much your POS costs were compared to sales increase during a particular POS marketing campaign.
• The information to control or manage the POS initiatives that you count on to increase sales and grow market share.

The OnTrak Approach

All OnTrak solutions provide a single point of control for managing the entire point-of-sale marketing process; an electronic, paperless, workflow solution that eliminates errors and improves communications; and powerful analysis and reporting tools that deliver real-time business information at your fingertips.

OnTrak’s software tools give your sales, marketing and merchandising teams the ability to:

• Track and lower POS costs by providing a single point-of-control for POS marketing management which dramatically reduces POS ordering and production expenses.
• Speed POS time-to-market through a POS workflow system that improves communication, eliminates errors and provide a strong competitive advantage.
• Increase supplier bill-back recovery with integrated analysis and reporting tools which deliver accurate and timely information to improve accountability with suppliers.

With better point-of-sale marketing management, our customers have been able to grow their businesses, prosper in today’s competitive environment, and dominate their segment of the market.

Since our first installation of POS Tracking Software in 2005, OnTrak Software has provided solutions to many of the top beverage alcohol distributors across the country. Our customers highly endorse and recommend our POS marketing management tools.

To learn more about OnTrak Software and our POS Tracking solutions, please click this button: