Crescent Crown Tracks POS Signage Success
Crescent Crown Distributing, a leading beverage distributor in Arizona and Louisiana, began the process of deploying Point-of-Sale (POS) signage tracking software over ten years ago — and they had no idea just how beneficial it would be for their bottom line today.
The company sells and delivers more than 26 million cases annually throughout its distribution territories, making Crescent Crown one of the top five largest beer distributors in the country as well as a leading MillerCoors distributor. With thousands of locations where their products are sold, they spend a substantial amount on POS signage to help promote brands and increase sales.
A decade ago, Crescent Crown’s Chief Information Officer, John Thompson, set out to find a tool that could track the effectiveness of each sign they made and delivered to their customers. They needed a web-based solution that would help them track, measure and manage their POS marketing campaigns and materials.
In 2009, Crescent Crown deployed two web-based tools called SignTrak and PermaTrak. SignTrak tracks and manages the entire custom and temporary POS signage process from order, through production, to display, measures POS investment versus sales results, and improves supplier bill-back recovery. PermaTrak provides central inventory control and real-time asset management for permanent POS signage including neon, plastic and metal signs, coolers and displays.
Thompson said the results were quite immediate and positive, leading to a company-wide deployment of both SignTrak and PermaTrak that is now used by more than 200 Crescent Crown employees to order and track signage.
“I’ve always wanted to know what works and what we’re really spending money on,” Thompson said. “We spend a tremendous amount of money on signs, but there was previously no tracking mechanism in place to find out if, for example, we’re spending more on signage at an account than is justified based on sales. One of the biggest advantages to OnTrak’s solutions is that the systems are much more organized and the tracking of orders, signs and POS is much improved. Errors are all but eliminated with SignTrak.”
Thompson also noted that the new solution brings truly helpful business data to management’s desk in a consistent and easy fashion.
“Prior to SignTrak and PermaTrak, there just wasn’t much of a tracking system in place. These tools give us the ability to really get the insight to know how much were spending, where signs are going, and if we can bill it back to the supplier. At the end of the month, with their report writer feature we can simply go back and run the analysis for ourselves. That was next to impossible before. This alone is a huge benefit for Crescent Crown.”
As an asset management tool, Thompson said OnTrak gives him the ability to greatly increase efficiency and, for example, if an account closes, Crescent Crown knows exactly what POS items should be returned.
“Before, POS signage was simply an expense line item with an ineffective paper-based system,” Thompson said. “With SignTrak and PermaTrak, our signs go out faster because requests are placed online as needed, versus our representatives filling out paper work. With the quality of the signs having really improved with flatbed printers, the quality is just spectacular now. The cost to create signs has increased in the last several years, but we’re using more signs and we’re selling more, too. Due to SignTrak and PermaTrak, we know where and why POS efforts are successful.”
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About OnTrak Software
OnTrak Software delivers innovative solutions that track and manage point-of-sale (POS) marketing efforts for beer, wine and spirits wholesalers. OnTrak enables sales, marketing, and print shop personnel to closely monitor their POS investments in custom wine menus, permanent displays, beverage sampling events, and custom and temporary printed signage — providing wholesalers unmatched cost savings, while also significantly increasing their accountability with suppliers and customers. Founded in 2007, OnTrak is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH. For more information, visit www.ontraksoftware.com.
