Managing Permanent Retail Marketing Materials Increases Sales (and lowers expenses)

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Although in this blog we’re announcing the release of our newest version of our permanent POS tracking software PermaTrak®, it will also address what our customers and prospects tell us is a growing problem in search of a solution: Rising POS/POP expenses and, effectively, wasted opportunity

 

Permanent POS: One of the Keys Components of Effective Merchandising

A good beverage-alcohol sales rep knows the value of point-of-sale advertising. You may use the term “merchandising” to describe the various initiatives, materials, and programs you will deploy to help your reps sell more product at-retail, but when done right, increased sales result. This means, of course, that a good merchandiser is worth their weight in gold because if, as a distributor, you’re ineffective at marketing your products using permanent POS materials, your beers, wines, and spirits simply aren’t going to sell well (if at all.) But even the best merchandiser or sales rep can’t perform up to the sales potential promised by POS materials that they’re unaware of — or perhaps worse — that they just can’t find.

Useable or Useless POS Collateral?

Often, when we visit a distributor before they implement PermaTrak, they point out that the permanent POS storage area (sometimes a warehouse within a warehouse, in fact) is not as well organized as their product inventory. This is further underscored when we get the facilities tour — for after we are walked through massive warehouse space after space where inventory is neatly stacked as far as the eye can see and we watch the nearly silent fork-lifts as they go about the business of picking and stocking product “just so,” we are shown what would appear to be a “POS boneyard.”

Countless unopened packages of all sorts, sizes, and shapes stored in what can best be described as arrival sequence attest to the enormity of the problem for many (most?) beer, wine, and spirits distributors’ POS warehouses. Finding anything quickly is virtually impossible and even if there is some organization by supplier, finding any specific materials is even harder.

Of course, this disorganization is somewhat understandable. Beer, wine, and spirits distributors make their money selling their products. Who can blame them for trying to do so with as little work as possible? This approach probably comes from an honest place — suppliers’ POS used to be “free” and even today some supplier POS is not purchased by the distributor.  In some cases, displays and other permanent POS materials just show up at the receiving dock. Today, however, most permanent POS is ordered (and paid for), inventoried, and sent out to the trade for installation — all by the distributor.

A relatively small midwest distributor implemented PermaTrak and, as part of the implementation, decided to enter all of their permanent POS inventory into the system (a recommended best-practice). When the value of the items entered (that were in the permanent POS warehouse, not already in the trade) grew to more than two-million dollars, the distributor’s owner decided to stop entering signs and displays into inventory he knew dated back to 2005. The distributor threw the thirteen-year-old POS in the dumpster with the vow that, using PermaTrak, they would track and manage their very expensive asset: Permanent POS.

One other area that has become a sore spot for some distributors is the trunk of their reps’ cars, vans, and SUVs. In many cases, reps simply take permanent POS items before they’re put into the POS warehouse or entered into a system (of course, in most cases, they don’t even have a system until they implment OnTrak’s.) After implementation of PermaTrak, with its ability to track (and therefore control) their POS inventory, distributors are finding they are spending less on buying additional POS needlessly and they’re able to place POS most advantageously to help increase their sales and market share. Costs decrease while sales increase.

New Software Release Offers Control of Distributors’ Growing Investment in Signs, Displays, Tap Handles, Glassware, even Coasters

Increasingly, we’re finding beverage-alcohol distributors of all sizes and types are realizing they simply cannot manage their growing “black hole” of permanent POS without a purpose-built solution. The costs of not tracking, measuring, managing and controlling permanent POS ordering, receiving, put-away, and pick are often currently so large as to have become a concern for top management and the executive level of most beer, wine, and spirits wholesale distributors (WDs) regardless of size.

Fortunately for beverage-alcohol WDs like you, we’re announcing our newest product release PermaTrak, the only product on the market today that addresses the problems you are likely facing with out-of-control, disorganized, and sub-optimal utilization of one of your most important (and expensive) marketing tools. With PermaTrak, you will be able to:

• Lower POS tracking and marketing costs
• Control permanent POS inventories
• Speed POS time-to-market and beat the competition
• Easily analyze and report on POS activity
• Ensure (and easily report) that you’re in Compliance with “ABC” and other agency’s regulations 

 

PermaTrak is Now More Powerful

From a new, easy-to-understand shopping cart for placing POS orders, to its mobile-friendly layout for tablets and smartphones and a state-of-the-art graphical reporting interface, PermaTrak® is the most complete tool available in the marketplace to help distributors stay on top of all aspects of their permanent POS program.

Placing an order for permanent POS is now as easy as shopping online. Scroll through a catalog of all POS items available in your warehouse, filter by Brand, POS Type, Supplier, and more. Select the items you want, and click "Add to Cart". That's all there is to it. Take a look:

When you need to see the POS inventory in your warehouse or at your customers or need to transfer items from one warehouse location to another, PermaTrak is the tool you need. And, when you need to add stock or write-off broken items, it’s easily accomplished from one screen

Knowledge is power. And in today's business climate, having access to up-to-the-minute data about your operation is critical. PermaTrak offers a state-of-the-art graphical reporting interface that allows you to visually see your permanent POS from multiple angles. See all of your permanent POS inventory at a glance; click on any bar to get the details; and "drill down" to break out the data into its most useable form.  All the information you need to manage and grow your business right at your fingertips.

For more information, you can watch a “mini” demo — and you can take a deeper dive into PermaTrak by clicking on the link below (and get three months of PermaTrak on us):