8 checklist points for retail audits

Retail audits are becoming very important these days – especially in light of the increasing competition when it comes to selling the products at the point of sales. A lot of companies spend a lot of time and money in planning and implementing promotions at the point of sales. However there are a large number of factors that need to be kept in mind while understanding how successful these point of sales campaigns are. There are a lot of people who can help in conducting good retail audits and also help in ensuring that the promotions at the retail places are delivering good results for the client.

1. Gathering the right data

When one is doing a retail audit to understand what kind of promotions work and what kinds do not then one has to be very clear in gathering the right kind of data. Incorrect data can lead to wrong conclusions which can cause wastage of money.

2. Adherence to brand standards

It is important that the brands adhere to the standards that they set for themselves. The promotions need to be such that they are in line with the brand’s values and the core philosophy that the brand stands for. The promotion should strengthen the recall value and should not cause issues.

3. Point of sales compliance

There are certain rules that govern the way brands can promote themselves at the point of sales. And one really needs to ensure that these rules are taken care of. There are a lot of points under POS compliance and one need to keep them in mind.

4. Real time data

The data gathering during the retail audit should be analysed and used real time. This means that there should not be a lot of gap between the collection of the data and its utilization as it might cause a gap in the results.

5. Category wise data gathering

It is important to gather data for every product category separately so that the data makes sense. Any mixing of data will lead to averaging out of the numbers and will not give the correct picture.

6. Critical alarms and red flags

The data collection at the time of point of sales promotion should be able to raise alarms and red flags over any issue that is causing a problem for the brand or for the promotional campaign. The correct way to secure results from the brand positioning is by raising quick actionable points using the retail audit.

7. Good analysis and expert help

One should not forget to get the data analysed in detail at the end of the promotional campaign in order to make recommendations and changes for the future. One of the key points is to take help from the experts in the field.

8. Understanding the customer

An important part of the retail audit is to understand the customer by ensuring what the customer is picking up at POS and what kind of product placement is driving up the sales.