Like all retailers, drinks stores and manufacturers naturally want to increase sales as much as possible. Traditionally, this means relying on advertising and promotions to draw more customers. But what if there was an easier and more cost effective way to increase foot traffic to your store or to your brand of drinks?

With changes in technology this scenario is becoming a reality. New data-gathering tools can glean information about retailers and retail locations, traffic patterns in a store’s neighbourhood, and information about a region’s inhabitants – all of which can be used to gather insight about ideal selling conditions and customer buying habits.

StayinFront recently implemented a new feature in our mobile retail execution solution that provides integrated, intelligent data on more than 320,000 retail outlets throughout Australia and New Zealand (yes, you read that right).

Combining rich consumer demographics and outlet information with the licensee’s database provided by the drinks association, StayinFront Sales Locator™ gives beverage manufacturers powerful sales opportunity and competitive landscape data on retail outlets nationally. For example, it can tell you where a beverage store is located, and its average likely yearly sales, as well as whether car parking in the area is plentiful or public transit stops nearby. It also provides strategic demographic insight into the store’s typical customer and surrounding catchment area, considering factors such as the daytime vs nighttime population.

This means that sales reps working for a particular brand can identify and capitalise on key opportunities in the field, as well as how those opportunities may change over time. For example, Sales Locator can predict relative sales opportunities for each outlet and the competitive potential of an outlet, allowing a sales rep to focus their efforts and message in a way that is most likely to generate a favourable outcome. It can also detect changes in a location, such as when a certain demographic of people moves in or out of an area, allowing a beverage company, and the store it sells to, to better tailor their product to the people living in the region, or to people travelling to that area in the evening, or even both.

Understanding this information can greatly benefit a beverage manufacturer and the store that’s buying its products because it can pinpoint the store’s typical customer as well as what that customer will most want to buy and at what time of day. By overlaying store data with an area’s demographic information, and then factoring in human behavior traits, Sales Locator makes identifying the “right store” as efficient as possible, and then greatly improves sales productivity when approaching and presenting an offer to the store.

Data and location gathering tools empower field reps – and the stores they work with – to sell, plan and make decisions based on fact, not incomplete, outdated or unknown information. They allow manufacturers and stores to sell the right product at the right time and in the right place. And that’s a great way to attract customers.

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