Smart Glasses

Smart Glasses in use:
Efficient recording of shelf data at the point of sale with data glasses

With Smart Glasses and the Android-based app, the sales representative can record a shelf survey at the point of sale more easily and quickly: Made possible with a hands-free interface.

Challenge: Complete, efficient inventory

The collection of information on shelf stocking is one of the most important tasks that a sales representative of a brand manufacturer performs during his visit to a store (outlet), such as a supermarket. Today, the employee records important information on the distribution of products, their placement on the shelf, possible out-of-stock situations, prices, information on competitor products, etc. using a tablet or laptop. This information is transferred electronically to the back end for analysis and optimization purposes and then goes to key account management and category management. In the systems currently used for field sales force management, the employee uses a matrix with a sorting sequence defined by the back office, which shows the articles and results of the last survey. Category management provides him or her with a planogram, a visual representation of how the articles should be placed on the shelf. The field sales representative walks along the shelf with his laptop or other device, checks the current situation on the shelf and manually records in the application the changes since his last visit.

A common problem: The sorting order of the products rarely corresponds to their direction of movement, so that the survey is disturbed by frequent scrolling in the application. If the sales representative uses a laptop, entering the information via the keyboard and a required storage space is another problem. In addition, no direct evaluation is possible on site about any changes that have been detected. Since the employee has little time for shelf data entry during his visit to the supermarket, more efficient data entry would be a significant relief. Therefore, an application is needed for shelf data collection that the sales representative can easily use on the shelf and that minimizes the effort required to determine the current status.

Solution

With our Android-based app for Smart Glasses, the sales representative has the information to be collected and the shelf directly in view – the complicated handling of the hardware is eliminated as well as cumbersome scrolling to find the products in the software. Based on his last survey, the data glasses show the sales representative the products and the values collected during his last visit, following his direction of movement.

Data entry made simple

If the product and the pre-set values match the current status, the employee confirms the survey by nodding his head slightly or by swiping on the touchpad of the glasses. If a value has changed, the parameter to be collected can be easily edited. The value increases or decreases or the status is changed by voice input or by swiping forwards or backwards. If the employee finds a new product on the shelf, he or she can scan the barcode of this product via the glasses and enter the information to be collected in the application.

Visualisation in situ

Once the employee has completed the survey process, he can have the changes visualized immediately: For this purpose, the data glasses are synchronized with the tablet. The realogram shows a comprehensive evaluation and all deviations from the planogram. If necessary, the field sales representative can address the store manager during his visit and advise him on discre and how to implement short-term optimization.

Data in the Cloud

All product data is available in the SAP Cloud for Customer and is synchronized via Bluetooth before and after the visit to the supermarket using the additional tablet app with the smart glasses. However, the stocking data in the store itself is collected offline, since a constant Internet connection cannot always be guaranteed.

Summary

The process of stocking control was considerably simplified and accelerated for the field staff in handling: The employee has his hands free, has a direct view of the products in the correct order and saves time. The information collected during the visit is more reliable than with the current process, as the sales representative can easily identify any anomalies on the shelf and discuss them directly with the store manager. The analysis in the back end, which the key account managers and category managers carry out on the basis of the recorded data, are also more reliable. Additional sales in the outlet and in the category are the result of short-term measures initiated by the sales representative as well as more reliable figures in category management.