The purpose of field visits is to verify that a retailer is adhering to the terms agreed with a brand or supplier. As such, someone has to check that terms are being adhered to and that there hasn’t been a deviation from agreed terms.
Planogram Adherence
When verifying a retailer’s compliance against a planogram the field agent checks that products are being displayed in accordance with the retailer’s planogram. This can include checking that products are in the correct bay, on the correct face, with the correct number of facings. Products that have been removed from the planogram and replaced with a competitor’s product are also recorded as a failure.
Price and Promotion Accuracy
Field agents will check the pricing of products on the shelf against that agreed by the supplier and also check for any in-store promotions and record if any are not displayed correctly or have expired.
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Products in stock are checked for any damage and are verified to be within their use by date and have been stored correctly to maintain their quality. For example, short-dated chilled products are expected to be stored at the back of the chill and not at the front of the bay.
Point-of-Sale Material Placement
Branded point-of-sale materials, including shelf wobblers, header cards, and display units are agreed to be placed in specific locations. The materials are checked to confirm that the correct POS materials are in place, in the correct locations and in good condition. Items such as missing or substituted point-of-sale materials are a common failure.
Staff and Process Compliance
Some agreements also include service standards, such as a retailer’s agreement to provide in-store demonstrations, maintain a fixture or provide a particular service. The retailer compliance standards provide a widely recognised framework against which such service commitments can be measured during a verification visit.
