Shamrock Foods achieves 100% field force uptake with Quofore Retail Execution Mobile application

Customer Challenges

• Replace legacy platforms
• Improve data capture accuracy and timeliness
• Improve remote ordering and back office integration
• Improve communications between field force and head office
   

Benefit Summary

• 100% field force uptake
• Improved communications between field force and head office
• Up-to-the-minute business insight that drives daily operations and planning
• Optimised efficiency and effectiveness in all areas of retail execution 

About Shamrock Foods

Shamrock Foods is Ireland's leading sales, marketing, warehousing and distribution company within the FMCG sector. A member of Origin Enterprises plc, Shamrock Foods is home to three of Ireland's leading food brands – Shamrock, Roma and Odlums.

In addition to focusing on the company's 350 lines across its three consumer brands, Shamrock Foods is one of Ireland's leading providers of route-to-market services for well-known third party food manufacturer brands including Ballymaloe and Splenda, Punjana Tea and Fiddes Payne.

Shamrock’s sales force visits all the company’s distribution channels in the Republic of Ireland: wholesale, multiple retail, symbols, independent retail and food service.

Capable of delivering to over 2,400 customers and 3,000 delivery points within Ireland, Shamrock differentiates itself from its competitors by offering additional services that include supply chain management, working capital management, national account management and customer care services.

Legacy Platforms

In 2007, the company identified a number of challenges affecting its field data capture systems and order management and fulfilment processes.

“Initially the project was led by a need to enhance the accuracy and timeliness of data flow between the field force and head office,” explains Joe O’Callaghan, Field Sales Manager, Shamrock Foods. “But our order capture system was fast becoming a legacy platform. We needed a seamless and error-free technical solution to harmonise the two processes.”

Quofore was chosen as partner for three main reasons, according to O’Callaghan: its specialised industry expertise in Consumer Goods mobile innovation; the ease of the mobile handhelds’ user-interface; and the sophisticated management suite, reporting architecture and analytics.

Real Time Order Capture

The 2010 Industry Benchmark Survey developed by Quofore and Booz & Company, a global consulting firm for business, government and not-for-profit, reports that the goal of better monitoring, both in the store and in the field, is now an imperative for competing and winning at retail.

As with other links in the overall value chain, companies that leverage technology advances in the field are honing their competitive edge in retail execution. The Quofore-Booz research found that companies that invest in technology are 50% more likely to achieve their in-store ROI targets. 

Shamrock Foods is in the growing vanguard of companies that have invested in mobile technologies to automate and optimise the day-to-day tasks of their field sales and marketing, merchandising, van sales and direct delivery teams.

Since implementing the Quofore retail execution system  Shamrock Foods can attest to significant operational efficiency improvements.

Equipped with Quofore-enabled mobile devices the sales force can now easily capture key customer and product data including information on variations, visibility into trends, sales volumes, uplifts, listings and distribution, as well as market intelligence and competitor analyses.

Tasks are completed in real-time and the sales force is able to focus on customer relationships and building the business, while management has immediate access to data from the field.

O’Callaghan reports that improving communications between the field force and head office was a key required project outcome from the outset. “Prior to implementing the Quofore system, field force work patterns and administrative processes meant we experienced an interval between field data capture and issues reports and our ability to generate planning processes to track and rectify them. We now have actionable insight with a minimal time lag – virtually in real-time.”

O’Callaghan maintains that the optimised mobile device user-interface has directly improved workflow processes and the effectiveness of its sales operation.  The sales force is now able to focus on value-building activities in the field such as CRM rather than routine administrative tasks, while head office has the up-to-date business intelligence it needs to drive its daily operations.

In order to ensure optimum performance, useability and acceptance by the field force, the user-interface design had to be easy to learn and navigate,” he says.  “The functionality has boosted the efficiency and effectiveness of our field team’s day-to-day activities and the ease of use of the devices is demonstrated by an exemplary 100% user uptake.” 

The system also enables sophisticated market analyses, such as all the accounts that are stocking a given brand or category, meaning Shamrock can plan and flex the optimum range and promotions.

Since introducing Quofore’s retail execution technology and integrated management suite, the business has seen measurable gains in its operational efficiency including greater ability to leverage data and order capture to increase sales.

Shamrock’s measurable returns align with recent AMR research which found that companies taking responsibility for the supply chain all the way to the retail shelf can gain a 2% to 15% improvement in sales.