A perfect store is an outlet, from a sari-sari store to a supermarket bay, that meets the standard you wrote for its type. Your must-stock lines are out where shoppers reach them, at the agreed peso price, with the promo and display up. In-store execution is what your salesmen and promodisers do on each call to get there.
The method: write one standard per outlet type and check it with a photo on every call. Fix gaps before leaving the counter, then track a perfect store score the salesman can read by pillar.
Picture a salesman covering a barangay in Batangas: a dozen sari-sari stores before lunch, five minutes at each counter. Between his calls a rival's strips go up in front of yours, the stockist runs short before kinsenas, and the standee never leaves the box. A good audit spots each leak on the next call, before the sales report does. For the basics, read what in-store execution is.
The six pillars of perfect store execution
Every standard rests on six pillars, each a one- or two-minute check at the counter.
| Pillar | When it passes | How it slips in the field |
|---|---|---|
| Must-stock list (MSL) | The store carries every line on its outlet type's list. | A launch stalls at the stockist and never reaches the counter. |
| On-shelf availability (OSA) | Each must-stock line hangs or sits where shoppers see it, not in the bodega. | The bodega has stock but the strip is bare. |
| Shelf share and placement | Your agreed share of shelf at eye level, in planogram order. | Another brand's promodiser moves into eye level after your call. |
| Price | The tag, or what the owner charges, matches the agreed or promo peso price. | The promo has started and the tag still says the old price. |
| Promo | The current offer is on and shoppers can see it. | The offer is in the system, but the store crew never heard of it. |
| POSM and displays | Point-of-sale material, coolers, end-caps and checkout racks are up and working. | The rack arrives after the promo starts, or holds other goods by week two. |
Forty checks in a five-minute call all get rushed. Keep the in-store execution checklist to what costs you a sale when it fails.
Step 1: Sort outlets into classes, one standard each
Hold a sari-sari store to a supermarket planogram and it fails every call. Score it against sari-sari stores, so a low score means it is off plan, not that it is small. Group outlets into three to five classes, each with a short standard and a reference photo of a store that passes.
- Supermarkets and hypermarkets get the longest list: planogram, brand block and secondary displays.
- Convenience stores and mini-groceries need the core lines, eye level and one display.
- Sari-sari stores sell from behind a counter, much of it by sachet and tingi. Check small packs, price and one display. Skip the planogram.
- Chain drugstores are judged on range and on whether the pharmacy assistant recommends your product.
- Wholesalers and stockists need the full range at the right price, because nearby sari-sari stores restock there.
Step 2: Score a sari-sari store, element by element
Weigh each pillar by the sales you lose when it fails. Range and availability weigh most, since a missing sachet loses the sale on the spot. Here is one sari-sari store in that Batangas barangay, with example weights.
| Pillar | Weight | Points | What the salesman saw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Must-stock list | 35 | 31 | 7 of 8 must-stock lines carried; the owner never ordered the eighth |
| On-shelf availability | 30 | 15 | One small pack in the bodega, off the strip |
| Shelf share and placement | 0 | 0 | Not scored for this class |
| Price | 15 | 15 | Prices correct |
| Promo | 10 | 10 | Offer running |
| POSM and displays | 10 | 10 | Hanging strip in place |
| Store score | 81 | ||
In this example, a carried line left off the strip costs half the availability points. An 81 looks healthy on a dashboard. Most lost points came from one small pack left in the bodega, which the owner can fix in a minute. That is today's talk, before the salesman leaves.
Set your weights by comparing orders from stores that pass and fail each pillar. Then keep two rules. Score only what the salesman or owner can change. A line that is out because the stockist ran short, or a shipment to the islands was late, is a supply gap and stays outside the score. And hold the weights for at least a quarter, or a higher score may only mean a new formula.
Step 3: Audit every call with a shelf photo
On each routine call the salesman fills a short audit and snaps the shelf, so a manager in Manila can review a Visayas store without flying there. Shoot the whole bay from the front with price tags readable, plus one shot per display. If the tick and the photo disagree, believe the photo.
Plan the call a day or two after the stockist delivers, to see whether the order reached the shelf. Shelves change fastest around kinsenas, when owners restock. Put your best sellers and lowest scorers on the route plan most often.
Step 4: Close the gap before leaving the counter
The cheapest fix happens at the counter, with stock in the bodega and the owner right there.
- Ask the owner to move your strips back to the front and put the display up.
- Book the missing pack in the same call; the Order AI Agent suggests what to add.
- Pass up only what cannot be fixed at the counter, with a name and a due date.
Eye level in a sari-sari store is partly a favor: the salesman who helps the owner sell more gets it back sooner.
Step 5: Coach salesmen and promodisers at a real shelf
Short sessions at a real shelf beat a day in a function room:
- Put a passing shelf photo next to a failing one and have the salesman spot the gaps.
- The area sales supervisor rides along once a month and coaches each person on their weakest pillar.
- Before a launch or promo, post a short brief in the team's Viber group, including the promodisers and store crew who keep the shelf right between calls.
Perfect store KPIs to report each month
Head office sets the retail execution strategy, but it lands one counter at a time. Track four numbers per store, rolled up by salesman, outlet class and area:
- The perfect store score, as a weighted total and pillar by pillar.
- The gap close rate, or flagged gaps fixed by the next call. If it stays low, the audits change nothing.
- Audit coverage, so a high average is not just the easy stores.
- Supply gaps the stockist could not fill, kept out of the score. Plenty of bare strips start in the distributor's warehouse, so share store scores with your distributors.
Each quarter, compare orders of high and low scorers within one outlet class; no difference means the standard checks the wrong things. Full marks on every call usually mean a soft standard, or an audit filled in from memory in the jeep. Revisiting a few stores a month, plus any whose score swings hard, keeps the photos honest.
When in-store execution software is worth it
A pilot can run on Excel and Viber photos. Past a few hundred stores, supervisors stop opening photos and ticks creep upward. That is when in-store execution software pays off: it puts the right standard for each outlet in the salesman's hand and grades the photo before the call ends. Image recognition has limits: blurred shots need a retake, packs behind a counter or in a closed cooler are hard to see, and a new pack must be loaded before launch. Let the area sales supervisor settle disputed scores.
The AI can see a bare strip. It cannot make the stockist deliver. Every flag it raises still needs a person's name and a due date.
In BeatRoute one field app holds the audit, the order and the beat plan. The VM Audit AI Agent, part of visual merchandising software, reads share of shelf, placement and POSM from the photo, and a shelf audit costs 80% less than doing it by hand. With the Scheduling AI Agent, which orders each salesman's calls by need, productive visits went from 45% to 78%.
A leading paints brand in the Philippines saw 30% higher sales productivity on BeatRoute (see the leading paints brand case study). Nurturemed Pharma saw a 20% increase in PMR productivity on BeatRoute (see the Nurturemed case study). To see a perfect store audit run on your own outlet classes, request a demo.
Frequently asked questions
What is perfect store execution?
It is your written standard for each outlet class, turned into one score that every call is checked against.
Who should run it: the salesman or the promodiser?
Whoever takes the order. A salesman who books orders closes a stock gap in the same call. Where promodisers run the supermarket bay, their audit should still reach the salesman and the stockist.
How do you score a short promo?
Leave the core standard and its weights alone. Score the promo as a dated add-on, like a three-week end-cap, so this month's scores still compare with last month's.
