Route to market
Retail audit
Sales force effectiveness
Trade insightsCimigo provides market research for sales and trade marketing. Cimigo will help you make better route-to-market and trade-marketing decisions. Retail audit, retail census, sales force effectiveness and trade insights.
Retail audit
Retail audit and retail census
Cimigo conducts retail audits and retail censuses for consumer goods brands across Vietnam. We locate, audit and GIS-map on-trade and off-trade outlets to understand distribution, classify and segment retailers, identify opportunities and develop more effective route-to-market strategies.
In one nationwide retail census, Cimigo collected GPS locations, photographs, sales volumes and key brand share data from more than 500,000 outlets across Vietnam’s 63 provinces. The results enabled the client to segment retail outlets, prioritise the most valuable segments by brand, identify geographic opportunities and develop a more effective sales and distribution strategy.
In another nationwide study, Cimigo collected GPS locations, photographs, sales volumes, signage, contract details and key brand share data across all 63 provinces. Cimigo visualised the results through a dynamic mapping system, enabling the client to identify distribution gaps, prioritise opportunities and optimise distribution plans and sales routes.
Sales force effectiveness
Sales force effectiveness and retail execution
Cimigo measures sales force effectiveness and retail execution across on-trade and off-trade outlets. Independent store audits show where execution is working, where standards are being missed and where sales teams should focus to improve distribution, availability, visibility and promotional compliance.
Each programme is designed around the client’s sales and trade marketing priorities. Cimigo can measure product availability, range, facings, pricing, displays, point-of-sale materials, promotions, stock levels, retailer agreements and other execution standards. Results can be compared across regions, channels, outlet types, distributors and sales territories to identify performance gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Cimigo’s trained auditors use the OnMobile application to capture observations, photographs and audit data digitally at each outlet. GPS location, interview start and end times and photographs linked to individual audit questions provide additional quality control and verification.
Results are available rapidly, enabling sales and trade marketing teams to identify problems, recognise strong execution and take corrective action. Cimigo provides an independent and objective measure of what is actually happening in-store.
Sales force effectiveness studies typically measure:
Independent measurement against defined execution standards.
In-store compliance with brand and execution standards.
Performance comparisons across outlet types, channels and locations.
Trade promotion and activation compliance.
Stock availability and outlet standards.
Range, facings, pricing, servicing and display compliance.
Retail environment and merchandising standards.
Identification of execution gaps and problem areas.
Identification and benchmarking of best performers.
Clear priorities and actions for improvement.
Trade insights
Understand what drives the trade
Trade insights research can help you understand:
- Distributor, wholesaler and retailer needs and motivations.
- Channel structures and route-to-market dynamics.
- Margins, trade terms, incentives and commercial expectations.
- Ordering, delivery, payment and service requirements.
- Distribution, stocking and recommendation barriers.
- Trade promotion and merchandising effectiveness.
- Competitor strengths and weaknesses within the trade.
- Opportunities to improve channel relationships and execution.
Understanding how distributors, wholesalers and retailers make decisions is essential to building an effective route-to-market strategy. Cimigo trade insights research explores how the trade operates, what motivates channel partners and what helps or prevents brands from achieving stronger distribution, visibility and sales.
Cimigo conducts in-depth interviews with distributors, wholesalers, retailers, store owners, store managers and other channel partners. Research can cover traditional trade, modern trade, specialist retail, on-trade and off-trade channels, depending on the category and the client’s commercial objectives. We explore the realities of doing business within each channel rather than relying solely on consumer behaviour or sales data.
Research can examine retailer and distributor needs, margins and trade terms, ordering and payment practices, delivery and service expectations, incentives, promotional programmes, merchandising support and relationships with suppliers and sales representatives. It can also identify barriers to stocking or recommending a brand, reasons for switching suppliers, unmet service needs and differences between stronger and weaker competitors.
For brands entering a market or expanding distribution, Cimigo can investigate channel structures, distributor capabilities, retailer requirements and the commercial practices needed to compete effectively. For established brands, trade research can identify gaps in distribution, service and execution and reveal opportunities to strengthen relationships with channel partners.
Findings can be analysed by channel, outlet type, geography and other relevant trade segments. Where appropriate, trade insights can be combined with retail audits, retail censuses, sales force effectiveness studies and quantitative research to provide a broader understanding of route-to-market performance.
The result is a practical understanding of what happens between the brand and the shopper. Cimigo helps clients use these insights to refine trade terms, strengthen distributor and retailer propositions, improve trade marketing programmes, prioritise channels and develop more effective route-to-market strategies.
