How Real-Time Visibility Sets Up Beverage Merchandisers for Success 

Beverage merchandising is a complex, hands-on role that requires coordination with drivers, dispatchers and customers. 

For merchandising leaders, it can be difficult to know what’s happening on the ground. Fragmented technology makes it hard to manage labor costs, monitor performance and support field staff.  

Here we’ll outline some of the most common challenges we hear from beverage distributors. Then we’ll explore how route planning and execution technology helps merchandisers and managers excel.

Merchandisers have one of the most challenging roles in beverage distribution. If you add inefficient scheduling to the mix, it’s a recipe for burnout, excessive windshield time and staff turnover. 

Before a product can hit the shelf, it needs to be delivered to the store – so it’s critical for merchandiser visits to line up with delivery routes. But merchandiser schedules have complexities of their own:  

• Plans need to adhere to limits for work hours or mileage. 
• Some stops require additional service time based on volume, display sets or seasonal events.  

So how can you build realistic workloads for merchandisers, without compromising customer service? 

Great merchandiser routes start with great delivery routes.  

With the strategic planning solutions from Descartes, you can optimize frequency, territories and delivery days in a single pass. This allows you to build realistic plans that honor Service Level Agreements (SLAs). These can then serve as a baseline for merchandiser routes.

Even the best laid plans can get derailed on any given day. If a merchandiser calls in sick or quits mid-week, your team needs to act fast.
 
With dynamic route optimization, planners can re-optimize routes in minutes while adhering to SLAs and minimizing overtime.  

Descartes strategic and daily planning software is built for the complexities of beverage distribution.

You can set business rules to limit overtime, keep merchandisers within set territories, or ensure that one merchandiser doesn’t have to deal with multiple high-volume accounts in the same morning. 

Detailed cost breakdowns for each route ensure you don’t get any surprises.  

As the day progresses, a delayed delivery, last-minute absence or in-store cleanup can quickly throw schedules off track. 

If staff can’t adapt quickly, they waste time driving aimlessly, waiting in parking lots, or arriving at stops they can’t service. 

Merchandisers need real-time visibility of deliveries, and the tools to adapt when things don’t go to plan. 

With Descartes, merchandisers can see when sales visits and deliveries are scheduled. Throughout the day, they can track trucks in real time and get automatic notifications when the product is delivered. 

There’s no need to play phone tag with drivers, sales reps and supervisors: Merchandisers know exactly when to head to a stop, or when to reassess their route.  

With these tools in play, “chasers” can arrive just in time to get goods from truck to shelf as quickly as possible. 

Supervisors also benefit from real-time visibility. The system can trigger an alert if a merchandiser arrives too early, stays longer than expected, or hits a delay. 

Managers can check in, assess the situation and re-assign stops if necessary. If one merchandiser needs help, another can be deployed immediately. If a store isn’t ready due to a cleanup, the merchandiser can log the issue, skip the stop, and move on. 

Merchandisers stay in the loop with instant notifications when they’re assigned to a new stop.  

Merchandising takes place out in the field, with accounts spanning large territories. If there’s no real-time visibility in place, supervisors waste fuel driving to verify the quality of work.  

Proof of Execution (PoE) photos are a great first step to transparency. But without safeguards, they are open to shortcuts and misuse. 

One distributor shared that during the Super Bowl, merchandisers had been tasked with building themed displays. A team member had photographed one such display and then re-used the same image for the rest of their accounts.   

With a robust process for capturing execution data, it’s much easier to validate or challenge complaints. This reduces the need for costly corrective measures such as sending staff to fix shelves or issuing credits for unsellable products. 

Merchandiser apps should include the ability to take timestamped, geotagged PoE photos. This removes the opportunity to take administrative shortcuts. It also allows distributors to counter false complaints. 

With real-time execution data, supervisors can verify that staff are upholding sequences and service times. If the day doesn’t go as expected, it’s easy to drill down and work out if the delay was due to human error or a fault in the plan.

With Descartes, supervisors and managers get a real-time, color-coded view of routes in progress. The software can trigger alerts when the plan goes off course – for example, if a merchandiser visit takes much longer than anticipated. This allows leaders to intervene if necessary, or to follow up later with coaching and mentoring.  

In addition to photos, merchandisers can capture feedback and notes from the store.  

Customer comments provide extra context behind PoE photos and help resolve issues before they escalate. Over time, feedback highlights recurring challenges, enabling you to continuously improve merchandising and delivery operations. 

Grocery store staff are busy. They may need to clear space, make shelves accessible, and coordinate deliveries from multiple vendors. If a merchandiser’s estimated time of arrival (ETA) is unclear, this disrupts priorities and damages the vendor’s reputation.

Automated communications help customers plan their day, without resorting to disruptive phone calls. 

Many distributors provide SMS and email notifications about merchandiser visits. GPS tracking and service time predictions let you share precise, accurate ETAs with customers throughout the day. 

If plans change, you can turn a negative outcome into a positive experience by letting customers know what to expect.  

With real-time tracking, internal stakeholders can easily pinpoint where drivers and merchandisers are along their route.  

John Barton, Retail Service Manager at Pepin Distribution explains: 

“We'll have accounts reach out or call us and say: Hey, what time is the truck going to get here? What time does the merchandiser get here? And before, you would have to try to call everyone and it would take so much time.  

“Now I can just pull up the computer, and I say: He's leaving the account next to you. He'll be there in 15 minutes.”

Managing labor costs is one of the biggest challenges in beverage distribution. Without reliable data, supervisors struggle to calculate fair compensation and keep overtime under control. 

Many systems only capture in-store activity rather than the entire route, meaning stem time and windshield time go untracked and unmanaged. Distributors may mistakenly compensate merchandisers for erroneous miles that are not part of their workday. 

To enable fair and accurate compensation, beverage distribution software needs to paint a full picture of merchandiser activity.   

GPS-based arrival and departure accurately capture in-store service times without manual input. 

Managers can view a breadcrumb trail of activity, including a map of the merchandiser’s journey. If a merchandiser makes a long stop at an unexpected location, the software can flag the event for a supervisor to review. 

“With Descartes, I can actually see where they're at in the store. I can see the path they took within the store. I can see how long they were in the parking lot. [...] Every delivery is visible to you. There's just really no way to not see what's going on. So inefficiencies, if you really want to minimize them, you have that ability,” explains Barton.  

Turnover is a constant challenge in beverage merchandising. Low wages, unrealistic workloads and sheer physicality make it difficult to retain staff. 

Without reliable execution data, it’s hard to provide meaningful coaching or recognize high performers. 

Route execution technology can contribute to a fairer, more supportive work environment.  

Instant alerts help leaders identify and tackle challenges quickly. If a performance issue crops up, the software can automatically remind managers to follow up with mentoring and coaching.  

Long-term trend data sheds light on recurring issues such as overloaded schedules, or accounts that require more service time.  

Achievable schedules and easy-to-use technology reduce burnout and help keep merchandisers engaged. 

John Barton elaborates: “When I came to Pepin, I wanted [the Descartes solution] because I saw how well it worked in other companies. It was one of those things for me, as a merchandising director, I had to have it just because I wanted my guys to work a less stressful day.”

The performance of your merchandising operation hangs on realistic routes and reliable execution data. Smarter planning reduces burnout and fuel costs, while real-time visibility keeps field teams agile and accountable.