Retail Execution

What is AI-Mobile Retail Execution

Ankit Singh
May 26, 2025
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Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies can only stay competitive by ensuring their products are visible and available on the shelves to their customers. However, managing hundreds and thousands of shelves across multiple store locations in any given region is challenging, as maintaining accurate product placements, promotions, and planogram compliance in every store is a constant struggle.

McKinsey estimates that AI-driven changes in the retail industry could generate up to $660 billion annually, with a significant portion of this coming from improvements in shelf-level execution. Mobile retail execution apps, in such a case, help CPG companies improve their on-shelf optimization, track planogram compliance, and increase product visibility in real time.

In this article, we will explore how these mobile tools help CPG brands ensure their products are always available, visible, and ready on shelves for purchase, driving sales and improving in-store execution.

‍

What Is AI-Mobile Retail Execution in CPG?

AI-Mobile retail execution refers to using mobile technology powered by AI to manage and monitor retail activities on the ground. For CPG brands, this means equipping field teams and store managers with apps that simplify daily tasks such as checking product placement, verifying planogram compliance, conducting inspections for shelf conditions, and instantly capturing store-level data. 

Unlike traditional paper-based or desktop methods or form-based applications, AI mobile execution tools enable real-time, visual shelf data essential for managing complex CPG assortments and dynamic retail environments. By using these mobile platforms, CPGs gain better control over how their products are presented and sold across diverse retail outlets. This enables them to ensure a consistent brand experience and maximize sales potential, no matter the location.

‍

Key Features of AI-Mobile Retail Execution Tools for CPGs

To fully harness the benefits of AI in mobile retail execution, CPG companies should look for solutions that include:

  • Task Management and Automation: Automate routine field tasks like audits, sales order taking, and shelf checks to reduce manual effort and improve accuracy.

  • SOPs and AI Assistance: Standard Operating Procedures integrated with AI help guide field teams, ensuring every store visit follows the best practices without guesswork. This assists CPGs in optimizing planogram compliance.

  • Smart Inspection Workflows:  Digitized workflows make quality control and compliance checks more efficient, providing immediate feedback, ensuring on-shelf availability and promotional execution are consistently met.

  • Multi-Location Management: Centralized control for brands operating across multiple regions or countries, enabling scalable retail execution.

  • Real-Time Operations Visibility and Analytics: Dashboards and analytics give managers instant insights into field activities, compliance levels, and performance metrics, including Share of Shelf tracking, supporting quick decision-making.

Solutions from ParallelDots offer these critical capabilities by delivering accurate, real-time shelf data that enables CPGs to monitor and audit shelves digitally and planogram compliance to achieve perfect store execution effectively. This visibility supports better decision-making at scale across diverse retail environments.

Also read: 4 Features Every Mobile Retail Execution Solution Must Have

These features are tailored to meet CPG companies' specific challenges in retail execution, helping improve operations and effectiveness at every store.

‍

How are AI-Mobile Retail Execution Apps Changing the Game for CPGs?

Traditional retail execution methods for CPG companies have largely depended on manual processes such as paper-based checklists, handwritten reports, and sporadic store visits. These approaches are often slow, prone to errors, and lack real-time visibility, making it difficult for brands to monitor compliance or address issues promptly across multiple locations. The reliance on outdated data means that by the time problems are identified, opportunities to correct them may have already been missed, leading to lost sales and inconsistent brand presentation.

Mobile retail execution apps that use AI technology revolutionize this process by enabling instant digital data capture by capturing a few shelf images and seamless communication between field teams and headquarters. This speed and accuracy allow CPG companies to detect compliance issues and incorrect shelf placements quickly, ensuring that products are displayed correctly according to planograms and standards.

This immediacy allows CPG companies to:

  • Detect compliance issues and shelf misplacements quickly.

  • Adapt promotional strategies in near real-time.

  • Manage vast store networks without losing control over execution quality.

  • Empower field teams with clear guidance and digital checklists.

Together, these capabilities lead to improved product availability on shelves, stronger brand visibility, and ultimately, increased sales for CPG companies operating in highly competitive retail environments.

‍

How to Implement Best Practices for AI-Mobile Retail Execution in CPGs?

For CPG companies, overcoming the challenges of maintaining accurate on-shelf stock levels, ensuring planogram compliance, and executing promotions effectively often consumes significant time and energy. Managing these complexities across numerous stores requires a strategic approach that uses mobile retail execution tools effectively. To stay ahead in the competitive retail industry, CPG brands can follow these essential steps as part of their execution strategy:

  1. Invest in Comprehensive Training and Change Management: Provide thorough training and ongoing support to field teams and store managers. This helps ensure smooth adoption of mobile tools and fosters confidence in using technology for daily retail execution tasks.

  2. Implement Predictive Analytics: Use mobile retail apps' built-in analytics capabilities to anticipate potential shelf issues or compliance gaps. This allows teams to prioritize actions and customize field activities proactively rather than reacting after problems arise.

  3. Implement Personalized User Access: Customize app features and data access based on user roles. Tailoring the experience improves usability and security, allowing teams to focus on tasks relevant to their responsibilities.

  4. Adopt Cloud-Based Reporting and Audits: Use cloud platforms to synchronize data seamlessly and enable transparent, real-time reporting. This supports faster audits, accurate compliance checks, and better communication between field teams and management.

Following these best practices enables CPG companies to maximize the benefits of mobile retail execution, improving shelf management while boosting operational efficiency and maintaining consistency across all retail locations.

Must read: Mastering Retail Execution: A Comprehensive Guide for Store Managers

‍

Enhancing Team Collaboration and Store Operations with Mobile Execution Tools

Mobile retail execution apps play a crucial role in organizing and managing the vast amount of product and merchandising information that CPG teams handle daily. These platforms act as centralized digital hubs, bringing together headquarters, field teams, and store managers onto a single, streamlined communication channel. This connectivity ensures that everyone stays up to date and aligned on goals and tasks.

Key benefits of these tools include:

  • Instant and Clear Communication: Mobile apps enable rapid sharing of updates on product launches, promotions, and compliance changes, ensuring field teams receive timely and consistent information.

  • Real-Time Access to Data: Field employees get actionable insights during store visits, helping them quickly identify and resolve shelf compliance or stock availability issues.

  • Improved Decision-Making: Data-driven insights empower teams to make informed decisions on the spot, enhancing the quality and effectiveness of retail execution.

  • Streamlined Collaboration: Centralized communication channels reduce misunderstandings and foster stronger teamwork between headquarters, field teams, and store managers.

  • Greater Responsiveness: Quick information flow allows teams to adapt swiftly to changing market conditions and consumer demands, maintaining optimal shelf conditions.

Together, these benefits help CPG brands maintain high standards in store execution, improve promotional impact, and drive sales growth in competitive retail environments.

‍

Future Trends in Mobile Retail Execution for CPGs

The future of mobile retail execution holds significant promise, with emerging technologies set to further revolutionize how CPG companies manage their retail operations. Integration of AI and machine learning will enhance predictive analytics capabilities, enabling brands to anticipate market shifts more accurately and automate decision-making processes for faster, more precise execution. 

Meanwhile, the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and augmented reality will offer deeper, real-time insights into shelf conditions, allowing for interactive and immersive merchandising experiences that support clear merchandising on shelves. 

As retail execution becomes increasingly agile and data-driven, CPGs will be able to make real-time assortment adjustments based on instant store-level data, ensuring their product offerings stay aligned with evolving consumer demands. Companies that embrace these innovations early will secure a strong competitive advantage by improving shelf availability, compliance, and promotional effectiveness in an ever-changing retail landscape.

How ParallelDots Can Help?

For CPG companies looking to excel in mobile retail execution, having accurate and timely shelf data is crucial. ParallelDots offers advanced AI-powered solutions that provide real-time visibility into critical in-store execution KPIs. This data-driven approach enables CPG brands to monitor and improve shelf conditions, ensuring their products are always available and correctly placed.

Here are the key features ParallelDots provides to support mobile retail execution in CPG:

  • On-Shelf Stock Availability: Track product presence on shelves in real time to prevent stockouts and lost sales opportunities.

  • Planogram Compliance: Ensure products are displayed exactly as per the set planogram, maintaining brand standards across all stores.

  • Share of Shelf Tracking: Measure and optimize your product’s shelf space relative to competitors to maximize visibility.

  • Promotional Implementation: Monitor and verify that promotional displays and point-of-sale materials are executed correctly in-store.

  • POSM Compliance: Ensure point-of-sale materials are placed and maintained according to brand guidelines for maximum impact.

  • Price Tag Compliance: Verify that pricing labels are accurate and correctly displayed to avoid customer confusion and pricing errors.

  • End Caps and Gondola Compliance: Track compliance for high-impact shelf areas like end caps and gondolas to drive promotional effectiveness.

Learn more about: ShelfWatch — A Smart Image Recognition-basedRecognition based Retail Execution Software.

Many leading CPG brands have experienced tangible benefits from implementing mobile retail execution solutions powered by ParallelDots. For example, a top food products company using ShelfWatch across over 10,000 general trade outlets saw a 30% improvement in planogram compliance within just two months. 

Although this case primarily focuses on on-shelf availability, improved compliance directly supports better product execution by ensuring key SKUs are properly placed and visible, driving better sales outcomes. 

‍

Conclusion

CPG companies can remain competitive in the retail industry by using mobile execution apps that incorporate real-time data capture, task automation, and AI-driven insights. These tools help ensure products are visible, available, and correctly placed on shelves across thousands of stores. They also improve planogram compliance, enhance promotional execution, and strengthen overall in-store shelf management.

ParallelDots offers a powerful suite of AI-powered solutions that provide the accurate shelf data CPG brands need to monitor on-shelf conditions in real time. This visibility helps you make informed decisions that keep your retail execution on point and drive sales growth.

To see how ParallelDots can help transform your retail execution strategy and ensure perfect store execution, book a demo today and discover the difference that real-time shelf data can make for your brand.

‍

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies can only stay competitive by ensuring their products are visible and available on the shelves to their customers. However, managing hundreds and thousands of shelves across multiple store locations in any given region is challenging, as maintaining accurate product placements, promotions, and planogram compliance in every store is a constant struggle.

McKinsey estimates that AI-driven changes in the retail industry could generate up to $660 billion annually, with a significant portion of this coming from improvements in shelf-level execution. Mobile retail execution apps, in such a case, help CPG companies improve their on-shelf optimization, track planogram compliance, and increase product visibility in real time.

In this article, we will explore how these mobile tools help CPG brands ensure their products are always available, visible, and ready on shelves for purchase, driving sales and improving in-store execution.

‍

What Is AI-Mobile Retail Execution in CPG?

AI-Mobile retail execution refers to using mobile technology powered by AI to manage and monitor retail activities on the ground. For CPG brands, this means equipping field teams and store managers with apps that simplify daily tasks such as checking product placement, verifying planogram compliance, conducting inspections for shelf conditions, and instantly capturing store-level data. 

Unlike traditional paper-based or desktop methods or form-based applications, AI mobile execution tools enable real-time, visual shelf data essential for managing complex CPG assortments and dynamic retail environments. By using these mobile platforms, CPGs gain better control over how their products are presented and sold across diverse retail outlets. This enables them to ensure a consistent brand experience and maximize sales potential, no matter the location.

‍

Key Features of AI-Mobile Retail Execution Tools for CPGs

To fully harness the benefits of AI in mobile retail execution, CPG companies should look for solutions that include:

  • Task Management and Automation: Automate routine field tasks like audits, sales order taking, and shelf checks to reduce manual effort and improve accuracy.

  • SOPs and AI Assistance: Standard Operating Procedures integrated with AI help guide field teams, ensuring every store visit follows the best practices without guesswork. This assists CPGs in optimizing planogram compliance.

  • Smart Inspection Workflows:  Digitized workflows make quality control and compliance checks more efficient, providing immediate feedback, ensuring on-shelf availability and promotional execution are consistently met.

  • Multi-Location Management: Centralized control for brands operating across multiple regions or countries, enabling scalable retail execution.

  • Real-Time Operations Visibility and Analytics: Dashboards and analytics give managers instant insights into field activities, compliance levels, and performance metrics, including Share of Shelf tracking, supporting quick decision-making.

Solutions from ParallelDots offer these critical capabilities by delivering accurate, real-time shelf data that enables CPGs to monitor and audit shelves digitally and planogram compliance to achieve perfect store execution effectively. This visibility supports better decision-making at scale across diverse retail environments.

Also read: 4 Features Every Mobile Retail Execution Solution Must Have

These features are tailored to meet CPG companies' specific challenges in retail execution, helping improve operations and effectiveness at every store.

‍

How are AI-Mobile Retail Execution Apps Changing the Game for CPGs?

Traditional retail execution methods for CPG companies have largely depended on manual processes such as paper-based checklists, handwritten reports, and sporadic store visits. These approaches are often slow, prone to errors, and lack real-time visibility, making it difficult for brands to monitor compliance or address issues promptly across multiple locations. The reliance on outdated data means that by the time problems are identified, opportunities to correct them may have already been missed, leading to lost sales and inconsistent brand presentation.

Mobile retail execution apps that use AI technology revolutionize this process by enabling instant digital data capture by capturing a few shelf images and seamless communication between field teams and headquarters. This speed and accuracy allow CPG companies to detect compliance issues and incorrect shelf placements quickly, ensuring that products are displayed correctly according to planograms and standards.

This immediacy allows CPG companies to:

  • Detect compliance issues and shelf misplacements quickly.

  • Adapt promotional strategies in near real-time.

  • Manage vast store networks without losing control over execution quality.

  • Empower field teams with clear guidance and digital checklists.

Together, these capabilities lead to improved product availability on shelves, stronger brand visibility, and ultimately, increased sales for CPG companies operating in highly competitive retail environments.

‍

How to Implement Best Practices for AI-Mobile Retail Execution in CPGs?

For CPG companies, overcoming the challenges of maintaining accurate on-shelf stock levels, ensuring planogram compliance, and executing promotions effectively often consumes significant time and energy. Managing these complexities across numerous stores requires a strategic approach that uses mobile retail execution tools effectively. To stay ahead in the competitive retail industry, CPG brands can follow these essential steps as part of their execution strategy:

  1. Invest in Comprehensive Training and Change Management: Provide thorough training and ongoing support to field teams and store managers. This helps ensure smooth adoption of mobile tools and fosters confidence in using technology for daily retail execution tasks.

  2. Implement Predictive Analytics: Use mobile retail apps' built-in analytics capabilities to anticipate potential shelf issues or compliance gaps. This allows teams to prioritize actions and customize field activities proactively rather than reacting after problems arise.

  3. Implement Personalized User Access: Customize app features and data access based on user roles. Tailoring the experience improves usability and security, allowing teams to focus on tasks relevant to their responsibilities.

  4. Adopt Cloud-Based Reporting and Audits: Use cloud platforms to synchronize data seamlessly and enable transparent, real-time reporting. This supports faster audits, accurate compliance checks, and better communication between field teams and management.

Following these best practices enables CPG companies to maximize the benefits of mobile retail execution, improving shelf management while boosting operational efficiency and maintaining consistency across all retail locations.

Must read: Mastering Retail Execution: A Comprehensive Guide for Store Managers

‍

Enhancing Team Collaboration and Store Operations with Mobile Execution Tools

Mobile retail execution apps play a crucial role in organizing and managing the vast amount of product and merchandising information that CPG teams handle daily. These platforms act as centralized digital hubs, bringing together headquarters, field teams, and store managers onto a single, streamlined communication channel. This connectivity ensures that everyone stays up to date and aligned on goals and tasks.

Key benefits of these tools include:

  • Instant and Clear Communication: Mobile apps enable rapid sharing of updates on product launches, promotions, and compliance changes, ensuring field teams receive timely and consistent information.

  • Real-Time Access to Data: Field employees get actionable insights during store visits, helping them quickly identify and resolve shelf compliance or stock availability issues.

  • Improved Decision-Making: Data-driven insights empower teams to make informed decisions on the spot, enhancing the quality and effectiveness of retail execution.

  • Streamlined Collaboration: Centralized communication channels reduce misunderstandings and foster stronger teamwork between headquarters, field teams, and store managers.

  • Greater Responsiveness: Quick information flow allows teams to adapt swiftly to changing market conditions and consumer demands, maintaining optimal shelf conditions.

Together, these benefits help CPG brands maintain high standards in store execution, improve promotional impact, and drive sales growth in competitive retail environments.

‍

Future Trends in Mobile Retail Execution for CPGs

The future of mobile retail execution holds significant promise, with emerging technologies set to further revolutionize how CPG companies manage their retail operations. Integration of AI and machine learning will enhance predictive analytics capabilities, enabling brands to anticipate market shifts more accurately and automate decision-making processes for faster, more precise execution. 

Meanwhile, the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and augmented reality will offer deeper, real-time insights into shelf conditions, allowing for interactive and immersive merchandising experiences that support clear merchandising on shelves. 

As retail execution becomes increasingly agile and data-driven, CPGs will be able to make real-time assortment adjustments based on instant store-level data, ensuring their product offerings stay aligned with evolving consumer demands. Companies that embrace these innovations early will secure a strong competitive advantage by improving shelf availability, compliance, and promotional effectiveness in an ever-changing retail landscape.

How ParallelDots Can Help?

For CPG companies looking to excel in mobile retail execution, having accurate and timely shelf data is crucial. ParallelDots offers advanced AI-powered solutions that provide real-time visibility into critical in-store execution KPIs. This data-driven approach enables CPG brands to monitor and improve shelf conditions, ensuring their products are always available and correctly placed.

Here are the key features ParallelDots provides to support mobile retail execution in CPG:

  • On-Shelf Stock Availability: Track product presence on shelves in real time to prevent stockouts and lost sales opportunities.

  • Planogram Compliance: Ensure products are displayed exactly as per the set planogram, maintaining brand standards across all stores.

  • Share of Shelf Tracking: Measure and optimize your product’s shelf space relative to competitors to maximize visibility.

  • Promotional Implementation: Monitor and verify that promotional displays and point-of-sale materials are executed correctly in-store.

  • POSM Compliance: Ensure point-of-sale materials are placed and maintained according to brand guidelines for maximum impact.

  • Price Tag Compliance: Verify that pricing labels are accurate and correctly displayed to avoid customer confusion and pricing errors.

  • End Caps and Gondola Compliance: Track compliance for high-impact shelf areas like end caps and gondolas to drive promotional effectiveness.

Learn more about: ShelfWatch — A Smart Image Recognition-basedRecognition based Retail Execution Software.

Many leading CPG brands have experienced tangible benefits from implementing mobile retail execution solutions powered by ParallelDots. For example, a top food products company using ShelfWatch across over 10,000 general trade outlets saw a 30% improvement in planogram compliance within just two months. 

Although this case primarily focuses on on-shelf availability, improved compliance directly supports better product execution by ensuring key SKUs are properly placed and visible, driving better sales outcomes. 

‍

Conclusion

CPG companies can remain competitive in the retail industry by using mobile execution apps that incorporate real-time data capture, task automation, and AI-driven insights. These tools help ensure products are visible, available, and correctly placed on shelves across thousands of stores. They also improve planogram compliance, enhance promotional execution, and strengthen overall in-store shelf management.

ParallelDots offers a powerful suite of AI-powered solutions that provide the accurate shelf data CPG brands need to monitor on-shelf conditions in real time. This visibility helps you make informed decisions that keep your retail execution on point and drive sales growth.

To see how ParallelDots can help transform your retail execution strategy and ensure perfect store execution, book a demo today and discover the difference that real-time shelf data can make for your brand.

‍

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