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A store visit is where your commercial plan turns into what the shopper actually sees. A good call follows the same sequence every time, so reps fix the shelf, sell in, and leave a clean record before they move on. This page sets out that sequence for reps, and shows managers and admins where each step lives in the FieldKo Atlas app.

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Why It Matters

Most buying decisions happen in the aisle. The 2012 Shopper Engagement Study by Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) found that 76% of purchase decisions were made in store.1 If the product, the price, or the display isn’t right on the day, the shopper picks something else. Store-level execution is also where plans break down. Raman, DeHoratius and Ton found that execution problems such as inaccurate inventory records can cut a retailer’s profits by more than 10%, and that at one retailer about one in six customers who asked for help couldn’t find products that were in the store.2 POPAI UK and Ireland, its United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland arm, reports that full compliance with in-store campaigns can be as low as 29%.3 A consistent call closes that gap, and it makes the results comparable. Salesforce’s consumer goods data model works the same way: each check in a visit, from a planogram check to order capture, is a task in the visit’s task list, and the results are compared with store targets.4

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Best Practice

Company call structures use different names and step counts, but they share the same core steps. Treat this as the default order for a standard call, and adapt it to your stores and your store standards.
1

Plan Before You Arrive

Review the store’s last visit, last order, open follow-ups, and any active promotions or launches. Set 1 to 3 objectives for the call, each tied to a gap: a core product missing last time, a promotion not yet live, or share of shelf below target.
2

Arrive and Check In

Check in when you walk in, not from the car park or after you leave. Accurate check-in times and locations are what make coverage and time-in-store reports trustworthy.
3

Greet Store Staff

Find the store or department manager before you touch the shelf. Say what you plan to fix, and ask what they’ve noticed: late deliveries, gaps, fixture changes. Store-level buy-in, not head-office agreement alone, is what keeps displays up after you leave.3
4

Walk the Store

Audit the shelf against your picture of success: core range availability, facings, planogram, price tags, secondary displays, and competitor activity. Record what you see before you change it.
5

Check the Backroom and Stock

Before you call a product out of stock, check the backroom. Stock that’s in the building but not on the shelf is a fix, not an order. Check dates and rotate stock while you’re there. See Keep Products on the Shelf.
6

Fix the Shelf

Fill gaps, correct facings and blocking, fix price tags, and put up point-of-sale material. The visit exists to correct the shelf, not only to report on it. Take before and after photos of anything you fix.
7

Check Promotions and Displays

Confirm every agreed promotion is live: the display is built in the agreed spot, with the right product, price, and point-of-sale material, and it’s stocked. A shopped-out display is a lost promotion. See Execute Promotions and Displays.
8

Take the Order

Build the order from what you found: stock on the shelf and in the backroom, what has sold since your last visit, and any promotion coming up. Present new items or displays with a short story backed by evidence from this store.
9

Record and Photograph

Capture audit answers, photos, and notes while you’re still in the store. Write notes the next rep could act on without calling you.
10

Agree Follow-Ups

Agree next actions with the store manager. Log anything you couldn’t finish as a follow-up for the next visit, with an owner.
11

Check Out

Check out as you leave. Before you drive off, review your objectives: what you achieved, and what carries over.

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How FieldKo Helps

Each step of the call maps to a screen or action in the FieldKo Atlas app. Your company decides which tasks and actions appear on a visit.
Follow-ups you save in Next Visit To Do’s are added to the account’s next visit. That turns step 10 of this visit into step 1 of the next one.

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Common Pitfalls

  • Skipping the backroom. Much of what looks out of stock is in the building. Check before you order or report a gap.
  • Recording without fixing. A visit that only reports a problem leaves the shopper with the same empty shelf.
  • No agreed follow-up. Issues you find but don’t log as follow-ups rarely get closed.
  • Checking in late or out early. Time in store and coverage reports are only as accurate as the check-in and check-out.

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See Also

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Sources

  1. Supermarket News, “POPAI: 76% of Decisions Made In-Store,” 2012. Read the article
  2. Raman, DeHoratius, and Ton, “Execution: The Missing Link in Retail Operations,” California Management Review, 2001. Read the article
  3. POPAI UK and Ireland, “In-Store Insights, Issue 24: Compliance Report,” 2015. Read the report
  4. Salesforce Trailhead, “Set Up Store Visits and Capture Data,” Consumer Goods Cloud Data Model module. Read the module
Last modified on October 26, 2026