Wilson Consumer Products selects O4 Corporations mobile sales solution for its New Zealand sales reps
O4 Corporation, Australias leading provider of mobile/wireless field sales and merchandising solutions, today announced that New Zealands Wilson Consumer Products (WCP) has chosen it to provide a handheld field operations solution for its sales representatives.
WCP is one of the largest distributors of premium health & beauty and grocery products in the New Zealand market place. The company evaluated a number of mobile sales solutions before settling on the O4 Field Operations Solution, which includes the O4 Workbench, O4 Management Suite and O4 Mobile Client, for its sales representatives. The O4 Solution will be rolled out over the next 4 months on i-mate JAM GSM/GPRS Pocket PC devices.
Finance and Administration Manager for WCP, John Hall, said the O4 Solution met the rigorous criteria set by his team assessing mobile technology solutions.
Our previous solution was unstable and frustrating and a change in our back office systems meant that the sales support software was no longer compatible. We reverted to a paper-based system which was costing our reps 1-2 hours at the end of a working day in filling out orders, collating information and then faxing them through to Head Office Mr Hall said.
WCP then determined to find a best-practice solution and spent close to a year assessing solutions from around the globe.
"When the O4 Solution was demonstrated to us, we knew we had found the solution we needed, Hall said. There are a multitude of offerings out there covering the basics of processing sale and stock data but the O4 Solution offered an array of invaluable reporting facilities in the O4 Management Suite as well as considerable efficiency gains for the sales reps.
The O4 Field Operations Solution will provide separate functionality for both business divisions within WCP (Grocery and Health & Beauty) across the same system, enabling simplified management and ordering.
WCPs sales reps cover between 250 and 350 stores in a two-to-eight week cycle. The O4 mobile solution will drive productivity gains for their on-the-road team in a typical sales call, said Ashley Bloch, Managing Director, O4 Corporation.
One of the key drivers for the implementation by WCP was the need to provide data quickly and efficiently to the brands they represent to facilitate agreements with supermarkets regarding stock, costs and promotions.
For example if a brand Principal wants to know how many facings they have in a particular supermarket, the rep can record the data during a call and the O4 Solution will create a report to compile these statistics immediately, said Ashley Bloch, Managing Director.
Order taking will also be simplified with the O4 Solution, which will assist sales reps in ensuring accuracy and managing promotions across multiple brands.
Currently sales reps have to match promotional offers with pricing information manually, so its very easy for mistakes to be made, said Hall. When orders are taken through the O4 Solution, the system will automatically notify the sales rep which promotional prices apply to a specific supermarket so that orders are correct every time.
The O4 mobile solution will also enable the sales representative to view store information on specific promotions, store display details and product ranges and capture digital images of innovative store displays.
The O4 Management Suite will administer back office functions including managing territories, call plans, customer orders, customer history and more. The system will be customised to WCP's specific requirements using the O4 Workbench development environment.
Notes for Editors
O4 Mobile Client
The O4 Mobile Client is a feature-rich handheld application that typically runs on a PDA-style device. It delivers sophisticated business functionality via an intuitive, field-friendly user interface.
O4 Management Suite
The O4 Management Suite provides comprehensive field operation controls such as messaging, call planning, territory management and activity analysis. This in-office application runs on desktop or notebook PCs and integrates seamlessly with the O4 Mobile Client applications on the field representatives handheld device.
O4 Workbench
The O4 Workbench provides a powerful, flexible development environment for building, customising and integrating field operations solutions. It is a desktop application that utilises Microsoft.NET technologies to control and customise all aspects of the O4 Field Operations Solution.
ABOUT O4 CORPORATION
O4 Corporation develops and markets solutions that automate sales and merchandising field operations, giving organizations the tools they need to maximize their revenue and reduce their costs. O4 Field Operations Solutions provide intuitive applications for mobile workers on handheld or laptop devices as well as in-office management tools, all integrating seamlessly with existing corporate information systems.
Australian-based, the company is working with its international offices and partner networks in countries across the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the United States and South America to deliver its comprehensive solutions. O4 has attracted numerous industry-leading clients in a range of market sectors such as FMCG, pharmaceuticals and alcoholic beverages, where it is the local market leader. O4 clients include Bacardi Lion, Orlando Wyndham, Lion Nathan, Swift & Moore, Suntory, Pauls, Janssen-Cilag (Johnson & Johnson), Mundipharma and Smith & Nephew and now Wilson Consumer Products in New Zealand
For more information, contact Justine Burke, Bird & Hill Public Relations on (02) 9954 0555 or justine@birdhillpr.com.
WCP is one of the largest distributors of premium health & beauty and grocery products in the New Zealand market place. The company evaluated a number of mobile sales solutions before settling on the O4 Field Operations Solution, which includes the O4 Workbench, O4 Management Suite and O4 Mobile Client, for its sales representatives. The O4 Solution will be rolled out over the next 4 months on i-mate JAM GSM/GPRS Pocket PC devices.
Finance and Administration Manager for WCP, John Hall, said the O4 Solution met the rigorous criteria set by his team assessing mobile technology solutions.
Our previous solution was unstable and frustrating and a change in our back office systems meant that the sales support software was no longer compatible. We reverted to a paper-based system which was costing our reps 1-2 hours at the end of a working day in filling out orders, collating information and then faxing them through to Head Office Mr Hall said.
WCP then determined to find a best-practice solution and spent close to a year assessing solutions from around the globe.
"When the O4 Solution was demonstrated to us, we knew we had found the solution we needed, Hall said. There are a multitude of offerings out there covering the basics of processing sale and stock data but the O4 Solution offered an array of invaluable reporting facilities in the O4 Management Suite as well as considerable efficiency gains for the sales reps.
The O4 Field Operations Solution will provide separate functionality for both business divisions within WCP (Grocery and Health & Beauty) across the same system, enabling simplified management and ordering.
WCPs sales reps cover between 250 and 350 stores in a two-to-eight week cycle. The O4 mobile solution will drive productivity gains for their on-the-road team in a typical sales call, said Ashley Bloch, Managing Director, O4 Corporation.
One of the key drivers for the implementation by WCP was the need to provide data quickly and efficiently to the brands they represent to facilitate agreements with supermarkets regarding stock, costs and promotions.
For example if a brand Principal wants to know how many facings they have in a particular supermarket, the rep can record the data during a call and the O4 Solution will create a report to compile these statistics immediately, said Ashley Bloch, Managing Director.
Order taking will also be simplified with the O4 Solution, which will assist sales reps in ensuring accuracy and managing promotions across multiple brands.
Currently sales reps have to match promotional offers with pricing information manually, so its very easy for mistakes to be made, said Hall. When orders are taken through the O4 Solution, the system will automatically notify the sales rep which promotional prices apply to a specific supermarket so that orders are correct every time.
The O4 mobile solution will also enable the sales representative to view store information on specific promotions, store display details and product ranges and capture digital images of innovative store displays.
The O4 Management Suite will administer back office functions including managing territories, call plans, customer orders, customer history and more. The system will be customised to WCP's specific requirements using the O4 Workbench development environment.
Notes for Editors
O4 Mobile Client
The O4 Mobile Client is a feature-rich handheld application that typically runs on a PDA-style device. It delivers sophisticated business functionality via an intuitive, field-friendly user interface.
O4 Management Suite
The O4 Management Suite provides comprehensive field operation controls such as messaging, call planning, territory management and activity analysis. This in-office application runs on desktop or notebook PCs and integrates seamlessly with the O4 Mobile Client applications on the field representatives handheld device.
O4 Workbench
The O4 Workbench provides a powerful, flexible development environment for building, customising and integrating field operations solutions. It is a desktop application that utilises Microsoft.NET technologies to control and customise all aspects of the O4 Field Operations Solution.
ABOUT O4 CORPORATION
O4 Corporation develops and markets solutions that automate sales and merchandising field operations, giving organizations the tools they need to maximize their revenue and reduce their costs. O4 Field Operations Solutions provide intuitive applications for mobile workers on handheld or laptop devices as well as in-office management tools, all integrating seamlessly with existing corporate information systems.
Australian-based, the company is working with its international offices and partner networks in countries across the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the United States and South America to deliver its comprehensive solutions. O4 has attracted numerous industry-leading clients in a range of market sectors such as FMCG, pharmaceuticals and alcoholic beverages, where it is the local market leader. O4 clients include Bacardi Lion, Orlando Wyndham, Lion Nathan, Swift & Moore, Suntory, Pauls, Janssen-Cilag (Johnson & Johnson), Mundipharma and Smith & Nephew and now Wilson Consumer Products in New Zealand
For more information, contact Justine Burke, Bird & Hill Public Relations on (02) 9954 0555 or justine@birdhillpr.com.
