During the lockdown, when some offline stores were closed and others saw a drop in customer traffic, the TIPS vendor tip system proved to be a reliable tool for maintaining and growing sales. The crisis helped strengthen TIPS - in 2020, more than 30,000 stores across segments, about 40,000 vendors and more than 70 brands joined the system. Sellers began to actively use new functions, such as checking displays, price tags and availability of goods in the store, and also receive bonuses for this.
The TIPS app allows a salesperson to earn bonuses for selling specific brands and products. The program connects the manufacturer and the retailer directly. The salesperson installs the TIPS app on his or her phone, which notifies him or her of promotions run by vendors. The salesperson receives a cash bonus for each promotional item sold. The system is especially demanded by the stores employing sales assistants: auto goods, alcoholic beverages, DIY and household goods, cosmetics and perfumery, BT&E, food, baby products, pet products, jewelry and costume jewelry - all categories where there are sales assistants. The increase in sales during the promotional period ranges from 32 to 480% depending on the location of the outlet and the specifics of the product.
During the crisis, the relevance of the TIPS system has increased, as manufacturers and retailers are forced to save money; traditionally, one of the first items to reduce costs are marketing and payroll. Many companies give up a lot of marketing activities, especially offline ones, and leave our system as the main tool for product promotion and sales development. The retailer has to reduce its line employees and payroll due to a decline in traffic, but retailers realize that with the help of TIPS they can make money on sales of promotional goods of different brands and make up for lost wages. Thus all parties involved in the turnover are in a winning position - manufacturers and suppliers cut costs on ineffective marketing tools, retailers increase profits, sellers get additional income".
The main client of the TIPS system - the vendor, manufacturer, and brand owner - has a "personal account" in the application with a wide range of analytics and promotions management functions. In each category, the manufacturer can set up incentives by region, area, city, and even specific stores.
The application is used directly by salespeople, sales representatives, buyers, and any personnel in the sales chain who are connected by order of the supplier.
The system is already actively used in sales of more than 10 product segments.
According to CEO, there has been an increase in requests to install the application in categories such as "construction materials," "cosmetics and perfumes," "children's goods," and "pet products.
Point of Sale Benefits of TIPS
More and more often not only suppliers but also retailers turn to TIPS as a sales tool, because the system opens new opportunities and allows to solve a number of urgent store problems and improve efficiency of personnel, shelf and assortment management. Main benefits of TIPS implementation:
Reducing the workload on the payroll. Receiving a "tip" is an additional motivation for the salesperson, which is paid by the manufacturer. The retail director can reduce the salesperson's bonus portion and replace it with TIPS bonuses. Additional earnings for in-app salespeople can average between 3,000 and 30,000 rubles.
Increased sales volume. The seller interested in getting bonuses will strive to sell more. As a result - growth of turnover, increase of profit of the sales outlet.
Increase of loyalty of clients. Qualitative consultation of a salesperson increases trust and loyalty of a buyer, stimulates repeated purchases. The audience of regular customers grows, and with it the profit of the store.
Increases the average check. It is more profitable for a seller to sell goods which get more bonuses, as a rule it is high-margin expensive goods.
Novelty promotion. Introduction of a novelty is a long process, but with TIPS the seller is motivated to acquaint the buyer with the new goods.
Expansion of the matrix by profitable items. With TIPS you can more actively introduce new profitable items to the assortment.
Training. The application has functions of staff training, checkout and stock availability in the point of sale. Training videos and product knowledge tests are posted in the app. The seller watches the video and answers the test questions independently at any convenient time. Correct answers are rewarded with bonuses. TIPS helps manufacturers and brands create training videos to help sales associates better understand and explain product advantages over competitors. Trained personnel inspire more confidence in customers, and sell products more confidently and successfully because they know the advantages and disadvantages. According to CEO, after passing the training, salespeople improve their sales figures by 15-30%. This format allows the manufacturer, first, to save money and time, and second, to train salesmen remotely, avoiding face-to-face classes, which is especially important during the pandemic.
Checking Layout. All of the store's layouts can be entered into the app. The salesperson will only have to periodically point the phone to the shelf, the system itself will tell whether the goods are laid out correctly or whether something needs to be corrected and replenished.
Availability of residuals at the point of sale. It's not always possible for a grocer to order the right products in time. With the TIPS app, salespeople themselves are now able to keep track of their stock, since they are interested in the constant availability of goods, and can report in advance if they run out of goods. "Every seller wants to get a bonus for selling goods participating in the program," explains CEO. - When this item is out of stock in the store, the seller informs us of this via our app. The information goes into the "personal account" of the brand representative, who can then pass this information on to the distributor so that the goods can be shipped to a particular point of sale. It often happens that salespeople themselves tell the store manager or the buyer that it's time to buy the goods".