Learn the five benefits of field auditing for retailers and brands
A national clothing retailer recently launched their summer capsule collection with a modern visual merchandising strategy including custom shelving, bold graphics, and bespoke window displays.
One month after launch, sales were booming, and social media was buzzing about the clothing— except in one major city.
Sales were flat, and there was little to no customer-generated content on social media. This was strange since the research had predicted this city would be a top performer.
So, what was happening?
A local field auditing team was hired and the problems were uncovered very quickly: the window display was out of date, the custom shelving was installed incorrectly, and the signage was abandoned in the stock room.
It turns out a recent management change had left the new team unaware of the merchandising rollout. On top of that, auditors uncovered even bigger headaches: low stock, misplaced end caps, and inconsistency with brand guidelines.
This is the value of field auditing. It shows you what is really happening in your stores—so you can fix mistakes before they become big problems.
Get Eyes In Your Stores with Field Auditing, Retail Surveys, and Data Collection
There is a lot of trust in retail, especially when you have stores nationwide or globally. All you can do is trust your team to adhere to brand and visual merchandising guidelines.
You assume everything is okay because you’re a stickler for following guidelines, so it only makes sense that everyone else is as well…
Unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Think of when you travel and the inconsistencies you see across your favorite coffee shop brand’s stores. Mistakes happen. People forget to update signs and graphics. Emails are missed. Details are overlooked.
This is exactly why you need to spend money on field auditing, data collection, and retail surveys. You never really know what is happening in your stores.
Our local auditing and survey teams give you eyes in every store, showing and telling you what is really happening.
The value of this data is unmatched:
- Architectural or As-Built Surveys: document the physical layout, dimensions, and structural elements of a space to ensure accuracy in planning, design, and construction.
- Asset Tracking Surveys: involve cataloging and verifying the location and condition of assets within your retail store, helping you maintain accurate records and counts of items such as number of chairs, types of signage, promotional materials, or number of POS units.
- Compliance and Marketing Surveys: verify that your retail spaces comply with any variable you want to measure, such as the use of marketing and promotional materials, safety compliance, building code adherence, accessibility standards, and more.
- Fixture Verification Surveys: confirm the presence and condition of fixtures in your retail space, ensuring all fixtures and millwork are installed, functioning, and maintained as planned.
- Interior Surveys: a precise measurement and documentation of the internal layout, including walls, ceilings, fixtures, and mechanical systems, to support space planning, renovations, and retail installations.
- Matterport Surveys: an interactive digital walkthrough of your retail stores, allowing you to virtually explore and see a location on your computer, phone, or tablet without being physically present.
- Retail Field and Site Audits: are non-drawing data collections and checklists of information about your retail space such as store layout details, product placement, visual merchandising, and store branding compliance.
- Space Planning Surveys: help you understand and analyze how retail fixtures, layout, and visual merchandising can be used to optimize your space for efficiency, customer experience, and functionality.
You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken. Be confident that your stores are meeting expectations.
What Is Field Auditing for Retailers and Brands?
Field auditing for retailers and brands is a non-drawing data collection about your retail store.
Retailers and brands rely on field audits to ensure store operations, visual merchandising, and brand standards are adhered to and consistent.
Your field audit is tailored to your store, brand, and corporate goals. Use it to count, track, measure, assess, and understand every aspect of your store.
There are 6 core field audit types that you can use for real-time human feedback on your retail stores:
- Visual Merchandising Audit: evaluates your store displays, layout, and overall design to ensure it aligns with your sales goals, brand identity, merchandising focus, and customer expectations.
- Fixture Verification Survey: use this field audit to verify your shelves, racks, seating, displays, and other fixtures are installed, functioning, and maintained correctly.
- Operational Audits: know your stores are as efficient and effective as possible with data on inventory management, customer service, visual merchandising, and sales processes.
- Campaign and Promotion Audit: it’s impossible to be in every store, use this audit to verify your campaign and promotional displays are implemented properly.
- Health and Safety Audit: verify your stores adhere to all health and safety requirements including emergency exit signage, first aid kit availability, clear store aisles and pathways, and compliance with your store safety policies.
- Retail Accessibility Survey: collect data on the accessibility and inclusivity of your store for people with mobility, vision, sensory, hearing, neurodiversity, or physical needs.
The Five Benefits of Field Auditing for Retailers and Brands
Before you spend money on new graphics, window displays, counters and display units, or an entirely new retail design and installation—we want you to take a breath and pause.
Do not rush in. Slow down and start at the beginning.
Start with a retail field audit. Learn what you have. Discover what’s working and isn’t working. Understand what is still viable. Make sure your ideas will fit.
Can you afford to skip over these five benefits of field auditing for retailers and brands?
- Brand Compliance and Consistency
Use your retail field audit to ensure your store displays, signage, lighting, and product placement align with your brand and visual merchandising guidelines. It’s very easy to lose sight of what is happening in your stores when you’re not able to visit regularly.
Know your customers have a consistent retail experience, regardless of the store they visit. - Store Layout and Display Effectiveness
Customer experience is key to foot traffic and time spent in your store. And this comes down to how easy it is for people to move around, find what they need, and get some instant gratification.
Know that your customers can easily find what they want and have everything they need for a relaxing, satisfying shopping experience. - Data-Driven Decision Making
There is no room for guesswork in your retail stores. While serendipity is part of shopping, you don’t want customers struggling to find products or having to work hard to buy from you.
Know your visual merchandising strategy is optimized to meet the real needs of your customers. - Marketing and Promotional Campaign Strategy
There’s nothing worse than spending time and money on a marketing campaign only to have it partially implemented—or worse, forgotten. Your retail teams are busy juggling must-do’s, making it hard for them to keep up with the latest brand, marketing, and promotional campaign directives.
Know that your time-sensitive campaign materials are installed correctly, with key details like timing, location, and positioning. - Continuous Improvement and Competitive Advantage
What sells today might not sell tomorrow. It’s critical that you’re consistently auditing your visual merchandising strategy, looking for ways to attract new customers, build brand loyalty and awareness, and to improve customer satisfaction.
Know that your retail stores are designed for success. - Real-Time, In-Store Information
Have a real, verifiable picture of store conditions, product placement, brand and promotional compliance, fixture and millwork installation, lighting and graphics, and every little detail that creates a positive customer experience.
Know the facts about your stores—from the number of windows to the condition of your window displays to the height of your checkout counter.
“You have to spend money to make money,” said Titus Maccius Plautus, a Roman playwright.
This quote dates back to around 254 BC and it still applies today.
Before you rush in with new graphics or window displays, spend money on a field audit.
Know where you are so you can get where you want to be.
How to Choose the Right Field Audit
Choosing the right field audit for your stores and brand comes down to your priorities. What do you want to measure, improve, know, change, or verify?
To help you choose the right field audit, use these questions:
- What are your goals with your stores and brand?
To improve store efficiency or customer service, choose an operational audit.
To verify brand consistency or to understand how your store interior aligns with your brand goals and image, choose a visual merchandising audit.
To learn about in-store details such as the number of windows, locations and types of risers, or any fixture and millwork details, choose a fixture verification survey.
To confirm adherence to company policies or regulatory requirements, choose a health and safety audit or retail accessibility survey.
To verify the correct usage and display of campaign or promotional materials or to learn how marketing materials are displayed in your stores, choose a campaign and promotion audit. - What are your current challenges?
Have you noticed unusually low sales in a particular store or region? Are you planning a new visual merchandising strategy for your store? Consider using a visual merchandising audit or fixture verification survey.
Are you concerned about brand image? A campaign and promotion audit gives you a clear understanding of your in-store marketing and can help you plan future campaigns. - Is this a new retail store, an expansion of an existing brand, or takeover of an existing retail space?
Knowing details like the height of the baseboards, location and number of outlets, types of overhead lights, dimensions of every window, doorway, and change room, and number of built-in shelves is integral to creating a store that is welcoming, safe, and on-brand.
Consider a deeper field audit that combines key components from all five types of retail audits. - Have you received any customer complaints or feedback about in-store experiences?
Depending on the type of feedback you have received, choose an operational or health and safety audit or a retail accessibility survey.
Remember, there are no hard-and-fast rules for what your field audit looks like or does. You tell us what your challenges, questions, and goals are and we’ll create an audit that solves for these.
Real-World Retail Field Auditing Case Study Examples
These three real-world retail field auditing case study examples underscore why we always recommend our clients start with a field audit or retail survey.
- Our global women’s clothing retailer was preparing for a new marketing rollout of their fall/winter clothing line. Each retail location for this global brand features a high-end, local, bespoke design. This means there is nothing standard for their graphics, signs, window displays, or fixtures and millwork.
As part of our field audit, we counted and measured every window in each of this clothing retailer’s stores.
With this information, our client was able to work with their design team to create window graphics that they knew would fit and coordinate with each individual store’s dimensions and esthetics. - Twice a year we’re hired by a major automotive brand to audit their dealers for marketing and promotional compliance. Using a digital checklist and app, our local field auditors visit each dealership to ensure the current marketing is in place, checking every detail including if the signs are in the correct locations and if the most recent promotional brochures, etc. are displayed.
Our digital app gives this automotive brand eyes in each of its dealers—they can see how promotional materials are displayed and which dealerships need support with compliance. - A leading hotel chain wanted to modernize their check-in experience by adding self-service kiosks for frequent travelers. Before installation, they needed to identify the best kiosk locations and assess proximity to existing power and data sources.
Dynamic was hired to complete a field audit to document site conditions and recommend optimal kiosk placement across the hotel locations.
Using a combination of our field app and hand-drawn sketches, we captured all relevant data and delivered our recommendations without disrupting guest flow.
The first step is the survey or audit. The final step is the installation.
Like you, we want to ensure your retail design and installation comes to life just as you envision. This is why it’s so important to get the details right.
Don’t rely on chance or memory. Field auditing works—our client success is all the proof you need.
At Dynamic, our unique combination of IN-HOUSE offerings makes us your single source provider for all your retail field audits, survey, design, planning, installation, and construction needs. No one understands retail installation better than we do.
Contact us to learn how we handle any aspect of your business—from an individual retail store to a global roll out. We are here for you.