Digital shelf audit – JTI ASM Audit App

Business context

Japan Tobacco International, a global leader in the tobacco industry headquartered in Switzerland, operates in more than 120 countries. In 2015, the company launched an initiative to modernise the way product displays in stores were monitored, treating merchandising and on-shelf execution as key elements of competitive advantage.

Previous audits relied on paper forms and spreadsheets, which caused delays, errors and a lack of consistent reporting standards. JTI needed a scalable, mobile solution with immediate access to data that would simplify day-to-day fieldwork and standardise the process across multiple markets.

Challenge

The main challenge was bringing the audit process performed by staff responsible for arranging products on shelves under control. The manual flow of information was time-consuming and prone to errors, while fragmented documentation made it difficult to monitor display quality on an ongoing basis and respond quickly to irregularities.

The lack of real-time access to data and limited trend analysis capabilities meant that optimisation recommendations were generated with delays. An additional obstacle was collecting photographic material across multiple channels and formats, which extended report preparation time and prevented consistent benchmarking of employees and locations.

Solution

To eliminate bottlenecks, the JTI ASM Audit app for iOS was developed using Xamarin, Sharepoint, web applications and ASP.NET. The solution standardised the audit workflow through clearly defined checklists, intuitive forms and task completion assessment, ensuring a consistent standard of field operations.

The app enables real-time recording of results and observations, as well as quick access to historical data and trend analysis. As a result, managers can compare employee performance, identify execution gaps and make decisions based on reliable indicators.

Features supporting visual documentation, including integration with Instagram and Facebook as well as tools for automatic completion, cropping, rotating and photo correction, significantly accelerated the collection of supporting evidence. As a result, the audit process became faster, more accurate and easy to scale across multiple locations.