Supply-chain management company MACmobile provides end-to-end cloud-based value chain solutions to the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector across central, eastern and southern Africa.

The company has recently made a range of enhancements to the FIELDForce Web and mobile applications, which it highlights as its flagship end-to-end, route-to-market automation solution. The updates include security improvements, the inclusion of an invoice value discount engine and a ‘buy one, get one free’ (BOGOF) engine.

“Cybersecurity is a growing concern, so we have spent a considerable amount of time making security enhancements that give users more control in terms of security policies. Users are now able to generate random strong passwords when creating or updating passwords, and can configure passwords to meet corporate policies around password strength and character numbers. We have also implemented password expiry and prevented the use of cyclical passwords. These elements are critical in securing a Software as a Service solution such as ours,” says MACmobile chief technology officer Jaco Ras.

The new invoice value discount engine is seen as a key update on the product side, enabling users to automatically apply a flexible percentage discount based on the value of an order, which adds an incentive to increase the basket size, whereas previously only fixed discounts could be applied.

The BOGOF engine gives distributors the ability to offer ‘buy one get one free’ options based on the value of the basket order and sales representatives (reps) can advise retailers of this at the point of sale. These enhancements allow offers or discounts to be applied dynamically, which may incentivise the retailer to increase sales volumes based on enhanced value. A clean invoice applying these offers and discounts can be immediately generated in trade to accommodate van sales.

“The route to market in the informal sector is very price sensitive and there is a finite share of wallet, which means that often the rep that arrives first gets the sale. It is a very competitive market. The ability to dynamically offer incentives, rewards and discounts helps distributors leverage innovative mechanisms to create greater brand loyalty through these special deals, which in turn drives a competitive edge into the operating model. Being flexible on the ground is key to differentiation, creating value and opportunity and closing deals,” says MACmobile MD Andrew Dawson.

The latest enhancements to FIELDForce are designed to help deliver a seamless process that is simple and intuitive and allows users to offer deals in the moment of sale for greater conversion rates. The functionality is built into the system, which helps prevent capturing of bad data, and invoices are automatically adjusted to remove the need for credit notes which can complicate the payment process.