Outlets and outlet care

An outlet is a shop or retailer that field sales reps visit and take orders from. Each outlet is linked to a CRM customer contact, a territory and the distributor that serves it, and has a tier, a channel and GPS coordinates. An outlet care template is the checklist reps fill in during a visit (display, shelf cleaning, photos…).

Who uses it: channel managers build the outlet catalog and care templates; field sales reps propose new outlets from the field.

Before you start

Permissions: view distribution:read; create/edit/approve distribution:write; propose outlets from the field distribution_visits:write. The credit card on the outlet detail only shows to users with credit:read.
Territories and Distributors exist — see Managing distributors and territories. Inactive territories/distributors cannot be newly assigned.
Related toggle (Distribution settings): Outlet care checklist (distribution.visit_care_required) — Off / before check-out / before ordering or selling.

Outlet list

Go to Distribution → Outlets. The page has three tabs, Approved, Pending, Rejected, and filters by territory, distributor and tier.

Create an outlet

Click create, enter code, name, address, channel, tier and GPS coordinates, then pick the customer contact, territory and distributor. An outlet needs a customer contact before orders can be placed.

CSV import/export

Export follows the current filters. Import is keyed by outlet code: empty cells keep the existing value, territory and distributor match by active code, unknown codes are reported as row errors.

Bulk actions

Select several outlets to change territory, change distributor, deactivate or reactivate. Only approved outlets can be reactivated.

Approve proposed outlets

Reps propose new outlets from the phone app; they land in Pending with a temporary P-… code, inactive and not available for check-in. Managers open this tab to Approve or Reject (a note is required to reject). The “Today” card on the Overview page links straight to this tab.

Outlet detail

Click an outlet to see its information, the beats that include it, 90-day metrics, recent visits and orders. Users with credit:read also see receivables by age (not due · 1–30 · 31–60 · 61–90 · over 90 days), the number of open invoices and a link to the invoice list.

Outlet map

The outlet and visit pages have a map view. The map background only shows once a system administrator has configured a map tile provider; otherwise points are shown as a grid with a notice. Up to 200 points are shown at once.

Outlet care templates

Go to Distribution → Outlet care templates.

Create a template

Name the template and add check items. Each item has a type — Yes/No, Number, Text, Photo, Choice — plus required flag, weight and pass value (for choice items).

Use it during visits

Reps fill in the checklist on the phone app during a visit. Photo items use photos taken during the visit. Results show in the visit detail on the Outlet Visits page.

Read the care score

Score = weighted share of Yes/No items passed (plus choice items matching the pass value). The score and completion time are stamped on the visit and used in beat KPIs.

A check item that already has results in a visit cannot be deleted. To change the checklist, add new items or create a new template.

Limits

The Office phone app cannot reject proposed outlets yet — do it on the web.
The map background requires an administrator to configure a tile provider.

Lots and expiry tracking Beats and route planning