How a customer IoT app helps get the most out of your pushcarts

I can’t remember the last time I planned an outing to go buy ice cream. How it normally plays out is I feel an urge to eat ice cream and if I happen to find a shop nearby, I satisfy that urge. If not, the feeling disappears as fast as it appears. Ice cream companies understand the importance of capitalizing on this urge. Ignoring this impulse is the equivalent of saying “I don’t care about selling my product.”

Pushcarts in India serve the same function that ice cream trucks do in other countries. They are the means of taking the product directly to the consumer. Places like public parks, gardens, squares, beaches, lakefronts and college campuses allow pushcarts to position themselves to take advantage of that very immediate consumer urge.

Pushcarts are also the perfect tool to take advantage of the spike in demand that occurs during summer. People want their ice cream fix, but may not be overly excited about traveling in the heat to get it.

Now that we have established a reasonable case to operate pushcarts, the focus shifts to optimizing the inventory they carry, the routes taken and the working hours. Companies have known the value of optimizing these factors for a long time, but depend on the end-of-day reports to track the data that fuels their changes. Since some of this data is subjective, it can be altered, partial or just plain wrong.

Imagine always knowing at any given time where your pushcarts are, if they are functioning properly and what inventory they are carrying. Imagine if you could push out the location of your carts on the fly, dynamically and accurately. Your customers could locate a cart, and get a list of the inventory and even instructions on how to get to it in the most efficient way. IoT-driven systems enable exactly that scenario. These systems provide companies with all the information required to run inventory, plan stock replacements, plan cart maintenance schedules and more.

Where do I get ice cream?

A customer IoT app keeps your target audience in the loop. This app can be used to provide your customers with location, stock and the easiest way to reach your carts.

Since customers will be registered on your app, you can set up user-based offers and deals.

I forgot my wallet. Do you take cards?

Digital payments make it easier for customers to pay. The past few years have shown that allowing digital payments for a product almost always increases the willingness of people to purchase the product.

A combination of both the shipper application and the customer mobile app data can be used to analyze consumption trends which further help match the supply perfectly with the demand. If used optimally, it can facilitate an increase in sales, a decrease in waste and improvement in operational efficiency. The ice cream supply chain will eventually move from a push to an effective pull.

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