Local and traditional markets make up an important part of the African retail landscape. However, little is known about these informal markets, given that there is no available database of the existing outlets. Due to a lack of detailed information on the universe of outlets that function downstream of wholesale, FMCGs and Beverage companies often use the wholesale channel to reach the informal markets. As a result, key factors to Route to Market strategies, such as product availability, competitor activity, and best practices, are unknown. Retail Mapping Surveys (RMS) provide the solution to this issue.

• Our team of enumerators will go into emerging market areas and map out every street to create a full database of retail outlets.
• The enumerators are equipped with technology to capture important outlet information, such as GPS coordinates, photographs of the outside and inside of the outlet, product categories, competitor pricing, etc.
• The type of information to be captured is determined in coordination with the client.
  
  

The deliverables of an RMS project include:

• An overview of the outlets in the target market
• Information regarding competitors, pricing, availability, and point of sale material.
  
  

Such data is key in developing a Route to Market strategy and provides important insights regarding channel classification and development.

As useful as RMS data is, we have seen companies make use of less than 30% of the data. At MDC Africa, our goal is to help our clients make better use of this data and maximize the outcomes of these types of projects. We hand over the data in manageable “bite sizes”, and help define relevant strategies based on the outcomes. We can also take these outcomes to the next level by designing and implementing Best Practice Standard, Work Force Automation, Asset Management or Last Mile Distribution projects.