Retail audit vs retail execution
Retail audit and retail execution name two jobs in the same store loop. Retailens runs both in one product. Product placement, visual merchandising, in-store communication, and campaign sets all land in the same review queue. Stay on this page if you need the score. Read retail execution software if you need to publish the standard.
How to audit a retail store
1. Write the standard for product placement, visual merchandising, and in-store communication.
2. Break the store into zones with reference images and requirements.
3. Have store teams upload photo proof online.
4. Let AI optionally pre-score against the reference.
5. Use the review queue and store leaderboards to find weak doors and fix them.
Retail store audit checklist
A useful retail store audit checklist maps to work you can actually run: a dated standard, the places to photograph, the proof path, and who grades.
1. A dated HQ standard for this window of work.
2. Zones and touchpoints that break the store into places you can photograph.
3. A reference image, the picture of success, where one exists.
4. Written requirements that define a pass.
5. The jobs HQ assigns so stores and partners know what to complete.
6. Store or partner photo upload from the camera or gallery.
7. An online draft that saves on the server.
8. Optional short video beside the photos.
9. Optional AI pre-score against the reference.
10. A reviewer who checks each photo against the reference and the requirements.
11. A review queue with comments and mentions.
12. A network and partner view of who finished and what is still open.
When a tool beats a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet can hold the list. A tool collects proof from each store and puts every submission in a shared review queue. Use a tool when you need the same standard in every store and optional AI pre-score against a picture of success. Keep the spreadsheet if you only need a private list. In Retailens, reviewers check store photos against your reference images and your requirements.
Get the full checklist with photo tips for each check (Excel and PDF).
Audit means photo proof from the store
Some audit tools send a person into the store with a clipboard or a task list. That can work. It is a different motion than asking the store to show the campaign you published.
Retailens treats the audit as photo proof against an HQ standard. You set the zones and touchpoints, attach a reference image, and write the requirements. Partner and store users upload from the camera or the gallery. The reviewer compares the submission to the standard you set.
If you turn AI on, it can pre-score the photo against the reference. Treat that score as a hint for the reviewer.
What the reviewer actually sees
Submitted stores land in a review queue. The reviewer opens the photos, reads the requirements, and decides. Comments stay on the proof. Mentions pull in a teammate when the thread needs another pair of eyes.
All reviewers work from one shared queue. The queue is the work. People pick it up.
Partner and store leaderboards show who has finished. A completion trend shows whether the campaign is moving. That is the network picture after the audit.
What store teams do
A store user or partner user opens the campaign that applies to them, picks the store, and uploads the photos for each touchpoint. Work saves as a server draft, so store teams can stop and finish later.
Capture is online. If the tenant enables short video, that file can sit beside the photos. Video is optional and tenant-controlled. Photo proof is the default audit record.
Retailens is a web app and needs an internet connection. If auditors spend the day in basements and stockrooms with no signal, a field tool with an offline pack is the better fit.
Leave and come back through the server draft. Keep every photo in the draft until you submit. The draft is the unfinished audit.
What HQ sets before anyone uploads
For a store standards audit, HQ admins in the tenant publish a dated campaign. They name the zones and touchpoints, attach reference images, and write the requirements that define a pass.
You configure the areas that matter for this audit. Each campaign uses the zones and touchpoints you name for your own stores.
Partner users and store users only see the campaigns and stores that belong to them. Each customer account runs its own audits.
Price and the commercial unit
Retailens is priced per store, not per seat. Every user is included: reviewers, HQ admins, partner users, and store users.
Published marketing rates are on the pricing page. A demo confirms scope and the invoice. The price is per year, with all features included.
If you need a card form inside the product, this is the wrong tool. Billing stays outside the app. The committed store count is the only commercial unit you bring to the demo.
When a different audit tool is the better fit
If the audit is a field-rep visit that also takes a reorder, look at SimplyDepo. If the audit is an IR task program, look at GoSpotCheck by FORM. If retail audit already lives in Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud, stay there unless you have a reason to leave.
If the job is network photo execution against an HQ standard, Retailens is the retail execution software that also does this audit loop. Compare the field-rep split in Retailens vs SimplyDepo or the broader set of alternatives to Repsly.