Retail audit vs retail execution
Retail audit and retail execution name two jobs in the same store loop. retail execution software helps a brand set store standards (product placement, visual merchandising, in-store communication, and campaign sets) and collect proof that stores ran them. retail audit software scores that proof so you can see which stores passed.
Retailens uses one loop for both: HQ publishes zones and requirements, stores upload photos online, AI can pre-score against a reference, and a person sets the official grade with a heart. The score is not a separate product from the standard. 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
To audit a retail store with photo proof: set the standard for product placement, visual merchandising, and in-store communication; break the store into zones with reference images and requirements; have store teams upload photos online; let AI optionally pre-score against the reference while a person sets the official grade; then use the review queue and store rankings to fix weak doors. That is what retail audit software like Retailens is built to do.
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. A person still sets the official grade with a heart.
5. Use the review queue and store leaderboards to find weak doors and fix them.
Audit means proof, not a surprise visit
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.
The official result is a human heart, not a score that ships without a person. If you turn AI on, it can pre-score the photo against the reference. That hint does not close the audit.
This is still retail execution software. The audit page exists because buyers search that exact phrase when they want photo proof against a written HQ standard, not a field visit.
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.
There is no reviewer assignment engine and no ticket queue that hands a case to a named owner. 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, not a consulting dashboard with invented metrics.
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 the floor does not have to finish in one sitting.
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 does not sell offline capture. 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. Do not build a private stash of photos and hope someone emails them later. The draft is the unfinished audit.
What HQ sets before anyone uploads
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. Retailens does not include industry catalog packs. There is no beverage, supermarket, or restaurant template sitting behind a switch.
Partner users and store users only see the campaigns and stores that belong to them. The audit is tenanted, not a shared industry feed.
Price and the commercial unit
Retailens is priced per store, not per seat. Reviewers, HQ admins, partner users, and store users are not a line item.
Published marketing rates are on the homepage pricing. A demo confirms scope and the invoice. There is no in-app billing.
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 compliance 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.