7 Examples of How Merchandisers May Deceive Their Employers

1. Don't work.

The most common problem is the merchandiser who doesn't make actual visits to stores. It is easy to solve this problem at the beginning: you can use GPS trackers (programmes which track the device location) or check locations of photos taken. But with the growing number of field employees, more complex automation system is required to prevent cheating attempts of field employees.

EasyMerch checks and records the time when an employee starts work in a shop (it collects and saves data from each step of an employee's work). Even if the report is sent later, you will see the time when it was created.

2. Attach fake photos.

"I can take a photo from another angle and upload it tomorrow from home. I'm genius!", a merchandiser may think.

But it doesn't work with EasyMerch. You can't just selet an image from Gallery, so when making a report an employee takes a photo online, attaches it to the report and sends it from their device. EasyMerch records all the EXIF data of the file as well.

3. Install apps changing their location.

Another common problem is installing apps like "FakeGPS" apps or similar apps which allow them to be actually at home and send reports from another place.

According to our internal statistics, about 5% of merchandisers have ever tried to install such apps on their devices.

EasyMerch monitors which apps are installed on the device, and if something suspicious is found, the app sends notifications to the manager's server and blocks itself until the malicious app is deleted.

4. Change system time.

"What if I set my phone an hour ahead? I'll finish my work earlier and send the report later from home", another merchandiser may think.

Fortunately for management (unfortunately for merchandisers), EasyMerch allows to solve this problem. The system records the exact time when reports are created. Managers will see the creation time abd it doesn't matter when the report was sent.

5. Install malicious software.

Some merchandisers try to install malicious software on their device to affect the correct operation of EasyMerch.

Managers have access to the list of installed apps on every employee's device, so they can monitor the availability of malicious software.

6. Say "My phone has died cause your app consumes too much energy. I'm going home!"

It is easy for merchandiser to say that their phone battery level is low and they can't work anymore. But we have a solution for this too.

Managers can view the battery level of their employees' devices at all stages: at the beginning of the day, during visits and now. This feature is available on the web interface.

7. Say "There was no internet connection in the shop, so I couldn't complete the report."

It is enough to enable the mobile data, open the EasyMerch app and update it (if necessary) before starting a visit. If the app shows "Data is updated, you can work" in status, an employee can disable mobile data and start work. The app will continue to work offline and save reports in queue. All the reports will be sent the next time the employee connects to the Internet.