The daily problems this covers
Stock leaves on a van and the count does not agree at night. Reps sell below price. Deliveries fail and nobody knows why. Customers dispute what they received. Money collected in the field is hard to tie to invoices. Navigate records each of these steps with a name, a time and a document.
1. Buying from key suppliers
Under Key suppliers, a dealer can see a supplier's catalogue, stock by branch and the price agreed with that dealer. Only your own prices are shown, never another dealer's. A Reorder page lists items at or below your minimum level, with a suggested quantity. You and the supplier see the same order status, including partial dispatch and delivery.
- If you are the supplier, the Supplier portal lets you publish promotions, manage dealer prices and see dealer reorder alerts.
- A dealer's own system can read stock and place orders by API, on packages with API access.
2. Price lists and credit
Price lists set prices per customer group. You can also set discount rules, and time-limited promotions apply automatically on sales. A customer's price list also sets the price of a pack, based on the pieces in it. Credit limits, payment terms, statements and ageing support collections. Salesperson targets show progress against each monthly target.
3. Taking orders in the field
A rep can take a sales order on the phone, even without signal. It is sent when the connection returns, and it arrives in the office as a draft to confirm. Prices on the phone are a guide. Navigate prices the order properly when it arrives, using the customer's price list, discounts and tax. Reps can also log customer visits.
4. Van sales
For example, a distributor might load 200 crates in the morning, sell 170 and return 28. Navigate would show the 2 missing crates as a variance waiting for the supervisor. It would not adjust them silently.
- Loading: the salesperson requests stock, a supervisor approves, and the warehouse loads it once. The salesperson then confirms what arrived.
- Selling: the van POS lists only that van's stock and never sells more than the van carries.
- Credit: vans are cash only by default. If you allow credit, it applies only to customers with credit terms and within their limit.
- End of day: Navigate works out what should be on the van. The salesperson counts and explains each difference.
- Variances: the supervisor approves or investigates each one. The salesperson never decides their own.
- Close: finance reconciles cash, mobile money and card against the day's sales, and the supervisor locks the day.
5. Dispatch and delivery
Delivery routes list the customers on each route and the days it runs. Confirmed orders wait in one list. The dispatcher groups them into a run with a date, warehouse, vehicle and driver. The run prints one pick list and a manifest. When dispatched, it appears on the driver's phone.
- The receiver types their name and signs on the phone. A photo can be added, and the location is recorded where the phone allows it.
- Stock leaves the warehouse when delivery is confirmed.
- Part deliveries are recorded by quantity. A failed stop records the reason and returns the delivery note to the list for the next run.
6. Reports
Van reports cover performance by van and salesperson, stock balance, stock age on the van, accountability for variances, cash collected and credit sales. Delivery reports show on-time and failure figures. All of these sit alongside receivables ageing and sales reports.
Where Navigate may not fit
- There is no route optimisation. Stops are ordered by hand.
- The van POS needs a connection. Only phone sales orders and visits work offline.
- Van sales must be switched on for your organisation. Confirm it is included when you choose a package.
- The automatic hourly stock feed from a supplier's own system is set up per supplier, so check whether yours has one.
- Live M-Pesa prompts work only in Kenya. Elsewhere, mobile money collected in the field is recorded by hand with its reference.
Frequently asked questions
Can a salesperson see or sell from another van?
No. A van salesperson sees their own van and can open only its counter. Supervisors see all the vans.
Does Navigate work out delivery routes for you?
No. You set the routes and put the stops in driving order by hand. Directions open in the driver's maps app.
Can reps work with no signal?
Partly. Sales orders and customer visits can be captured offline. The van POS, invoices, payments and stock levels need a connection.
What happens to a failed delivery?
The stop closes as not delivered, with the reason. Nothing leaves the warehouse, and the delivery note goes back in the list to plan again.