Connecting Image Recognition Technlogies to the Salesforce Ecosystem with CT Vision

By Anna Markova - September 16, 2021

CT Vision is an AI solution that connects image recognition (IR) technologies to the Salesforce ecosystem, allowing companies to gain maximum insight from their IR results. With CT Vision, companies can:   

• Recognize products in Point of Sale 
• Calculate share of shelf 
• Identify prices 
• Calculate numeric distribution 
• Maintain planogram compliance 

CT Vision is now available on Salesforce AppExchange, and we’ve upgraded the app with new features that increase the business value of the tool by delivering enhanced IR insights directly to Salesforce and CT Mobile.  

 What’s new:  

• Feedback Loop, a backend service for IR quality improvements 
• IR-agnostic technology, so CT Vision can be used with any IR provider 
• Recognition results are converted to Salesforce object records to be used for reporting 
• CT Mobile’s camera UI has been updated to allow users to create shelf types and set KPIs for each shelf that must be checked 
• We’ve implemented AR Kit to add photo stitching to CT Vision’s camera app 

 We’ve also made the process of solution piloting easier for our clients. Our Professional Services team is highly experienced in machine learning, and we’ve streamlined our technology implementation even further to get each instance to go-live faster.  

Photo Audits, Fewer Errors 

As with any business process, automation can lead to dramatic time savings. With CT Vision, we see this easily in the shelf audit process. CT Vision allows for photo audits, which take much less time than their manual counterparts. Audit accuracy is also greatly improved with image recognition tools that correspond to Salesforce object records.  

CT Vision’s integration with IR software goes one step further than most IR providers by processing and transforming IR data to align with KPIs. With it, companies can define racks and shelves, easily calculate share of shelf by brand, identify out of stock items, and monitor empty spaces.  

 In every instance, image recognition technology on CT Vision leads to greater sales and product insight and fewer errors. And since it’s part of CT Mobile, a Salesforce native tool, IR results integrate seamlessly with your existing business processes without the need for additional steps.  

Targeted Insight 

We work closely with companies in the Consumer Goods & Retail and Consumer Healthcare industries, and we know that IR processing needs can differ from company to company. User experience and KPIs can also differ, so with CT Vision, we’ve created a product that provides highly targeted, fully customizable insights.  

When conducting shelf audits, targets can be applied for each shelf and display type – primary/secondary displays, large shelves, POSM, equipment, and more.  

The digital image capture UI can be customized to record in-store conditions and ensure alignment with each company’s Salesforce merchandising objectives. View settings in CT Vision align with the company’s technical object records, so if a manager needs to add a shelf to a particular business unit, it can be done quickly, without complicated setup.  

We’ve also updated the POS audit experience. Now, IR results can be automatically converted to out-of-stock lists. These can be sent to the POS manager or used for analysis, delivering actionable data insights and an improved ability to identify merchandising gaps.  

Award-Winning Implementation 

We work with many global leaders in the retail and consumer goods space, and increasing effectiveness is one of the challenges nearly everyone wants to overcome. As an example, we recently worked with a global leader in beauty. They wanted to help their sales reps be more efficient, but their reps were dependent on legacy tools to perform the necessary checks during their visits to Point of Sale. 

As a result, they were performing these tedious tasks manually, measuring shelves, recording displays, and calculating share of shelf by hand. We implemented CT Vision and Einstein Vision, the Salesforce AI tool, and now that they’re in place, the sales reps can perform these same tasks with just the snap of a photo.  

Since these tasks now take just a fraction of the time they used to take, the company has been able to reduce manual labor considerably, allowing reps to devote time to other high value activities.  

We are proud to have received a Salesforce Partner Innovation Award for this work, and we’ve a created a short video with some of the details. Watch it now to see CT Vision in action. 

Though this particular use case focused on field sales reps, the same CT Vision functionality works for in- house sales teams, marketing teams, and sales operations. CT Vision can transform the way your organization handles key retail execution processes, leading to higher efficiency across your sales force.  

To learn more about CT Vision, check it out on AppExchange or request a demo here.