Methodology
How we review retail execution software
Every platform we cover is scored against the same 10 criteria, using public documentation, verified reviews and hands-on product testing. This page describes exactly what we look at and how editorial independence is maintained.
Our 10-point evaluation rubric
Each vendor is scored on a 0–5 scale for every criterion. Weights are shown below. Scoring is done by two reviewers independently and reconciled.
| Criterion | Weight | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile experience | 15% | Rep-facing app quality, load time, task friction and daily usability. Weighted heavily because rep adoption is the primary predictor of program ROI. |
| Retail audits | 12% | Configurable question sets, conditional logic, scoring rules and photo workflows. |
| Shelf compliance | 12% | Planogram checks, share-of-shelf measurement and AI image-recognition accuracy at SKU level. |
| Reporting & analytics | 12% | Roll-ups by rep, territory, chain and product; drill-down; BI export. |
| Route & territory management | 8% | Territory planning, visit sequencing, mileage tracking and dispatch. |
| Offline capability | 10% | Full-feature offline capture, background sync reliability and conflict resolution. |
| Ease of implementation | 8% | Time-to-value, admin setup burden, change-management support. |
| Integrations | 8% | ERP, CRM, accounting, BI connections and API surface area. |
| Customer reviews | 8% | Verified G2, Capterra and SoftwareAdvice review volume and sentiment. |
| Pricing transparency | 7% | Public per-user pricing versus opaque enterprise-only quotes. |
Research sources
Our ratings are built on six distinct evidence channels. No single source dominates a score; every vendor is cross-checked across at least three of them.
Vendor documentation
Product pages, help centers, API docs and release notes.
Public pricing
Per-user, per-tier and per-module pricing listed on vendor websites.
G2 verified reviews
Volume and sentiment from authenticated users on G2.
Capterra & SoftwareAdvice
Aggregated review corpora for breadth and trend confirmation.
Live demos & sandbox
Hands-on product walkthroughs and sandbox access where available.
Customer interviews
Named customer conversations and published case studies.
Editorial independence
RetailExecutionSoftware.com is editorially independent. Vendors do not pay for inclusion, ratings, awards or placement in our comparison tables. We do not accept gifted premium accounts in exchange for coverage.
Where a commercial relationship exists — for example, an affiliate link on a "Visit website" call to action — it is disclosed at the point of the link and never influences scoring. Our category winners and "Best For" awards are chosen by the editorial team on the basis of the rubric above, not on the basis of commercial arrangements.
Conflict-of-interest policy
Reviewers disclose any prior employment, consulting or equity relationship with a vendor before contributing to that vendor's review. Where a material conflict exists, another reviewer is assigned as primary author.
Update cadence
We re-verify pricing, ratings and feature checkmarks at least quarterly, and after any vendor-announced major release. Each review page shows a "last updated" date.
Corrections
Vendors and readers can flag factual corrections at any time. Confirmed corrections are applied within 5 business days and the review's update date is bumped.