Modern Trade overview & channels
This page explains what Modern Trade (MT) is, how it differs from General Trade, and how outlets and reps get a trade channel.
Modern Trade (MT) means selling to organized, chain retail — supermarkets, branded outlets, and multi-store retailers that run by shelf and planogram rather than a single owner's gut feel. If you serve these outlets, your work centers on in-store execution, not just taking orders. (For independent shops, see the General Trade guide.)
What Modern Trade is
In Modern Trade, the sale doesn't end when the order is booked. What matters is whether your products are on the shelf, in the right place, at the right price, with the right promotions running. So the MT process leads with a shelf check and a stock count, and the order follows from what you find.
Note: An outlet is any place you sell to. In MT it's usually a store inside a larger chain. See the Glossary.
How MT differs from General Trade
| General Trade | Modern Trade | |
|---|---|---|
| Outlet type | Independent, owner-run shops | Organized chain retail |
| Leads with | Visit → order → payment | Merchandising audit + stock count |
| Sale measured by | Orders booked and paid | Shelf compliance and what sold off the shelf |
| People per outlet | One primary rep | Can be several (Sales, Delivery, Merchandising) |
In short: GT is about taking the order; MT is about owning the shelf.
Trade channels
A trade channel (channel) is the retail category an outlet belongs to — General Trade, Modern Trade, Institutional, or Horeca. The channel decides which must-sell lists, promotions, and merchandising expectations apply to an outlet, and it shapes how the app behaves at that outlet.
📷 [SHOT: mt-overview-1] — mobile — New outlet form showing the channel selector — caption: "An outlet's trade channel is chosen on its form."
How an outlet gets its channel
An outlet's channel comes from the channel chosen on its form. Everything else — which must-sell list applies, which promotions to check, what audits to run — flows from that choice.
How a rep gets a channel
A rep carries a list of the channels they serve.
- If the list is empty, the rep serves all channels.
- A rep's channels only set the default when adding a new outlet or lead — they never lock the rep out of any feature.
The MT-dedicated rep
A MT-dedicated rep is a rep whose channel list is exactly Modern Trade and nothing else. For this rep, the app leads with the Modern Trade process — the merchandising audit and stock count — instead of the General Trade visit-to-order loop. The order becomes a follow-on to what the shelf check reveals.
Any rep who serves more than just Modern Trade is a general rep and gets the standard flow.
Best practice: If a rep's whole job is shelf execution in chain stores, set their channel to Modern Trade only so the app puts merchandising front and center.
Multi-owner MT outlets
A single Modern Trade outlet can have different people for different jobs:
- Sales — books the order.
- Delivery — fulfils it.
- Merchandising — audits the shelf and keeps it perfect.
Because these are assigned independently, a merchandiser can be responsible for an outlet without being its sales rep — and that outlet shows up on the merchandiser's app for their function. General Trade outlets, by contrast, have a single primary rep.
Note: These three jobs are called coverage functions. One person can hold more than one, or each can be a different person. See the Glossary.
What's in the Modern Trade section
The rest of this section covers how MT actually runs:
- Must-sell lists — the products each outlet must stock.
- Merchandising audit (Perfect Store) — the in-store shelf check and compliance score.
- Stock counts & sell-out — what's on the shelf and what actually sold.