MuleSoft Accelerator for Consumer Goods

Rapidly integrate shelf image data into retail execution platforms to gain real-time insights and recommend actions to help close execution gaps in store at every visit.

Overview

• Description
• Solution definition
• Assumptions and constraints
• High-level architecture
• Sequence diagram
• Processing logic
• Successful outcome

See also

• Downloadable assets

Description

Retail execution aims to put the right product on the right shelf at the right time. However, for many consumer goods companies, the rigor around in-store execution is lacking, which can be tied back to a lack of real-time data and metrics to make informed decisions. Brands are dealing with complex indirect sales channels and retail partners, as well as changes in their product assortment, packaging, merchandising and promotions. Consumer goods companies are unable to make decisions in real-time because their information sources are disjointed. This can lead to out of stock products and wasted funds allocated to merchandising, in-store displays, and assortments gaps.

Creating flawless retail execution is threefold. First an image recognition software is required to gather real-time in-store data. Second, a retail execution platform is needed to monitor and analyze that data. Third, for Key Account Managers and Field Reps to act on these in-store audits quickly, a strategic integration solution is vital to connect these systems in real-time, enabling teams to collaborate and make impactful in the moment decisions.

Glossary

Goals

• Support the synchronisation of Visit and Retail Visit KPIs from Trax into Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud.
• Orchestrate the Trax System APIs to trigger the full load and incremental load of Visit and Retail Visit KPI objects.
• Upsert the Visit and Retail Visit KPI objects Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud.

Use case considerations

• Trax application supports only epoch time format. Wherever applicable the MuleSoft APIs will do the conversion from epoch time format to UTC format and vice versa.
• Deep linking is handled between Trax and Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud without MuleSoft

End-to-end scenarios

• Visit Object and Retail Visit KPI object created or updated in Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud.

Solution definition

The primary set of use cases covered in the current solution involve the synchronisation of product and account data (including their hierarchies) between multiple systems.

Goal

Synchronize Visit and Retail Visit KPIs from Trax application to Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud.

Main success scenario

1. The Store Audit Process API runs on a schedule to get the visit objects from the Trax System API.
2. The Trax System API returns the visit objects information by concatenating the responses from Result Analysis API and Result Link API from Trax.
3. The Store Audit Process API publishes the messages to Anypoint MQ.
4. A subscriber or listener in the Store Audit Process API receives the message and sends it to the Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud System API.
5. The Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud System API creates or updates the Visit Object and the related Retail KPI Visit Object in Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud.

Assumptions and constraints

The following will be used to guide or constrain the solution design at a high level:

• Deep linking is handled between Trax and Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud without MuleSoft.
• Data will be sent directly to Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud objects and will not be sent to CRM Analytics.

High-level architecture

Sequence diagram

The diagrams below illustrates the sequence of processing product and account sync to Salesforce CG Cloud from SAP S/4HANA.

Processing logic

The primary handling and orchestration of products will be implemented in the RCG Store Audit Process API. This process can be described as follows:

1. A scheduler on MuleSoft’s Store Audit Process API will invoke Trax System API to retrieve KPI insights during a given time durationa. From timestamp: Last job runb. To timestamp: Current time
2. Trax System API will concatenate the response from Result Analysis API and Result Link API.
3. The Store Audit Process API will use pagination logic to retrieve certain number of Visit objects from Trax.
4. Once data is retrieved from Trax System API, the Store Audit Process API will send the messages to Anypoint MQ.
5. A subscriber in the process API will receive the messages and upsert the Visit and Retail Visit KPI objects in Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud via the Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud System API.

Successful outcome

After successfully implementing the use case, the following conditions will be met:

1. Any new visits created on the Trax app will be integrated into Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud.

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Workflow

1. The use case is triggered when
   • A new image is captured by the Trax application.
2. The RCG Store Audit Process API invokes the RCG Trax System API on a schedule to capture the new and updated product images.
3. The RCG Store Audit Process API retrieves paginated results from RCG Trax System API and sends the messages to Anypoint MQ.
4. The RCG Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud System API creates or updates the Visit and Retail Visit KPI objects in Salesforce CG Cloud.

Systems involved

• Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud
• Trax

Setup instructions

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Before you begin

The Getting Started with MuleSoft Accelerators guide provides general information on getting started with the accelerator components. This includes instructions on setting up your local workstation for configuring and deploying the applications.

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Downloadable assets

Accelerator System APIs

• RCG Trax System API | API Specification | Implementation Template
• RCG Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud System API | API Specification | Implementation Template

Accelerator Process APIs

• RCG Store Audit Process API | API Specification | Implementation Template

Common services (can be used across any use case)

• Accelerators Common Services