Burning the Ravan of CPG
by Mehak Jaggi
Oct 02, 2025 | 05 min read
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Hello, it’s me, RIO again.
Every year during Dussehra, we gather to watch the figure of Ravaṇ go up in flames. The crackle of fire and the cheer of the crowd symbolise something bigger than myth; it’s a reminder that no matter how large, complex, or fearsome an obstacle may appear, it can be defeated.
In the world of CPG, Ravaṇ isn’t a demon with ten heads. It hides in inefficiencies, leakages, and blind spots that silently hold back growth. Sometimes it’s an inflated outlet universe. Sometimes it’s a rep stuck in traffic, wasting precious hours. And sometimes, it’s a retailer who wants to reorder but can’t, until the sales rep shows up.
This Dussehra, instead of watching Ravaṇ burn on stage, let’s set fire to these obstacles that keep our industry from thriving. Let’s walk through the burning issues every CPG leader has wrestled with and the smarter ways to tackle them.
1. The Ghost Outlets in Your System
One of the most frustrating demons is unhygienic outlet data. You may think your universe has 1,00,000 outlets, but once you scratch beneath the surface, a painful reality emerges: duplicates, fictitious shops, and inflated numbers. This warped data skews everything from hiring too many sales reps, to poor beat planning, to setting unrealistic targets. Worse, it inflates sales predictions that never meet reality.
The truth is, a clean outlet universe is fundamental. That’s why Bizom’s Outlet De-duplication brings in real intelligence. A simple photo click validates outlets against 30 checkpoints, instantly flagging duplicates or ghosts. The outcome? Reliable segmentation, sharper beat planning, and trade promotions that actually reach the right stores.
Clean data doesn’t just look good on a dashboard. It builds the foundation for every sales decision that follows.
2. Time Lost in the Market
Every sales leader knows this scene: a rep stuck in traffic, zig-zagging through distant outlets, losing two hours before even reaching the location. The outcome is predictable- lower coverage, less engagement, and unproductive days that leave teams demotivated. Some reps cover 25 outlets, others barely 15. And the business pays the price.
With Bizom’s Beat Optimisation, reps don’t waste time guessing the best path. Outlets are mapped by proximity, and their journey starts from the nearest store, not the longest detour. This isn’t just navigation, it’s unlocking more hours in a day. The result is higher outlet coverage, reduced travel time, and optimised manpower.
3. The Shelf That Never Lies
The shelf is where the real battle is fought. Shoppers make split-second decisions based on what they see. Yet 30- 40% of merchandising spends never convert. Posters are missing, products are misplaced, and competitors sneak in to hijack visibility. The investment is made, but compliance doesn’t follow.
Bizom’s Smart Merchandising cuts through this chaos. A photo snapped by the sales rep is analysed in real time, planograms checked, stockouts flagged, and secondary displays validated. Suddenly, visibility isn’t a vague promise but a measurable outcome.
When out-of-stocks are minimised and compliance improves, sales don’t just grow. They grow predictably.
4. Retailers Waiting in the Dark
Retailers are often left waiting until a sales rep drops by to place an order. By then, shelves are empty, shoppers have moved on to a competitor, and the brand loses both sales and loyalty. Brands, on their part, struggle to engage retailers directly, relying on distributors or delayed visits.
The Bizom’s Retailer App flips this dependency. Retailers can order anytime, access discounts, earn loyalty points, and even request credit. Instead of being reactive, engagement becomes proactive.
The result? Stronger brand-retailer relationships, fewer stockouts, and loyalty that can withstand competitive pushes.
5. The Salesman’s Dilemma: What to Pitch?
Picture a rep standing in a store, flipping through SKUs, unsure of what to recommend. Each second spent searching is a second lost from selling. Across a day, that wasted time adds up to 1- 2 hours. The bigger tragedy? Lost upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
Enter Bizom’s RI Co-pilot– an AI-powered assistant that transforms order-taking into a high-impact sales moment. It predicts retailer needs, auto-fills orders, and suggests the right SKUs and quantities based on seasonality and past purchases. It even prompts sales reps to recover lost SKUs that a retailer has stopped buying.
The outcome is simple: faster order-taking, smarter recommendations, and sales reps who sell with confidence rather than hesitation.
6. Distributors Who Run Out of Breath
Even the best sales rep can’t sell if the distributor’s warehouse is empty. Stock-outs at this level ripple down the chain, leading to missed sales, frustrated retailers, and disappointed consumers. The root cause? Poor forecasting and delayed replenishment.
Bizom’s Auto Replenishment System fixes this with real intelligence. Distributors maintain just the right level of stock, which is fresh, available, and aligned to demand without choking cash flow. Range selling improves, last-week billing skew reduces, and logistics run smoother.
The distributor who once ran out of breath can now run at full pace.
7. Promotions That Don’t Reach in Time
Promotions are designed to excite, upsell, and build loyalty. But when they don’t reach retailers on time, they’re nothing more than missed chances. Often, sales reps forget to pass them on while taking orders, leaving brands with wasted marketing spends.
Bizom’s Smart Nudges push promotions directly to a retailer’s WhatsApp in real time, prompting them to add SKUs and increase order value. The simplicity is its power no delays, no missed opportunities.
The result? Higher cart value, better uptake of promotions, and stronger retailer-brand bonds.
8. Expanding the Outlet Universe
Growth isn’t just about selling more to the same outlets, it’s about discovering new ones. Yet sales reps often struggle to identify new opportunities, leading to stagnation in expansion.
Bizom’s Market Expansion brings a solution to this problem. It analyses existing reach versus potential, highlighting untapped regions with high growth potential. With the same manpower, brands can now optimise distribution, expand reach, and capture growth regions.
9. Sales Reps Flying Blind
A sales rep without insights is like a pilot flying blind. With multiple outlets to cover daily, it’s easy to lose track of what to sell, where to sell, and how close they are to targets. For new reps, it’s even harder, no visibility of beats or outlet histories.
With Bizom’s RI Agents, sales reps gain real-time visibility and actionability. They don’t just see data, they’re guided by it. From which outlet to prioritise to how to hit targets, every action becomes sharper and more purposeful. Execution improves not by pushing harder, but by working smarter.
10. Collections Dragging Cash Flow
Finally, one of the most stubborn demons: delayed collections. When cash and credit flows are mixed, errors creep in, defaults rise, and selling time gets swallowed by reconciliation. For brands, this means slower collections and weaker cash flow.
Bizom brings clarity with After Van Sale Collections. Cash settlements happen in a tap, while credit flows are tracked in real time with clear visibility. Sales reps don’t waste time on confusion, and brands don’t bleed revenue through leakage.
The outcome? Faster revenue realisation and stronger working capital discipline.
In Conclusion
The truth is, none of these problems are new. CPG leaders have battled them for decades. But like Ravaṇ, they have loomed large and felt undefeatable. What’s different today is that we finally have the solutions built on real intelligence to burn them down, one by one.
This Dussehra, let’s not just celebrate the symbolic victory of good over evil. Let’s commit to defeating the everyday Ravans of inefficiency, leakage, and missed opportunities that stall growth in our industry. Because when we do, growth doesn’t just happen. It compounds.
So here’s to sharper shelves, cleaner data, smarter sales reps, and stronger brands. Here’s to burning the Ravaṇ of CPG and building the future it has long kept from us.
Until next time,
RIO
