How Checklists Can Boost the Performance of Retail Businesses

How Checklists Can Boost the Performance of Retail Businesses

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The retail industry is much more complex then it seems to the outside world. The ability to efficiently manage a mid to large scale retail business in today’s marketplace is almost impossible if you don’t have the right tools. Luckily for business owners in this industry, the current tech boom has led to a variety of tools and platforms that allow for the quick collection and analysis of data in mere seconds. 

So what’s the problem?

Many retail business find themselves in situations where they either can’t afford to invest in high priced pieces of software, have staff that don’t embrace mobile technology, or are afraid of changing their internal processes after decades of doing things a certain way. A combination of all three of these factors is usually why a retail business will recognize that things aren’t running as efficiently as it should be, but don’t do anything about it. 

The key to truely embracing technology within your business is to select a platform that compliments and enhances what you are doing today. 

Canvas mobile checklist

In the Retail Industry, this means selecting a platform that helps increase your daily visibilty into the operations of your business. By selecting a solution that helps reduce the time you spend walking around checking up on things or waiting on reports to be generated, you are instantly recouping hundreds of hours every month that can be refocused on other areas of your business that need improvement.

Also, what would happen if you were able to receive a real-time report after every failed checklist? It would mean that issues would no longer go unnoticed or unresolved for days, weeks, or even months at a time. A single small issue doesn’t snowball into many big issues. And with real-time data reporting, you are able to make proactive decisions within your retail business that can have a huge impact on your employees’ productivity. 

The easist, most efficient way to get started with technology in your retail business is to analyze the different parts of your organization and identify which are most involved in data collection. The reason being is that these areas involve the most paperwork and employee time, and are most likely to be dramatically affected if a mobile data collection solution is implemented. That is why implementing mobile checklists with GoCanvas is one of the most popular ways for retail businesses to go paperless. 

GoCanvas offers a variety of mobile retail checklists that cover everything from retail store audits, cleaning checklists, daily store opening/closing checklists, and more! 

Canvas Mobile checklists

The best part about implementing the GoCanvas platform to your retail employees is that there is no IT involved,  zero coding, and is something easy for you to manage on a daily basis. When your business uses GoCanvas, it instantly allows you to convert your outdated paper processes into mobile checklists. This eliminates the need for all manual reporting on the backend since all the data collected with GoCanvas is instantly uploaded to the cloud and available for review. And since all reports can be sent to you in real-time, business decisions can be made immediately and without hesitation. 

Additional benefits and features for retail businesses include:

  • Field requirements to ensure that employees always complete their checklists
  • GPS and Image Capture allow employees to create incredibly detailed reports
  • Dropdown lists and checkboxes allow for the quick capture of accurate information
  • Schedule, assign, and manage 100’s of tasks with the Dispatch Calendar
  • GoCanvas Workflow allows for the creation of custom report approvals from employee to supervisor
  • And much more!

Mobile checklists aren’t the only form that will help improve your efficiency. Check out the basic order form app today!

Interested in learning more on how GoCanvas can give your retail business an edge in the marketplace? Click the button below!

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

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Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

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GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

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3 Ways to Create a Mobile Work Order Form in Under 10 Minutes

3 Ways to Create a Mobile Work Order Form in Under 10 Minutes

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Choose a template

The secret to setting up the right mobile platform for your business is not by searching for the cheapest tool, but finding the one that you are able to customize, deploy, and manage yourself without the need of IT. This is why more and more companies from the Construction, Inspection, and Field Service industries are choosing GoCanvas for mobile construction work order and document management.

Still wondering if your business should make the switch to mobile work orders? Take a look at some of these stats from our clients in the Construction industry:

  • 45% of clients use GoCanvas for mobile work orders
  • 72%% of clients reported dramatic improvements in the speed of data collection and reporting
  • 78% of clients increased the productivity of their business by 10-19%+

The reason that close to 75% of GoCanvas users are able to build their first mobile form in less than a day is because of our code-free form builder and template library.

Another option is choosing one of the pre-made mobile work order forms in our Application Store of over 30,000 industry and use-case specific templates. This allows you to take your time as you find the right work order that matches your industry and use case. The best part is that you can download as many templates as you wish, test them out, and even customize them using the GoCanvas App Builder to make sure they are perfect. This option is perfect for people who don’t want start from scratch but also want to be hands-on as they build out the mobile platform for their business.

Canvas Mobile Form Builder

The last option (but best in my opinion) is to create a custom work order using the drag-and-drop, no-code builder.

This option gives you the ability to customize everything from the features, user experience, and the reports of your work order. You are able to make the work order as simple as a two screen mobile form with simple data entry fields to as complex as a 15 screen mobile form with automated calculations and conditional fields. This option allows you create a data collection experience that matches the specific job or project that your employees are undertaking.

The best part about all of these options is that there is NOT a huge time or cost investment. Your business is able to design, create, and deploy a mobile platform under a week without the need for involving IT or outside consulting services. This is ideal for any company who is looking for a boost in productivity but is afraid of investing large amounts of time and money in technology.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Feature Focus: Create Custom Reports with the PDF Designer

Feature Focus: Create Custom Reports with the PDF Designer

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Choose a Template

When you go paperless, that doesn’t mean that you lose the need for reports. For many businesses, it is still extremely critical that their clients are able to receive a copy of the services that were rendered.

At GoCanvas, we developed the PDF Designer with those concerns in mind. This tool gives clients the ability to customize their output reports to replicate the style and design of their original forms without the limitations and issues of paper. The PDF Designer allows companies to create specific output reports based on each of their GoCanvas mobile forms.

Customers frequently create unique PDF reports for different types of mobile forms including:

  • Invoices
  • Timesheets
  • Work Orders
  • Job Safety Analysis (JSA)
  • and more

Similar to the GoCanvas App Builder, the PDF Designer is a simple to use tool that requires no IT or design-based knowledge. It’s an easy to use drag and drop builder that allows you to map the data from your mobile form to your PDF report. The PDF Designer automatically syncs all the data fields from the app builder so that all you have to do is simply drag the data to where you want it to show up on the PDF!

PDF Designer

Aside from just simply dragging the data fields to where you want them on the PDF, you are also able to add:

  • Social Media Icons – Facebook, Home Advisor, Google Reviews, etc
  • Images, Logos, and Graphics
  • Static Text
  • Borders
  • Background Colors
  • Hyperlinks

The best part about the PDF Designer is that we have given you a number of ways to get started in designing the perfect report.

The first way to get started is by choosing one of our five most popular form templates! These templates include a Work Order, Invoice, Inspection, Waiver, and an Estimate. This is perfect for users who are just getting started creating a new mobile form and want to save time! The template will give create the app and the output for you automatically, and give you quick headstart for tweaking anything you feel that needs to be changed.

Mobile Form Templates

The second way to get started is by using our new “Auto Layout” feature. This is an amazing feature that can take any of the forms that you have already built and give them a custom designed layout in just seconds! All you have to do is access the PDF Designer for the mobile form that you wish to create an output report. Once inside the PDF Designer, click the button that says “Auto Layout”. You will instantly see the report be created based on the data fields from the mobile form. All you will need to do is add your logo and connect any of your company’s social media accounts(if you wish).

Auto Layout

The third way to get started with the PDF Designer is by going with a blank template! Just like when you are building your first mobile form with GoCanvas, you can start with a blank slate and build things from the ground up if you prefer. As you are customizing your report from scratch, you may use the “Preview” button within the PDF Designer so that you can confirm how your creation looks and tweak things in a flash.

This is the ideal way to start if you are going to be creating a report that needs to look a very specific way, and don’t want to waste time having to deconstruct a pre-built template that doesn’t fit the design you were envisioning.

Design your PDF

And keep in mind, the 20,000+ pre-built mobile form templates in our Application Store all have professionally designed PDF reports assigned to them as well!

The biggest benefit in designing your own reports is obviously the fact that you are able to control the look, feel, and layout of your company’s information and brand.

Many services similar to GoCanvas will force your information to be placed into a generic looking document that serves only to show your information one way. With GoCanvas, we give you the power to control the way your information is presented to your customers, vendors, and internal staff. You now control how your forms are filled out, shared, and formatted with GoCanvas.

Take full advantage of this core feature of GoCanvas, and start customizing your reports today!

Burning Paper

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

4 Mobile Forms Every Field Service Company Should Have

4 Mobile Forms Every Field Service Company Should Have

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Construction Truck with people

When it comes to the Field Service industry, time means everything. Many companies charge customers a flat rate fee instead of an hourly rate, so it’s in the best interest of the service technician to complete as many jobs per day as possible.

So how do mobile forms come into play? Efficiency!

Using mobile forms instead of paper has proven to be a faster way to collect, share, and learn from your data in real-time. GoCanvas has an app store of over 20,000 mobile form templates from various industries.

So the only question is, which forms should you get started with first?

#1.  Field Service Report – This form is key to getting any job done, no matter what service you are performing. With this mobile report, you have the ability to capture key data points like Time on Site, Project Images, Customer Requirements, Project Costs, and more. The best part is that you can create tasks to be assigned to technicians that are already out in the field by using GoCanvas Dispatch. The technician simply has to open up the Field Service Report on their mobile device, read the assigned dispatch, and complete the rest of the report when they arrive on the job site.

#2.  Invoice – A crucial part of any business is getting paid. But most companies still struggle with collecting payment in a timely manner. That is why the mobile Invoice form is critical for those who struggle with this issue, and for those who no longer want to wait days or weeks to get jobs processed. Another feature is the ability to collect payment instantly using our integration with Square! You can have your data flow from GoCanvas directly into your existing invoice software including Quickbooks.

Workers Dispatching information

#3. Change Order Form – The ability to make quick changes on a job site is key. With the mobile Change Order Form and our calculation functionality, you can quickly display the costs of the proposed change to the customer and get their digital signature in seconds. A copy of the form will be sent to the customer, the back office, and to the parts supplier for immediate delivery.

#4.  Daily Time Sheet –  The hardest thing for any company to accurately capture is an employee’s work hours. The problem is that this data is usually captured on a weekly basis but rarely turned in on time. If this data isn’t turned in on time, then no one gets paid. With the mobile Daily Time Sheet form, an employee can simply input their hours each day and submit it to the office. At the end of the pay period, the office accountant can simply export every employee’s work hours into an Excel spreadsheet. We can even help you create an automated dashboard or report that neatly organizes and totals up each employee’s weekly hours for you!

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

Two people in an office looking at a tablet.

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