Van sales software digitises the work of route reps who visit customers, take orders, collect payments and often deliver goods straight from the vehicle. The model is common in food, beverage, dairy, bakery, household goods, tobacco and other FMCG distribution. In van sales the vehicle is effectively a moving warehouse, so closing stock, cash and documents correctly at the end of the day is the hardest part of the job. This guide explains what van sales software should handle, how it connects to your ERP and how to choose and roll out the right system.
What is van sales software?
Van sales software is a mobile app for route reps combined with a web panel for head office. The rep uses the app on a phone or tablet to see the day's route, open each customer's account, sell from the stock on the vehicle, print or send documents and record payments. Supervisors watch the same data live in the panel, and every transaction flows to the ERP. It is sometimes called route sales software, direct store delivery (DSD) software or a mobile van sales system; the core idea is the same in every case: one source of truth for what left the depot, what was sold, what was collected and what came back.
Van sales, pre-sales and hybrid models
- Pre-sales: the rep takes the order and a separate vehicle delivers later.
- Van sales: the rep carries stock, takes the order and delivers on the spot.
- Hybrid: some customers get immediate delivery, others are pre-sold.
In van sales the rep is salesperson, warehouse keeper and cashier at once, so the software must cover sales, stock and cash together. In pre-sales the emphasis shifts to order accuracy and delivery planning: orders must reach the warehouse on time and be assigned to the right delivery vehicle. If you run a hybrid model, one app that supports both flows and shows the rep which one applies to each customer saves a lot of confusion. Clarify your model before choosing software, because it defines the scope.
Common challenges in route sales
- Tracking the difference between stock loaded in the morning and stock returned at night.
- Keeping cash, cheque and card collections consistent with the daily cash report.
- Handling returns of damaged or expired goods, often with lot or expiry tracking.
- Applying customer-specific price lists, discounts and promotions correctly.
- Planning routes so reps spend time selling instead of driving.
- Working in basements, warehouses and rural areas with no mobile signal.
- Finance re-entering the day's paperwork into the ERP.
Key features of a van sales app
Vehicle as a warehouse
Each vehicle should be a separate stock location. Morning loading is recorded as a transfer from the depot, every sale deducts from vehicle stock, and reps cannot sell what they do not carry. A suggested load based on the day's route and each customer's buying history reduces both stock-outs and full returns to the depot.
Routes and visits
Reps see the day's customers in order, with location, opening hours and notes. Visits are started and closed with location checks, missed visits require a reason, and unplanned stops are recorded too. For teams planning daily routes and logging customer visits, this is where most of the time savings come from. Our guide to route planning and visit management covers this in depth.
Orders, pricing and promotions
Fast product selection from a mobile catalogue, automatic customer pricing, quantity breaks, free goods and promotions applied by rule rather than memory, plus a shareable order summary. Invoices and delivery documents should follow your ERP setup and local regulations, printed on a mobile printer or sent digitally.
Collections and returns
Payments recorded by type (cash, cheque, card, transfer), the customer's current balance and overdue invoices visible during the visit, and credit limit checks before a sale. Returns are logged with a reason and photo and routed either back to vehicle stock or to a damaged-goods location.
Proof of delivery and field data
Customer signature, photos of the shelf or delivery, and short forms such as shelf share, competitor prices or cooler checks give head office evidence it can act on.
Offline first
Sales, payments and stock movements should work offline and sync without conflicts when the connection returns. Test this on real routes, not only in the office.
Manager panel
Live view of vehicles, visits, sales and collections; end-of-day summaries per rep; and alerts for unusual discounts, cash differences or customers over their credit limit.
End-of-day reconciliation
| Check | Calculation | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Loaded − sold + returned = remaining | Spot shrinkage or count errors |
| Cash | Cash collected vs cash handed in | Detect cash differences |
| Documents | Issued documents vs recorded sales | Avoid missing or duplicate records |
| Visits | Planned vs completed visits | Measure route compliance |
Done by hand, this is slow and error-prone. Software that produces the summary automatically and flags differences saves supervisors a great deal of time and closes the day before the next load.
Route and van sales ERP integration
Van sales software without ERP integration is only half a system. Master data comes down from the ERP; transactions must flow back. Without a reliable two-way sync, finance ends up re-entering the day's data.
| Data | Direction | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
| Products, price lists, promotions | ERP → app | Before the day starts and on change |
| Customers, balances, credit limits | ERP → app | Daily, plus refresh during the day |
| Vehicle load transfers | ERP ↔ app | At loading |
| Sales, invoices, delivery notes | App → ERP | As soon as there is a connection |
| Collections and returns | App → ERP | As soon as there is a connection |
| End-of-day stock and cash | App → ERP | At reconciliation |
The integration can talk to the ERP's API directly or go through an integration layer that queues transactions, retries failures and keeps the mobile app fast. Common targets include SAP, Logo, Mikro, Netsis and Microsoft Dynamics. See our article on mobile integration with Logo and Mikro ERP for the technical side.
Van sales software vs ERP dashboards
ERP dashboards tell you what happened once the data is posted, usually the next day. Van sales software works at the point of sale: it stops a rep from selling over a credit limit, applies the right promotion and shows which customers on today's route have stopped ordering. The two complement each other: the van sales system creates clean transactions, and the ERP and BI dashboards analyse them over time.
How to choose van sales software
- Fit with your model: van sales, pre-sales or hybrid, with your document types.
- ERP integration: proven two-way sync with your ERP, not just a file export.
- Offline reliability: full selling, collecting and returning without a signal.
- Speed of use: how many taps an order takes; try it with your own reps.
- Pricing rules: can it express your discounts, free goods and promotions exactly?
- Flexibility: can screens, forms and approvals be shaped around your process?
- Hardware: support for the phones, tablets and mobile printers you use.
- Support and ownership: who fixes issues on a Monday morning, and who owns the data.
The same criteria apply to broader field sales tools; our guide on how to choose field sales software covers them for pre-sales and merchandising teams.
Measuring van sales performance
- Strike rate: share of visits that result in a sale.
- Average drop size and lines per order: how well the rep presents the range.
- Collection rate: share of due receivables collected on time.
- Return rate: returns relative to sales, often a sign of stock rotation issues.
- Load utilisation: how much of the morning load is sold. Large daily returns to the depot suggest the loading plan needs work.
- Route compliance: planned versus completed visits, and time spent per visit.
Comparing these by rep, region and product shows early who needs coaching, where the product mix should change and which customers carry growing credit risk.
How to roll out van sales software
- Define your model (van sales, pre-sales or hybrid) and document flow.
- Review how vehicles, warehouses and cash are set up in the ERP.
- Ride along with reps to see where time is lost.
- Pilot with one vehicle or region and run reconciliation in parallel for a few weeks.
- Train reps on real routes, fix what slows them down, then roll out to the fleet.
Mobile performance and usability decide adoption, so work with a team experienced in mobile app development.
BernSFA van sales software manages customers, routes, orders, collections and vehicle stock through a mobile app and web panel, with screens and workflows shaped around your distribution model, and syncs each transaction with your ERP. Contact BernSoftware to discuss your van sales needs.
Frequently asked questions
What is van sales software?
It is a mobile app for route reps plus a web panel for head office. Reps sell from vehicle stock, record payments and returns and issue documents; managers see the same data live, and every transaction syncs with the ERP.
What is the difference between van sales and pre-sales?
In pre-sales the rep takes the order and delivery happens later from a separate vehicle. In van sales the rep carries stock and delivers immediately, so the software must also manage vehicle stock and cash.
How is vehicle stock tracked in van sales software?
Each vehicle is set up as its own stock location. Loading is a transfer from the main warehouse, each sale deducts from the vehicle, and remaining stock is compared with a physical count at the end of the day.
Can van sales software integrate with SAP, Logo, Mikro or Netsis?
Yes. Products, prices and customer balances come down from the ERP, and sales, collections, returns and stock movements flow back, either through the ERP's API or an integration layer that queues and retries transactions.
Does van sales software work offline?
A properly designed app records sales, payments and stock movements offline and syncs with the server once a connection is available.
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