Field sales reps, technicians and delivery drivers often work where connectivity is poor. An app that freezes without signal is worse than paper. Offline-first apps store data on the device and sync when a connection returns.
What must work offline
- Customer lists, price lists and product catalogues
- Creating orders, job reports and checklists
- Capturing photos, signatures and barcodes
- Viewing today’s route or job schedule
Syncing without conflicts
| Challenge | Approach |
|---|---|
| Two people edit the same record | Clear ownership rules or field-level merge |
| Large catalogues | Incremental sync of only what changed |
| Photos and files | Background upload with retry |
| Security if a phone is lost | Encrypted local storage and remote sign-out |
Connected to your ERP
Orders, job completions and stock usage should flow straight into your ERP once synced, so office teams see field activity without re-entry.