In today's WSJ, Christopher Mims writes about a service whereby sales reps. can be hired like an Uber - temporarily, for certain short-term routes. That may work for a some brands, but I'm not sure that this would work for the home goods brands that I know.
The sales reps. that I know like A La Carte and Rosse & Associates have spent years building their retailers' trust. To walk into a retail store, not know the owner, not know their buying history, nor know other important variables just seems less than ideal.