Category Archives: Industry Trends

by Jennifer Bosavage

The Critical Issue of Out-Of-Stocks

shutterstock_166995212

One of the top complaints retailers hear from customers is the lack of product, or “out of stocks.” Few things are more aggravating for a shopper than arriving at a store and finding that the desired product is unavailable. In response to sagging sales as a result of empty shelves, mega-retailer Target is aiming to take control of the supply-chain problems and shore up its customer satisfaction as well as sales.

Online retailers and brick-and-mortar shops alike depend on good inventory management to run an efficient business.

Online retailers and brick-and-mortar shops alike depend on good inventory management to run an efficient business.

A study from IHL Group last year reported that overstocks and out-of-stocks cost retailers $1.1 trillion globally in lost revenue. Inventory management systems can help, because they inform managers what products are hot sellers. However, some products are must-haves for retailers to carry: For grocers, it might be ketchup, for an office supply store it could be reams of paper. Those are staples that have to be there no matter what. Barren shelves are an issue that, for instance, Wal-mart is criticized for frequently, and that Target has been under fire for recently as well.

But while Walmart’s woes seem to be related to being short-staffed and, therefore, unable to move inventory from the stockroom to the sales floor, Target’s stem from inventory management. There simply isn’t product in the stockroom to display. Last summer, during a conference call with investors, CEO Brian Cornell blamed the inventory problem on an antiquated supply chain strategy that didn’t account for a multi-channel approach to selling. The ability to buy online and pickup in store (BOPIS) had successfully depleted brick and mortar supplies. As a result, Cornell has since launched a strategy designed to take control of the supply chain — which previously had largely been outsourced — to get products onto shelves and into customer’s baskets.

The importance of customer satisfaction in this realm was not lost on the newly minted Chief Operating Officer John Mulligan, who was promoted from the role of Chief Financial Officer. ”Given the breadth and complexity of the business, it will always be a challenge to be in stock on every item in every store… but our guests need us to be consistent in delivering everyday essentials,” Mulligan told Business Advisor.

What Target is learning is that while those products need to be available, not every permutation of the product has to be stocked. For example, how many types of bottled water are needed to satisfy customers? How many bottles does each “case” have to have? Will a shopper walk out if the 16.9 oz. bottles are only available in a 24 pack?

Target is betting that narrowing those types of selections will be acceptable to customers and easier for the stores to manage. It seems to be working: Fortune reported that out-of-stocks were down a whopping 40% during the holiday shopping period. In addition, e-commerce sales rose 34% during the holiday shopping season, according to investorplace.com. Some of the resulting profit will likely fund Target’s expanding use of RFID for inventory, which will enable the retailer to wirelessly track products in stores, warehouses and en route to customers.

All of which shows just how interconnected multichannel commerce truly is: Keeping the shelves stocked on Main Street will keep shopping carts filled on the ground, as well as online.

 

by Ulyana Avetisov

Omnichannel panel: retailers discuss their take on building omnichannel

At our 2016 Retail Pro Americas Summit, we asked retailers building their omnichannel strategy with Retail Pro why they’re doing it, what it takes to make it happen, and where they are in implementing their strategy. Here’s what they said.

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Allow us to introduce…

 

Our retail panelists. See their bios way below!

Omnichannel panel guest speakers. See their bios below.

    

 
 
 

What’s inside:

 

Going Omnichannel
Supply chain integration at Earthbound Trading Co.
Balancing D2C and wholesale at Burton Snowboards
Decreasing the cost of endless aisle at Mexicali Blues
Is omnichannel the end of brick and mortar retail?
Omnichannel generation: millennials’ habits impact retail strategies
Future directions for building omnichannel

 
 
 

    

 

Going omnichannel

 

Dan Jablons Our panel today is about omnichannel. Topher, you’ve done a lot of omnichannel work already, and Eric and Marcelo are starting to work out their omnichannel strategies for Burton Snowboards and Earthbound Trading Company, respectively.

Topher, you’ve done the most omnichannel work out of anyone in the room, apparently. What made you say, “You know what? We have to attack this thing. We have to go after it”?

 

Topher Mallory We thought about where we saw the largest opportunity and that was online. There’s a lot of overlap with the product lines but as far as the business goes, we’ve only got 6 stores plus our online store, and our warehouses are 2000 square feet.

We wanted to leverage our in-store inventory like we showed in the video and the biggest things was data architecture. That’s where UniteU came in.

The biggest challenge was really finding someone who would listen to somebody small like we are, see the opportunity we saw, and  create a data architecture that could go both ways.

Obviously the big picture of Omni is endless aisle and different channels that might not even be in the marketplace yet. Today, it is taking that store inventory and leveraging it to make our online offering larger.

 

 

We thought about where we saw the largest opportunity and that was online.

Topher Mallory

 

 

Check out their video here:

 

See how Mexicali Blues implemented omnichannel in their stores

Topher Mallory of Mexicali Blues shares how he built his omnichannel strategy

 

 

Dan So for you, there was an online opportunity but it was also about leveraging existing inventories and getting better sales.

 

Topher Exactly. Then we started to see that we needed more transparency in the supply chain and all that’s how we came to all those challenges we’re dealing with today.

 

Dan Eric, what drove your decision to go after omnichannel?

 

Eric Bergstrom Actually, something quite similar. We have a real strong online business. We have 13 stores in the US. About this time every year, we sell out of products online but these same products are still sitting in stores. Our objective is to make that store inventory available on the web so that a customer can find it. That way we would really leverage the inventory and sell it.

 

Marcelo Fleitas We have 136 stores nationwide and we’re trying to accomplish something similar to Mexicali Blues. The customers of today’s world require a lot of maintenance. They request a lot of information so we need to provide it.

That’s what Earthbound is trying to do.

We’re trying to provide information from our vendors to the store for a particular item and create an experience for our customers through mobility. We have a segmented customer profile and tools to understand what the customer wants, and we deliver that.

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Supply chain integration at Earthbound Trading Co.

 

Earthbound Trading Company is a lifestyle shop for the nomadic spirit who embraces individuality and craves exploration.

Earthbound Trading Company is a lifestyle shop for the nomadic spirit who embraces individuality and craves exploration.

I was amazed at how Retail Pro Prism® works, because the platform is exactly what we need. The last piece of the puzzle is to feed that information to Retail Pro® and because it’s based on APIs, everything can be integrated.

Marcelo Fleitas

 

Dan One of the things that I was told about the tools you’re using, Marcelo, is that you actually have been integrating various departments together. Overseas vendors and employer systems interact and talk to each other.

 

Marcelo That’s right. One of the biggest challenges that we have at Earthbound is collaboration. We have venders overseas and we deal with big vendors, small vendors, and various departments like accounting and the photographers who take inventory pictures for the online store.

We really had to create a collaboration tool, but not only that – we needed to create a flow between them.

For instance, in order to bring something from overseas, you have to follow a lot of customs codes and we need to make sure we capture product history for things we bring from China, from Brazil. We can’t lose that information.

So we created a portal where vendors can actually talk to us directly. All our internal departments can interact within the system, and the system enforces proper flow.

 

Dan I’ve got to believe that also helps you in terms of gaining more product knowledge, which helps you get more sales too.

 

Marcelo Exactly. I was amazed at how Retail Pro Prism® works, because the platform is exactly what we need. The last piece of the puzzle is to feed that information to Retail Pro® and because it’s based on APIs, everything can be integrated. I’m very happy that that’s the direction for Prism.

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Balancing D2C and wholesale at Burton Snowboards

 

In '77, Jake Burton invented the Backhill - a narrow board with single strap bindings and a rope and handle attached to the nose. Life on shred begins.

In ’77, Jake Burton invented the Backhill – a narrow board with single strap bindings and a rope and handle attached to the nose. Life on shred begins.

 

Dan Eric, let me ask you a question. Burton has 13 stores but you also sell through dealerships. So now you have a situation that a lot of independent retailers get a little bit worried: Burton is going direct, and some retailers are panicking like, “That’s the end of the world. It’s over.” But there’s a lot of business to be made. So how have you had to balance the direct versus channel sales?

 

Eric Our primary business at Burton Snowboards in wholesaling to dealers across the globe. I have 13 stores and 1000 dealers or more. We are real careful about where we put stores. We want to put our stores where we see an opportunity to expose the brand but not step on our dealers’ toes. And then we look for other ways to try to incorporate our dealers into the exercise that we’re going through.

For example, we have a tool that we titled Send It, which allows our stores to drop-ship or custom order any product and ship it directly to the customer’s house.

We’ve opened that up to our retailers to allow them to do the same thing. They have access to all the Burton inventory, which they would have anyway because they can always reorder the product, but it’s a tool that allows them to do the same thing, use their own POS system, and ship directly.

So they’re getting the sale and they’re really in the sense just buying the one item, but it doesn’t ship to the store. It ships directly to the customer.

This functionality is something that we’ve offered out to retailers.

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Decreasing the cost of endless aisle at Mexicali Blues

 

A love of music, a passion for travel, and a mindful devotion to fun. That’s all it took to launch Mexicali Blues back in 1988.

A love of music, a passion for travel, and a mindful devotion to fun. That’s all it took to launch Mexicali Blues back in 1988.

 

Dan This leads into my next question, Topher, for you. You and I had a chance to talk about the concept of the endless aisle earlier a little bit.

People talk a lot about the endless aisle. I don’t think anyone knows what it really means. And you’ve mentioned to me before that the definition of endless aisle is still in motion and changing, so how do you see endless aisle right now?

 

Topher We did this in small, bite-sized pieces. I think it speaks to Retail Pro’s direction as to how they’re letting omnichannel unfold a little bit. We saw this ability to leverage the inventory, and we saw an increase in 50% of our orders. We were doing this all manually behind the scenes. UniteU created the architecture but we had all this in the POS and we said, “Ok, we’ll just figure this out.”

There was one employee, a woman named Lauren, whom you saw in the video. All she did was take an excel spreadsheet, dump all this data from UniteU and all our inventory data from Retail Pro. She would look for like, Monday, December 5th and then see how many of the 300 online orders have some item from the stores.

That was nuts but we saw a huge increase in number of orders and the number of items picked. We came back to UniteU after the holiday and said, “Here are all the variables,” which was great, because we could really define what online endless aisle meant.

We want to control this. We don’t want a truly endless aisle if it is going to be an unprofitable order. If they’re unprofitable, then these are the variables we should consider.

We needed a set that we could tweak by the minute, if it was needed. We needed to be able to turn store inventories on and off if there was a scheduling issue or delivery problem. We had 5 or 6 of those and we have a workflow where you can actually change those logistics.

So now we’re looking at what I need in stores and trying to think about the same thing – if we want it to be endless aisle, if we want to sell to zero. The first challenge was just seeing Lauren do all that work and saying, “Hey, this is great – we have increased revenue.” But we’ve also diminished what we’re making on every order and every product if we’re touching them 1000 times. How do we prevent that?

The first thing was an algorithm. That worked out very well and now we’re doing a lot of circling back with analytics go from that end.

We’re also working on transparency with vendors so that we can get these things in our warehouse. We’re going to roll it out in the store first with the idea of Ship-to-Store.

Then hopefully we’ll get some kind of mobile device that’s more functional. Right now we have this algorithm on an OS-based device that uses FoundryLogic technology so that when we get the order, we see what is needed for the order that’s in-store. We can see all that transparently on the UniteU level but the next step would be to take that FoundryLogic reference to UniteU or Retail Pro on some kind of mobile device.

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Is omnichannel the end of brick and mortar retail?

 

Photo courtesy of Forbes

Photo courtesy of Forbes

 

People were very scared of brick and mortar stores dying but it all changed. It didn’t happen. We evolved.

Marcelo Fleitas

 

Dan There’s a lot of concern amongst the brick and mortar retailers about omnichannel. I’m often asked if there’s ever going to be an end to the world of brick and mortar and I think it’s an important question. What do you see omnichannel doing? Do you see it advancing or taking away from brick and mortar?

 

Marcelo Several years ago, people were talking about that. At the beginning of the summit today, Kerry Lemos mentioned that too. People were very scared of brick and mortar stores dying but it all changed. It didn’t happen.

We evolved.

We grew our communications and we’re using mobility to improve our brick and mortar. I don’t think brick and mortar will become extinct, and I think all of us are on the right track. We are improving our channels, improving our communications, using the devices, using social media to enhance our experience in-store. You guys are doing a fantastic job on doing exactly that and I’m happy that this is going to continue to happen. This is not the end of the brick and mortar store.

 

Omnichannel is the revival of brick and mortar.

Topher Mallory

 

Topher I want to add to that and say I think it’s the revival of the brick and mortar. For us, we’re enhancing a lot of the inventory-driven processes but we’re also doing the same thing with our customers.

We’re doing segmentation, which is key.

You can get your customer data and see who’s researching online but not converting there. If they come in the store, I have data about their buying history. So maybe I can bring some consumer confidence and have them looking across platforms, or maybe they’re just forever going to research online and come in-store to buy tangibly. They can try the product on and have that added value of the experience with one of our associates.

 

Eric It’s real similar for us. Step one working to leverage the inventory. We’re adding a customer focus as well.

 

Dan And Burton, specifically in terms of profiling, is looking for ways to segment the list based on the channel they came from, right? Is that part of your strategy?

 

Eric Yes. Today we already pull in our Retail Pro data from the stores and our e-commerce data, our customer data, our transaction history. We tie it all together in a giant database and then access that to segment customers when we send marketing emails and such. But it gets stuck there quite often so we need to get it beyond that. We need to have access to that data at the store level so we can open it on a dashboard and know what you’ve bought from us online or in the store

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Omnichannel generation: millennials’ habits impact  retail strategies

 

Photo courtesy of nanigans.com

Photo courtesy of nanigans.com

This is bigger than just millennials. In today’s retail environment you need to be available to every customer however they want to shop. Millennial or not, you just have to let the customer choose. 

Eric Bergstrom

 

Dan It’s important to you to understand where those guys are coming from. There’s also a lot of talk about capturing the millennials. Is that a concern for you in terms of how to market to millennials?

 

Marcelo We have the data for it now and without that, we’re going to be behind. I think that’s a trend. I see it over and over again. We’ve adapted to this new generation of people who use smartphones. The average adult uses their device 150 times; millennials use it 1000 times a day for various things. That’s exactly the type of crowd that we need to start marketing to.

 

Dan Eric, are the millennials a key target for Burton?

 

Eric Yes, in that that age group is a big part of our key market demographically. But this is bigger than just millennials. In today’s retail environment you need to be available to every customer however they want to shop. Millennial or not, all of these options of Buy Online, Pickup In Store, etc., you just have to be available and let the customer choose.

 

Dan Topher, what’s your take on this? How are you marketing to millennials?

 

Topher With a message that’s catered to them. Hopefully. I feel like we’re trying our hardest to! And we’re trying to take the platforms they interact on and bridge them into our in-store experiences.

With non-millennials, similar to Marcelo, we communicate the story of product origins. We use words like responsibility, transparency.

We talk about how companies are producing items. Like knowing that process for this tie-dye that I’m wearing, for example. The company uses dental floss, of all things, to get this type of crazy design. There’s a video with this on our responsively designed mobile site, so they can bring up that video for a customer on the same mobile device the FoundryLogic is working on.

 

Dan So there are all these different channels and the key through it seems to be being able to collect data out of these channels, analyze it, leverage the inventory so you can get the most out of it, but also give your customer the option to pick this up here, there, or anywhere. They can find you and transact with you. Marcelo, where are you in all this omnichannel business?

 

Marcelo We have a team developing this right now. We’re hoping that in about 2 months we’ll be fully developed in that area.

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Future directions for building omnichannel 

 

See the strategy and future behind the Retail Pro retail management platform

See the strategy and future behind the Retail Pro retail management platform

 

Dan Topher, you’ve got omnichannel in place. What’s next for you now in the next 12 months? What’s the next evolution for Mexicali Blues to drive excitement for the customer?

 

Topher Pushing it the other way. It’s the endless aisle component in the stores but really trying to define the experience. Retailers are trying to solve the inventory problem with an experience – you come in store we’ll wine and dine you all you want. Well, all our customers are coming to us saying, “No, I want that in red, and I wanted it yesterday.” So our goal is to figure out how to meld those things together.

 

Dan Eric, you’re starting on omnichannel. What challenges are you running into right now and how are you going to overcome those?

 

Eric It starts with coming to this conference! My first step is going to be migration to the Retail Pro 9, and we’re going to get that done by June.

At the same time, we’re working on the first omnichannel step from there, which is test for getting store inventory available online. We want to do that by the fall. We’ll probably only make a limited selection of inventory categories available online, just to get it started.

Those are our first steps and then we’re going from there.

 

Dan And Marcelo?

 

Marcelo We will continue to improve our collaboration systems and bring the experience to the customer. We really deliver for our customers, because, like you said, Topher, they want our products yesterday. We want to continue to deliver on that, to improve our systems, to have more mobility involved on this.

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Meet the Panelists

 

Topher Mallory | Mexicali Blues | CEO Topher-Mallory

In just 11 years, Topher’s “all in” approach to retail transformed a laid-back import store with three brick-and-mortar locations and no website into a vertically integrated omnichannel brand. With Mexicali Blues now making millions of dollars online and off, he simultaneously launched Maine’s first grain-to-glass organic distillery, Split Rock Distilling. Both businesses show his signature approach to retail sales: authentic passion, hands-on leadership, grassroots marketing and forward-thinking financial analysis. Topher turns loyal customers into a long-lasting community and loves every minute. 

You can talk retail (or rock climbing, tie dye, Maine and more) with @TopherMallory on Twitter.

 

 

Eric Bergstrom | Burton Snowboards | Director of Retail Eric-Burton

As Director of Retail for Burton’s US Direct to Consumer retail business, Eric Bergstrom manages the Flagship and Outlet channels, establishing the strategic direction for existing stores and identifying potential growth opportunities. For nearly 20 years, Eric has been creating and growing successful retail organizations, optimizing existing operations, and planning and designing new stores.

 

 

 

 

Marcelo Fleitas | Earthbound Trading Company | Director of Information Technology Marcelo-Fleitas

Marcelo Fleitas is the Director of Information Technology at Earthbound Trading Company, a Texas based company with more than 1000 employees. Marcelo has more than 10 years in the retail industry performing innovation and implementation of POS systems. He has a background in Electronic Engineering, Oracle Databases and Microsoft SQL Servers, currently pursuing his Masters of Science in IT Management.

 

 

 

 

 

Dan Jablons | Retail Smart Guys | Owner Dan-Jablons

Dan Jablons is an expert retail consultant providing guidance to retailers across 15 countries. Dan helps retailers achieve their business goals through optimization of operations, merchandising, marketing and other key retail practices.

 

 

 

 

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by Jennifer Bosavage

What You Need To Know About Beacons

Last month, drugstore chain Rite Aid became the most recent retailer to deploy beacons within their outlets. By doing so, Rite Aid became the largest retailer user of beacons in the United States, a distinction previously belonging to Macy’s. Rite Aid embarked on the strategy to provide more personalized service to customers, as well as to push various notifications. Bluetooth-based beacons can help retailers connect in practical and profitable ways, as long as the communication is welcome and provides clear advantages for the shopper. Remember, a shopper can opt out of receiving notifications at any time —  and no matter how many beacons a retailer has it won’t make a difference if no one is receiving their signals.

See the infographic below to learn how to make the most of your investment in beacon technology.

4 beacon tips

 

by admin

6 things every woman wishes retailers knew about her shopping basket

What every woman wishes retailers knew

 

Reposted from Retail Customer Experience, by Bryan Pearson, President and CEO, LoyaltyOne, Inc.

A woman’s shopping cart carries more than goods; it carries stories about her and the many influencers in her life. If retailers better understood that journey, they could ensure the correct products are there for her and prolong the tale.

It can take gumshoe-like skills to discern just how the items in that cart fit into the woman’s life narrative. Her shopping cart is not merely a receptacle of goods; it is a reflection of who she is and of the many people in her life. Her choices tell tales not only of her day, but also of the days of her children, friends, extended family and work associates.

And while she is often happy with her cart’s contents, sometimes she does not feel good about them. And this, in particular, is where many women wish the retailers they shopped with most regularly knew them better.

Following are six common factors about a woman’s shopping cart that she wishes retailers knew about her, and what retailers can do to improve the story.

A loyalist’s basket is half-full: A supermarket’s most loyal customer typically spends only 50 percent to 70 percent of her monthly budget with that merchant, according to Precima, a global retail strategy and analytics company. Loyalty programs are essential to understanding shopper behavior in ways that can increase the basket size, and social media can assist in keeping in touch. Tesco, for example, has invested resources in its Twitter account to communicate with existing customers while also getting a cleaner read on customer needs and product requests. The one-to-one communications put a face on the company and strengthen shopper relations.

It has abandonment issues: The average shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.6 percent, according to an analysis by Baymard Institute. Among the leading reasons: Unexpected costs. Occasional reminders to shoppers can help increase the changes of purchase, but a more surefire way is to do the opposite of presenting unexpected costs — offer a small percentage off the items in the basket if they are purchased by midnight, or a free product or sample as a thank you.

A mobile basket is often unhappy: Nearly nine in 10 smartphone shoppers (88 percent) said they have had a negative experience when using their phones for mobile shopping, according to a report by Forbes. Among the leading problems are navigation difficulties and inconvenient checkout. Larger buttons and fewer steps would help, and loyalty program apps can feature ‘one-click’ purchasing options. Nordstrom’s mobile app, for example, enables users to browse products by department or brand, and the main functions (including the shopper’s“bag or cart) are listed clearly at the bottom of the home page.

It’s filled with regret: Three of four adults make impulse purchases, according a survey by CreditCards.com, but the female impulse buyers are more likely than men to regret iit — 52 percent compared with 46 percent of men. A fun campaign about preventing buyer’s remorse may remedy this proclivity (a retailer can send a thank you after a big purchase with a relevant message, ‘ABC Shoes, Preventing Buyer’s Remorse Since 1880’). Shoppers also might appreciate being let in on the action. Recent research shows customers are drawn to products in the middle of a shelf, so putting up a cute note saying so much could deepen brand trust — and generate happier associations with those orange stiletto heels.

It’s not hers: Women not only influence most of the purchase decisions in a household, they actually transact most of the purchases, and many are not for her. Women also buy for husbands, kids, friends, extended family and professional associates. They are the household member considering birthday presents and hostess gifts. Merchants can look to their loyalty program data to gain a sense of a woman’s influencers as well as to identify the messaging that would engage their female shoppers. Amazon may be the best example of a retailer crunching customer search and purchase data and parlaying that into helpful product suggestions.

It does not carry what she came for: A full basket does not imply it is a complete one. An estimated 13 percent of shoppers leave a store not having found what they came for, according to Aisle411. The first step to resolving this is to have every employee ask every customer if she found everything she came for. If not, the employee should have a means of recording that item so that it can be added to inventory, and ask the shopper if she’d like to be contacted once the product is in. A handy app might be able to manage such tasks.

Lastly, retailers should ensure that every basket carries a good experience. Shopping can be a chore, so injecting a bit of surprise and delight can turn a mundane task into something memorable. Free coffee at the grocery store, an inspirational message at the point of online checkout, or simply handing out thank you mints when the customer is leaving the store (to complement the welcome when she enters) can transform one-time shoppers to lifers.

If anything, such efforts can at least ensure each shopping trip has a happy ending.

 

 

by Alexandra Frith

Is IoT a Reality for Retail Today?

IoT-retail

The Internet of Things (IoT) is generating much buzz in consumer circles – but is it a reality for retailers today? At its core, the IoT is a network of connected devices sharing data to increase efficiency. This includes optimizing and automating (where possible) your decision making, workflows, queues, staffing, and inventory management processes – as the means for increasing conversion in your retail stores.

IoT is within reach for retailers but requires a proper technological foundation. Three key components to your connected strategy include a converged platform, business intelligence, and smart devices.

Converged Platform

The base for IoT is a converged platform like Retail Pro® retail management software. It connects the data from all your devices and retail tools – like mPOS, eCommerce, integrations to Amazon and other digital marketplaces, shipping tools, loyalty applications, etc. – in one platform. A converged platform allows information-sharing between devices, giving you a complete picture of customer and operational activity across channels and enabling process automation.

Business Intelligence

Once you have a converged platform that unifies all your data, you will need business intelligence software to help you make sense of the data chaos you will generate from your connected devices. Having a plan for data analysis is critical, as “90% of the data generated by smart-connected devices is never analyzed or used for anything, and 60% of it begins to lose value just milliseconds after it is generated,” according to IBM.

Devices are not inherently smart and data is not inherently useful – it still takes the human mind coupled with business intelligence software to direct device placement in your stores and to drive operations optimization and conversion.

Smart Devices

The IoT devices you select for your strategy will depend on what you want to accomplish for your stores. Here are 3 basics used in retail today:

RFID for inventory accuracy and customer engagement in-stores: American Apparel uses item-level RFID for inventory management with Retail Pro, running daily reports to see what’s trending, what’s missing and in-stock, and which stores are struggling or need to cycle count. Complete visibility into their inventory enables greater efficiency and ensures products are available when and where they are wanted.

Burberry implemented RFID tags to take the customer experience to the next level: the tags activate smart mirrors in the changing room to run video footage of the clothing item’s creation and debut on the runway. This kind of engagement draws customers into the story behind each piece and forges a stronger connection with the brand.

Beacons for personalized marketing: Brands like Hamleys, Armani, Longchamp, and Hackett leverage beacons in their Regent Street stores in London to personalize their mobile marketing strategies. The beacons target passersby who have opted in for messaging through the Regent Street App and drop timely, relevant communications about discounts, in-store promotions, and exclusive events and products directly to shoppers’ smartphones.

Now there is also Google’s Eddystone – beacons which open URLs in a web browser instead of apps. This can decrease commitment levels required of consumers (as with downloading an app), thereby increasing the potential pool of shoppers willing to receive these personalized marketing messages.

Vendor drop ship for fulfillment efficiency: Massey’s Outfitters integrated a vendor dropship and eCommerce application to the inventory in their Retail Pro platform. This seamless connection allows them to rebalance goods between stores for a leaner inventory and fulfill orders directly from vendors when goods are not available in stores.

With a strong technological foundation built on the Retail Pro platform, you too can reap the benefits of IoT today.

by Ulyana Avetisov

5 Critical Components to Every Omnichannel Strategy

With advances in retail technology, omnichannel is now more than just talk, and retailers everywhere are building their strategy to capitalize on higher spending and lifetime values of consumers who shop across multiple channels. While the terms of omnichannel offerings will vary between companies, successful omnichannel strategies all include 5 fundamental pieces – the fail-proof omnichannel formula.

5 point omnichannel formula-01

1. Platform retail management technology

Platform retail management technology like Retail Pro® is mission-critical to your omnichannel strategy. It acts as the hub for all your vendor applications and integrations and organizational data. Retail Pro removes barriers between channels and gives you a unified view of all aspects of your business. Make sure the software you have is:

  • Designed specifically for your industry – specialization ensures a good fit and means your tech partners have expertise in your particular industry’s issues and requirements.
  • Configurable and scalable – your IT team should have rights to tailor it to your store’s exact needs as they change over the years.
  • Hardware-agnostic – Your operations fluctuate across seasons so you should have flexibility to use both fixed and mobile devices as needed.

Your retail management platform lays the foundation for the second piece in the omnichannel formula.

2. Data convergence

Data convergence means the data from every customer, every application, every integration, every channel, and every store, comes together in a single repository. It is visible holistically, as if it’s data from just one store rather than hundreds. Cross-platform retail software like Retail Pro does just that: it converges the data from all your channels and devices – mobile, fixed POS, apps, and e-commerce – because it is the single solution running your whole operation.

3. Omnichannel selling

consumer spending by channel-02

Seeing the data as one whole helps you think of your business as a whole, so you can structure sales attribution in the same way. Omnichannel selling is critical: consumers shopping online only will spend 92% less than your average omnichannel shopper, and in-store-only shoppers spend 208% less!

Because omnichannel customers engage through multiple channels before finally purchasing, you’ll need a way to account for orders that, for example, originated in one of your physical stores but were finally placed online because the item wasn’t in stock. You can split commissions between online and physical channels to make sure each associate gets credit for their part in the sale.

 4. Flexible fulfillment

Once you’re able to see all the data as one singular picture, take action to enable smarter order fulfillment from every channel. With Retail Pro, all your inventory data in one place and talks to your fulfillment tools so you can:

  • Create upstream supply chain partnerships for integrated vendor dropship
  • Convert your stores into fulfillment centers and offer flexible options like Click and Collect
  • Increase inventory turn by shipping from the nearest store location

 5. Personalized customer experience

Converging your data helps track shopper behavior at every touchpoint so you can better target those omnichannel shoppers. They have a 30% higher lifetime value than one-channel shoppers, according to a 2015 study quoted by Google, so use your data to personalize engagement with that shopper in every interaction – whether it’s tailored e-marketing campaigns or clienteling on the sales floor via customer details on your mobile POS.

With these five pieces in place, you’re well on your way to optimizing how you sell across channels.

 

by ketv

Build a Workforce of Solid Brand Advocates

In the previous RPU newsletter, we looked at a number of ways to create a culture of continuous employee development. Employee training and education doesn’t have to happen in a traditional classroom for it to be valuable to your employees and to the company. In fact, some skills are better taught on the job or in an environment where employees don’t feel the pressure and anxiety they often associate with formal education.

Another effective way to encourage employees to move their education beyond the walls of your training room is to have them give a talk on an industry topic at conferences or workshops. This is especially effective for training sales associates in specialty retail. The Digital Age consumer comes to your store fully prepared. They’ve already researched your product features, compared them with your biggest competitors, and read all the customer reviews. When they approach your sales associate, they are expecting insider knowledge that they can’t get from the internet.

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Is your sales team prepared to give them what they’re looking for? The transient nature of retail creates a daunting chasm between customer expectations of your team’s product expertise and the reality. So how can you build a workforce of solid brand advocates with industry and product expertise? Implement the practice of employee-led industry training talks.

Nothing motivates an employee to master a topic than having to give a presentation to a group of people. Presenting on topics related to the work they already do gives employees a measure of confidence and at the same time fosters a deep understanding of current industry issues surrounding your retail strategy. In requiring presentations like this, you are developing a team of industry experts who can train their fellow employees to be effective brand advocates on the sales floor and at your company’s promotional events. In preparing for the presentation, your employees also develop strategies like outlining, organizing, teaching, and public speaking – soft skills that are critical for success on the job but which are only learned through experience.

Glassophobia Strikes 

In 1973, a market research firm called R.H. Bruskin Associates conducted a survey of over 2,500 adults in the United States, and found that the greatest fear for 40% of respondents was the fear of public speaking. Gallup conducted similar surveys in 1998 and 2001 with identical results – 40% of people feel anxiety over speaking in front of a group. Time and market researchers have tested and found again and again that this fear, called glassophobia, is most common in humanity, outpacing even the fear of death. It follows that more people would rather die than speak in front of an audience.

In many cases, all it takes to get over the fear of public speaking is a successful experience. Once you experience it, you realize that it wasn’t as bad you thought it would be, and we don’t have to go far to find a relevant example. I recently submitted a research project to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, a professional association in my educational field. My paper on lecture capture policies was accepted and I was asked to present my findings at their 35th annual conference in Anaheim, CA. In addition to formal presentations and keynote addresses, the conference provides many opportunities for emerging scholars to present and receive constructive feedback on research in various degrees of completeness.

Although I had confidence in my knowledge of the topic, I had never given a presentation of this magnitude before. As the conference approached, I began to feel anxious and seriously considered backing out. I felt extremely vulnerable as I thought about the audience and their criticism. I imagined them picking apart and denouncing my work in public forum.

Finally, the big day came and I shuffled nervously toward the podium at the front of the. At first, I was a little shaky but as I began explaining the research, my interest in this subject took over and I soon forgot all about the potential critics in the audience. Before I knew it, my time was done. Afterward, a few people in the audience approached me and offered positive feedback. I was relieved. I realized that I had let my imagination take over and paint the worst possible scenario.

Lead Customers to a Sale with a Persuasive Brand Story 

In retail, your sales team may never have to present your product and brand philosophy to more than even five people at a time. But how many times have your employees lost a sale because they didn’t know how to answer your customer’s question, or unwittingly did so in a way that caused the shopper’s confidence to drop? How many of those instances could have been prevented, had your sales associate known how to look up the information through your Retail Pro retail management software?

Every instance of engagement between your sales associate and your customer is a mini-presentation on your brand story. Cultivating public speaking skills in your employees can go a long way in making them more persuasive as they lead your customers to a sale, and employers can take the following practical steps to help employees gain these skills.

 

3 Practical Ways to Build Employee Presentation Skills

 

Scaffold Shaky Speakers with a Presentation Partner

Not all of your employees will eagerly accept a request to give a product training presentation to the rest of your team. Some might require a little more hand-holding and preparation. That’s OK. The goal should not be to give a perfect, polished presentation, but rather to learn to skills associated with public speaking. You might consider pairing an anxious employee with a more seasoned associate in your company. Having someone else up there with them gives the inexperienced employee a feeling of safety in case something goes wrong.

Give Constructive Feedback to Help Employees Recognize Presenting Strengths and Weaknesses

Don’t forget to provide feedback after the presentation. We learn best through constructive criticism and positive reinforcement. Feedback doesn’t always have to be formal. Simply give an analysis of the presentation and some tips for how to improve the next time. Set a reasonable, attainable goal for your employee. For example, you can send them to a Retail Pro University product training course and ask them to prepare a training presentation on how to use the key features for your other employees, this time without a partner.

Take Public Speaking to the Next Level at Industry Events

While it may seem less intimidating to give a presentation for the employees in your department or company, a formal presentation at an industry conference like the Retail Pro Customer Summits provides an opportunity for a different caliber of presentation. Employees take it more seriously and take their skills to a new level. Remember: the company gains tremendous benefit from the added publicity and visibility that comes with having an industry expert on staff.

 

Through each of these ways you can develop a retail staff that knows the trending issues and can speak with authority and expertise on your brand. Don’t ever lose a customer to poor presentation skills again.

 

 

Interested in Retail Pro product training? Contact us at training@retailpro.com to learn more about our variety of standard and custom training solutions for your staff.

 

by Jennifer Bosavage

Local Gift Shop Continuously Evolves with Retail Pro Analytics, Gives Back to Community

In the historical town of Lexington, Mass., retailers walk a fine line between respecting tradition and embracing modern business practices.CY_WhiteSignLg Crafty Yankee, a fine gift shop located right where “the shot heard round the world”was launched, started using Retail Pro as its retail management solution in 2000, leveraging its robust functionality to transform what originally was a sleepy little business into a vibrant, charitable part of the community. Kathy Fields, owner of Crafty Yankee, has a rich background in retail. She had worked in senior positions at Dillard’s and Federated Department Stores before taking a (very) early retirement in her mid-forties. But her retirement didn’t go quite as planned. Kathy Fields bought Crafty Yankee from its founders in 1994, wanting to take on a business that would free up her time and allow her to give back to those less fortunate.

 

Embracing Modern Business Practices

Shortly after the acquisition, she recognized the need to put in a computer system. Initially, she opened a couple satellite stores and networked computers so she could be away from the store—perhaps enjoy a vacation—and still be in touch remotely. Business was growing but Fields eventually realized she needed to consolidate her business into one location and, to be successful, have a thorough understanding of which merchandise was selling and when it was bought. Knowing those sales trends would give her a concrete understanding of what was going on in her business so she could offer popular products and streamline inventory. CY-SpringStoreFront.Best (1024x683)

 

Using Analytics to Reshape the Store

Crafty Yankee found Retail Pro’s analytical capabilities exceptionally valuable in accomplishing this end. “By having good computer information, I can constantly reshape the store,”said Fields. “We must change with the customer: Patterns, age, tastes.” Retail Pro 9 gave Fields tools to analyze Crafty Yankee’s $1 million business by key segments. The store has been using Retail Pro 9 since 2012 and Fields credits the software with contributing to the store’s consistent, healthy growth despite a stagnant overall economy. Knowing what sells—and what doesn’t—is critical to every retailer and Crafty Yankee has adopted an analytical method with Retail Pro.   No guesswork here: “I like to analyze my business in lots of different segments. It’s important to me to start from the top. Let’s say we had a 20% increase last month. Where did that come from? Jewelry? Glass? Pottery? Once I see the trend in the data, I can break it down by vendor or resources. And I can compare that data to last year’s.”

 

A Technology Update that Made a Difference

None of that could have happened if Crafty Yankee had remained with its original retail management platform, CraftShop, which she started using in 1995. Much of the data was difficult to extract and it required quite a bit of manual work. “What I liked from the beginning with Retail Pro was that they saw what I had with the CraftShop system. It was pretty complicated,”said Fields.  Realizing she needed a more robust system, she started researching other software solutions, finally determining that Retail Pro was the best fit for her needs. “I have thousands of items and people would tell me, ‘You’re going to have to re-enter all that information.’And I said, ‘I don’t think so!’” CY-Interior Scarves

 

Targeted Growth that Enables Philanthropy

The Retail Pro platform, together with Fields’ business acumen, positioned her gift emporium for rapid, targeted growth. “I can learn about my business on any day of the week, as well as a specific date of business. I can compare Mother’s Day, Easter, wedding seasons.” I’m looking across the information in a lot of different ways: Top producers by vendor. Who is downtrending? Who is trending up? Our other system was just not as granular; jewelry for example, can be subcategorized. I can put more criteria in the system, which allows me to analyze each item,”Fields said. “We’ve been so successful because of the good computer information I can analyze. We are able to constantly reshape the store. If I hadn’t changed it, year after year, based on the information I get from the Retail Pro solution, the store would be out of business.” And what about the idea of giving back to the community? Crafty Yankee sells a number of items where most, if not all, of the purchasing price is donated to charity. Sometimes, retirement is overrated.

To learn more about Crafty Yankee, visit http://www.CraftyYankee.com.

To learn more about the Certified Retail Pro Business Partner supporting Crafty Yankee, JD Associates, visit http://www.jdapos.com/

by Jennifer Bosavage

CES 2015 Will Use Beacons: You Can Get There From Here

File this under putting one’s money were one’s mouth is: Today, the Consumer Electronics Show announced it would be using Beacon technology as part of an indoor positioning system for attendees. The navigation system is powered by Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, and will help attendees navigate the estimated four million square feet of show space.

The technology is similar to that which can be used inside stores to find products or service associates, as well as facilitate mobile payments. An attendee launches the CES app on his or her smartphone and then selects a show destination, such as an exhibitor’s booth. The app directs the user to the destination via beacons that have been placed within the show floor.

Beacon technology is spawning a number of retail projects that will expedite the adoption of mobile payments, as well as energize other areas of the overall shopping experience. For example, Index, which offers technology that analyzes consumer behavior, will support Bluetooth-based beacons to detect a customer’s presence and deliver personalized messages on a countertop iPad or even on the shopper’s mobile phone.

“We are excited to deploy our new indoor location technologies on such a massive scale,” said Marc Wallace, CEO and co-founder, Radius Networks, in a release. One are that the technology could be instrumental in popularizing within the retail segment is gamification. “Radius Networks previously partnered with CES to implement an award-winning scavenger hunt program at the 2014 CES that was designed to drive attendees to key areas of the show floor,” said Wallace. “Since then, proximity technology and the Internet of Things have taken off.  This year, we are excited to demonstrate how easy-to-deploy, low-cost beacons can completely change the way people approach indoor location.”

Gamification could be a big part of drumming up excitement in customers. For example, having customers opt-in to a treasure hunt helps retailers expose more merchandise to shoppers, who might otherwise have opted for a quick, focused shopping trip. Finding that hidden “treasure” might also mean identifying some impulse or add-on purchases, further extending the sale in an entertaining manner.

 

by Jennifer Bosavage

Getting Millennials Into the Holiday Retail Spirit

Not so long ago, conventional wisdom was that Millennials, those born roughly in the 1980 to 2000 timeframe, were on track to be self-centered, materialistic, unprepared adults. And then came the Great Recession.

Faced with the realities of the time — such as a slow job market, no raises and paycheck cuts — many of this generation had to figure out what it meant to live on a budget, earn a paycheck (or two) and focus on buying needed items, rather than wanted ones. They became a bit frugal. The Intelligence Group tracked the shopping habits of 1,300 people aged 18 to 34 (as well as a smaller group of those aged 14 to 17.) A little more than a third of the millennials in the study buy only “necessary” purchases.

However, the malls are packed with people aged 18 to 34. They may have tight pursestrings, but they do shop. The key is for retailers to understand how to appeal to this group.

The Intelligence Group study found that services are huge to Millennials. Netflix is valued more than owning a movie, for example.  Why buy a car when you can use one whenever you want (Zipcar) or just call for a ride (Uber)? And, although they are not spendthrifts, Millennials will pay more if they believe it benefits what they perceive to be a worthy cause. For instance, four in 10 say they will pay a premium for eco-friendly products.

How can retailers expect to engage Millennials in holiday shopping? According to Accenture, there are roughly 80 million Millennials in the United States alone, and each year they spend approximately $600 billion. That’s quite a few potential sales. Here are three ways to appeal to the Millennial at the most wonderful time of the year:

#1: Provide a seamless experience no matter the channel. Millennials often do their homework online before purchasing. They often know exactly what features each item they are interested in has and are at least as well versed in the product specifications as the sales associate. They expect pricing to be consistent online and in the store. In addition, Millennials’ browsing habits favor brands with seamless digital-to-storefront experience: They expect that the inventory seen online is also available in stores.

#2: Provide good value. Retailers must understand these customers are

Millennials research products online, but often go to a brick and mortar to purchase.

Millennials research products online, but often go to a brick and mortar to purchase.

looking at value more than previous generations. They want bargains. They like coupons, too — and also want to use their mobile devices while shopping. Finally, a group that welcomes push notifications. But beware: Your technology better be up to snuff. Millennials want mobile coupon scanning capabilities, and having to print out coupons prior to shopping is not acceptable. One summed it up this way in the Accenture report, “When I get to the store, if I haven’t printed out my coupon and I can’t use it, I walk out.” Be sure to push coupons to mobile devices, and be sure no printing is required.

#3: Provide experiential retailing. Interestingly, this generation is not loyal necessarily to a product brand, but are loyal to retailers. That gives retailers a great opportunity to provide a personalized retail experience for customers. It seems especially appropriate at holiday time for retailers to go the extra step for customers: “I see you bought perfume last month, Mr. Jones. Would you like to see the other items in our fragrance collection?” Millennials must perceive they are welcome and valued customers. Many want personalized, targeted promotions and discounts in return for their loyalty.