Is hyper-personalization creepy or cool? A recently released Accenture study, “Retail Hyperpersonalization, Creepy versus Cool,”  finds that the answer largely depends on which demographic you’re asking.

While customers appreciate personalization, many are concerned about their privacy.

By and large, Millennials seem more into with retailers personalizing messaging. Boomers less so. For example, nearly three times more Millennials (17.2 percent) than Boomers (6.2 percent) think being reminded while shopping about needed items is “cool.” Also, 41 percent of Millennials say they’d welcome retailers stopping them from buying electronics that are not right or are outside their budgets.

Gender influences the perception of what constitutes acceptable personalization as well. Accenture reports that 34% of male respondents think receiving suggestions personalized to account for their families’ food preferences is “creepy.” However, 40% of female respondents consider that type of personalization “cool.”

Some forms of personalization are generally welcomed, though not universally. For example, these implementations are widely considered “cool”:

• 82% enjoy discounts or loyalty coupons;
• 59% welcome promotional offers based on items that the customer may be considering or lingering over;
• 54% like receiving suggestions for items that complement merchandise that the customer is currently browsing.

Conversely, there are personalization efforts that customers find “creepy.”:

• 36% of shoppers do not want to be greeted by name when walking into a store;
• 42% don’t want recommendations based on their health issues;
• 46% don’t want to be dissuaded from a purchase by a sales associate with preexisting knowledge about what the customer currently owns.

That leaves retailers with some specific rules of engagement:

First, they must keep the value proposition from the customer standpoint in mind. There needs to be significant value for shoppers in order for them to be motivated to engage.

Second, it’s important that the customer doesn’t feel overwhelmed. Too many messages or promotions can easily backfire for the retailer.

Third, retailers must be transparent about how any information gathered will be stored and used. Opt-in policies let customers play an active role in the process.

Fourth, retailers should have a system in place to capture and safeguard customer information. There should also be a plan in place detailing how a retailer’s information is to be used and how it will improve business.

Fifth, and finally, building trust is key to success; retailers must work at establishing and maintaining a bond. It’s difficult to establish, yet easily destroyed.

The Accenture study notes that there are three components for implementing a hyperpersonalization solution properly: make it expected, secure and data driven. Doing so provides a foundation for success that will drive profits as well as customer loyalty.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Tuesday, May 12th, 2015 at 9:27 am .

Personalization is a hot topic in retail today, and retailers are paying close attention, rolling out beacon technology to track shoppers’ actions, focusing marketing materials to capture their attention and encouraging customer service training. But a recent study from Cisco Consulting Services finds that  today’s consumers are really seeking a hyper-relevant experience even more than a hyper-personalized

Technology has allowed consumers to reach out to brands at any time and from any place, and this has resulted in customers looking for more personalized interactions from retailers, as people want their patronage to be valued and appreciated.

one.

That means that shoppers want to find what they came for and pay in a streamlined fashion. Some might want to be addressed by name, but it seems that’s not a deal breaker. What is important is getting the basics right consistently. For example, the Cisco study found 39 percent of respondents said that greater efficiency in the shopping process (e.g., ensuring items are in stock, speeding checkout times) as the top area retailers need to improve. Compare that with the 13 percent who said a more personalized shopping experience was the #1 concern.

Concentrating on efficiency has two benefits. One, retailers cut costs be eliminating waste and superfluous practices. And customers get the benefit of quicker, more responsive service. Customers end up happier, and, as a result, more loyal to those stores that make shopping easier. Retailers that build agile business processes to turn these insights into value can capture a profit improvement of 15.6 percent, according to Cisco Consulting Services.

Combining mobile technology with the in-store experience is no longer just for early adopters — it is mainstream. The next step is integrating mobile with the technology powering the Internet of things. IoT lets shoppers connect to retail in ways that makes their shopping experiences more enjoyable, and helps retailers create relevant customer experiences.

Shoppers typically want to engage a technology solution if there is a benefit for them attached. Those benefits might be in terms of cost, efficiency or engagement. To meet those needs, for example, a retailer might:

• use digital signage to inform shoppers of a “flash” sale. The “smart sign” is notified by an IoT powered backend system about a stock situation. Preprogrammed parameters cause the promotion to launch, helping retailers clear out inventory, and can guide customers directly to the merchandise;

• implement a buy-online-pickup-in-store solution that provides current inventory information to shoppers beginning their journey online, but opting to finish it in store;

• provide interactive mirrors for trying on clothes, capturing the image and sharing on social media.

By investing in Internet of Things technologies, some retailers are attempting to engage consumers, attract them to stores, and attempt to cross-sell and up-sell. It’s yet another tool in a box that can never be too full.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, May 11th, 2015 at 2:48 pm .

Retailers hate returns.

That’s not a surprise: Returned merchandise costs the retailers money because the sale was lost, and time, because of restocking.

What is surprising is the high return rate that ecommerce retailers experience.

According to a study from Trueship, roughly 33% of all products purchased online will be returned.

Reducing that number, therefore, will result in a better bottom line.

The study found that one of the most common reasons for returns was easily corrected.

Nearly one-quarter — 23% — of shipments were returned because they were inaccurate.

On a similar note, 22% of items were returned because they were inaccurately described or pictured on the Web site.

Shoppers expect to see what they are getting; if they are misled, they will return.

And with many online stores offering free returns, consumers are not hesitant to ship back the disappointing item.

The paradox is that a vast majority of consumers, 80%, are loyal to those retailers offering “hassle-free” returns.

Free shipping for returns, including return labels and providing other services that ease the pain of returning an item often helps overcome objections to purchasing merchandise in the first place.

Knowing merchandise can be returned at no charge makes it easier for customers to obtain an item they may be dubious about buying online.

While making returns quick and easy may ultimately promote the practice of sending products back, creating a laborious process would likely turn away many shoppers, driving them to the competition.

How likely is that?

The study found that a whopping 92% of customers would continue to shop at an online store if it had an easy-to-follow return policy.

And, 82% said that they would not shop in the future at an establishment that made returns difficult.

Everyone makes mistakes; however, it’s imperative that a retailer not make one when designing its returns policy.

The ultimate objective is taking care of the customer, so removing hurdles to achieving that is key.

Zappos offers an example in delighting the customer while differentiating its brand.

Zappos, which scores high in customer satisfaction, doesn’t require receipts because all its orders are tracked automatically.

That tracking happens at every e-tailer, except many still require receipts.

Zappos also offers free “advanced exchange”: If a customer wants a different size or color, the company ships it for free, as long as the first item is shipped back within the next two weeks.

The customer benefits because he or she doesn’t have to worry about carrying two items on a credit or debit account.

Most shoppers are disappointed their merchandise doesn’t live up to their expectations, and didn’t want to go through the return process in the first place.

Streamlining that process by reducing the pain points provides customers motivation to become, or remain, loyal shoppers.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Friday, May 8th, 2015 at 4:10 am .

Biometrics is an emerging technology in retail, used primarily to verify identity. With the debut of Apple’s iPhone 5 with fingerprint sensor in 2013, biometrics

Biometrics predicted to become more widespread at POS systems.

became part of the household vernacular. Samsung and PayPal followed soon after with fingerprint authentication. Today, biometric technology can be integrated into banks, ATM machines, USB keys hooked onto computers, as well as POS systems.

In addition, retailers are looking at the technology to help prevent loss due to ID theft. Biometrics are incorporated into fingerprint identification, as well as palm-vein readers and facial recognition solutions to offer a convenient and additional layer of security, help prevent fraud and provide a better customer experience. Biometrics can also offer retailers controlled access and accurate attendance records, leading to a more secure workplace environment. With system and hardware prices dropping and reliability and convenience going up, more retailers are using some form of the technology.

Marius Coetzee from Ideco told BizTechAfrica that biometrics were critical for fast, accurate customer ID verification — which results in fast, accurate decision making: “Point Of Sale based biometric verification is a critical aspect to reducing losses caused by increasing levels of ID fraud. Once customer details are registered, you can trade with certainty at every point of transaction.”

According to Research and Markets, the global market for biometrics is on track to post a strong CAGR of 19.6% between 2014 and 2020, reaching a projected $30.1 billion by 2020, up from roughly $10.3 billion in 2014. Fingerprint recognition is estimated to be the largest technology with market, valued at $3.2 billion in 2014 while Civil ID — the use of biometrics to identify or verify the identity of individuals when interacting with governments — will be the largest application with global market of $4.6 billion in the same year.

Retailers will increase using biometrics in multiple combinations to ensure security in payments, but, eventually, the technology could eliminate the need to carry a payment card or even a smartphone by letting users authorize payments with a fingerprint alone.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Thursday, April 30th, 2015 at 7:12 pm .

Beacons let retailers them to collect data that can be analyzed and put to work in the form of  personalized content that resonates with customers. The end goal? To encourage not only purchasing, but also store loyalty. A recent partnership between an advertising firm and a mobile technology company illustrates that increaing interest in using beacons to enhance the storefront and shopper relationship.

Retailers know how important offering excellent customer experiences is for their operations – by offering effective service and engaging patrons in a meaningful way, businesses are sure to see boosts in their retention and loyalty rates.

Freckle IoT, an ad tech company, has announced its partnership with Blue Bite, the Mobile Standard in Out-of-Home, which implements mobile technology for the retail industry. The relationship will aid in the deployment of 60,000 beacons nationwide. Connecting Freckle IoT’s open beacon ecosystem to Blue Bite’s location partnerships and mTAG platform helps advertisers launch innovative, integrated marketing campaigns that connect with consumers across digital, mobile and Out-of-Home environments with scale.

Retailers are leaders among industries adopting beacons, as they use  them to provide customers with product information, flash sales or deals, and to speed up the checkout process with contactless payment systems. Geo-location lets retailers send relevant information — such as discounts, special events and other promotions — directly to shoppers. That’s an effective means of competing against e-commerce outlets, which gather information every time someone visits the page, regardless of whether they purchase.

Beacons do require buy-in from the customer; customers must enable bluetooth and accept location services on their mobile devices, and opt-in to the retailer’s marketing program to receive in-store notifications. Those layers help to reduce customers’ concerns that their privacy is being invaded. User consent provides the foundation of all push-notification programs. And some applications don’t need specific information. For example, Apple, creator of iBeacons, has rolled out the technology in all of its U.S. stores, but doesn’t collect any specific user information about shoppers. For now, the company is simply using the sensors to show customers how beacon technology works.

Currently, less than 1% of the 3.5 million retail stores in the United States have rolled out beacon technology, according to Umbel, a business analytics company. That number is rapidly growing however, with household names including Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, Starwood Hotels, McDonald’s and Major League Baseball rolling out solutions.

The Freckle IoT partnership makes use of Blue Bite’s expertise in the area  of Out-of-Home mobile activations and takes advantage of the company’s extensive roster of location partners. Freckle IoT’s open beacon network connects the company’s rising number of application partners with its beacon ecosystem, addressing the challenge of scalability in proximity deployments.

As more retailers employ beacons, shoppers will find them in more unusual places — including transit, street furniture, airports, college campuses, movie theaters, bars and taxis — working to provide rich content through mobile or wearable devices and target in-app advertising on a hyper-local level. Brands can deliver innovative, contextually relevant messaging to engaged and interested consumers who want to be connected and be a part of an enhanced shopping experience.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 at 9:16 am .

34,000 salon and spa owners, beauty press, students and investors—from the simplistic beauty minimalists to naturalists to eclectic colourists with flawless skin, and ultra-modern divergents of Mondrian-esque hues embodied in tiny masterpieces on each perfectly polished nail.

In the whirlwind of the United Kingdom’s Professional Beauty Exhibition 2015 in London, the International Institute for Anti-Ageing (iiaa) stands apart from the excited rush—cool, collected, clinical. They are the scientists of the industry.

The Hands that Mold the Ageless Beauty

Behind the science of beauty is the careful and smart B2B operation. To the salon world, iiaa is a wholesale product distributor.  They supply the triune secret of advanced biological technology in the form of supplements, skincare products, and make up, and they train skincare professionals and new therapists from Beauty College. They are renowned for the quality of their products. Salons and customers alike are eager to be supplied with their award-winning formula for beauty.

Iiaa’s goal is to educate those who stock their product but they wanted to be educated themselves as well, to learn about the people who love and benefit from their products. Because they have traditionally been distributors only, they have little face-to-face with their end users. This year’s exhibition afforded iiaa a unique opportunity to learn more about their customers and begin their journey as a retailer.

Adopting Tools to Support their Education Strategies

Whereas they have been lively participants in Professional Beauty tradeshows for years, this is the first year in which they leveraged retail software that allowed them to do much more than just accept payments and dole out change.

iiaa took on the purely mobile, modular retail management platform, Retail Pro Prism, running on several HP Elite pads, to replace their old POS system—“The Big Calculator. I don’t know what else to call it!,” Louisa Collins, iiaa’s Purchasing Coordinator and IT Support, quipped in our interview. What they saw as critical in Retail Pro Prism’s offer is “the simplicity of the tender screen, its functionality, and the reports.”

Retail Pro Business Partner, Datascan, completed the Prism deployment long before the exhibition, but on the day of the event, Louisa realized she didn’t know how to connect Prism to the server. “Dave, one of the tech guys from Datascan drove four hours to help me at the exhibition, and he stayed to help in case anything else came up. He was on-call with us the whole time,” Louisa remembers. “At one point, we were so busy, we even had him run transactions for us!” Retail Pro service was unlike any other.

That level of dedicated support is what Retail Pro is known for in its channel support network. “Their support was fantastic. I haven’t dealt with a company that put so much effort into making sure the customer was taken care of. We thought we were just a small company taking on their till.”

Conveying Their Brand at All Customer Touch Points

In choosing a retail management software, image was a critical factor to iiaa. One of the things that caught their eye with Retail Pro Prism was its modern look. “Prism matched what our brand looks like: clinical, sleek!” Louisa said. iiaa customized Prism’s user interface with their logo and have customized their printed documents as well.

With their previous POS, receipts consisted of a slip of paper with just the date and the amount of product sold. The receipts they are printing with Retail Pro Prism are completely branded and detailed. “Our customers told us, ‘It’s such a professional look now!’”

Increasing Efficiency in the Field

Louisa loves Retail Pro Prism’s scanning and touchscreen capabilities. “It’s so efficient…just brilliant!” she said. Her colleagues feel just as strongly: “Oh my god, this is a dream!” The touch screen buttons on the interface give quick access to products, so transaction times decrease, and Prism’s flexible design allows them to customize the interface to be as simple or detailed as they need.

Voiding transactions is simple as well. “We used to have to print a receipt and write void on it,” Louisa remembers, “but now we can just void it without any trouble. And we can put through products that we couldn’t before for a new client deposit or opening order.” This is especially important at large events like the Professional Beauty exhibition, where there is a chaos of customers trying to visit as many stands as possible to take advantage of all the goods available.

Adding E-Commerce to their Strategy to Increase Customer Engagement

iiaa took advantage of Prism’s mobility to engage their customers at the beauty exhibition. As they expand their strategy to include an online channel in addition to their brick and mortar store—where they focus primarily on treatment— they plan to use Retail Pro Prism in their clienteling process to attract, engage, and keep customers, and link people to their local salons.

“We’d eventually like to collect their details—emails, products they liked or purchased—so we can contact them on a more personal level.” Considering they provide their skin analysis at a variety of locations in Britain and as a complimentary service, iiaa will certainly benefit from Retail Pro Prism’s capacity in Customer Management.

Tracking What Customers Use and Love

iiaa used Retail Pro Prism’s native analytics features to track all of the product they sold at the exhibition and see what customers actually use.

With their old POS system, “we had no idea how much was sold for each brand. We would just have to hope that our colleagues put the money in the right till for the right product.” Now, because Prism is recording what inventory is going home with a customer and documenting it with the professional receipts they are printing or sending via email, iiaa can see precisely what product is in demand.

At the exhibition, iiaa tracked sales per brand, per product, per employee—the tracking possibilities are endless. In two days, they ran 3,000 transactions and sold £85,000 worth of product.

As they prepare for their next exhibition in May, Louisa muses, “We’ll have to sit down and discuss how we can use this functionality.” iiaa is so new to Retail Pro—they had only been using the retail management software for five months at the time of this interview and there is still so much more to explore and leverage in Retail Pro—but Louisa is excited. The future looks bright.

Learn more about iiaa at www.iiaa.eu

This entry was posted by Ulyana Avetisov on Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 at 1:06 pm .

A chat with Retail Pro International, provider of the gold-standard retail management software, on trends, platforms and retail.

By Chris Petersen | Retail Merchandiser

Before the Internet, multichannel retailing was something known to only a handful of major national retailers, and the channels were limited to primarily brick and mortar and catalog sales. Today, however, consumers have more choices than ever when it comes to how they interact with their favorite retailers. The prevalence of m-commerce and e-commerce purchasing has become commonplace right along with stopping in at their favorite stores.  This new consumer landscape has created some significant challenges, as well as generated numerous new opportunities for retailers.

The new basis for retail interaction with today’s consumers spans all channels for the retailer including, brick-and-mortar stores, catalog sales, a website or even through their smartphones. A retailer is now challenged with providing the same user experience across all channels to provide a seamless experience regardless of where the consumer may be engaged. At the same time, as more retailers court international customers through their online presence, they are exposed to added complexity in terms of international tax structures and fulfillment. Navigating this complexity alone, especially in today’s omni-connected world can be daunting to say the least. Having a partner in the game like leading global provider of retail management software, Retail Pro International(RPI), can make the task much more palpable.

For more than 25 years, RPI has provided retail management software solutions and platforms which cover point of sale, customer engagement, store operations and back-of-store management, and e-commerce, through its Retail Pro® products.  In recent years, Retail Pro International has become an even more important partner to its retail customers as retail strategy complexities started growing in geometric progression. “As businesses evolve in response to market needs and rapidly changing consumer expectations it becomes critical for the retailer to evolve their business, break down operational silos and adapt; that’s where we come in,” said Director of Marketing for RPI, Alexandra Frith.

Flexible Solutions

The native adaptability in Retail Pro is the reason Retail Pro International’s software platforms are used in more than 54,000 retail stores in over 95 countries, and the company continues to evolve to address the expansion and needs of retailers as they grow their businesses. Frith says the Retail Pro software is a perfect fit for growing retailers. Whether a retailer is just starting out or has an operation that spans many regions, including expansions as franchises, Retail Pro can address the complex needs the retailer will encounter across their business models.

Director of Product Strategy at RPI, Kevin Connor, says retailers have traditionally been forced to maintain one software platform for each ‘channel’ of their business – one platform for point of sale, one for e-commerce sales, one for mobile sales, etc. The Retail Pro platform, on the other hand, gives the retailer a platform that can support each of the channels with one integrated product suite. Retail Pro offers platforms that are both environment-agnostic and hardware platform-agnostic, allowing one product to create a more efficient management experience for the retailers and a more pleasant and predictable shopping experience for customers.

Frith says another major component of RPI and its expansive Partner service network for their customers is helping them translate trends into actionable retail strategies. For example, she says, last year many of the company’s customers and prospects were abuzz with the idea of omnichannel retailing. The concept surfacing everywhere in the media was the new buzzword then, without much more information about the details. “We found ourselves in many conversations about this new trend. It was almost an exercise in quelling fear because everyone wanted to know that they had the capability, but only a hand-full of retailers knew how it related specifically to their business,” Frith says.

The idea of omnichannel was prevalent in the retail world but had many definitions. For some of its major customers, Retail Pro worked closely with them to develop a concise definition of what omnichannel meant for that retailer. Then taking this plan, they developed a software experience using the Retail Pro platform that erased the borders between channels to create a seamless experience for shoppers that also fit the retailer in the most effective way.

Connor says the company’s flexible approach to retail management software allows the retailer to have the system that serves the needs across all environments. Whether a retailer is enlisting endless-aisle kiosks or embracing mobility to serve the clienteling needs of their customer engagements, they can do so. This is made possible by the company’s commitment to delivering one holistic system that ties together all aspects of retail into one seamless platform.

Global Reach

The company’s international DNA serves as a perfect platform for business. Frith stresses the company’s international expertise, saying Retail Pro provides world-class solutions to its customers around the globe, enabling borderless retailing. “That proves to be a huge strength to any retailer who aspires to be international,” she says.

Further highlighting this point, Connor says the majority of domestic retail software is based on the local tax regulations, limiting their applications in other markets. Retail Pro International’s solutions can support all tax structures around the world, he says, making it possible for retailers using Retail Pro to maintain one system for all geographies. “Something that we pride ourselves on, is seeing ourselves as part of the global retail community,” Connor says.

Still Growing

The retail community is a unified community. Today, the concept of borderless retail speaks not only to retailing across geographic borders, but also to disappearing borders between online and brick-and-mortar.  Brands want consistency of presence across markets; customers want the completeness of the shopping experience across channels.  Both require ongoing effective innovation. In addition to optimizing experiences, effective innovation also encourages adopting more efficient operations and procedures, positioning retailers to add value in two directions at once by streamlining costs and improving customer loyalty simultaneously.

“What we found was that our retail customers are adapting business models, adding retail channels, acquiring other brands, and otherwise expanding aggressively throughout North America and beyond,” Frith adds.  “We see this evolution as a primary catalyst for retail growth, and brands willing to take leadership in this area will be the most competitive over time.”

Posted in the March/April 2015 issue of Retail Merchandiser magazine.

See the original post  here.

This entry was posted by admin on Tuesday, April 28th, 2015 at 11:26 am .

Forrester has released its Customer Experience Benchmark results for 2015, and while e-commerce does well, the segment’s brick and mortar brethren are a bit behind the eight ball.

It should be noted that Forrester has changed the way it judges CX excellence. To rank at the top of the pack, the 299 brands studied were required to demonstrate they had designed and delivered a customer experience that created and sustained customer loyalty. That makes sense; after all, loyalty is a dynamite way to prove consumers like a business. Repeat customers are retail gold.

Another change impacted retailers directly: Forrester split the retail industry into two groups – those with physical stores and those without. Retailers without stores (“digital-only retailers”) remained in the lead, beating out hotels and parcel shippers for the top spot. However, those with stores fell multiple places in the industry standings.

Forrester elaborates on that finding in its report. But it is worth considering in what the e-commerce experience is proving better than other industries, as well as physically present retailers. A few lessons, then, that we can discern:

1. Personalized attention. You might say this is a no-brainer for brick
   

   Retail industry leaders are using technological advancements to improve the customer experience.

   and mortars. But being in the same place as a customer does not necessarily mean the sales associate knows what to do. Shoppers’ complaints run the gamut from feeling “creeped out” from too much attention, or “neglected” by a too-aloof approach. Online retailers often send a “thanks for shopping” email that provides an acknowledgement of the transaction, and, if timed correctly, brings the retailer to the top of a shopper’s mind. When was the last time, if ever, a physical store sent out such a missive? The relationship does not end when the shopper leaves; it’s just beginning. While the advantage of having a physical salesperson interact appropriately with customers is clear, it’s a double-edged sword: No one claims to feel “ignored” by an online retailer. The onus is much greater on a physical store to understand how your customers shop. Which brings us to:

2. Know your customers. All that data you are collecting needs to be analyzed and put to work. Who is shopping and when? What are they buying? Did someone help them? How did they pay? All that information is critical in learning how to best serve the customer, and to connect with them, with the goal of nurturing a repeat customer. Online retailers are expert at this, culling information, using analytics tools to decipher it and then employing that knowledge to drive traffic. Special offer emails are great examples; retail powerhouse Amazon uses data collected from a customer’s shopping history to send specific offers tailored to their interests. Brick and mortars can do the same.
3. Make it easy. If a customer has a problem, how easy is it to rectify it? What is your return policy? Can a shopper use multiple payment methods? This should be a simple point of distinction for many brick and mortars, but isn’t necessarily. Shoppers do not want to be challenged, for example, when making a return. Does it really matter that the shopper wanted to think she’s a size 4 but turns out she’s an 8? No one wants to face an inquisition at any point while shopping. Focus on the “1-click” mindset: The shopping experience, whether leisurely or a strategic strike, should be dictated by the customer, but the transactional part is controlled by the retailer. Make that quick and painless and it will complement any customer-directed experience you provide.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, April 20th, 2015 at 7:52 am .

When we think of the evolution of retail we think mainly about the ways in which technology has impacted the segment: Payments are faster, inventories are managed more efficiently and there is a synergy between online and offline shopping. But the entire idea of shopping and purchasing is also being turned on its ear. The next generation of customer, the Millennial, is not sold on buying items that are generally thought of as standard purchases.

As millennials come of age, they’re an increasingly important demographic for the retail industry.

Turns out that Millennials often choose not to take ownership of products. They do plenty of research, and, frustratingly, they tend to be shoppers rather than buyers, according to TIG. They are much more attracted to a service or rental economy. Think about the huge success of ride-share programs such as Uber.

But while its not unusual to rent a car or call a cab, some items and services don’t comfortably fall under the rental umbrella. Like clothing. Sure, for men, the renting of formal wear generally begins with the high school prom. Years late, a tuxedo may be purchased if the gentleman’s career necessitates, and there is no harm in wearing the same tux to multiple events. But for women, it’s a whole different ball game.

Career women faced with myriad black-tie events or socialites with filled dance cards, the rental option was not available. And then came Rent the Runway, offering 65,000 formal designer dresses, plus a wide selection of accessories for four-day rentals. The concept plays perfectly for value-conscious Millennials, who recognize brand name prestige but may not be able to or want to pay $800 for a dress they can rent for $100.

The RTR model is novel also because shoppers can use the service two ways, either completely online, or in store. Online, shoppers can order the same dress n two sizes, to ensure a proper fit, which is a great customer service benefit. Where the idea really shines is in its brick and mortar stores, however. For instance, at the Chicago store set to open April 30, dressing rooms have selfie mirrors and iPad minis. In terms of catering to its target audience, RTR’s got it going on.

The ability to share the experience with friends is critical to appealing to the Millennial customer. For many of them, “sharing” is as important as “having.” The sharing creates or enhances a relationship — and that is what is important to this shopper. Providing that extends an aura of goodwill over a brand, product or service. So retailers that help Millennials connect and build their communities will be the most successful in encouraging loyalty.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, April 13th, 2015 at 7:05 am .

In the last newsletter, we talked about how important it is to create a culture of continuous employee development. Thriving businesses have moved away from the idea that training happens once or twice a year through organized training events. Instead, they have come to realize the benefits of a continuous training and development culture that allows employees to grow and develop little by little every day. The benefits are tremendous. Employees feel valued and engaged. There is less turnover. The company benefits from employees who are serious about investing in themselves and in the organization.

Despite the many benefits, it can be difficult to incorporate continuous development into daily work life so that it doesn’t become routine and monotonous. In practice, however, some of the best ideas for developing employee skills and talents don’t even seem like training. Here are some ideas to help you think creatively about incorporating development opportunities into the culture.

Employee-Led Mini-Presentations

At staff meetings, reserve a short period of time, perhaps ten to fifteen minutes, for a presentation by an employee. Rotate the responsibilities so that every employee will have a chance to present. The very act of preparing and presenting a topic is a valuable skill that would benefit any employee.

You can structure topics or keep them open by allowing the employee responsible to pick the topic. You might set some guidelines and limitations to prevent a free-for-all. For example, you can limit presentations to business-related topics. You might ask employees to present an overview of how their department or unit works, or a summary of major projects in development. You might consider a product demonstration. One company picks business development books and assigns each chapter to a different employee. Every month an employee is responsible for preparing a presentation on the next chapter in the book. After a few months, all of the employees have been exposed to the concepts presented in the book.

Whatever topics you choose, you can be sure your employees will become experts as they prepare and present their topics. It’s a low-pressure forum for learning how to give an effective presentation.

Company Brainstorming Workouts

A workout is a meeting with employees who represent all levels and functions within the organization. The goal is to identify ways employees in the organization can work together more efficiently and effectively, either to solve a particular problem or in a broader context. A workout can last anywhere between a few hours or several days, depending on the immediate need. You can also hold scheduled workouts several times a year.

In this context, employees come together as a group, voicing ideas and solving problems as a team. They can be an effective way to address far-reaching organizational change. Your employees will develop critical problem-solving skills and learn how different units within the organization function together. The company benefits when creative and practical approaches to resolving work issues are identified and plans to implement those ideas are developed.

Corporate Universities

Online websites like Khan Academy bring a fresh approach to education and training. These sites feature short videos with experts teaching on a wide variety of topics. You can take advantage of this trend by creating your own company university and let your employees share their knowledge with others in the company.

SnagAJob.com, a job-search company in Virginia, created such a program for its employees. Employees who are experts in various topics from finance to computer programming, self-defense, and even Texas Hold ‘Em poker, record their lesson in videos, from short five-minute clips to as long as an hour or so. The company encourages employees to spend a little time every day learning something new and has found that engaged employees are more productive. If you’re concerned about employees wasting time on non-work related topics, set some constructive parameters. Just remember that taking a break and doing something that’s not work-related during the day can have a positive and energizing effect on your employees, according to recent studies.

Inspiration Rooms

At the Dreamworks animation movie studios, creative ideas for projects come from everywhere because the company has created an environment where anyone can suggest a new movie idea. This not only includes the creative team of animators but administrators, accountants, and lawyers. You never know where the next good idea will come from. The key is to create an environment in which employees are free to bounce ideas off one another.

But don’t just install a suggestion box and be done with it. Create an idea or inspiration room in your office. This is a place where employees can come to brainstorm and debate ideas in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. Leave Post-It notes so employees can write ideas and stick them to the wall. Better yet, install whiteboards or paint the walls with chalkboard paint. Leave poster board pads around the room and colored pens.

To get ideas flowing, ask questions like “What If ….” or pose a challenge of the month to get people thinking about a specific business-related problem or issues. Float the ideas out there and let employees come up with collaborative and creative ideas.

Social Media

More and more, companies realize the value that employees can bring to the company by using social media, to the extent that some companies require their employees to use social media during work hours to communicate about the company. These tools provide an easy way to communicate, share information, and build relationships. They can also be an important tool for fostering employee development.

Malcolm Knowles, an important researcher in the field of adult education, developed many theories about adult learners. One of his ideas was that one’s own life experiences is a rich resource for learning. When you are able to connect what you are learning to your own experiences, you are able to internalize these new ideas easier and faster. When you begin to connect with others and their life experiences, you can develop ideas much more deeply.

Social media allows us to do this. It enables us to share our experiences and connect with others to learn about their experiences. When we discuss ideas, they become refined and more developed. Employees who are discussing what they are learning will be more engaged with the ideas than those who simply attend a training class and never think about it again.

Consider ways that you can incorporate social media into your training and development strategies. Not all tools are a good fit for every company, so think about your company culture when deciding how to implement social media.

These are just a few ideas to help you think creatively about continuous employee development. Although there are a variety of methods you can employ, the important thing to remember is that you begin to develop ways for everyone in the company to stretch their talents and abilities. Training is no longer a one-time event. It happens on a daily basis with employees talking about and sharing their ideas.

In the next newsletter, we look at some more ways you can make training and development more meaningful and relevant while increasing employee engagement. In the meantime, don’t overlook more traditional approaches like classroom and online training. If you’re looking for Retail Pro product knowledge as the foundation for your employee development program, send us an email at training@retailpro.com for more information. We can also help customize a training solution for you.

This entry was posted by ketv on Thursday, April 9th, 2015 at 9:57 am .