Here’s how omnichannel is supposed to work:

I live in the Northeast, in an area recently experiencing record cold temperatures and quite a bit of snow fall. It’s not quite the North Pole, but right about now a sleigh is probably the most reliable source of transportation. As snow and freezing rain came down last Wednesday, I remembered that my 13-year-old daughter had a semi-formal event to attend on Sunday and nothing in her closet was close to fitting her, or even appropriate for the occasion. Little black leggings are versatile, but they were just not going to do for this.

Retailers likely to focus on omnichannel integration in 2015

I contemplated going out to the mall, roughly 20 minutes away, but quickly opted for the warm coziness of my kitchen in front of my computer instead. I began my quest on Amazon, but was quickly overwhelmed by the selection and had difficulty narrowing my search. Young teenaged girls may be as tall as 20, 30 or 60-year-old women — all of whom wear dresses — but their tastes are vastly different. Getting the Amazon search engine to target that mindset was proving difficult. And then I started to worry that, despite being a Prime customer, I might not get my package in time, because of all the bad weather across the country. (We in the Northeast like to think we have a monopoly on nasty snowy weather, but this year has especially proved that’s not at all the case.)

The mall was starting to look more attractive, but the weather wasn’t, so I stayed put. I started going through my emails and saw I had a coupon code from Macy’s. I’m a loyal Macy’s shopper, and there’s one at my local mall. Now I had a plan.

Macy’s has a very easy to navigate site. I could easily find the Juniors department and even find daytime event dresses quickly. I found and bought the just-right dress in about 10 minutes. And, no worries about shipping, I was all set to pick up my merchandise at the store any day during the week. Whenever we stopped “having weather,” I could collect my purchase. I signed up for text alerts on my order status, and, in fact, my order was ready for me within a couple of hours.

Picking up the dress the next day was simple; one of the three texts I received told me exactly where to go, and my package was waiting for me. I produced my ID and off I went — but not out the door. Rather, I went to the shoe department for some coordinating footwear. I spent an additional 70% on accessory sales, and that is just exactly the way the omnichannel is supposed to work.

Macy’s does a very good job integrating its online with the in-store experience. And that is starting to show in its financial results. Its digital efforts helped fourth-quarter sales increase to $9.364 billion, up 1.8% from the prior year. Among its stronger areas were dresses and men’s and women’s shoes, areas where Macy’s tested a single view of inventory between stores and direct-to-customer warehouses. During Macy’s earnings call last week, CFO Karen Hoguet said the company had just rolled out those same programs companywide based on those successes.

“Our digital channels at both Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s did extremely well in the quarter. We were very focused and pleased with what we accomplished with Buy-Online, Pick Up In Store,” Hoguet said. “Both because of the new wave of customers who utilize this shopping, but also for the radiated sales we got when the orders were picked up. And our same-day delivery test was successful and we will expand in 2015 to additional markets.” “Radiated sales”? I guess I participated in that. It does sound awfully nice and warm to this Northeasterner.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, March 9th, 2015 at 8:08 pm .

Today’s most modern payment process — mobile wallets — is quite a departure from your grandfather’s, your mom’s or, quite possibly, your older sibling’s.

In 1879, when the cash register debuted, cash was king, and it would reign unchallenged until 1950, when the first credit card — Diners Club — was established. But there was no fundamental change in payments until 2011, when Google Wallet was introduced. Google Wallet uses near field communication (NFC) to make secure payments quickly and efficiently, by simply tapping the phone on any PayPass-enabled terminal at checkout.

Retailers need to embrace mobile payments.

Although groundbreaking, Google Wallet did little to move the needle and get shoppers using mobile wallets. That didn’t happen until late last year, when Apple announced Apple Pay. At its announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the credit card payment process as antiquated, calling the magnetic interface “outdated and vulnerable,” and its reliance on security codes insecure:

“We’re totally reliant on the exposed numbers, and the outdated and vulnerable magnetic interface — which by the way is five decades old — and the security codes which all of us know aren’t so secure.”

Apple struck a chord. The new process was so simple and efficient that payments made through Apple Pay accounted for between 0.1% and 1.6% of transactions at five top retailers in the month following the launch of the feature. That’s a heady figure, particularly because Apple Pay is only available on the newest iPhones.

In addition to the simplicity of use, Apple Pay is secure. The technology uses near-field communication (NFC) technology, which lets iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners pay for goods by holding their phones directly in front of payment terminals. It uses tokenization, authentication by fingerprint (Touch ID) and a secure method that isn’t part of iOS for storing the data. All those factors have made the technology attractive to a variety of businesses, from retailers such as Macy’s to organizations like the National Football League.

The NFL, in fact, showcased Apple Pay at this year’s Super Bowl, while using Retail Pro POS software as the backbone for all transactions. Visa actively incented customers to use the mobile payment technology by offering a $5 discount coupon to anyone who completed an Apple Pay demo. Further, Visa gave $10 to any one who loaded the credit card into their wallets or demonstrated that they already had done so.

It helped, of course, that there was higher than average iPhone 6 penetration on hand at the Super Bowl this year – according to pymnts.com, Visa noted that 35% to 40% of customers in the NFL shop were carrying around Apple’s newest phone. A quarter of the users put a Visa on their phone and took the $10 dollar coupon, though the majority — 75% — were happy simply with the $5 card they got for demoing the service. In the end, roughly 15,000 people came in to try out Apple Pay during the Super Bowl.

Retail Pro has provided the much-needed impetus for the growth in mobile payments with Apple Pay. It has proven that consumers will embrace the technology, provided it is reliable and easy to use. In response to the projected uptick in mobile payment usage, rivals PayPal and Google announced this week efforts to position themselves more competitively. PayPal will purchase Paydiant, a startup that helps companies such as Subway and Capitol One build mobile payments options, and Google unveiled Android Pay, an NFC-based solution that will serve as platform for third-party store and payment apps. If competition is good for business, then the mobile payment arena is doing very well indeed.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 at 6:50 pm .

Retail Pro International (RPI), global provider of flexible retail management software, is pleased to announce that ASICS, a popular footwear retail brand, chose a Retail Pro® platform over its previous POS solution for their expansion in South East Asia.

Dubai, UAE March 4, 2015  ASICS Asia Pte Ltd, the SEA regional arm of ASICS Corporation, a leading designer and manufacturer of running shoes, is expanding in South East Asia and needed retail point of sale software that would:

• Centralize store operations
• Ensure pricing transparency and supply chain visibility
• Guarantee the consistency of product availability across the markets.

ASICS chose Retail Pro® for its all-in-one, feature-rich POS software platform, with its easily customizable workflows, security and central control.

“Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, meaning ‘A Sound Mind in a Sound Body,’ is the old Latin phrase from which ASICS is derived and the fundamental platform on which the brand still stands,” said ASICS Group Financial Controller, Maureen Neo. “Retail Pro is clearly a sound product in a sound company with its quality and global presence–over 54,000 stores with impressive clientele in over 95 countries.”

ASICS chooses Retail Pro to centralize its store operations.

Retail Pro’s® flexible design, easy setup and fast roll-out capabilities, combined with the local expert team at Integrated Retail, a Retail Pro Business Partner in the region, allowed for a quick implementation. With aggressive roll-out targets and region-wide support requirements, RPI’s proven support network across Asia with accessible locations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand is critical for ASICS’s retail expansion strategy. Other retail software providers are unable to guarantee the same adoption speed and level of support.

“RPI’s global support network of Business Partners helps our customers tailor Retail Pro to their particular operations, so it’s an exact match for their business needs,” said RPI’s VP for MEA and Asian Markets, Bevin Manian. “As market needs evolve, our customers respond, and local Business Partner experts are there to guide them through the adaptation process, so they aren’t abandoned in their customizations or expansion across channels or geography.”

Retail Pro International and Integrated Retail look forward to many years of supporting ASICS for their continued success in footwear, fitness apparel and accessories retail.

For more information about ASICS, visit www.asics.com

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About Retail Pro International

Retail Pro International (RPI) is a global leader in retail management software that is recognized world-wide for rich functionality, multi-national capabilities, and unparalleled flexibility. For over 25 years, RPI has innovated retail software solutions to help retailers optimize business operations and have more time to focus on what really matters — cultivating customer engagement and capitalizing on retail’s trends. Retail Pro® is the chosen software platform for omnichannel strategy by serious retailers everywhere. To learn more, visit www.retailpro.com

This entry was posted by Ulyana Avetisov on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 at 9:48 am .

There’s a war being fought in retail between the brick-and-mortar store fronts, and the e-commerce players. Physical stores have had to beat back e-commerce competitors, which often offer lower prices for products, due in large part to low overhead costs. Slowly but surely, e-commerce is nibbling away at the retail pie: The fourth quarter 2014 e-commerce estimate from the census bureau increased 14.6% from the fourth quarter of 2013, while total retail sales increased 3.7% in the same period. E-commerce sales in the fourth quarter of 2014 accounted for 6.7% of total sales. But brick and mortars are fighting back with beacon technology.

Business Insider recently reported it expects beacons to directly influence more than $4 billion worth of U.S. retail sales this year at top retailers, or 1% of the total). That number could climb tenfold by 2016. In particular, beacons — which alert shoppers to deals, specials and discounts on in-store merchandise, while the customer is in close proximity to the item — are the next evolutionary phase in store operations and can become integral parts of loyalty programs. Repeat shoppers are rewarded with personalized offers, generated via the beacon technology.

Beacons push out messages to shoppers, rather than gather data. Once shoppers “opt-in” to the location-based marketing program, their smartphones can detect the beacons. The smartphone relays a “VIP in store” message back to the beacon, which directs the information to a store associate’s mobile retail management device, and the store associate then personally greets the loyal patron.

Beacons could beat back much of the competition from e-commerce merchants because, despite online shopping’s growing popularity, approximately 90% of what people buy still comes out of brick-and-mortar locations, according to Adweek. In addition to burnishing loyalty programs, beacon technology, with its broadcast capability, can successfully entice passersby to come in. That is a clear and distinct advantage over e-commerce retailers, which must rely on search engines and word of mouth primarily.

Beacons can broadcast a “consider stopping in” message, which a shopper receives on his or her smartphone. That can drive new customers, who may not otherwise come into a store. An even more directed effort can be obtained through hyper-local marketing, which provides very specific messages to very specific customers.

Despite the growth in e-commerce, brick and mortars are stepping up the offensive by employing beacon technologies to communicate to shoppers the deals they just shouldn’t be passing by.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, March 2nd, 2015 at 7:04 pm .

Spring is traditionally a time of change, renewal, and growth.  All around us, nature wakes up from the long winter as the days get longer and warmer.  Here in the United States, our baseball teams go into spring training to prepare for baseball season. The spring season is also a time when retailers traditionally launch new product lines. They take advantage of their retail software for analytics and visibility into inventory across channels to clear out the old and make room for the new.

We at Retail Pro want to help you build a strong, winning team for your business with Retail Pro University spring training.  It’s the ideal time to use your POS software to position your business for growth and prepare for action in the face of changes spurred by retail evolution.

No one needs to tell you that employee training on your retail point of sale software is critical for your business.  Investing in training for your employees can yield many benefits, including:

Increase employee productivity in store operations by training them to use your Retail Pro platform’s robust functionality effectively. 

• Improved employee morale and increased motivation
• Higher employee satisfaction and a reduction in employee turnover
• Enhanced company image
• Increased capacity for new business
• Increased efficiency in business processes

Your employees are at the heart of your retail management software’s ability to increase efficiency in your store operations and make your business more successful.  At Retail Pro University, we’re here to help you maximize productivity in one of your most valuable resources.  An investment in training is an investment in your organization’s future.

Now is the time to sign your employees up for spring training.  Each month at our Retail Pro headquarters in Folsom, California, we offer live training and certification examinations for your retail POS software.  In our two-week certification course, your employees can learn the foundations of Retail Pro and become certified in any of three specializations:

• Retail Pro Applications Expert (RPAE)
• Retail Pro Systems Engineer (RPSE)
• Retail Pro Reports Professional (RPRP)

Did you miss our February class? There are still a few spots left for March and April.  Instructor-led classes will be held from March 9 through March 20, and from April 13 through April 24.  Learn more about training options for your employees at the Retail Pro University website at https://www.retailpro.com/learning/.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, February 25th, 2015 at 10:12 am .

Payments take time: time away from selling — if you’re the retailer  — and from shopping, if you’re the customer. Either way, it’s a point of friction. The easier and faster that process goes, the happier retailers — and their customers — will be.

According to figures from eMarketer, the global retail market will see continuous growth during the coming years, and in 2018, worldwide retail sales will increase 5.5% to reach $28.300 trillion. And, according to the Keynote Executive Presentation at eTail West this month, Americans see an average of 29,000 marketing messages daily. That means competition is stiff for sales dollars. So, retailers that implement smooth payment processes and streamlined shopping experiences will receive a competitive advantage.

During the keynote: “Defining The New Retail Experience – Stores And Mobile” session at eTail West, Jamil Ghani, vice

Consumers using mobile to engage with retailers.

president of enterprise strategy said that integrating mobile into stores results in bigger sales. Target recently redesigned its mobile app to create an efficient shopping experience, as well as to entice consumers to buy more products and steer the retailer toward its goal of becoming a bricks-and-mobile store.

The so-called bricks-and-mobile philosophy is a retail strategy that combines mobile and in-store offerings to drive sales, increase awareness of items that are on sale or otherwise “special” and let harried consumers get more done by providing features such as in-app shopping lists.

Another way to blur the lines between channels is to use digital signage to feature shopper-generated online content within the physical store. Shoppers engage with reviews and opinions and often become more certain of their impending purchase as a result. And, Rob Manning, content marketing manager at a digital marketing software provider, told CIO.com that stores can further “promote content sharing within stores by displaying [brand-related] hashtags on signage and on monitors and kiosks and encouraging customers to share content right then and there using the hashtags to enter to win a prize, receive an automatic discount code, and/or have their content featured on the website.

Experts agree that it is pointless to prevent customers from comparison shopping online while in store. So retailers should just go ahead and provide free Wifi. Shoppers finding alternatives online can be incentivized to stick around with a low price guarantee. And QR codes are still around; stores can put them to good use and have more control over the shopping experience by attaching them next to products with links to discover them easily on your site.

When customers finally reach checkout, retailers must provide the technology to facilitate mobile wallets. The technology will become critical, and a differentiator, in the near future.  Although Apple Pay has heightened interest in mobile payments recently, Google is the granddaddy, first introducing Google Wallet’s tap and pay feature in 2011. On Feb. 23, Google said it would partner with Softcard, a joint venture of Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile. The Google Wallet app, including tap-and-pay functionality, will come pre-installed on Android phones (running KitKat or higher) sold by those carriers in the U.S. later this year.  The deal will expand Google’s reach, as well as provide more choices for consumers.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, February 23rd, 2015 at 8:29 pm .

The most successful retailers have updated ecommerce solutions — rather than vestiges from the turn of the 21st century.  A recent report from RSR Research notes that the highest-performing retailers have eCommerce sites that are positioned as being a vital part of the

Is your ecommerce website appealing?

customers total shopping experience. The laggards? Many times their ecommerce systems are in the way of their success.

According to the report:

It turns out that under-performers are far more likely to be hanging on to legacy homegrown eCommerce sites than their better-performing competitors. This is consistent with other studies that we have conducted; laggards are far more likely than Winners to operate old technology long past its “sell by” date. In the case of eCommerce, while it may have been true that retailers were forced to develop their own capabilities in 2000, in 2014 commercially available solutions (delivered as an outsourced service, “in the cloud”, or licensed for on-premise operation) offer far greater functionality and flexibility than yesterday’s custom sites could.

It’s important for retailers to get current with commerce technology because shoppers are leading the way. As shoppers rely increasingly on smartphones and tablets to research and ultimately purchase products, retailers that haven’t upgraded their mobile commerce systems will be left behind. The way customers are shopping differently than they did 15, 10 or even just five years ago: 44 percent of respondents told RSR that keeping up with evolving consumer shopping patterns was one of the top three business challenges.

That wasn’t the toughest hurdle, however, said those surveyed. Forty-six percent of respondents said getting customers to engage more with their brand online was their top challenge. Pushing content to consumers through email or texts may drive short-term results, but those techniques don’t necessarily promote repeat business or loyalty. To that end, many retailers are eyeing social media as a significant marketing tool. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said that social media will be a valid selling tool in 2015.

It’s critical for retailers to keep up with their customers’ technology use, just as they do with their tastes in merchandise. Implementing mobile payment systems, buy-online-pick-up-in-store and using geo-location to offer personalized shopping experiences are all ways in which the retailer of today will usher in the shopper of tomorrow.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Saturday, February 21st, 2015 at 5:28 pm .

Customer satisfaction needs some urgent care at retailers nationwide, notes a survey of more than 8,700 people released today by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. And no company is in need of that more than Walmart.

The survey found that satisfaction is on the decline from last year. The drop was small, at 1.4%, but in an industry that claims to be fixated on enhancing the customer experience, that figure is disheartening. And Walmart didn’t just perform poorly, it received its worst customer satisfaction rating since 2007, securing the bottom spot on ACSI’s retail customer service ranking. In contrast, Nordstrom finished at the top of the list by a significant margin.

The problems customers have with Walmart as well as other retailers can be solved by the use of technology. These are not unique challenges. What’s holding back poor performers is the desire to invest in solutions. Let’s look at three customer complaints and ways they could improve with a technology makeover at the world’s largest retailer.

Complaint #1: Long Lines. Mobile POS can work wonders here. By equipping department associates with mobile POS, front end registers will have a lighter load. In addition, tablets can be used for linebusting, in which customers are redirected from a standard checkout and serviced via a m-POS. And, during the busiest store times, a clerk can collect a customer’s information while they stand in line for ultra-fast check-out when they reach the register. The mobile device connects to the database in real time, so the check-out process is already half-completed by the time the customer places the products on the counter.

Complaint #2: Shelves Are Consistently Understocked. By equipping the shelves with RFID antennas, EPC Gen 2

RFID tags can be used for a number of retail purposes.

readers and tags, as well as an application that can run on tablets or smartphones, inventory can be accurately monitored. Managers can reorder hot selling products or lower the prices on slower movers.

Complaint #3: Unpleasant Associates. Technology that makes workers’ jobs easier is a sure way to increase job satisfaction. Training on mobile POS, for example, requires less training than traditional registers. Knowing when shelves need to be replenished rather than waiting until they are bare helps managers set the pace of the day. Ship to-store is a technology that intentionally drives customers into the brick and mortar establishment, but if the customer is greeted by a surly representative, ship-to-store will fail in its goal of enticing those customers to add to their baskets.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Thursday, February 19th, 2015 at 5:52 am .

Retailers afraid of mobile? No way — virtually all (93%) of retailers surveyed by Retail Systems Research said that mobile will help their employees meet customer service expectations. Long gone, apparently, are the bad old days when retailers feared showrooming by customers and distraction of associates. Today a vast majority (88%) of retailers say the purpose of their mobile strategy is to drive shoppers to the store.

Retail customer trends point to the growing popularity of mobile devices for shopping and payment transactions.

“Consumers are in love with their mobile devices; the best thing any retailer can do right now is think creatively about how to leverage that relationship. And with stores in such need of reinvigoration, it has the potential to be a match made in heaven,” according to the study, entitled, “Mobile Retail Finds New Purpose.”

That means that retailers need to pay closer attention to what needs customers want mobile to satisfy. Right now, although the most popular mobile capability offered by 62% of retailers is “store locator,” it’s one that only customers 29% would find valuable. Other technology can easily provide that same function — a store can easily be found by using a smartphone’s map program, for instance. However, an app that helps shoppers search for and select merchandise is more highly valued by customers (59%), but implemented by only 49% of responding retailers.

Likewise, retailers need to assess how mobility can best serve their associates in their jobs. Although 47% of retailers noted that they have either piloted or implemented email, access to email is valued by only 25% of employees. Assisted selling, however, is valued by 53%, but implemented by only 27%. Also popular among employees (40%) was the ability to access corporate information about products and services; that mobile capability was offered by only 30% of retailers.

The survey also outlined the tremendous opportunities retailers could benefit from by adopting a mobile strategy. The top three advantages:

1. Deeper customer engagement to build loyalty through mobile channels (65%)
2. Deeper customer engagement to drive sales through personalized offers (62%)
3. Deeper insights into shopper behavior through mobile site or app insights. (55%)

The survey defined a segment of respondents as “Winners,” and another as “Laggards,” and revealed a surprising trend:

“Laggards are even more bullish on getting deeper insights into shopper behavior through mobile site or app insights – a whopping 70% to Winners’ 51%. This is interesting, as it potentially points out a common tendency among those whose sales are hurting to overhype the saving power of a single technology. We call it ‘magic bullet syndrome,’ and it often leads laggards astray from what they really need to focus on.”

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 at 8:20 pm .

A recent study by PWC of CEOs found that while top execs in the retail market generally believe there are more threats to the growth of their companies today than there was three years ago, a majority also believe that there are more growth opportunities for their companies today than in 2012.

Among its findings, the survey found that 66 percent of those responding said they either agreed or agreed strongly that there was more room for increased sales today. Why might that be? Perhaps because of the potential various technologies have on retail. Mobile check out, beacons and data analytics are just a few implementations that can streamline and enhance the customer experience. And happy customers mean larger receipts.

When asked, “How important is/are mobile technologies for customer engagement for CEO’s

Location-based functions on mobile devices offer merchants opportunities to target their retail marketing campaigns and collect information about shoppers’ habits.

organizations?” 81 percent of participants in the survey overall said it was either somewhat or very important; 89 percent of retail CEOs said the same. For a growing number of companies, mobile is becoming the primary sales channel, rather than simply a key channel. Statistics show the accelerated growth of mobile payments globally in the last quarter of 2014: 25 percent of global online transactions took place on a mobile device, 11 percent higher than in the third quarter of  2014 (23.3 percent), and 37 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2013 (18.8 percent). A ‘mobile-first’ strategy is looking increasingly as though it is a viable solution for more businesses heading into 2015.

Data mining and analysis were also critical to CEOs. When asked, “How strategically important is/are data mining and analysis for CEO’s organizations?” 79 percent of all CEOs as well as retail CEOs in particular said they were either somewhat (26 percent) or very (54 percent) important. Beacons can be used to gather data that can direct retailers’ inventory selection as well as product placement. Such track and trace technology can even help retailers predict sales.

But all the customer-centric technology in the world will be for naught if retailers don’t step it up in the security department. With security breaches being reported seemingly every other day, it was surprising that retail CEOs were not more hardcore when rating the critical nature of cybersecurity. When asked “How strategically important is cybersecurity for CEO’s organizations, CEOs 78 percent of CEOs overall said it was somewhat (25) or very (53) important, while 68 percent of retail CEOs said it was somewhat (32) or very (36) important.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, February 16th, 2015 at 7:29 pm .