The biggest mistake I see in store technology implementations is a “build it and they will come” mentality. Or one that is overly focused on driving sales. Don’t get me wrong – the main objective of in-store activity should be to drive sales. The store is where 90% of sales are transacted, and anything that takes focus away from that risks jeopardizing a business model that is already stressed.
Retail Still Moves More Slowly Than Needed
A fascinating walk down memory lane. Granted, we “only” are talking about newsletter articles written over the past five years: since 2011, but five years is a long time in consumer IT years.
Here are some “flashbacks” that really could be published as new articles today.
RBTE 2016: Focus On Employee Empowerment
One of the most enjoyable aspects of attending the Retail Business Technology Event in London (which completed its fifth successful year of operation in March) is that it’s so easy to see in real life what it being talked about at the event. London is a hotbed of very competitive retail shops. The city remains one of the world’s top performers when it comes to retail sales, and the UK overall ranks among the top countries in Internet sales (#1 in 2013). So if you want to see what is happening in Retail, there is no better place to look than London.
History of Omni-Channel: The Future
It’s been fun writing this series on the History of Omni-Channel. However, I’ve run out of history, so it’s time to start looking to the future.
Coming To Terms With Retail Planning
Retail planning is a hot topic throughout the industry right now. The burning issue that brings this core capability front-and-center is that demand comes from more than one place: from the stores, the call center, and from the digital space. Matching that demand to supply in a way that is satisfying to consumers is more difficult, as consumers demand more and more cross-channel fulfillment options. The final kick in the shins of the traditional planning cycle is that consumers are more selective and less loyal, and have easy access to information about competitive offers available anytime and anywhere. That means that retailers must react more quickly to shifts in demand than they have had to in the past.
What’s Next For eCommerce Technologies?
In theory, a technology’s value should outstrip its use. But in many of the areas we research, we find retailers have often been coaxed into implementing various technologies before realizing the value for their specific needs. This has happened all too often in stores, in particular, and is either usually the result of fear that if a retailer doesn’t ride a particular wave, they will be left out or because so much infrastructure technology must be implemented before any value can be had from the investment.
The Fallacy Of Retail’s Cost To Serve
A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a technology company sales executive, who at the time was trying to make the case that retailers needed to do a better job of managing their cost to serve. Basically, if a shopper engages with a retailer in, for example, the store channel, the retailer should be doing everything in their power to incent the customer to stay in that channel and not use any others, because the more channels a customer uses, the more expensive the transaction is.
The Core Components Of Retail Transformation
Microsoft has historically been very product-focused, as Chris readily admitted. But the company’s success doesn’t depend on its products, it depends on its customers. Sound familiar? Chris talked about focusing on earning fans. I have the feeling those are two deliberately chosen words.
Small Town Blues
Small towns have been in the retail news a lot lately, and not for the best of reasons. In particular, Walmart’s announcement that it would close more than 150 U.S. stores has caused many small towns to cry foul because of lost tax revenue and the impact to local employees and consumers. That complaint is the flip side of the concern expressed for years that Walmart’s entry into a local market destroys small businesses.
‘Shopper Journey’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does
A couple weeks ago I was on a briefing call with a vendor who started talking about customer or shopper journeys in a way I’d never heard before. They were talking about journey design and how to incent consumers to take desired next steps in the “journey process”.
