Know Thy Customers

If embracing new technologies wasn’t enough of a challenge, today’s marketplace presents an increasingly difficult challenge to provide the right service to the consumers that shop within them. Given the penchant for being constantly connected, the consumers of today are more informed today than any previous generation, and therefore are requiring a different approach when it comes to ‘closing’ the proverbial sale. The retailer is faced with a consumer that is often more informed about a given product than most of the staff within the stores they are shopping.

Understanding and knowing our customers is key to moving forward in retail. This seems like common sense, however, being something that we take for granted it is very easy to become complacent about this simple fact. The old adage, “I ‘know’ my customers!” only holds true if you bottom line backs up that statement. Do you really know them? Do you know what they are saying about this season’s lines? Do you know what they are saying about your store? Do you know where they are having all of these discussions? If not, the time to begin finding out is now, and the answer lies within Social Media!

Social media isn’t just a buzz-word any longer. When was the last time you heard a media spot that didn’t mention Twitter or Facebook? Social Media is one of the key manners in which consumers are being driven toward the latest trends and the latest sales on the hot items. These communication forums are commonplace and it is all but assumed that you as a retailer have some means of working within them. Whether you are using it to build a community or extend and expand your loyalty programs it should be high your list of importance this year.

Simply put, retail isn’t immune to this cultural and communication shift. Embracing twitter, Facebook, or any of the other common social media avenues is key to maintaining the relationship between the retailer and the technology savvy consumer. It will help us build and foster the idea of a community around your stores, and ultimately drive the consumer to purchase the “OMG” item from your store over the retailer who isn’t participating.

At this year’s NRF ‘Customer Centricity’ did not stop at the lines drawn around Social Media. Much was discussed on the power of making the consumer feel like they are part of the whole retail process. As most of us are consumers ourselves it is not too difficult to understand the importance of feeling like we are not just a number on a bottom line when we are shopping. It is critical a retailer has as much detail about their customers as possible. Knowing what they have purchased previously, what trends they are partial to, or simply when they were last in is key to making them feel needed and more importantly like they matter – They are the center of retail.

The consumers of today do not always adhere to the traditional methods of marketing and sales strategies. We must adapt. We must change and begin to embrace the technologies available to us to mold the customer experience back to one where the consumer feels they are part of the process akin to that of the shopping experiences of the ‘50s era or the old-world marketplaces. Technology used in the right doses and manner will make the transitions to this new era of retail a painless one.

Retail Mobility

Hot on the heels of RFID, is the drive for all things mobile in retail. Mobile is hot. Mobile is sexy. We live our lives around mobile devices. So, it makes perfect sense that our consumer-driven lifestyles would dictate that those mobile devices could be used in retail.

Mobile Point of Sale is the new thin-client.

Retailers in their drive to provide the ultimate shopping experience are mandating that their retail management systems operate in a mobile capacity. The consumer’s daily utilization of mobile devices is driving this mandate at a staggering rate. Smaller alternatives to the monolithic POS systems we have all become used to over the years are popping up at every corner, but they are still not “Mobile”.

To be truly mobile with respect to retail, the retailer needs to be able to bring the POS system to the customer and not be bound by a rat’s nest of wiring typically found under the counters, counters which in a mobile retail environment can be used for better purposes like product display. Advances in wireless technology, decreased wireless network costs, and utilization of long-established methodologies of thin-client means a POS system can be delivered with lighter system requirements, ultimately lowering the hard costs for the retailer and allowing them to interface with their customers on a much more intimate level.

Mobile retailing isn’t just limited in its use as a replacement for the wired POS systems in today’s B&M stores. Mobile consumerism is also driving the need for “mobile” retailing. Consumers of today are heavily driven by their abilities to gather information quickly and purchase with minimal fuss. Mobile allows them the freedom to purchase from nearly anywhere at any time. For this reason it’s equally important that retailers consider how “mobile” can server their needs outside their B&M stores.

New methods of marketing to the modern consumer are cropping up daily. Companies like Wishpond (www.wishpond.com), are delivering new ways for consumers to locate products in nearby stores. Leveraging mobile platforms with these technologies is empowering the retailer to reach out to nearby consumers with coupons and targeted sales drawing those consumers to their B&M or web-based store fronts.

The possibilities of mobile retailing are virtually endless and only limited by how quickly we can integrate the mobile philosophy into the retailing environment. It’s an exciting time for retailers to say the least, and fulfilling this niche is paramount to maintaining the consumer relationship.

Next week – the trend report that is all about the consumer – Know Thy Customer.

In the wake of the global economic woes of the recent years, it is all but expected the retailer will need to adapt to a new consumer and refocus to push through and maintain their businesses. The modus operandi of today’s retailer needs to be shaken up.

Each year our industry is treated to the latest and greatest in technology and retail trends from industry leaders at the National Retail Federation’s annual “Big Show”. 2011 was no different with the NRF putting on the 100th anniversary of the Big Show.

One could write a novella to cover all of the products and technology which are showcased at NRF to improve the retailer’s abilities to service their customers well. Unfortunately we don’t have the space for all of those ones and zeros. Instead we found three key trends to have been echoed unanimously across the sea of technology and products, improving the management of merchandise in one’s store(s), leveraging today’s mobile platforms, and most importantly Customer Centricity.

RFID Managed Inventory

The single most important requirement of every retailer is simple – Sell! Without goods to sell retail is pretty much non-existent. Therefore, knowing how much stock you have and more importantly where that stock is becomes extremely important in day-to-day operations. The adoption of the retail management system has made handling this task much simpler when compared to the inventory management methods of yesteryear. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the next game changing tool for the management of a retailer’s inventory.

RFID has been in use for many years, and is common place in many industries. The transportation industries have been using RFID since the mid 90’s, and most recently the banking industries have adopted RFID for point of service payments. In general though, the costs associated with its use have limited the markets where RFID can be used effectively.

In 2010, however, RFID has seen a major resurgence. The formation of an international standard, decreased cost for the equipment and tags necessary, and reliability of nearly 99.9% has made RFID technology a reality for all retailers. Retail giants like Macy’s, Wal-Mart, and The Gap are actively working to make RFID the way merchandise is handled within their store operations.

The implementation and use of RFID will drive inventory accuracy to levels never before seen by the retailers across the globe. At the NRF Big Show Peter Sachse, CMO of Macy’s Inc. and Chairman and CEO of Macy’s.com, praised RFID for taking inventory accuracy from 60-70% to nearly 95% in its locations which have implemented RFID for inventory management. Given increases of this magnitude, the ROI, it sells itself.

Retail is ready for RFID. Make sure you are as well.

Stay tuned for part 2, on Mobile Trends

In a world of social media, retailers are focused on branding and customer experience more than ever. Brands are judged and evaluated every step of the way, with consumers pledging loyalty to brands, whose values align with their own.  Complete transparency makes retailers focus not just on what they deliver, but also how they do it, and sustainability of their practices.  Retail Pro is addressing these emerging trends with several innovative platforms in 2011. eReceipts is one example that is seeing a great response from both retailers and consumers.  

 Retail Pro has partnered with Seamless Receipts to help retailers deliver electronic receipts to customers without paper waste or BPA, a toxic chemical found in many paper receipts.  In addition to being a green and sustainable alternative to the traditional receipt, eReceipts also allows retailers to include personalized promotions and branded communications to customers, engaging the consumer beyond the initial purchase.

 “We are excited to give retailers a way to embrace the concept of sustainability and be on the front lines of green initiatives in today’s arena of responsible retailing,” says Alexandra Frith, Retail Pro’s Marketing Manager.

The marketing and sustainability benefits of eReceipts are clear and the way retailers implement eReceipts will be critical to their customer relationships.  “We found that retailers want 2 things,” says Keith Cowing, Seamless Receipts’ CEO, “a simple solution that cashiers and customers will instantly understand, and full control over their branding and customer engagement.  We built our platform to deliver those key aspects.”

eReceipts are seeing a great response from retailers and consumers and are expected to be increasingly common in coming years. The Seamless Receipts plug-in for Retail Pro is currently available via the Retail Pro App Market at www.retailpro.com/appmarket.  The eReceipts platform will also come bundled with future versions of Retail Pro, demonstrating Retail Pro’s constant commitment to innovation, sustainability, and the demands of today’s retail marketplace.

Pro Hockey Life, Canada’s largest chain of hockey megastores, is now offering email receipts to its in-store customers.  Thanks to software from Seamless Receipts and Retail Pro, Pro Hockey Life quickly rolled out digital receipts and is receiving a very encouraging response from its customers.  Across Pro Hockey Life’s 22 stores, the company emphasizes the importance of customer service and today’s consumer wants a shopping experience that integrates with the web or a mobile phone. Offering email receipts is a natural step in that direction.

“At PHL, we strive to provide our customers with the ultimate service experience, and Seamless Receipts is helping us deliver on that promise,” said Scott Jackson, President of Pro Hockey Life.

Consumers love getting a receipt via email because they can instantly find it for a warranty, exchange, or expense report.  But retailers see great results with email receipts as well.  Each receipt that is emailed to a customer’s inbox is an opportunity to deliver personalized promotions and create an extra customer touch point.

Pro Hockey Life runs the Retail Pro point-of-sale platform and is using Seamless Receipts to power its email receipt solution.  The Email Receipts product is free and only takes minutes to setup (Seamless Receipts charges for premium versions and optional services).  This is another example that demonstrates the power of the Retail Pro platform, enabling retailers to leverage new technologies and create unique shopping experiences.

Closely watched retail indicators provide critical insight to the latest consumer behavior. As a sign of the times, more families this year say their purchases for back to school, the second-busiest shopping season, were influenced by coupons, sales and promotions.

According to a National Retail Federation survey released last week, 17% of families with children in grades Kindergarten-12th Grade say 100% of their purchases were influenced by bargains and coupons, up from 14.7% of families last year.

“It’s good to see consumers responding to back-to-school sales and promotions,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Back-to-school will be the first real test for retailers and the economy as we plan for the upcoming holiday season.”

As a retailer, you might be wondering where to invest your promotional resources to maximize your return? The survey provided insight to factors that most influence today’s shoppers:

For the largest retailers with huge advertising budgets, television commercials have pull. Nearly one-quarter of those surveyed (23.7%) said they were motivated to shop at a particular retailer because of their TV commercials. But mass market advertising is not for every retailer. The good news is that other, more reasonable approaches scored high among shoppers deciding why to shop at a particular store. According to NRF, advertising inserts (41.5%), in-store promotions (39.6%), word of mouth (27.4%), newspapers (25.5%) and direct mail (21.7%) were the other top media influencers affecting consumer decisions.

So for retailers everywhere, it looks as if the pressure to create promotions and incentives will continue for the foreseeable future. With the big holiday season rapidly approaching, stores will need to establish and promote their offers and programs to retain their best customers and attract new ones.

Fortunately for those companies using Retail Pro, the system has the power and flexibility to help retailers manage promotions and discount programs profitably and accurately. Watch closely for an upcoming offer for all Retail Pro customers!