GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

• COVID-19’s Effect On The Retail Outlook For 2020

  Retail growth projections have changed drastically as a direct result of the COVID-19 outbreak. While the overall sector was poised for growth when the year started, the new outlook is considerably less optimistic for segments such as department stores, general merchandise, specialty soft goods, and hospitality.

• 2020 RSPA VAR Sales Compensation Study

  To help retail IT VARs understand sales compensation best practices in a SaaS world, the RSPA commissioned the 2020 VAR Sales Compensation Study. This first-of-its-kind survey reveals reseller compensation structures for SaaS sales vs. traditional sales, what VARs’ top sales reps earn, how they track salesperson performance, and more.

• COVID-19 Crisis: Key Points from RSPA Communication Guidelines Webinar

  To help retail IT VARs and ISVs effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the RSPA has produced several pieces of channel-focused content including a webinar on Communication Guidelines with Employees and Customers during this crisis. The 57-minute session featured insights from RSPA Legal Counsel Bob Goldberg and RSPA Board Chairperson Chelsey Paulson, who works full-time as the Human Resources Director at VAR North Country Business Products.

• COVID-19 Crisis: How VARs Are Communicating With Employees, Merchants

  RSPA members Brett Bennett, the President of VAR POSitive Technology and ISV OpSuite, and Chris Rumpf, the owner of VAR/ISV Flyght, provide examples of COVID-related messages they delivered to their employees and their merchants.

• COVID-19 Crisis: ISVs Focus On Rescuing Merchants, Protecting Staff, Stimulating Creativity

  In this article, software developer executives from the RSPA Niche & Startup ISV Community offer guidance for addressing customer issues, VAR issues, staff issues, and general business issues during the pandemic.

RETAIL IT WHITE PAPERS

• Cash Transactions In The Mobile World

  For two decades, the PC has reigned supreme over all POS solutions, operating as point of sale terminals that sit on counters and control various peripherals. However, the need for PC-centric solutions is waning as a more flexible POS model emerges Leveraging cloud and mobile technologies, this model supports thin client and IP-enabled components such as cash drawers and printers.

• Protect Yourself: 8 Security Best Practices For Retailers

  The retail industry is a favorite target of cyber attackers. Hackers know a successful attack on a retailer can give them access to the data of thousands or even millions of payment cardholders. Cyber criminals can sell that data for a tidy profit to other criminals on the dark web who use it for fraud, identity theft, and phishing attacks. Cyber crime is big business; it’s projected to cause damages of $6 trillion by 2021 on organizations of all types and sizes.

• Retail Cash Loss: Addressing The Problem With Intelligent Technology

  Any business that accepts cash for transactions has come to expect that some percentage of it will vanish as a result of fraud, administrative errors and employee misdeeds. Inventory shrink, which includes cash loss, costs retailers an estimated $47 billion annually. It is so prevalent that retailers have a line item for it in their P&L statement.

• Omnichannel And The Future Of Stores

  Customers have come to expect a unified shopping experience across all channels forcing stores to connect the dots between their in-store and online operations. While not all omnichannel features are one-size-fits-all, BOPIS is an option shoppers are coming to expect from retailers. According to a survey from Internet Retailer and BizRate, 53% of shoppers plan to increase their use of buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) this year and by not giving your customers the choice, retailers could be losing sales.

• Mastering Synchronized Retailing With Advanced OMS
• Integrated Planning & Inventory Management Special Report
• Integrated Planning: Getting It Right – A Boston Retail Partners Report