There is something almost quaint about the word “marketplace.” It conjures up images of people hawking spices and fruit from busy stalls as pedestrians stroll past in a leisurely manner. Those days are almost entirely gone. Today’s consumers typically aren’t at a bazaar. Nor are they headed to a row of small shops on Main Street or driving out to the large suburban mall to window shop. Instead, an ever-increasing amount of the time, they are online.
In the upcoming March/April 2018 issue of Retail Executive, I dedicate my Viewpoint article to voice commerce, a topic we’ll be covering more diligently as the technology progresses. As such, I caught up with Saeed Amidi, CEO of Plug and Play Tech Center and Retail Executive Editorial Advisory Board member to get his take on the progression of the technology and how retailers should utilize it.
If you ask 100 retailer leaders about their biggest worries, chances are Amazon will come up once or twice. Probably some inventory management concerns and a fair number of omnichannel woes. One thing you probably won’t hear a retailer fretting about is their cost of cash. But they ought to be.
To build engagement and understand customers, you have to know who they are, what they want, and what’s important to them. The good news is, there is a lot of data to aid in this understanding.
Location-based technology provides insights that retailers can’t find anywhere else. It allows the interrogation of structured and unstructured data about customer interactions with retailers across channels. Smart maps show where people work and play, where they travel, and what their priorities are. That data is critical to strengthening customer engagement.
It’s more important than ever to be customer-centric, because competitors reach customers across channels with increasing velocity. Successful companies use data to maintain a very sharp focus on enhancing their value proposition. Location data is critical to understanding customers and adding value to their retail experiences.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency: the beloved buzzwords of the technology world. Due to their radical potential, these emerging technologies have been shrouded in doubt and confusion. Yet, even as awareness and adoption have steadily grown in recent years, many experts venture to call this silent revolution the fastest growing digital technology since the internet.
In todays' customer-centric world, retailers must put consumer needs at the heart of supply chain and fulfillment operations. Retailers need inventory management that is optimized for cross-chain product availability and fulfillment and returns that provide a frictionless experience for the customer.
Half of US households have an Amazon Prime membership and have come to expect free, two day shipping. So now eCommerce executives are challenged to develop delivery strategies to compete with Amazon’s delivery capabilities in order to retain their best customers; and do it without losing money.
Today’s ‘anytime, anywhere’ shoppers have big expectations for retailers, and they had better keep up or be prepared to lose a sale, or even a customer for life. This demand for service has created an urgency which retailers must meet, and it begins with the supply chain.
Total Retail surveyed its retail executive audience to understand current and future retail technology trends and buying behaviors. The results show that while innovative retail technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, chatbots (i.e., artificial intelligence), and drones get a lot of media attention for how they’re going to disrupt the industry — it’s more basic solutions like marketing automation software, video and mobile websites that currently have retailers’ attention.
Retalon is a leading provider of Retail Predictive Analytics solutions for Retailers. Retalon is a transformational approach to the retail industry. From inception, our solutions were built on an integrated analytic platform that takes into account the entire retail business process which produces the highest accuracy possible. Our predictive analytics technology empowered retail businesses with advanced analytics that uncover hidden opportunities, and significantly increase bottom and top lines.
Compliance Networks is a leading provider of proven, private-cloud vendor performance software solutions for retail supply chain excellence. Since 2000, our suite of solutions have enabled enterprises to improve profitability through continuous improvements in supply chain execution.
NetSuite delivers a cloud-based, multi-channel retail management system that brings together NetSuite Retail Anywhere POS with eCommerce, CRM and marketing, merchandising and order management, financials, and warehouse management into a single, centrally-managed solution.
Global Technology Systems is the trusted expert in mobile power technology. GTS designs and manufactures high-performance batteries, chargers, and power management technologies for essential mobile devices. Millions of business professionals, public safety, government, and military worldwide rely on GTS to power mission critical communications and mobile computing applications. Founded in 2000, GTS is headquartered in Framingham, MA.
Radial is the leader in omnichannel commerce technology and operations, enabling brands and retailers to profitably exceed retail customer expectations. Radial’s technical, powerful omnichannel solutions connect supply and demand through efficient fulfillment and transportation options, intelligent fraud, payments, and tax systems and personalized customer care services.
Greg Holder, CEO of Compliance Networks, explains how blind receiving of cartons via ASNs creates inventory stock outs, excess inventory and lost sales.
To build engagement and understand customers, you have to know who they are, what they want, and what’s important to them. The good news is, there is a lot of data to aid in this understanding.
Location-based technology provides insights that retailers can’t find anywhere else. It allows the interrogation of structured and unstructured data about customer interactions with retailers across channels. Smart maps show where people work and play, where they travel, and what their priorities are. That data is critical to strengthening customer engagement.
It’s more important than ever to be customer-centric, because competitors reach customers across channels with increasing velocity. Successful companies use data to maintain a very sharp focus on enhancing their value proposition. Location data is critical to understanding customers and adding value to their retail experiences.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency: the beloved buzzwords of the technology world. Due to their radical potential, these emerging technologies have been shrouded in doubt and confusion. Yet, even as awareness and adoption have steadily grown in recent years, many experts venture to call this silent revolution the fastest growing digital technology since the internet.
For all the colossal change the retail industry has undergone in recent years, the retail revolution is only getting started, according to Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Telsey Advisory Group (TAG). Thanks to changing consumer behavior and the new ways of purchasing, retail sales are continuing to grow, Telsey said at recent Grow Live events in New York and Los Angeles. With consumer confidence at a high, brands and retailers need to give consumers a reason to spend.
For many businesses, a core determining factor in their future is the answer to one simple question: Is Amazon a friend or foe?
Retalon Planning Solutions are part of one Integrated Solution for Intelligent Retailing that is based on the common Predictive Analytic Platform. This allows the system to account for all mutual dependences of the company Planning and Execution processes, provide users with very high accuracy of each prediction, optimize the entire process, and achieve significant, tangible benefits for the entire organization.
NetSuite’s SuiteCommerce platform was built with the idea that your commerce systems are no longer standalone channels. SuiteCommerce unifies POS and ecommerce with your core operational business systems—inventory and order management, CRM, merchandising, marketing and financials.
NetSuite financials software accelerates your financial close, provides strong expense management, offers streamlined and auditable revenue management and ensures complete real-time visibility into the financial performance of the entire business.
Easily manage product allocation to define and maintain accurate retail inventory distribution and track replenishment cycles all from one place to automate ordering, prevent excess, and stop product shortages. You can automatically calculate inventory-order points and preferred stock levels by item and location, and automatically create purchase orders to maintain these levels as a part of your cross-channel inventory management strategy.
