GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

• Why Retailers Should Include Cash Payments As Part Of Their Post Pandemic Payment Strategy?

  The pandemic has brought new energy to the cashless movement, but cash still isn’t going away. Too many people, especially the elderly as well as the unbanked and underbanked, depend on legal tender for their purchases. That’s because cash is easier to budget for and lets users shop with anonymity.

• Retailers Plan Significant Post-Pandemic Investments

  Despite consumers’ growing dependence on digital shopping channels, nearly 92% of all sales in 2021 will be fulfilled through local brick and mortar stores, according to IHL research. Meanwhile, local stores are changing, as retailers rush to accommodate new shopping trends such as curbside pickup and BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store).

• RSPA Recommended Read: Turning The Flywheel

  Do you want to know the silver-bullet system Amazon, Intel, and Nike use to expand into new markets? Unfortunately, just like in most every other aspect of life, there is no silver bullet. But there is an underlying system these three high-growth companies utilize – it’s called the Flywheel, and you can build one for your organization...

• 2021 ISV Outlook: Pressing Challenges Include Partnerships, Resources

  At the conclusion of the just-published 2021 RSPA POS Channel KPI Study, we provided insight into the opportunities, threats, and challenges retail IT solution providers face today. We laser focused on that topic during a recent RSPA Niche & Startup ISV Community call and learned quite a bit about software developer challenges.

• 2021 RSPA POS Channel KPI Study

  Last year’s POS Channel KPI Study, published in early March 2020, began with this statement: Change is the norm and dizziness is a de facto condition for solution providers in the retail IT channel. New technologies, business models, competitors, and consolidations continue to morph our channel, plus we’re seeing the emergence of dozens of niche software developers and a growing influence of ISV/VAR hybrids, resellers investing in their own intellectual property through proprietary software.

RETAIL IT WHITE PAPERS

• Harnessing Data Can Drive Omnichannel Efficiency

  One retail fulfillment center needs to count pallets of merchandise stacked to the ceiling to meet the surge in online orders that has come during the pandemic. Another needs to keep workers socially distanced. And with more shopping moving online every day, all retailers need real-time updates on consumer habits that seem to be evolving rapidly.

• New Benchmarks For Customer Contact Performance

  What worked yesterday will not necessarily drive success today. It will almost certainly not ensure a fruitful tomorrow.

• How To Guide For Doing BOPIS And Curbside Pickup Right

  The growth of omnichannel fulfillment programs such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup of online orders has been a retail industry trend for several years now. That trend reached a tipping point in the last 12 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic led consumers to seek out safer, contactless shopping experiences. Equally embraced by consumers and retailers alike, and for many of the same reasons (e.g., cost savings on last-mile order delivery), BOPIS and curbside have transitioned from nice-to-have to must-have services for brands with physical storefronts.

• Radial Is A Leader In SPARK Matrix: Omnichannel Order Management Systems

  Omnichannel order management systems (OMS) help retailers manage and fulfill complex customers' orders efficiently in an omnichannel environment to improve the customer experience. An omnichannel OMS provides unified visibility of enterprise inventory from warehouse, distribution center, store, and in-transit locations while performing complex order routing to enable efficient order fulfillment from the optimum location.

• The State Of Contact Center Technology
• Online Consumer Insights Report
• Retail Supply Chains Take On Pandemic-Era Challenges