Bob Johns

ARTICLES BY BOB JOHNS

• Billabong’s New POS Improves The Customer Experience

  7/22/2013

  The company uses its new POS to communicate directly with the customer and improve the overall in-store experience by reducing POS-related issues by 99%.

• Urban Barn Upgrades Its Infrastructure To Support 100% Growth

  7/19/2013

  This Canadian retailer needed a new data-storage infrastructure to support its rapid growth and relieve the strain on its IT team.

• New Product Recommendations Feature Boosts Retailer’s Website Conversion Rate

  7/19/2013

  A NY liquor store increased revenue by 10% and conversion by 8% after revamping its e-commerce site.

• Patriot Outfitters Overhauls IT To Allow For Expansion

  7/19/2013

  The tactical gear outfitter has gone from 1 to 23 stores in seven years, but its IT systems could not keep up.

• eBay Opens Up A World Of Opportunity

  7/19/2013

  The $14 billion online retailer has made a major push to expand into global markets for its buyers and sellers by making the entire process seamless for both. What started last year as a small pilot has now grown to include 36 countries around the world, with plans to rapidly expand in the near future.

• Saks Creates A 360° View Of Inventory

  7/18/2013

  By focusing on the customers’ needs, Saks has created an inventory model that allows the customer to purchase anywhere and know the availability of the product in real time.

• Williams-Sonoma Moves To Become Truly Omni-Channel

  7/8/2013

  Williams-Sonoma is on the fast track to becoming one of the first truly omni-channel retailers with its recent multi-brand launch into Australia. The company has launched 4 brands simultaneously for both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce on one platform, cloud-based NetSuite’s SuiteCommerce.

• The Risk With Retail And Celebrities

  7/2/2013

  Retailers and manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year on product tie-ins with all types of celebrities. Today, however, public opinion of these celebrities can swing from love to hate with the send of a tweet.

• Manufacturer-Retailers Leverage Big Data For Growth

  7/1/2013

  Business intelligence (BI) or Big Data as it is being referred to now, is at the core of how retailers are building their business and their brands. I recently had the chance to speak with Moris Chemtov, president of Jesta, a global provider or retail ERP solutions, about how retailers are using data to better connect with their customers.

• Who Are The CIO’s Best Friends?

  6/28/2013

  The CIO has seen their role shift dramatically from an “IT guy” to someone who needs to understand business goals and issues and enable technology to address these needs. At Oracle’s CrossTalk this year, I was able to speak with and listen to several CIOs and CTOs talk about their changing roles in retail.