Retail IT White Papers

1. Retail Supply Chains Take On Pandemic-Era Challenges 1/13/2021

   One retailer needs to set up curbside pickup in a day. Another is doing ship-from-store but needs real-time data on the number of units of specific items at each store. Others are deciding whether to keep merchandise at shuttered stores or send them back to distribution centers. Those are among the challenges retailers are facing during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. They are not easy to face alone. 

2. The Cyber 5 Holiday Report 1/13/2021

   How the peak shopping weekend shook out during this unique holiday season. Find out how a later Amazon Prime Day coupled with merchants earlier holiday discounts impacted the kick-off to the holiday season. Also, an analysis of discounts offered by DNVBs and a look at why supply chain snafus have complicated retailers' overall holiday plans. Plus, an in-depth look at how fulfillment operation improvements will outlive the pandemic and a real-world test of how retailers' curbside operations fared during the Cyber 5.

3. Reimagining The Store Of The Future: Retail Adjustments For A Post-Pandemic World 10/22/2020

   The COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges for retail, and one that is likely to have long-term effects is to persuade consumers to return to stores. Concerns over the potential for infection have left many consumers feeling uncomfortable in stores. Retailers must take meaningful steps to earn the trust of patrons whose values and behavior have changed.

4. Cash Transactions In The Mobile World 2/19/2020

   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.

5. Protect Yourself: 8 Security Best Practices For Retailers 10/21/2019

   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.

6. Retail Cash Loss: Addressing The Problem With Intelligent Technology 9/6/2019

   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.

7. Integrated Planning & Inventory Management Special Report 2/8/2019

   For retailers, it is imperative to take a customer-centric viewpoint on the business. Current disparate systems, processes and organization must be transformed into one cohesive environment with the ability to offer customers a seamless shopping environment across all channels and the capability to deliver merchandise immediately – wherever it is needed. It is time to prepare for the future of retail – it is here – whether we are ready or not.

8. Integrated Planning: Getting It Right – A Boston Retail Partners Report 2/8/2019

   We are in the midst of a retail transformation. Consumer behavior and mobile technology have dramatically changed the traditional retail model and it’s not over yet. As upstart online retailers mature, their desire to connect to their customers in a more personal manner is evolving. However, the old adage of right product, right place, and right time is truer now than ever before. As a result, retailers are gathering more data that is being leveraged by financial plans, demand plans, assortment plans, and store plans. The importance of a fully integrated planning solution to analyze and utilize this data is key to ensuring retailers remain competitive in this rapidly changing landscape. An integrated planning solution eliminates silos, leverages the same data, streamlines decisions, and builds consensus.