2017 is shaping up to be a BIG year for sales and use tax. It should come as no surprise that 2017 will be a year of change. While what’s emerged from our recent presidential election will continue to take center stage, changes to sales tax are making their own waves and reshaping the way companies in many industries manage their business. Once again, we created a guide that highlights many of the big changes in the works, from new taxes on soda to untapped revenue streams from marijuana sales and more.
"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there."
The information that digital commerce offers today’s shopper, combined with ubiquitous, easy-to-use technology, has put the power squarely in the customer’s hands. Today’s customer is always connected and always on. Digital and mobile commerce has elevated consumer’s expectations of the shopping experience. She expects service anytime, anywhere and any way she wants it. Retailers realize they need a different approach to enable a unified experience, one that supports today’s convergence of the digital and physical worlds. The answer is unified commerce.
In trying to keep up with the modern consumer, many fashion retailers have implemented multiple departmental solutions piecemeal, without fully considering the consequences of how these disparate systems will interact with each other. The result is a hodgepodge of processes, which require significant resources to maintain. The inefficiencies and the demands they place on the organization leave retailers stuck in the past, inhibiting growth and innovation.
Employee theft accounts for the highest percentage of retail shrink in North America — more than the percentage of theft from traditional shoplifters or outside organized retail criminals.
Retail continues to experience a greater number of data breaches, with the main cause being compromised user IDs and passwords. However, only 4% of cybersecurity budgets are being spent on securing credentials. Organizations are mistakenly focusing spending on firewalls and intrusion detection while leaving the front door wide open to cyber criminals by not addressing the primary means of intrusion, compromised credentials.
In today’s digitally connected environment retailers need to interact with customers on multiple channels and touch points simultaneously (or even interchangeably) to deliver seamless shopping experience. The customer expectations have also seen gamut of changes; they are agnostic to the lines dividing various channels and expect convenient delivery options like click & collect, drop shipment and delivery lockers.
The once sluggish area of payments has quickly become anything but in the past few years. In fact, payments have become one of the most dynamic aspects of retailing. Retailers have often incorporated payment changes only as necessary. However, with continuous changes in industry requirements, consumer expectations and consumer access to new payment methods, retailers have had to adjust to become more nimble and flexible.
The best retailers in the world are also the best marketers. Their strategies include smart, on-demand mobile couponing to drive increased foot traffic and incremental revenue. But they need the right technologies to make it happen.
As organizations grow in size and scale, so do their supply chains. With high product volumes, a huge supplier base and many echelons in the supply network, the problem is nothing but complicated to design a network which is cost effective and with high availability & flexibility.
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