Microsoft Dynamics RMS News & Highlights

Anatomy of Success

2009-12-30T18:01:00Z

Florin Rotar profiles the Swedish retail sector and assesses the challenges it is facing

Like most developed economies, Sweden has been facing a difficult macroeconomic environment. This has certainly had an impact on the challenges and opportunities of Swedish retailers: in 2009, GNP is estimated to fall by more than four per cent. Unemployment has almost doubled and is expected to peak at over 10 per cent, and the critical export industry is expected to drop by over 13 per cent. On top of this, the normal challenges of modern retailing have not lessened: the consumers are ever more demanding, the home market is largely saturated and in some sectors significantly consolidated, products are facing increasing commoditisation, the return on space is decreasing, and the march of discounted merchandisers has accelerated.

Despite these facts, some have been faring surprisingly well. In fact, we believe that understanding and realising the drivers for success will become increasingly important; high performers will be able to further accelerate their leadership as the economy recovers.

There are three dimensions of innovation, which are important to success and a sustainable growth agenda: product innovation, channel innovation and brand innovation.

On the product innovation side, a number of Swedish retailers have been adding products and services to increase their share-of-wallet of existing customers in existing formats (for example, moving from product retailers to general merchandisers or service providers; fashion retailers becoming lifestyle retailers; variety stores becoming department stores or out-of-town destinations). Fashion retailer J Lindeberg’s extensions into sport clothing and H&M’s famous, and much copied, collaboration with high-end designers are examples.

In the most successful cases, several of these formats have also propelled channel innovation and blurred the distinction between store, catalogue, online, telephone and kiosk: whether a consumer views a product online, orders it over the phone or sees it in a store, one expects the experience will be the same or very similar and above all interchangeable. For example, it should be possible to buy a shirt via the mail order channel in Sweden, but be able to exchange it in a Norwegian store, receive a goodwill voucher that can be used online, and later receive personal lifestyle marketing finely tuned to the image that those transactions have generated.

Channel and product innovation often mandates a distinctive market positioning where the attitudes, behaviours and values of core customers are well understood and maintained. This we call brand innovation. This requires strategic information, such as the customers values and expectations, their purchase selection criteria, self-image, drivers for sympathy and antipathy, but also tactical information such as demographics and typical behaviour (average basket of goods, purchase frequency, time spent in store). Here, the key for success is making a conscious choice, as offering ‘a little bit to everyone’ has – in some high-profile cases – become ‘nobody’s brand’ and has had the opposite effect.

To our knowledge, there are few if any Swedish retailers that have reached the pinnacle of these capabilities, which we call the ‘connected retailer’. Some have been able to identify attractive customer segments with sufficient critical mass and sufficient buying power, define and execute a consistent concept and experience across their various channels and position themselves as a brand with clear consistency between the consumer target and the marketing mix.

Technology Enablers

Although important, a thorough understanding of the market and the business drivers is not sufficient for getting results. For example: the previously mentioned insight into customer attitudes and behaviours typically requires near real-time business intelligence and an in-depth understanding, on a per process basis, of the lag time to action (the time between knowing something and being able to do something about it). The sophisticated multichannel example requires a supply chain which can operate seamlessly across channels and integrate data and services across all points of contact, having ready access to the same level of inventory visibility, product knowledge, promotions, customer information, loyalty program information and the like.

Taking a market strategy and mapping the business drivers to a real-world IT strategy, an attainable enterprise architecture, and a reallife solution has generally not been a trivial task for CIOs and CTOs, especially given the budget situation that most IT departments have been faced with. It has become increasingly important to think big, start small and scale fast and to have a clear business case-driven approach in all stages of this journey. This is where the business drivers need to be enabled and driven through IT.

At Avanade, we typically recommend that once business drivers are well known and understood, one follows a three step approach to start making the vision real. The first step is using a capability map to translate the business drivers to a number of prioritised must-have capabilities around connecting with customers, connecting the stores or connecting the enterprise. These may for example be ‘improving customer loyalty’ or ‘achieving 360-degree digital marketing’ or ‘increasing efficiency via a store manager workbench’ and are typically derived from a SWOT analysis of the current situation. Measuring and benchmarking against industry peers is recommended in this step.

The second step requires mapping of each capability into a technology-agnostic solution blueprint. Using digital marketing as an example to illustrate the approach, an initial task is to map and understand the ecosystem, which is often very different from the banner and search approach of the past and can include dozens of areas such as social computing, micro-casting, e-advocacy, syndication, tagging RFID-based near field communication and the like.

The next task is to redefine the traditional model where IT, marketing and consumers are typically disconnected (technology-wise, channel architecture requirements are driven top-down by IT and analytics decoupled from core infrastructure after the channel is created) into a model where analytics is integrated and the channel definition is bottom-up analytically driven based on the consumer’s behaviour in near real time.

This could mean that the properties for a channel would be built intelligently around a user’s profile and would continuously refine targeted and optimised content for that specific user. This may mean content being behaviour-targeted, advertisements tuned based on multivariate testing, and two-way communication through social networking.

The third step is designing an architecture which implements those scenarios. Many Swedish, indeed numerous European or global, retailers are struggling in this respect. Sometimes the IT legacy of the past, for example with a large dependency on batch processing, makes change difficult. Often retailers may have a collection of technologies or platforms, which means implementing orthogonal processes difficult and costly. Organisations using the Microsoft platform (SharePoint Server, Silverlight, Commerce Server, BizTalk Server, FAST) certainly have a much easier integration job as well as a highly capable platform. Independent research ranks Microsoft high for enterprise content management, search and e-commerce. Nevertheless, we have found that having a structured and proven reference architecture can aid in providing clarity, a tried and tested guidance and thus lower the implementation risk and accelerate project delivery.

Successful Swedish retailers have shown remarkable agility in understanding the vision of the ‘connected retailer’ and some have also started to implement elements of this vision. Making the vision real is however not without its challenges. Those who follow a structured approach for the implementation and understand how to fully harness the power of the technology platform will be able to further accelerate their leadership as the economic environment is recovering. The stakes are high, the obstacles not trivial, but the opportunities for the high performers are near endless!

Florin Rotar is CTO for the Nordic region with Avanade.

The Right Solution

2009-12-14T19:19:00Z

With high staff turnover intuitive solutions can save a fortune, says Argility’s Andrew Blatherwick

As we all know retail operations have one of the highest staff turnovers of any industry. We also know that good customer service is more important today than at any other time in history; retaining customer loyalty is proving more and more difficult in a growing, increasingly competitive market both on the high street and online. These two dynamics create a real problem for retailers. When your staff is constantly changing, how do you ensure that they are able to offer the required level of service to keep customers coming back?

The obvious answer is training, but it is not as simple as that. There is training on how to operate the store, the tills, how to take credit cards, manage discounts and the increasingly complex customer loyalty programmes. There is training on stock systems, replenishment of stock and stock counts and then there is also training on how to treat customers. Training is expensive and takes up valuable time. For many it’s an unwelcome burden, especially today when retailers are trying to minimise their cost base to stay competitive in a tough economy.

There is a better solution however. Using the latest technology solutions, retailers can help their staff by walking them through each transaction from start to finish. For starters, if a solution is well designed and configured precisely to the retailer’s processes, the till operation can be very straightforward, therefore requiring less staff training. You can tell if an EPOS solution is effective if any member of staff, no matter how qualified they are, is able to quickly and easily complete a transaction, after all the last thing a customer wants is to have to wait around while they are paying.

The EPOS solution can also go one step further and help staff deliver good customer service while bringing in extra revenue – it can be used to prompt staff at the till: a retailer can prompt the operator to say certain things such as ‘madam would you like some batteries to go with that toy’.

A retailer may also want to ensure its staff are checking for certain legal requirements from customers buying products such as alcohol. The EPOS solution can ensure compliance by making staff confirm they have asked for proof of age before a transaction goes through.

In the back-office the same EPOS solution should be just as helpful to the supervisor or store manager, helping them through various processes in a well-organised, logical manner to ensure each task they carry out is done efficiently. In addition, if the solution is designed and configured to match the retailer’s exact needs it can also ensure management follow correct procedures.

Because all Argility solutions use the latest Microsoft technology, they look and feel familiar to users from the outset. This makes a big difference when employing new staff. To be able to see screens that are familiar to ones they have used before, they can get up to speed much more quickly and start working effectively on the shop floor; the place where they are most needed.

So with the right EPOS and back-office solution, a retailer can significantly reduce the time it takes to train new members of its team, ensuring that they follow the right processes and are able to enhance the customer experience at the point of service while increasing sales by taking advantage of those vital upsell/cross-sell opportunities.

It may be almost impossible to tackle the issue of high staff turnover, so retailers should look to overcome the problems that can be more easily solved. A tailor-made IT solution will keep costs down, increase the productivity of new staff and maximise profits. For further information, visit http://www.argility.com/

About the Author

Andrew Blatherwick has 20 years of experience in retail companies including Boots and Iceland Foods Group. He is one of the founding members of Argility, an international software business focused on supplying EPOS and merchandise management solutions to the retail industry set up in 2007. As executive director Blatherwick is responsible for international business development at Argility and has created channel partners in South Africa, the UK, the Middle East and Germany. He is currently working on establishing the company in the US.

Special Treatment

2009-12-08T20:17:00Z

Russell Dorset at Maginus explains how speciality retailers can use technology to help them reduce costs and expand across channels while delivering a faultless customer service experience

It doesn’t matter how much value for money retailers offer their customers, if they choose to neglect customer service consumers will still go elsewhere. Once people leave a brand, or stop using a retailer after a bad experience, they will develop loyalty elsewhere and it will be almost impossible to win them back.

With many speciality retailers looking to develop new sales channels, it is important that they offer consistent levels of customer service across all channels. Customer expectations are continuing to rise and there are some serious technical issues around fully integrating sales channels.

Customers increasingly expect to be able to order goods online and collect in store, or be able to take goods back to stores that have been purchased online. In fact, if you take online sales growth forward a decade or two, the retail store might well be little more than a collection point. To handle current customer expectations retailers need more than a basic integration between back office systems, the POS and the e-commerce site. To achieve this full multi-channel business model, retailers need to have much more tightly integrated systems and this can be difficult if each system has been bought from a different supplier, possibly using a different infrastructure and database.

The market is constantly changing and while most retailers have a Web channel now, they also need to be looking at other potential channels such as kiosks, mobile devices, TV and game consoles. We’re finding that many retailers are interested in these new channels – particularly kiosks as they offer an opportunity to give customers access, via a simple Web application, to the full range of goods, which is particularly valuable when your customer is in a smaller store that doesn’t stock the full range or where a product is out of stock. The customer can order and pay for the goods in store for either collection at the store or for home delivery.

Speciality retailers need to use technology to help generate sales too. Using, for example, recency, frequency and monetary value modelling to identify their best customers, top products and customers that haven’t bought for a while, they can devise suitable promotions to maximise sales.

Sophisticated dynamic merchandising techniques (we call it clever selling) should also be used on and offline to allow retailers to cross or upsell more effectively. Building up knowledge at both the customer and product level, retailers can get a better idea of their customers’ shopping habits. For example, on a basic level, the Web site will know that a high percentage of customers who bought ‘product A’ (black trousers) also bought ‘product B’ (red jumper). The site will therefore promote the red jumper to shoppers who buy the black trousers.

However, such technology can be much more sophisticated than that and delve much deeper to reveal even greater customer insight as and when required. Taking such factors as age, geography, whether a customer only buys promoted products, or if they never spend more than £50 on the Web, retailers can establish different customer types and reach out to them as a whole.

Retailers should also have technology in place that can help to control costs. For example, advanced forecasting (or clever forecasting) can help to maintain minimal stock levels, while ensuring stock is available when required. This reduces the amount of money held in old stock models, such as computers and photographic equipment where stock becomes obsolete very quickly. Clever warehousing can also reduce costs by ensuring maximum efficiency in the warehouse by ensuring that items that are often ordered at the same time are located then picked together.

Ultimately adopting a multi-channel business model is vital for speciality retailers. But it’s important that they choose systems for the right reasons. Retailers shouldn’t just focus solely on the look and feel of the Web site, but ensure that they have the back-office infrastructure in place to handle a multi-channel operation. It is important, therefore that retailers go to experts who have the full skill set in house. Investment in the right technology will lay the foundations for long-term success. For further information visit www.maginus.com

About the Author

Russell Dorset has over 20 years’ experience in the software industry in a range of senior sales, marketing and operational management roles. As director of sales and marketing, he drives the sales of Maginus’ business management systems – Maginus ERP, the company’s flagship solution for multi-channel retail and distribution, and Dynamics AX Microsoft’s mid-market solution.

Trading Up

2009-12-02T18:22:00Z

With disposable income down and many running costs on the up, today’s retailers have it tough. Jasmine Yalds takes a look at the in-store technology that is allowing retailers to improve service, increase efficiency and boost the bottom line

Today’s retailers are experiencing a business environment unlike anything they’ve ever witnessed before. Customers are not only more frugal, but they’re more demanding too, expecting sales advisors to be able to instantly answer their questions, and thinking nothing of taking their business elsewhere if their experiences are not up to scratch. But that’s not all. Costs are rising, there’s an increased number of regulations, and a proliferation of channels too. All this adds up to a number of hurdles that only the most forward-thinking retailers will be able to clear.

“Consumer behaviour has changed significantly in recent times,” says David Dobson, Microsoft’s worldwide industry manager for store systems. “The growth of e-commerce has meant that their expectations of the in-store experience are higher than ever. They want the same access to information in-store as they have online, and they want a more personalised service. This brings challenges for store staff – they need to find ways of providing better levels of service to customers, while at the same time keeping stock levels up, and maintaining an overall efficient retail operation.”

“Retailers need to provide a flexible and seamless customer shopping experience across all channels of their business, whether the customer shops in-store, over the Web or orders via the telephone,” says Russell Dorset at multi-channel software provider Maginus. “Recent research by Gartner has shown that retailers are investing in improving their multichannel activities and the in-store system is an important part of that. Customers have increasingly sophisticated expectations - they expect to be able to check stock availability in their local store online before they travel, they expect to be able to order for in-store pick up, or to return goods in-store that have been purchased online. The in-store system has to be able to handle that.”

In order to stay ahead of the game, retailers must reassess their in-store technology, striving to become better equipped to meet the on-going challenges of the daily retail grind. They need to install solutions that are not only making their businesses sleeker and more costeffective, but also make a significant difference to customers and employees alike.

“The smarter retailers are starting to realise that during these times they can gain a competitive edge by moving forward with more modern, flexible in-store systems that add significantly to their customer service, enhance the customer experience and provide greater capability in promotional, customer loyalty and added value services offerings,” says Andrew Blatherwick, executive director at retail software solutions company Argility. “It is these drivers that are the real positive ones that retailers should take note of. When business takes an upturn the ones that have extended the life of their store systems beyond their productive life will find they lose the first year or more of potentially very profitable sales and customer loyalty as they try to catch up."

When re-assessing their in-store systems retailers should start by looking at the pain points that their customers and staff are experiencing. For customers the overriding issues are undoubtedly to do with efficiency and experience. Using technology in-store can make a huge difference to both of these factors. For example, in the types of retail environments where self-checkout technology has been shown to add value, this technology plays to efficiency. In these environments, it doesn’t make sense to have staff sitting at a cash register eight hours a day - it’s neither the most efficient use of labour nor is it the best for the customer.

“Because self-checkout allows you to have one associate running four lanes, the entire paradigm changes,” says Allen Wier, director of retail industry marketing for general merchandise at NCR. “You have more opportunities for customers to find the quickest way through the line, and it makes better use of your staff - they can be selling or providing product information, or facilitating people through the self-checkout process. Self-service can also be great for the customer experience. For example, imagine a store staffed with only two checkout people, with both running fullservice lanes. If there was a slow transaction in either lane, the store would get long lines. But with self-checkout, those same two associates can run one full-service lane and four self-service lanes, which means the customers gets in and out of the store much more quickly than they would have otherwise.”

Mark Ryan, EMEA retail sales leader at Honeywell Scanning and Mobility, is of the same opinion. “Demand for self service systems is increasing as retailers look for ways to provide customers with a faster route from choosing, to paying and on out the door,” he says. “It is a delicate balancing act of efficiency and the personal touch to make sure that the customer has the right in-store experience and one that delivers against the retailers’ brand values and the expectations the shopper has.”

Stephanie Waters, NCR director for retail and hospitality solution marketing, says that kiosks are also enabling retailers to improve both efficiency and experience. “Around 85 per cent of consumers say they want the convenience of being able interact with retailers through the choice of kiosks, the Web and mobiles,” she says. “The kiosk enables any store, no matter what size, to give shoppers access to top quality experts in just 18 inches of shelf space and enables retailers to make much better use of these staff to support multiple stores. This helps overcome customer frustration with temporary or part-time store staff that sometimes don’t have sufficient knowledge to provide product advice.” “

With all the internet capabilities of the platform as standard, a retailer can deploy touch screen kiosks across a store, giving shoppers access to detailed information about the products they are looking to buy,” says Ryan. “A DIY chain may want to provide access to a paint manufacturer’s Web site for example, to help the customer choose the right paint for the job. This leads to more sales, the right products being chosen and as a result a happier customer. This kind of system also frees up shop staff to deal with a wide range of enquiries and tasks around the store.”

Kiosks are a proven way of bringing the Internet experience in store – something that is more important than ever for the digital generation. Shoppers have already moved from relying on store-based information to seeking input from a variety of sources before, during, and after the product sale. For expensive or complex products, many customers now ‘pre-tail’ with online research, using retailers’ and brand manufacturers’ sites along with sites that feature expert or user reviews.

Sunita Gupta, a leading retail management consultant, says that a few retailers, such as Sephora, are already extending these brand building applications to customers’ mobile devices. “If you opt in and go to m.Sephora. com while you’re in the store, you can access product reviews or receive alerts about new items,” she says.

Retailers seeking success with these emerging channels will need to tailor their offerings to their own retail brand and their specific store environment. In a big-box store, for example, an application that allows customers to use a mobile device to summon a store associate to a particular location would provide a distinct customer service advantage.

These hands-on technologies are only one side of the story. If a retailer doesn’t get the basics right, then they’re doomed from the start. “Even the simplest of things, like paying for an item, can severely dent customer satisfaction – especially if a retailer is using especially slow or out-of-date technology,” says James Newby, strategic development director at Servebase. “Customers expect to use chip and PIN and receive a speedy response time for their card authorisation. Delivering anything short of this can leave retail employees with long queues and very disgruntled customers.”

Improving customer loyalty is another basic area that retailers have to get right, as LS Retail’s Katja Ocvirk explains: “Brand monogamy doesn’t happen nowadays, no-one is loyal anymore, so this means that loyalty systems need to be updated. Classic points gathering and loyalty card are simply not enough - instead retailers need to think about creating more value for customers, providing them with personalised offers that will benefit them across all areas of their lives. This might mean creating alliances with other service providers such as banks, insurance providers and travel companies to create a ‘horizontal’ loyalty scheme.”

Also critical for today’s retailer is stock control. More demanding customers wanting more detailed information means that store staff need access to information quickly and easily – no longer can they get away with going to the stock-room to check if an item is available – they need to have the information at their fingertips.

“Customers expect to be able to find where the product they want is across the chain of stores, in the size and colour they want, even online,” says Ryan. “The accuracy of the central stock control system is vital in ensuring the sales person has all the answers, where the product is and how long it will be until the customer can have it. Accurate real time data is therefore essential to drive the maximum sales and provide a level of service that encourages the customer to return through whichever channel they feel is most convenient.”

LS Retail is a company with clear strengths in stock control systems, paying particular note to replenishment. “In an environment where you have already cut the operating costs down to minimum and you have already squeezed your suppliers for additional discounts, replenishment really is key,” says Ocvirk. “An effective replenishment system needs to address the retailers’ specific problems, which may include frequent out of stock situations, the size and quantity of stock assortment or a fixed replenishment cycle. Once the retailer understands what type of replenishment they need then they can achieve significant benefits. Ultimately they can ensure that stores have the right products in the right place at the right time and at the right cost.”

Tony Bryant, Business Development Manager at K3, agrees with Ocvirk, and goes on to say that poor visibility of stock is the biggest problem that retailers face today. “Even today we are still seeing retailers who are relying on paper reporting, and using spreadsheets that are still manually updated. With inadequate systems in place stores are unable to make the right decisions on people and stock planning.”

Microsoft’s Dobson says that with the right stock systems retail management can ensure that staff are giving a better service to customers, and ensure that their staff are working as efficiently as possible, both in the back office and on the shop floor. “These systems can book goods in more efficiently, get them onto the shop floor quickly and efficiently, and schedule staff,” he says. “Simple solutions that are easy to use can also reduce the need for training – something that is key when you’re working in an industry that is renowned for a high turnover of staff.”

From the customer to the back office, there’s obviously a lot of technology involved in a retail operation and, for these systems to be successful, they need to be connected. This is where Microsoft’s strengths lie, offering solutions that connect information, systems, and people to provide retailers with a true competitive advantage with compelling customer experiences, improved employee productivity, better inventory utilisation, and more efficient store operations. “

Microsoft offers solutions for connecting stores that cover every aspect of a retail operation,” says Dobson. “From business insight and analytics through to unified communications and virtualisation, our solutions connect systems and make sure that retailers can get the most out of them. More importantly, these systems are set up to provide the right information to the right people at the right time. For example, the latest sales figures can be sent to a field manager’s mobile phone, or the latest stock requirements can be sent to a sales representative on the shop floor. All this is done at a low cost without the need for extensive training.”

Technologies such as Microsoft’s Windows Embedded for Point of Service POSReady 2009 (WEPOS) platform provide an ideal basis for point of sale systems. “It makes it easier to support a wide variety of different peripherals – and completely out of the box,” says Ryan. “With plug and play capability a retailer can choose the scanners, keyboards, screens and cash draws that they want to have more quickly and with less testing than traditional customised systems demand.”

“Retailers are increasingly adopting the next generation WEPOS systems to enable more sophisticated interactions with customers in-store,” says NCR’s Stephanie Waters. “In comparison to the older POS stack, it offers a wider range of multimedia and management tools which is important as retailers want to present their brand in the best possible way to consumers. This includes Microsoft Silverlight, the .NET Framework 3.5 with Windows Presentation Foundation, Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, Microsoft SQL Server Express and viewers for Microsoft Office documents.”

As time goes on, in-store systems will continue to evolve, and Dobson believes that payments will be the biggest area to experience change. “A revolution in the payments space will change the way retailers work and change the way we shop completely,” he says. “There will be a much simpler way to pay – either via something like an oyster card, or via your mobile phone.”

Bryant agrees with Dobson. “Easier payment methods such as contactless will become more commonplace, while mobile phones will also play their part in enhancing the store experience,” he says. “When you enter the store your phone will be located and your payment details will already be stored, so not only will we become cashless, we will become cardless as well. This is payback time for the stores - the one click store will become the future.”

Getting Personal

2009-11-18T22:50:00Z

Lindsay James takes a look at how retailers should be changing their marketing strategies to embrace digital channels and connect with the customer on a more personal level

Today’s consumers have the world at their fingertips. At the touch of a button or the click of a mouse they can not only make purchases, but also access a significant amount of information that will influence their buying decisions. They can access product reviews, availability details, price comparisons and special offers, and they can also make themselves heard by voicing their opinions about products or brands on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

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With this in mind it’s no surprise that many of the biggest advertising spenders are moving towards digital channels. In its recent five year forecast, analyst firm Forrester Research predicts that interactive marketing in the US – including search, display advertising, e-mail, social media and mobile marketing – will be worth US$55 billion by 2014, 21 per cent of all spend. The same trends can be seen in the UK, where online advertising has overtaken newspaper and magazine advertising combined.

Despite this, research shows the retail industry is failing to keep up with the pace of change, with retailers spending less than ten per cent of their marketing budgets on online channels. “One of the key reasons for this disparity is the perception that e-commerce is a consumerdriven market where shoppers actively search for what they want,” says Katherine Ellis from Microsoft Advertising. “By taking this view, retailers are missing the opportunity to drive online consumers to their site. Bricks and mortar retailers face the question of whether online drives offline sales and how they can measure its success. Traditional retailers’ businesses are still organised according to out-of-date principles and they need to change the way they speak and think about consumers. Digital media offers another dimension to the media mix and there are huge opportunities to reach and target audiences.”

“The world of marketing has been revolutionised,” says Geraint Thomas, Microsoft’s director for the consumer packaged goods industry. “It used to be that you had a Web site and you would spend money to try to drive consumers to that Web site, but nowadays the consumer has changed – they are interacting with retailers and brands through their mobile phones as well as through online gaming, organic search and much more. Marketers need to learn how to interact with consumers consistently across many different digital channels.”

Because an effective digital marketing strategy is holistic, Microsoft focuses on delivering a comprehensive solution for digital marketing, with Microsoft Advertising and consumer brands like MSN and Bing. Microsoft also provides retailers with channels such as Xbox Live, Microsoft Mediaroom, Microsoft Tag for consumer mobile marketing and TellMe for voice-enabled customer interaction.

“To support this type of experience Microsoft also offers Web technology to support e-commerce and branding such as Commerce Server and SharePoint, with rich search and merchandising experiences from FAST,” says Dominic Citino, industry market development manager for Microsoft’s retail industry team. “Retailers can deliver rich interactive experiences, including streaming HD video, with Microsoft Silverlight. Finally, cross-channel insight enables retailers to deliver consistent experiences across channels, and integration technology like BizTalk Server, database platform SQL Server and ERP and CRM applications from Microsoft Dynamics deliver real digital marketing execution.”

For retailers, this creates exciting new routes to market, allowing them to speak to individual customers directly. But finding ways to blend digital channels into existing marketing plans can be daunting: established strategies aren’t necessarily set up to handle these new ways of communication.

“Challenges come in two main streams for bricks and mortar retailers,” says Tony Bryant, business development manager at K3. “The majority are still trying to come to terms with digital media. They need to become much quicker and more responsive. They need to ensure the marketing infrastructure – solutions, people or agencies – is geared up to flex change.”

“Digital marketing, much like the rise of multi-channel retailing, offers much in the way of perceived opportunity,” explains Citino. “However, where digital marketing challenges retailers is in the area of monetisation. Retailers clearly see value in driving tighter connections with their customers and in the ability to deliver their brands in relevant ways, but the historical investment models built in the context of traditional advertising are now being challenged in a digital world.”

Citino believes retailers need to focus on two key priorities. “First,” he says, “is the understanding that the retailer shares its brand with its customers. This is a critical realisation. Stewardship in this sense is the real value that retailers can bring when imparting their key brand messaging in emerging digital contexts. Secondly, it is important not to separate retailers’ strategies for digital marketing from traditional e-commerce strategies. The inherent value of a holistic digital strategy is that digital marketing is inclusive of a digital perspective of customer centricity. A retailer that can connect its digital marketing strategies and technologies with the transactional nature of online commerce is in a position to deliver a much more consistent experience to its customers and is in a much better position to see a return on its digital marketing investments.”

British supermarket chain Asda, owned by Walmart, has jumped feet-first into digital marketing. Chief executive Andy Bond recently outlined his vision for a ‘transparent’ business, including webcams of the farms producing its milk and carrots, and a team of bloggers recruited to tell shoppers about the business. Bond labels new way of doing business as ‘democratic consumerism’, drawing comparisons with President Obama’s politics: ‘offering openness, transparency, collaboration and dialogue’. This is a confident move. Asda clearly feels secure enough about the root and branch value of its company and what it stands for, to start broadcasting directly from its own blogger base.

But embracing social media is yet to become the norm. Graeme Crossley, CEO of communications agency Brand Reputation, believes many brand owners are still failing to appreciate just how many consumers are now relying on social media and Web reviews to aid their purchase decisions, with some opting to have no contact whatsoever with brands offline prior to deciding to buy. “Brand owners need to recognise that the online world has much more power than they may realise and can often be the only resource a consumer needs,” he says. “We are seeing more people making purchase decisions on high value items such as cars and electronic equipment based purely on online reviews from other customers. This is a trend that will only get stronger.”

A survey from Lightspeed Research strengthens Crossley’s case. Lightspeed’s figures show that 71 per cent of all respondents read online reviews before making a purchase decision, and that 33 per cent of respondents would be dissuaded from buying a product after reading just two negative reviews. Over three quarters of respondents said they would be deterred by three bad reviews.

“Social media is having a significant impact on how customers shop and how they influence peer customers to engage with brands and ultimately transact,” says Citino. “There are different paradigms from which to view the impact of social media. First, there are very tangible ways in which retailers can leverage the social aspects of shopping within a completely brand-controllable environment. These include things like product reviews and ratings and sharing wish lists. The vast majority of retailers have seen positive results from embracing these types of capabilities. In this area technologies like Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 and SharePoint Server 2007 deliver ready-made capabilities that retailers are leveraging today to rapidly deliver product reviews and ratings to enhance the shopping experience.

“The other key paradigm to think about in the context of social media includes those experiences outside of a controllable brand experience. This view includes social networking sites, blogs, micro-blogs, wikis and viral video. In this world retailers have a bigger challenge. Because retailers cannot control all of the brand messages and interactions it is important to listen to what is happening to their brands in these environments. Microsoft recently announced a new proof of concept platform with the code name Looking Glass. It’s a social media aggregator which will allow marketers to track and monitor their brands in social media outlets. Looking Glass can also trigger alerts and workflow to enable a retailer to react to certain triggers around their brands.”

“Leveraging Looking Glass as a proof-ofconcept can extend the conversations retailers are currently having with their customer,” says David Shadle, Microsoft’s user experience evangelist. “It is a great demonstration of the power of the Microsoft platform. Looking Glass gives you the ability to show how Microsoft technologies such as Silverlight, SQL Server, Windows Server and SharePoint can come together to solve real business problems.”

The very fact that Looking Glass is being developed illustrates the inherent need from marketers for campaigns that are quantifiable. They want to be able to measure the impact of digital advertising, just like they’ve been able to do with traditional tactile and e-commerce channels. Clearly Looking Glass will fulfil this need with respect to social media, but how do you measure overall success in digital marketing? What do retailers do with the huge amounts of data that is created from such campaigns?

“Microsoft can help marketing departments and retailers make sense of the mountain of data,” says Citino. “With dashboards such as Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft can link not only advertising data but business data into realtime dashboards to help determine return on investment and to help take immediate action. Through capabilities provided by Microsoft Advertising, advertisers can quickly determine the effectiveness of marketing campaigns both online and off. With these solutions at their fingertips, retailers and their agencies can have concrete facts and figures that will help them make decisions about how to effectively spend their marketing budget.”

In the last two months Microsoft has launched the Bing Intelligence Tool which allows advertisers to strip bare search marketing trends, demographics, keywords and even levels of monetisation,” says Katherine Ellis. “This tool provides unique insight into consumer tastes and behaviours. For example, in less than two minutes, advertisers can analyse the impact their TV campaign has on driving searches online. This can be done in real time so advertisers can see what happened in the last five days rather than waiting months for their in-house econometrics to come back. And Atlas, a part of Microsoft Advertising, has launched a tool called Engagement Mapping which allows advertisers to track a consumer’s online journey. This allows advertisers to view all the interactions that consumers make when deciding to make a purchase to the final sale. This level of transparency allows advertisers to attribute the correct value that each distinct impact has on driving that sale rather than just relying on the last click.”

Making your Loyalty Programme Pay

2009-09-11T17:01:00Z

Loyalty programmes can deliver great benefits to retailers, but if badly managed they can be a waste of time and money. Moti Lichi explains how systems help companies avoid the pitfalls

In today’s world, retailers seeking to benefit from loyalty programmes are faced with many challenges. These challenges mainly revolve around availability of technology (online), the depth of functionality/flexibility and the analytic side of the solution.

When we refer to loyalty we think of much more than the traditional points accumulation schemes. In fact, loyalty is a tool to ensure continued visits by consumers, enabling them to redeem small rewards at each visit or a more valuable reward at the end of a period – whichever the individual consumer prefers.

When a retailer decides to run a loyalty programme there is always a risk that the competition will act to cancel out the loyalty effect. Retalix Loyalty vehicle provides retailers with the tools, flexibility and ease to build their own ideas into programmes, and a simple way to make modifications during the drive.

This loyalty vehicle uses the Retalix Promotion Engine. The Promotion Engine holds 20 years of experience built with the inputs from leading retailers around the world, With this tight link between promotions and loyalty, retailers are able to target any type of promotion to any particular loyalty customer.

Offering a variety of reward types is vital if customer loyalty is to be effective. One of the system’s strengths is that types of rewards could include e-money, points, vouchers, discounts, new prices, or free items. Combinations of these types of rewards and the ability to offer a different treatment to the different customer tiers is also possible. Retalix Loyalty provides comprehensive capabilities to issue, redeem, and burn coupons, unique ID coupons and vouchers.

Another key aspect of Retalix Loyalty is the ‘deal over time’ or continuity promotion. This means allowing the accumulation of the triggering items or spends over a period of time rather than in a single ticket, for example ‘Buy four pizzas in August, get a free one in September’. It’s also vital to be able to handle potential conflicts between different offers and promotions. The Retalix system uses a conflict management mechanism to deal with this and prevent ‘double dipping’ scenarios.

Our central system uses ‘entities’, which we refer to as the loyalty language. Once they speak this language, marketers can ‘spell’ almost any campaign and set all its aspects as parameters in a Web-based application. One click then gets the campaign to the selected stores and makes it operational.

Internet-savvy consumers expect to be able to get access to all promotions and their own loyalty product information online in pretty much realtime. This means that any type of system node, whether point of sales terminal, kiosks, customer portal or fuel point should be connected to the central system. Once the consumer has been identified, all the information must be available and updated, including all consumer accounts, balances and e-vouchers, as well as targeted messages, promotions and coupons.

The Retalix Loyalty solution provides a full loop system, a store level engine and a .NET Framework-based application running on Microsoft SQL Server. This enables the system to give a response to a loyalty identification query in the optimum time of one to two seconds. It is also designed to have no single point of failure, with its components making use of clustering and network load balancing to give a quality service 24/7.

As to the analysis side, the Retalix Analytics tool enables retailers to adopt and monitor a consumer-based strategy, shifting from traditional marketing methodologies to an individualised approach. Any effective programme must target the moving members, as well as benefit the higher tier to encourage their loyalty to the brand. In this way, the retailer’s investment is more focused and can be measured. For further information visit http://www.retalix.com/

About the Author

Moti Lichi is vice president for retail products with software provider Retalix. He joined the company in 1994, and was responsible for developing the Retalix Fuel system for the convenience store and grocery market sectors. Retalix Fuel has since become one of the company’s strategic product lines.

Retailers Embrace Social Media

2009-09-01T21:52:00Z

ShiSh Shridhar looks at how making the online shopping experience more of a social activity may just increase customer satisfaction and boost sales

Shopping is undeniably a social activity. As more retailers realise the need to embrace social media, they’re also recognising that there are key loyalty differences between online and offline retail behaviour: in the online world, retailers have to deal with the fact that customers can switch behaviours as soon as they see something better.

Customers, especially those from Generation Y, who are more involved in social networking, tend to leave the retailer’s site to seek opinions and recommendations from social networks and communities. There are two approaches that retailers can take to be part of the conversations and enable their customers to engage in social shopping in a more seamless manner.

The first method involves syndicating product catalogues right to the place where the conversations and recommendations happen: blogs, social rating sites, social networking sites and other affiliates. There are plenty of examples of this. I love what companies like Best Buy, Tesco, Amazon and eBay have done by making their APIs available for developers to integrate into their sites. This method also involves building social applications on platforms like Facebook and enabling social shopping experiences. We are also seeing social networking sites open up to enable customers to take their social networks to shopping sites for a true social shopping experience, bringing us to the second method: enabling social interactions on the retailers site.

On the retailer’s site, customers should be able to view their friends’ comments and ratings. If the customer is considering a specific product and wants to solicit feedback from their friends they should be able to push the information out via feeds to one or more social networks and get feedback in real time. In addition, integration of instant messaging tools within the retailer’s site can enable the customer to engage in real time conversations with any of their friends. Customers benefit from this approach since they are able to view comments on products from friends whose opinions they trust and also engage in real time communication with them. They have a richer shopping experience as a result and retailers benefit from the fact that the customers never have to leave their site to obtain feedback and opinions.

To enable the above scenarios, retailers need to look for social networking platforms that can enable the following:

•Provide a large user community

•Activity feeds. The social networking platform should enable users to publish selective feeds of their activity on retailer’s sites to various social networking sites

•Single click sharing, which allows customers to share news, offers or other content on retailer’s sites to the various social networking sites in a single click. This capability helps retailers in user acquisition and brand visibility

•Easy integration. The social networking platform should enable the retailer to integrate social networking capabilities into their site. With this capability, users should be able to:

•Log into the retail site with a social network ID

•Access and interact with their social network profile and friends list via the retailer’s site •Communicate with their friends on the retailer’s site and share content from the site via instant messaging tools

•Selectively publish feeds of their activity on the retailer’s site to social networking sites

•Share wish lists and shopping lists with people in their network. Ultimately customers trust opinions of their friends and peers and their ability to seek opinions easily can mean significant ROI for the retailer.

FOR FURTHER INFO visit http://blogs.msdn.com/shishirs/

About the Author

ShiSh Shridhar is a retail industry market development manager at Microsoft’s Redmond HQ. He works with retailers to help drive customer value through industry solutions around business productivity and optimisation. In his role he also advises retailers on social media strategy and is an active blogger. You can read more about his thoughts on social media in retail at http://blogs.msdn.com/shishirs

The Constant Retailer

2009-08-19T22:46:00Z

Retailers know that in order to reach a broader customer base, they need to embrace multiple sales channels. Lindsay James looks at the issues facing retailers in defining and executing a multichannel strategy that will carry them into the future.

In today’s retail environment, purchasing at the sales counter is just one of many ways of doing business. With the arrival of the Internet, customers can not only purchase online in the comfort of their own home, but also on-the-go via their mobile device. The in-store purchasing experience has also evolved, with an ever-growing number of self-service checkouts and kiosks making an appearance in supermarkets and speciality retail outlets alike, teamed with interactive POS, digital LCD screens and even innovative touch technologies such as Surface.

“This diverse selling environment is a world apart from the offerings of retailers twenty years ago, when a multi-channel business meant two or three channels – the physical store, a catalogue and maybe a call centre,” says Russell Dorset of Maginus. “Now traditional retailers need to compete online in order to survive, and to do that they need to work in a completely different way from what they’ve been used to.”

“With the arrival of the Internet and the Internet generation, retailers have had to develop new channels for customers,” says Mark Ryan, EMEA retail sales leader at Honeywell Scanning and Mobility. “The younger generation are natural Internet users and retailers have an opportunity to build deep relationships with these customers by using a variety of technologies to provide the most convenient shopping environment. In an effort to target new and different audiences, retailers are turning to the Internet, kiosks and self service systems that not only resonate with the tech savvy but also spread the retailers’ reach to the less mobile, aging population. Retailers are able to reach each generation with a range of complimentary online services, goods and products.”

The Internet has clearly had a huge impact on the current retail landscape, and the emergence of Web 2.0 and social networking is changing the industry further. “The retail experience as a whole has changed,” says Dominic Citino, Microsoft’s industry market development manager for the retail industry.

“The Internet has become a huge part of consumers’ daily lives, and is having a very visible effect on the way people shop, and the way retailers do their business.” With the power of the Internet, consumers can carry out research about a product online before they buy, gaining insight from forums, review sites and social networking portals which will influence their purchasing decisions. They can then choose to buy online or instore, depending on where they can get the best deals. “Many customers are using multiple sales channels for a single transaction,” says Citino. “They will use the Internet to get all the information they need, and then quite often for bigger items such as an LCD TV they will go into the store to see the product in the flesh and to buy. This means that customers expect the same offers and the same experience, whichever channel they choose.

“Today’s customers have higher expectations than ever before,” says Columbus IT’s Morten Sælemyr. “They want the same offers and the same product ranges whatever channel they choose, and they want consistency in the service they receive.” “Customers have come to expect a very flexible buying experience, and the ability to chop and change from channel to channel to suit their own needs,” says Ryan. “For example, if an item is out of stock, a customer can check the kiosk in-store and order it to be delivered so he or she doesn’t need to return when an item is in. Conversely, often an incorrect or unwanted item can be exchanged in a store instead of having to post it back to the retailer.” These high customer expectations, teamed with the ever-expanding universe of channels, are posing challenges for retailers both strategically and technologically. Many retailers lack agility because they are held back by many different legacy systems that don’t connect with each other.

“Perhaps the single biggest challenge for a brick and mortar retailer moving into a multichannel is the potential to disappoint customers by delivering an inconsistent shopping experience across different channels,” says K3’s Nigel Stephenson. “Real and lasting damage to a retailer’s brand can be caused when retailers take a piecemeal approach to implementing the multi-channel strategy. A poor experience online can damage years of hard work in-store. A refusal by poorly engaged store staff to deal with problems caused online can mean customers go elsewhere.

“Worryingly up to 30 per cent of retailers in some sectors have still to offer an online shopping alternative to their customers. Many so-called ‘multi-channel’ retailers actually offer a multiple channel experience. Joined-up multi-channel retailers are still the exception rather than the norm. For those brick and mortar retailers who have embraced the online alternatives the challenge is to leverage their high street presence with joined up experience for the customer that begins to recognise the lifetime value of each customer and the complexity of their shopping engagements.”

“Today’s retailers face many challenges in determining and executing a multi channel strategy,” says Citino. “All of these challenges are caused by spaghetti infrastructures that lack integration and scalability. A lack of integration and overall misalignment across channels can cause negative customer experiences that are extremely difficult to recover from.” In order to succeed in today’s retail environment, and keep up with the pace of change, retailers need to look at their technology systems as a whole, bringing together every aspect of the retail operation to get a single view of the customer and to deliver consistency.

“Successful retailers need to deploy a flexible, distributed technology platform that delivers a consistent experience across the shopper’s digital life, within stores, across stores, and at their enterprise locations – providing sales-enabling information to both shoppers and employees,” says Matthew Muta, Microsoft’s worldwide industry manager for ecommerce.

“Retailers need flexible solutions that can grow and develop as the retailer reaches multi-channel maturity,” says Alexandria Rumble from TXT e-solutions. “The solution needs to be able to capitalise on the increasing level of information available through both physical and online interactions. This is achieved by integrating business processes and making information available in real time. This applies at any level whether it is beginning with a simple Web site that provides basic information right through to having multiple channels where technology is used to integrate real-time cross-channel information into business processes for improved customer service levels.”

The retailers who already have integrated channels are the successful ones. They have a better understanding of customers and are able to compete much more effectively. A connected enterprise is about connecting people, data, and systems to provide the right information, at the right time, and in the right format to make real business impact. With a connected enterprise, employees can be more productive, make better-informed decisions, and react more quickly to changing customer demand.

“Best in class retailers are replacing traditional retail models with many connected channels,” says Rumble. “This allows retailers to meet the emerging customer need of flexibility but with a consistent brand message and put the customer first throughout the transition.” “Having a connected enterprise means that retailers can focus on their core competencies – the things that differentiate them from their competitors,” says Muta. “It allows retailers to manage customer interaction in the world of known and unknown devices and makes the user experience a creative effort, not a development effort.”

As the number one e-commerce platform provider in the world, Microsoft is a leader in the e-commerce space and has developed a multi-channel customer platform that has built consistency into customer interactions, allowing retailers to maintain a common multichannel infrastructure.

“Commerce Server 2009 is a complete and extensible e-commerce platform that provides organisations with powerful out-of-the-box capabilities designed to create rich online shopping experiences,” says Citino. “It offers organisations the ability to increase loyalty, brand awareness, and extend audience reach by delivering a more consistent and connected shopping experience to consumers — whether that experience is in-store, via the Web or on a mobile device.

Commerce Server 2009 features a new multi-channel Commerce Foundation, SharePoint Commerce Services, and interoperability with the entire Microsoft ecosystem including Dynamics AX, Silverlight, Visual Studio, Expression, Virtual Earth and Windows Live ID. These technologies give retailers the ability to not only create compelling online experiences, but to also measure the success of campaigns and target customers much more effectively. “Retailers can deliver a personalised experience based on a myriad of characteristics of a customer,” says Citino. “Retailers can drive a very tailored experience that reflects who a customer is, how he or she shops, how he or she buys, and what incents him or her to act. In the end, a personalised experience drives conversion rates and boosts loyalty at the same time.”

“Retailers can increase satisfaction and loyalty by making interactions more personalised and intuitive,” says Rumble. “This can include exclusive offers, loyalty points and rewards, buy online pick up in store and real time visibility over stock levels.” Microsoft is also investing heavily in emerging technologies including digital advertising platforms, consumer mobile devices, search, social networking and online content – all of which are focused on creating compelling connected experiences. As time goes on these types of technologies will become the norm, and new channels will emerge. Retailers will have to be able to embrace these new channels as they appear in order to succeed.

“There are a lot of very exciting possibilities out there,” says Sælemyr. “With the right technologies, retailers can afford to experiment with innovative ways to attract, excite and engage customers.”

“It’s all about preparing yourself for the future while leveraging what you can do today,” says Muta. “Successful retailing hinges on being able to very rapidly adapt and change to new ideas and trends, and understanding the importance of what may lie around the corner. Multi-channel retailing is not easy, but taking an agile, consistent approach is the way many retailers are succeeding. Great customer experiences are enabled by laying the right groundwork – and the key to this is Microsoft technology.”

Breaking Through the Barriers to Multi-Channel

2009-08-11T22:35:00Z

The Internet and cloud technologies offer exciting possibilities for the future of multi-channel retailing, says Carlo Rimini

Ten years ago when we built our first e-commerce solution, multi-channel integration was seen as the Holy Grail for bricks-and-mortar retailers. Some had been well positioned from the start: Argos in the UK already had a business model that allowed full visibility of product inventory across the business; others, like Boots, had loyalty cards that gave them access to customer data covering purchases both instore and on the Web.

But most retailers had neither of these things, and the complexity and the challenges of integrating their systems seemed insurmountable. Product information, price feeds, and what little customer data existed, was often held in a lot of different systems. The arrival of Web retailing added to the complexity and threatened to increase the number of data silos even further.

Since then, a lot of progress has undoubtedly been made. I only need to look at our last project for a retailer in the UK – it went from a non-transactional Web site to a fully multichannel service, allowing its customers to buy online for delivery to a store, order in-store for delivery at home, or buy online for home delivery. Others are able to offer a ‘deliver to store’ option, or allow customers to go online and check stock availability in their local branch.

But in many ways this is just the tip of the iceberg. Plugging one system into another system can undoubtedly bring advantages to any business. The real value for multi-channel retailers lies in releasing several types of data from various repositories and allowing systems to suck in that data so we can bring it all together in meaningful ways. By doing this, retailers can begin to move to a new level of multi-channel selling and customer relationship management, ultimately achieving the single customer view that remains so elusive to most.

The e-commerce platform is playing a starring role in all of this. Firstly, it’s giving retailers new types of data – customer intelligence like we’ve never seen before, rich product data that has had to be created for online merchandising purposes, and usergenerated content, which is growing in its strategic value to any retail business.

The Web has also given high street retailers the previously unprecedented capability to observe and respond to customer behaviour and interaction. The approaches emerging from the e-commerce department will shape the way that retailers develop their entire business models and customer strategies.

All of this means that the Web is ideally placed to act as the hub for the future evolution of the multi-channel business. And this requires three elements from us as suppliers – extensible e-commerce applications that can be grown rapidly in scale and scope; open integration models that enable simplified data transfer; and lastly, and possibly most importantly, support in helping retailers to reshape their business and customer strategies so that they can use the data that is being made available in ways that deliver tangible business value.

Which brings me to the cloud. I’m very excited by the possibilities that cloud computing and Azure can offer to e-commerce and the world of multi-channel retail. As the ecommerce platform moves into an ascendant position within the retail infrastructure, performance becomes a significant business issue. The international nature of e-commerce also adds extra demands – there are no closing times online and the technology and the support must be in place to deliver that 24- hour service. The cloud will allow us to offer the scalability and elasticity that’s needed.

All of the above can be best achieved using Microsoft technologies – Snow Valley has been doing so successfully for ten years and we look forward to the exciting times ahead.

About the Author

Carlo Rimini is managing director of Snow Valley. He has over 15 years experience in the delivery of mission-critical technology solutions – before setting up Snow Valley he worked in software development at both Logica and Reuters. He is an expert in e-commerce and multi-channel retail, advising retailers on their ecommerce strategy and speaking at industry events. He has an MBA from INSEAD. Learn more at http://www.snowvalley.com/.

Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009: Available for Retailers Today

2009-08-03T15:17:00Z

New retail solution emphasizes customer service and cost savings.

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 3, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009, a flexible, scalable solution that helps midmarket companies and specialty retailers provide outstanding customer service, drive employee productivity and make business decisions with confidence. The new solution builds on Microsoft’s promise of the Dynamic Business — a vision for helping companies realize their full potential through the strategic use of flexible business applications that remain relevant as their business needs evolve.

“We know retailers need to be responsive in order to keep customers happy and keep them coming back into their stores,” said Michael Griffiths, group product manager, Microsoft Dynamics Retail Solutions. “Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 is easy to use and provides powerful data so retailers can spend more time with their customers and less time and money worrying about training employees or managing their technology.”

Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 features an intuitive and highly customizable user interface that gives all employees, from the storefront to the back office, access to critical information such as inventory levels and purchase history. The interface is optimized for touch screens and can be tailored for specific roles or individuals, increasing productivity and reducing costs associated with training times. In addition, retailers have the ability to create custom buttons for completing common tasks, adding efficiency to each transaction.

The solution includes a range of new features — which help retailers make informed decisions, respond quickly to their customers’ needs and drive down costs — including these:

• Smart search. Enables employees or managers to bring up relevant information in the solution quickly, helping to drive fast employee response times and a better customer experience

• Security-enhanced payment processing. Helps protect cardholder information and minimize fraud with support for the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council industry standards and guidelines

• Software development kit (SDK). Enables partners to develop add-on solutions with their own retail industry solutions such as multichannel, mobility and more

• Real-time inventory management and flexible reporting tools. Integration with Microsoft SQL Services and Microsoft Office, providing business insight that helps retailers make more informed decisions.

• “Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 has opened up a world of possibilities for us and really helps my employees take our customer service up another notch,” said Dave Figueroa, owner of Scraps Dog Bakery. “Now when a customer comes in and doesn’t remember which biscuit Fido likes best, one of our sales associates can pull up the customer’s purchase history in just a few seconds.”

Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 is easy to deploy and manage, and reduces customers’ total cost of ownership by working easily with other Microsoft technologies. The out-of-the-box alignment makes tasks easier and faster for retailers by eliminating the need to enter redundant data into disparate systems, and the familiar look and feel of the solution helps employees get up and running quickly. In addition, Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 provides a great opportunity for partners to develop add-on solutions that work with enterprise resource planning (ERP) products from both Microsoft and third-party providers.

Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 is currently available in English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. More information about Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/pos.

About Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Taking Stock

2009-07-28T20:43:00Z

In a fiercely competitive market, retailers cannot afford any inefficiencies in their supply chain. Lindsay James takes a look at the solutions that are enabling a more productive workforce, happier suppliers and a better customer experience

Out of stock. These words can cause panic to retailers, and frustration to customers. Yet, with more retailers cutting costs left, right and centre, they are words that are heard all too often. The last time we had a serious downturn cutting costs was a reasonable solution, but today retailers’ costs are very different from what they were. In the past decade retailers have become multi-channel; they have embraced global sourcing; many have expanded overseas; and the product assortment has dramatically expanded. The result has been increasingly complex supply chains, both to operate and to manage, and any inefficiency could be costing retailers hundreds of thousands of pounds. “Supply chain strategy has come to the fore recently,” says Colin Masson, Microsoft’s worldwide director for CRM, ERP and Supply Chain. “For retailers the stakes are higher than ever. Many are on the cusp of going out of business, and any mistake in inventory can be devastating.”

“In the current economic climate retailers must ensure that they can deliver what their customers need on time and, more importantly, at a price they can afford,” says Mark Ryan, EMEA retail sales leader at Honeywell Scanning and Mobility. “As a result, retailers are now under greater pressure to ensure that their respective supply chains are running as efficiently as possible. That goes hand-in-hand with ensuring that the right technologies are in place to enable clear stock delivery and ‘just in time’ delivery.” So, we know that having an efficient supply chain is the key to cutting costs and surviving these hard times. But how do you go about creating this when there are so many variables? There’s customer service levels versus inventory levels, third-party logistics versus owned operations and facilities, domestic versus foreign sourcing, costs versus time to market, and so on.

“The optimal supply chain design is a delicate balancing act which involves understanding the relationship between availability, inventory and cost, while at the same time maintaining excellent levels of customer experience and reducing errors,” says Anush Kumar, CTO at S3edge. “Managing all of these things efficiently will result in supply chains that improve business performance and drive competitive advantage.”

Microsoft and its partner ecosystem have together created solutions and applications that tackle retailers’ supply chain problems successfully and cost-effectively. “In these times, it is so important to drive down costs, and this is where Microsoft technologies come into their own,” says Masson. “Microsoft technologies such as Dynamics AX, along with SQL Server and SharePoint, offer a low total cost of ownership and enable a much leaner supply chain.”

“Microsoft technologies give the retailer and their supply chain partners greater visibility into inventories, both in rest and in motion across the supply chain,” says Jim Caudill, senior vice president, marketing and strategy at Xterprise. “This information, along with the ability to collaborate more closely on product introductions, deliveries and replenishments, helps drive down inefficiencies, reduce inventories across the board and therefore reduce overall costs. The result is a lean, responsive and greener supply chain.”

Supply chain technologies have come a long way in recent years, and the benefits can be seen at every touch point. For employees, these technologies can improve visibility and create a better working experience. “Technologies can help workers by giving them a complete view of stock across all channels,” says Russell Dorset, sales and marketing director at Maginus. “This enables them to better manage the stock and supplier activities to ensure that the right products are always available to satisfy customer demand. With advanced merchandising technologies such as Clever Selling from Maginus, retailers can deliver the advanced merchandising techniques they currently employ in store, over the Web.”

“Time is the enemy of most workers in the supply chain,” says David Hurley, managing director at Anglia Business Solutions. “Well targeted technologies can help by providing advanced notification of incoming orders, accuracy of information on customer requirements and avoidance of errors by sharing common data and analysis of key business trends as they happen. All of these facilitate improved planning, leading to better performance, reduced operating costs and increased job satisfaction.”

Productivity can also increase considerably through the use of innovative technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), and the new generation of this technology known as RFID 2.0. Retailers are looking at using the technology to automatically receive shipments, and have greater visibility into the merchandise in back rooms and on store shelves.

Wal-Mart and the US Department of Defense (DoD), along with some other major retailers, now require their suppliers to begin RFID-tagging pallets and cases that are shipped into their selected distribution centres and stores. These mandates are about to impact a large number of manufacturers and distributors around the world. While businesses are looking to use the technology in many scenarios across various industries, the retailer mandates are the main driving force behind the current interest in the technology. “Hardware in the RFID space has matured consistently in terms of performance and capabilities, matched by a comparable drop in price over the year,” says Kumar. Now, with the advent of the Microsoft RFID platform at the shelf edge and on-device, the opportunity is ripe for a set of processes (which we call Physical World Workflows or PWFs) to consume and act on real-time data from the physical world, and in turn provide the electronic system with actionable information in real time. The same framework lends itself very well to allow applications to consume not just RFID data, but pretty much any and all sensory or realtime input for the PWFs to act and execute on, ushering in a whole new genre of applications under what are aptly called the Sensor Enabled Supply Chains.

“S3Edge’s unique service-oriented three-tier architecture uses the RFID capabilities in BizTalk Server to allow real-time decision making and analytics capabilities, in addition to providing data that can be used for further business intelligence. The former enable you to make real-time choices in your plant floor or assembly line, the latter enable holistic business process re-engineering over the longterm. Another business benefit of the solution is to enable product track-and-trace, and recall functionality, where the ‘pedigree’ or origination information regarding the item is made available for decision making at a later point. This can be extremely important in scenarios where you need to identify items that were also manufactured with a particular item, or items that were processed on a particular station.”

These types of technology can significantly benefit not just the retailers, but also their suppliers. “With the right systems in place it is easier to track supplier deliveries and prevent the mishaps in the supply chain which can strain the retailer-supplier relationship,” says Ryan. “In the best case scenario the retailer and supplier can work almost as one by sharing information efficiently across the length of the supply chain.”

“Both retailers and their supply chain partners have a lot to gain from technology,” says Allan Gleeson, partner account manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX at TXT e-solutions. “Everyone sees a dramatic improvement in supply chain visibility, communication and collaboration. As a result, forecasts being passed on up the line are now a lot more trustworthy. There’s also increased profitability through having the right key performance indicators and performance management, lead times are reduced, and everyone is on the same page, which helps align strategic goals.” So we’ve seen how supply chain technologies are evolving to enable a much better retail organisation, but what impact does this have on the customer? They are, after all, at the heart of a retail operation.

“Every retailer is competing for the customer and the ultimate buying experience,” says Gleeson. “This means always having the right stock on the shelves, and that the products being promoted are actually in store and easy to find. Supply chain management technology ensures these expectations are consistently met, and if not, retail staff can be made aware of when the next shipment is coming in, or how customers can get hold of the product they’re looking for. Software can even be used to ensure a retailer’s brand image is maintained and consistent, so as not to detract from a consumer’s perception of a brand – which could happen with too much discounting, especially on high-end brands.”

“Microsoft and its industry partners’ technology solutions help retailers better understand customer needs and trends in the marketplace while simultaneously helping enable employees to improve customer interactions at every stage of a transaction,” says Masson. “Ultimately, they enable retailers to deliver shopping experiences that delight customers, create loyalty and ensure repeat business.”

As time moves on, supply chain technology will inevitably evolve, as will the demand from retailers. “Integration between channels will get tighter which will have implications for supply chain management,” says Dorset. “To remain competitive, retailers will have to offer customers the capability to order online, pick up from the store, to return goods that have been ordered online back to stores, to allow customers to order in-store for home delivery and so on – a complete multi-channel offering. To achieve this, it is crucial that product details and stock availability details are accessible across channels.”

Special Service

2009-07-02T18:23:00Z

In today’s tough trading conditions, speciality retailers cannot afford to give anything less than exceptional levels of customer service, and this means making sure that the shelves are full. Argility’s Andrew Blatherwick tells us more

In these difficult times retailers around the world are taking different approaches to ensure their survival. In the US they believe that they should trade their way out of a recession, while in the UK retailers batten down the hatches and stop spending until they know they can survive. Despite these differences, there is one thing that all retailers can do to stay ahead, and that is to give outstanding customer service.

Customers have choice, and when they have less money they will use that choice even more judiciously to ensure they get what they want for their sparse resources. We all know that when you do not have much of anything you are more careful how you use it, and customers are the same when shopping. If you do not provide excellent service then they will simply vote with their feet. This offers a real opportunity to speciality retailers, which should present themselves as specialists and experts in their field. The major stores will always win on price, so the speciality retailer needs to find a different platform on which to fight. Great customer service can be that platform and provide the competitive edge necessary in these tough times to get their share of the wallet.

What can have a devastating effect on customer service is out-of-stock situations. A friend of mine recently asked me if a particular retailer was going out of business. I asked why, as I had not heard any news about the company. My friend replied: “Because they had very little on their shelves and looked as if they were closing down.” Now, this is a very large electrical retailer in the UK that is still in a strong financial position, but would you buy a technical item or any high-value item that you were at risk of not being able to return if it was faulty? I know I wouldn’t. What’s more, talk of a company being in trouble because it has no stock spreads very quickly, whether true or not, and before you know it the firm is in trouble – it is self-fulfilling.

When money and margins are tight it is very tempting to reduce stock – in some cases it is essential to maintain cash flow – but there are better alternatives. During difficult times retailers, particularly speciality retailers, need to be more efficient, and more conscious that every penny invested is giving maximum return. If your operation is inefficient then you are at risk, and if you do not sort it out it will sort you out.

It has been said for a while now that retailers can use their supply chains to compete and gain advantage, but this can be an issue for speciality retailers, which do not have the same economies of scale in the supply chain as the major supermarkets. However, by working closely with the supplier base and using shared resources from third-party distribution companies, speciality retailers can actually turn this to their advantage. If a general merchandise retailer is looking to reduce capital outlay, it will concentrate on core merchandise areas. Speciality retailers only have core merchan - dise, but this makes it even more critical to ensure that they have the right merchandise and the levels of inventory to correctly service customers coming into the store.

The same is true in store operations. Once again it is tempting to reduce operational costs and staffing, but at what cost? If all you do is reduce the service you provide for your customers it is a very dangerous game. If, however, a retailer makes sure that it has the very best processes, and solutions to support those processes, it can run more efficiently in store and still provide that great experience the customer is looking for. An intuitive solution that guides staff through the sales process, prompting them at appropriate points to make a comment or ask a pertinent question, will show the customer a much more caring, connected service that makes them feel wanted and valued. This will enable speciality retailers to focus on ensuring that their staff are true experts in their field, another potentially invaluable advantage in a tough market. If a customer has to give careful consideration to making a purchase then they will want to spend more time to get it right, and getting the right help and advice is critical.

I often hear retailers state that they are ‘simple retailers’ and do not need all the modern technology. However, it is good solutions that let a retailer operate simply while providing the customer with amazing service and value. Retailers cannot afford not to give great service, and to do that they need the help of great solutions, not cuts in staff and stock.

About the Author

Andrew Blatherwick has 20 years of experience in retail companies including Boots and Iceland Foods Group. In August 2007 Andrew was one of the founder members and executive director of Argility, an international software business focused on supplying EPOS and merchandise management solutions to the retail industry. Andrew is responsible for international business development at Argility and has created channel partners in South Africa, the UK, the Middle East and Germany. He is currently working on establishing the company in the US.

From Knee-jerk to Balanced Decisions

2009-06-18T22:40:00Z

There is increased pressure on organisations and their executives to make faster, more accurate decisions. Alexandria Rumble looks at the technology enabling this

The days of functional decision making are over and companies are forced to take a more holistic view of supply chain management in order to be able to mitigate risks, improve efficiencies from the stores to the supplier and find new opportunities to release cash. It seems simple enough, so where is the hold-up?

Many organisations have data, but are missing the capabilities required to connect it to day-to-day events. Approaches to intelligence are largely tactical and focused on the analysis of past events. Processes are ad hoc, desktop tools are common, and there is minimal coordination between individuals or departments. The retail supply chain today is so complex that it is virtually impossible to get a holistic view in a meaningful format.

Many software solutions available today provide static data rather than real-time data. When information is available it often takes the form of unfriendly hard copy reports, or it is fed through other applications and ultimately exported to an Excel spreadsheet so that further data manipulation can be done, which will not be connected to next month’s analysis.

The need is simple: one set of data across the value chain, that can be translated into the right picture for each function is linked to a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that lead all teams’ contributions to a business goal.

It is paramount to understand how each decision in supply chain, marketing, sales or sourcing can impact other parts of the organisation. As an example, many retailers that jumped at the chance to source cheaper products from the Far East have accumulated costs in other areas to manage this extension of the supply chain. With greater extension comes less visibility, less control and greater risk. Air freight bills and increased inventory needed to counteract supply delay or failure are oft-cited negative consequences.

Visibility of cause and effect and trade-off evaluation are becoming a standard way of working and thinking for leading companies. While in the past inventory-related decisions were often driven by the need to improve onshelf availability and service levels or because of operational constraints, today supply chain managers must broaden their discussions to include other parts of the organisation.

As complexities increase, companies are progressing beyond the traditional approach to obtain better visibility and coordination of decision-making. But data issues often hit as retailers look to do more sophisticated and possibly cross-departmental analysis.

The use of intelligence and metrics to manage performance needs to become part of the culture, and companies that have processes in place to adjust execution in response to signals anywhere in the business will be better equipped to succeed in today’s retail turmoil.

Leaders are developing clear operational and performance metrics and relate them back to organisational strategies to drive business activities. Scorecards and dashboards help to track and react to those performance metrics continually and as part of daily tasks, to correct issues that may affect the retailer’s success.

Acknowledging that KPIs drive behaviours and decision-making is instrumental in breaking down operational silos and aligning everyone behind the business objective.

This evolution from the traditional financial or operational picture to a holistic perspective allows the measurement and analysis of activities along the entire retail supply chain and brings visibility of their effect on other parts of the business and ultimately on the bottom line. More specifically KPIs can be connected to support companies in making decisions in full knowledge of the trade-offs they are making. This type of framework allows new levels of modelling to predict the future.

About the Author

Alexandria Rumble is global product marketing director at TXT e-solutions. Alexandria joined TXT e-solutions in August 2007 prior to which she was supply chain analyst for AMR Research, working with C-level executives in CPG, retail, pharmaceutical and high-tech industries on supply chain transformation initiatives, as well as software vendors in retail and supply chain management on go to market and marketing. Learn more at http://www.txtgroup.com/.

A Different Way of Thinking

2009-06-04T22:08:00Z

With current market conditions in mind, it is easy to fall into a negative way of thinking. Steve Yastrow, founder of Yastrow & Company, puts an alternative spin on things.

You’ve encouraged people to think of this economic crisis not as a recession, but as a ‘recalibration.’ What do you mean? The world has been completely reset. The way our companies produce results has changed. Our competitive environment has changed. Most importantly, our customers have changed; what they think about, what they care about, even who they are. If you think ‘recession’, you may be tempted to hunker down and wait for things to get better. But if you admit that your world is a new world, you can recalibrate and get ready to thrive.

How do you suggest retailers recalibrate?

Let’s focus on a few key steps. First, existing customer relationships – ask yourself: “Am I getting all of the business I reasonably could get from my existing customer relationships?” For 99 per cent of retailers in the world, the answer is no. For most businesses, the untapped potential in existing customer relationships dwarfs the scale of the economic downturn’s effect on their business. To unleash this potential, recalibrate the way you look at customer relationships.

Recognise that, in this environment, every one of your competitors is trying to steal your customers. If your messages to customers focus only on promotions, price and products, it’s easy for the customer to see you and the competitor as interchangeable.

The best competitive advantage is when a customer thinks of your business not in terms of ‘them’ or ‘that store’, but as ‘we’ – when their focus is not only on your products and prices, but also on their connection to you. It’s magical what happens when a customer thinks that way about you.

How can a retailer create ‘we’ relationships?

Every time a customer enters your store, only three things can happen to their relationship with you: it can improve, it can stay the same, or it can get worse. When customers leave your store with a stronger relationship with you than they had when they came in, we call that an ‘encounter’. However, if your relationship with the customer doesn’t get better, or it gets worse, we call that a ‘transaction’.

The goal of a customer visit is not just to make a sale, it’s to create a relationshipbuilding encounter and to avoid creating a mere transaction. Creating encounters is quite simple, but it usually doesn’t happen in a retail environment.

Engagement in the moment, conversation and uniqueness create encounters. If every person who works in your store focuses on creating relationship-building encounters with every customer they meet, you will see your share of each customer’s business grow. For most businesses, this is not the employee mindset. Recalibrating the way your employees see their jobs, so they focus primarily on relationship-building encounters, is one of the most important things you can do in this time of economic turmoil.

How can retailers recalibrate the way they find new customers?

Attracting new customers is the most expensive and inefficient thing businesses do. So much of the money spent on advertising, direct marketing and other marketing communications efforts is wasted. Think of it this way: the average person is exposed to 5,000 marketing messages each day. How many of those make a difference? Very few.

One of the best ways to recalibrate the way you attract new customers is to focus. Avoid the temptation, so common with traditional marketing, to cast a broad net and hope you catch a few new customers in it. Don’t evaluate marketing programmes on how many people they reach, but on return on investment – the quality of the interaction they create with a potential customer. Reach fewer people, but reach them with a richer message. It’s the only way to get noticed when 5,000 other messages are bombarding your prospective customers.

The highest returns on investment are the friends of your happy customers. Do you have a deliberate and strategic plan to encourage your customers to bring their friends to you? The next highest return comes from attracting people who are geographically close to your store. Why advertise to people miles away when there are people visiting neighbouring stores?

What else do retailers need to do?

Make sure your brand story is right for the times. Your customers’ lives are different. The way they make decisions is different. How they behave is different. The amount of money in their pockets is different. So, it makes sense to re-evaluate the story you are communicating. Imagine a customer visits your store and the stores of three other competitors during a day. What would make her say about your store: “That is the only place I want to buy.” Is your story so clear, compelling and powerful that it can transcend the noise of the marketplace, drowning out the din of your competitors’ messages and reinforcing the relationships you are building with your customers?

About the Author

Steve Yastrow is the founder of Chicago-based consulting firm Yastrow & Company, which has acquired a reputation among business decision makers, including senior Microsoft representatives, as an outside partner that challenges organisations to take a fresh look at themselves from the inside out. His approach is based on the ideas found in his books, Brand Harmony (The Tom Peters Company Press, 2003) and We: The Ideal Customer Relationship (SelectBooks, 2007). Steve earned an MBA from the JL Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Choosing the Clever Option

2009-05-27T20:27:00Z

Many retailers are struggling to maintain their sales, let alone increase them due to the economic slowdown. Mark Thornton, director of e-commerce at Maginus, offers up a solution.

In the current market, many retailers are struggling to grow their businesses. Mid-sized retailers, in particular, are often in a difficult position. The majority do not have the luxury of a large marketing budget. Rather than throwing cash at trying to entice their customers to spend their money via unfocused special offers they could look to use technology that will help them deliver results.

Online shopping continues to buck the downward trend seen on the UK High Street. Latest figures show the e-tail sector made a 13 per cent annual sales increase in February, so there’s never been a better time for retailers to engage with their customers in this sector. One option is to implement Maginus’ e-commerce solution with its Clever Selling module which uses Microsoft SQL Server 2008 business intelligence architecture and data mining functionality, and has real-time connectivity to Microsoft Analysis Services 2008.

The Clever Selling module is, in effect, an artificial intelligence capability which allows companies to influence a customer’s buying decision by cleverly merchandising their products on the Web. It enables the Web site to learn about its customers and its products. The more business that goes through the Web site, the more it learns. The Web site not only learns about products the customer has bought, but it can also analyse what other products they have looked at, using what search criteria, and offer complementary products based on these elements.

This tool is all about delivering a complete merchandising experience which doesn’t impose itself on the customer’s overall shopping experience. When a customer views products or places an order it allows the Web site to suggest other products that the customer might be interested in purchasing. By both cross-selling and up-selling the overall aim is to maximise the average order value of each customer transaction.

Knowledge is built on both a customer level and at product level through using Microsoft’s basket analysis technology. This knowledge covers both the individual customer’s habit and the habits of all customers.

However, the technology can also delve deeper to reveal greater customer insight as and when required. For example, it can recognise a particular type of customer based on topics such as age, geography, and buying or spending habits. So the site can recognise that ‘Customer 1’ is based in the South East of England and that customers in this region prefer a green jumper to a red one. The site will therefore merchandise the green jumper. In addition, it can recognise that different products are bought at different times of day and assess how shopping habits in the week may be different.

For the retailer, the Web site becomes the perfect shop assistant, able to judge for each customer what they would most prefer and therefore are most likely to buy. It can assess how the customer likes to be contacted with offers and how regularly. The aim is always to improve the customer experience of the site, so customers feel that businesses are communicating with them directly and giving them offers that they will be interested in. By using the Clever Selling module retailers can choose which criteria they use to measure customers. If this information is stored on file, trends and patterns can be monitored closely. The introduction of a Maginus e-commerce solution and Clever Selling module therefore provides a low-cost package solution offering sophisticated merchandising capabilities that could provide essential data to help mid-sized retailers in their quest for success.

About the Author

As director of e-commerce, Mark Thornton advises on all areas of e-commerce development, including usability, search engine optimisation, affiliate marketing and back office integration. He has over 20 years’ experience in the software industry including roles in software development, consulting, sales and general management. He previously worked for Visibility Corporation, a US-based ERP company, where he was managing director of their European subsidiary. Learn more at www.maginus.com

Getting Over the Usability Hurdle

2009-05-12T17:42:00Z

By: Bernhard Pichler

As new waves of technology come into fashion, it is important to take a step back and consider what they can do for you and your customers. Bernhard Pichler explains.

Wikipedia, My Space, forums, blogs, RSS. All of these words form and represent a new way of using the Internet, and has come to be known as Web 2.0. The Web is no longer just about finding information, but also about having the ability to influence it from a social perspective. Many retailers are now starting to catch on to this, using social networking technologies as a different route to market. This is all very well and good, but many businesses are focussing on these over-hyped technology developments, and risking diverting resources from the high-ROI design issues that really matter to their users – and to their profits.

Web 2.0 ideas are not intrinsically bad for users, they can actually be highly effective. However, if these technologies don’t focus on users’ core needs then there’s a distinct likelihood that badly thought out ‘enhancements’ will actually diminish profits because they fail to focus on those simpler design issues that actually increase sales and leads.

So, in order to succeed with Web 2.0 you need to ask yourself what drives people within it. By doing this, and really thinking about what people want, then you can be sure that you are going to succeed when the crowd arrives. People are like birds of passage; they just need the right climate in which to feel comfortable.

So what does this mean for retail in an Internet world these days? The answer is to establish exactly this climate that best fits your customer’s needs, a climate of trust, self expression and respect. This means that the front end of your business needs to be focused on the customer, and it needs to be user-friendly. Usability focuses on the human approach and, as research shows, significantly increases trade volumes by up to 30 – 40 per cent. I deeply believe that this will be the key differentiator for e-commerce in the years to come. And never has the time been better to set up usable software.

Let me point out some key areas and how technology responds to the need of usability. Firstly, a system should be reliable and stable. Lots of frameworks are available that offer developers tested modules they can use. Performance is also key. Even long running actions should not hinder the user interface from being responsive. Asynchronous calls and multi threading have become very easy to implement, fulfilling this demand.

To be usable, technology also has to be to a certain extent predictable. Office 2007 has clearly focused on this with its preview functionality. The user can see the results of an action before performing it, and he can undo any action that he has made. Usability is now a real selling feature. It is not new features that make it compelling – users love it because they can work faster – the usability is overwhelming.

Focus is also important. Why have all commands available if only three or four fit the current context? Command Binding in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) gives a set of tools that react to the context without a single line of code. The more information we have the more important it is to see it at a glance. Silverlight and WPF go far beyond the controls you know and visualise complex information in a cool design. The integration of maps, for example Virtual Earth, let you target the right zone much easier.

With technologies such as WPF, Silverlight and Virtual Earth, to mention just a few, Microsoft offers solutions that can help retailers create an experience with a real wow factor. It is up to dedicated developers, passionate designers and professional usability experts to realise your vision – that customers buy your goods because you truly understand their needs. FURTHER INFO: http://www.informare.de/

About the Author

Bernhard Pichler is managing director of Informare Consulting. He leads development teams in Eastern Europe and India, works as a trainer and speaker for WPF and consults with retail companies about new business opportunities that arise from new technologies. Together with his wife and four children he is located in Oberschneiding, Bavaria, Germany.

Chat with Microsoft Dynamics RMS experts on May 7

2009-05-06T19:01:00Z

Join us for a live chat May 7 at 10:00 Pacific Time on the recently released Service Pack 3 for Microsoft Dynamics RMS. Go to Microsoft Communities to learn more and sign up.

Managing Price in the Downturn

2009-05-01T17:11:00Z

By: Tony Jones

Frequent promotions are essential in today’s economic climate but how can margins be protected? Tony Jones from Ivis Group explains.

In the new economic era consumers are demanding better value and competition is fierce. Prices need to be changed more frequently and the number of promotions offered grows quickly. For many retailers this is a real challenge as they do not have the tools in place to undertake price and promotions management efficiently. The situation becomes even more complex where multiple channels are used as prices and promotions need to be managed across every channel.

Price changes and promotions need to be scheduled and potentially conflicting promotions identified. Care must be taken to ensure products that have been discounted are not inadvertently included in other promotions. Voucher codes must be expired to prevent them from being shared on the Internet and used long after the offer should have ended. Without clear management such double discounts and expired voucher codes can seriously erode margins and potentially lead to loss-making sales.

Nonetheless, to satisfy customer expectations compelling offers are a necessity and retailers need to ensure they can cope with this more complex environment. When looking to automate price and promotions management there are three key elements that need to be considered.

Firstly, ensure that a broad and extensible range of promotion types are available covering products, categories and baskets. These not only need to cover simple promotions such as markdowns, percentage off, ‘buy one get one free’ etc. but also need to support discounts on category or basket spend plus potentially complex ‘link save’ deals. If a loyalty scheme exists, the awarding of points, including double or triple awards, needs to be integrated with the promotions management system.

Voucher codes or coupons need particularly close attention. When creating them consideration must be given to whether they can be used by anyone, a set of customers or an individual customer. Defining that they can only be used once or a set number of times and expire after a given date avoids ‘old’ codes and coupons being used repeatedly.

Secondly, ensure that there is a strong management framework around defining and scheduling promotions. This not only needs to include support for a clear promotions approvals process but should also include rules to check the validation of all promotions – thereby avoiding the unwitting application of double discounts. Where multiple channels are supported, management tools must allow price and promotions to be set to apply across all channels or individual ones.

To track budget, a price and promotions management system should allow discounts offered to be allocated to specific cost centres or third party suppliers and report charges as appropriate. Through these steps margin can be managed accurately and the success of specific promotions monitored effectively – improving the ability to undertake future promotion planning.

Finally, ensure that all promotions can be applied correctly at checkout time and clear information is offered to customers on the level of discount awarded. This must include the tracking of expired promotions to ensure that customer returns are refunded correctly and full price refunds are not given for discounted goods even if they were part of a potentially complex ‘link save’ or basket promotion. By adopting these steps and implementing improved price and promotions management retailers can offer customers the compelling offers they are seeking, thereby retaining customer loyalty while at the same time ensuring margin is being retained.

About the Author

Tony Jones is VP Marketing for Ivis Group, a software and services organisation with a 14 year pedigree delivering leading multi-channel solutions to UK retailers. He has 20 years experience working for IT solution providers and for the past six years has focussed on product information management for multichannel retail.

Microsoft Dynamics RMS Live Chat scheduled for May 7

2009-04-24T18:16:00Z

Join the Microsoft Dynamics RMS experts on Thursday, May 7 at 10:00 am Pacific Time as they answer your questions in a live chat. Topic: Service Pack 3 for Microsoft Dynamics RMS.

Go to Microsoft Communities to learn more and sign up for this public chat.

Microsoft Dynamics RMS 2.0 Service Pack 3 now Available

2009-04-24T18:12:00Z

Microsoft is pleased to announce the release of Microsoft Dynamics RMS 2.0 Service Pack 3. This service pack includes several performance enhancements, reports updates, a Microsoft Dynamics Online Payment Services add-in (for more payment processing choices), a rollup of hotfixes since SP2, and Help updates. Service Pack 3 is available for download from Microsoft Dynamics CustomerSource (requires login)

Top 10 reasons to buy Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS)

2009-03-30T20:08:00Z

Respond rapidly to consumer demands, proactively manage inventory and pricing, and control critical business information across your retail network, from the point of sale (POS) to supply chain, customer, and financial management systems. Here are 10 ways that Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) can equip you to compete in a demanding, constantly changing retail marketplace.

1. You can make better use of your employees' time and energy. Equipped with a familiar, Microsoft Office-like interface, a host of automated operations, and integrated information, your staff can focus on keeping pace with customer demand for products, and delivering superb service, even if they're new to their jobs. Associates can learn basic POS functions in minutes, while managers can ensure smooth operations at both the store level and at headquarters with real-time visibility into inventory, purchasing, and sales performance and trends.

2. Fast, flexible transaction processing lets you keep pace with retail giants. Today's customers simply expect checkout processes to go without a hitch, even for complex requests and transactions. With Microsoft Dynamics RMS, associates can check prices, availability, and stock location instantly. They’ll be able to access complete customer information, manage multiple tenders and partial payments, and process debit and credit cards without the need for expensive middleware and high transaction fees. They can also quickly create and process returns, back orders, sales quotes, work orders, and layaways.

3. Maintain tight control over products, shelf space, and suppliers. Microsoft Dynamics RMS is designed to help retailers respond rapidly to consumer demands, ensure efficient replenishment, and build cost-effective relationships across the entire supply chain. You can effortlessly track and manage inventory using any stock and sales method and a wide range of inventory types, and help reduce theft and shrinkage with system security. Specialty retailers in particular will welcome easy-to-use wizards that simplify management of complex, multi-dimensional inventory. Just as important, automated, customizable purchasing functionality gives you the control and flexibility you need to keep pace with specialized ordering requirements.

4. Transform silos of information into a connected enterprise. Integrate your head office, individual store offices, and POS information and processes. Microsoft Dynamics RMS delivers a complete POS solution that integrates with a number of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting applications such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, providing retailers with an end-to-end retail and financial management solution for managing a multi-store network. Along with reducing data entry and helping eliminate errors, your connected solution can help you adapt smoothly to changing mid-market requirements and drive a lower cost of ownership.

5. Focus on innovation and growth. Thousands of retailers are using Microsoft Dynamics RMS to meet demanding small and mid-market requirements. As you continue to grow your business across stores and retail channels, Microsoft SQL Server database technologies provide a flexible database for setting up new stores, managing and storing virtually unlimited information, and exchanging data across platforms to reach a global network of customers, partners, and suppliers. You can also extend the reach of your business and sales operations with add-on solutions from independent software vendors (ISVs), including e-commerce, mobility, business intelligence, and merchandising.

6. Simplify complexity with centralized control of store information. Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System Headquarters equips multi-store businesses or chains to roll up and manage data for all stores from the head office. From one central location, you can view, analyze, and share information across your entire business, as well as manage purchasing and inventory chain-wide, by region, or by store. Centralized control over pricing helps ensure accuracy across all your stores and enables you to set up and monitor flexible pricing structures, discounts, promotions, and sales at both individual stores and chain-wide.

7. Stay on top of performance with accurate, timely data about sales, profitability, inventory, and customers. Put your information to work with more than 100 standard reports and the ability to analyze and share information in multiple formats. You can know exactly what's selling best, who's buying, and when—by department, category, or store—decide on a dime what to buy or mark down, and track return on investment (ROI) for marketing initiatives.

8. Hardware requirements won't put you out of pocket. Microsoft Dynamics RMS can work with your existing computers or OPOS (OLE for POS) compatible peripherals. You can also purchase complete software and hardware packages from leading providers, designed to maximize affordability and quality for your total solution.

9. Gain peace of mind with a solution designed to drive down ownership costs. Whether you want to simply install Microsoft Dynamics RMS in a few stores or deploy a chain-wide enterprise solution tailored to specific requirements, you can count on a flexible platform designed for integration and growth, rapid implementation, and expert assistance from your local Microsoft Certified Partner. Just as important, you'll have the backing of comprehensive maintenance and support that ensures you're current with updated releases and provides you with fast resolution of questions and problems.

10. Go ahead and take that vacation. Microsoft Dynamics RMS lets you stay in control of your business even when you're out of the office. Because your business processes are based on an integrated, automated system, your operations can run smoothly whether you're on site or away. Automated tracking for all transactions and inventory movement helps reduce shrinkage, false returns, credit card fraud, and unauthorized discounts. Plus, built-in user security ensures employees have access only to the data they need to do their jobs. The result? Freedom to go home at the end of the day—or even to take the vacation you've put on hold.

Find out more about Microsoft Dynamics RMS or contact Microsoft for more information.

Learn more with E-Learning for Microsoft Dynamics

2008-06-20T16:16:00Z

If you are a Microsoft Dynamics customer enrolled in the Business Ready Enhancement Plan or other service plans or a Microsoft partner enrolled in a Partner Service Plan for Microsoft Dynamics you have unlimited access to e-learning for Microsoft Dynamics at no additional charge.

Visit https://www.microsoftelearning.com/dynamics/ for more information.