Retail IT | Year 2 | Issue 08
ISSN 2217-6012
Mobile POS – where store meets multichannel
Going international with e-commerce how to get it right?
The high cost of cheap printers
Retail business in the era of smartphones
Interview: Leo Suarez, Toshiba TEC
Retail is going full circle. Customer-centricity – a sign of the times?
Contents In this issue... News
Page 5
News from the Asia, Middle East, Europe, Africa, Australia, and North/South America.
SAP Hana: an overview
Page 28
The article provides an overview of SAP’s HANA technology and what it can offer.
Mobile POS – where store meets multi-channel
Page 30 Consumers today are demanding a multi-channel experience wherever they shop. Find out why.
The role and goals of planograms are changing, and with it, the challenges for retailers and suppliers Page 34 It is important for retailers to recognise customers needs and wishes and to tailor their offering and services to meet local customer requirements and expectations.
The high cost of cheap printers
Page 37 How to advance features of printers from the market leaders will save you money and cut downtime.
Self-service solutions as a means of differentiation for retail organisations
Page 39 Mr Jarc elaborates on how smartly deployed technology can enhance the shopping experience while enabling operational efficiencies.
Going international with e-commerce - how to get it right?
Page 42 Going international with e-commerce means a lot of hard work, preparation and research has to be done before embarking on such a journey.
Interview: Leo Suarez, Toshiba TEC
Page 47
Retail IT Summits: 4. Retail IT Summit in Croatia
Page 49
Retail business in the era of smartphones
Page 53
Together, IBM and Toshiba TEC represent the broadest multi-channel offerings worldwide.
Report from 4th Retail IT Summit in Croatia.
The proliferation of smartphones is changing shopping habits dramatically.
Retail is going full circle. Customer-centricity – a sign of the times? Page 55 Good old-fashioned personalization and absolute customer centricity might hold the key to the challenges of these days but how can you achieve this at the scales and margins of modern day retailers?
Key considerations for implementing a successful video analytics program in retail
Page 58 A well-designed video analytics program can be a successful part of a surveillance and business optimization plan.
NFC, here and now! The future is in our hands
Page 62 Near Field Communication (NFC) is the hottest technology at the point of sale. It will turn the point of sale into a point of interaction.
Editorial:
Managing Editor: Svetlana Kosić
Get ready for modern retailing It give us great pleasure to introduce you to this first online issue of Retail IT Magazine, in which we have the opportunity of presenting you with fascinating discussions about current and future trends in modern retailing.
Publisher
Retail Media Stražilovska 31/3 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Managing Director Managing Editor Advertising Director Design and Production
Dipl. Ing. Darko Pavić Svetlana Kosić Ivana Slemenšek Ivan Moritz
Photographer
Srđan Srđanov
Web Site:
www.retail-it.info
Year of publication Frenquency
No. 8 – Year 2012. 4 times per annum
We are very excited about reports from leading companies such as Verifone, Citizen Europe and Tyco, which once again affirm the advantage of real-life experience over mere theory. On 18th October in the Antunović Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia’s 4th Retail IT Summit brought together representatives of the regional retail industry and the world‘s leading manufacturers. Special guest and key speaker of the event was Jožo Džakula, Executive Director of IT in Konzum, the leading Croatian retailer. The main topic of the event was the upcoming fiscalisation in Croatia and experiences in the region and you can read more in this issue. Also in this issue you can read about how the role and goals of planograms are changing, and with it, the challenges for retailers and suppliers, about how retailers are turning to mobile point-of-sale to deliver the multi-channel shopping experience that consumers demand and many other topics. Of course you will continue to get the latest information about retail in our magazine in the future, but discussion with well-known experts on the same themes certainly enhances the experience. We would like to invite our readers to come and meet us and talk to the world’s leading companies and national retailers at the 4th Retail IT Summit in Serbia, 11th April 2013.
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Asia NEWS Jewellery brand V-mart to operate 120 Subway India to open Goldplus to expand stores in India 150 new outlets retail network in India by 2015 by 2013 Multi-brand retail chain V-Mart plans to double the number of its stores to 120 by 2015 as part of the company’s strategy to expand its retail network. The company is also looking to expand in the North Eastern region and aims to have a presence in all Indian states with the first outlet to be opened in Assam in 2014. V-Mart Retail Chairman and MD Lalit Agarwal said the company has an aggressive expansion plan. “We are looking to add 58 stores in 55 new locations by March 2015 and almost all of these will be opened in smaller Tier II and III cities,” added Agarwal.
Sports brand Anta to open 600 new outlets in China
International fast food major Subway plans to strengthen its retail presence in India by adding 150 new outlets in the country by the end of 2013. The chain recently opened its 300th franchise outlet at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Terminal II in Mumbai, India. The chain currently has a presence in over 50 cities and plans to focus on tier-II and tier-III cities to achieve its goal of having 1,000 outlets in the country.
Goldplus, a jewellery brand of Titan Industries, plans to ramp up its retail expansion in India by setting up stores in four southern states and Maharashtra. Titan Jewellery division CEO C K Venkataraman said the company currently has 31 retail outlets in the south. The company noted that GoldPlus jewellery comes with the assurance of the purest 22-karat (916) and 18-karat (750) gold and premium craftsmanship.
Walmart to open 100 stores in China
Apple to expand retail network in China
China-based sports brand Anta plans to strengthen its retail presence across the country by opening 600 new stores by the end of 2012. The proposed outlets are expected to open in second and third-tier cities with the company also expected to diversify its product line. Anta will expand into the sports clothing category, a move expected to revive is declining sales trend.
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Electronics and personal computers major Apple plans to expand its retail network in China with the opening of new stores across the country. The chain has announced that it will open outlets in Beijing’s Wangfujing area, Chengdu, and others in the Shenzhen area. The move follows CEO Tim Cook’s announcement that in March the electronics chain had planned more investment and growth in China. Apple noted that the Wangfujing store will be the company’s third in the Chinese capital and its largest retail store in Asia.
American multinational retailer Walmart plans to open 100 stores in the next three years in China. The store openings marks the retailer’s attempt to slowdown its expansion pace and investment in China. Walmart noted that the expansion has marginally gone down due to the increasing competitive retail landscape in China and flagging economic growth. The US retailer has also firmed up its plan to add 18,000 jobs to its current staff of 100,000 in China. Walmart, which currently has 378 stores in China, had been opening 50 to 60 stores per year in the country.
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Asia NEWS Spanish retailer Inditex to open 60 stores every year in Russia
Spanish retailer Inditex, the owner of brands such as Zara and Zara Home, plans to open around 50 to 60 stores every year in Russia over the next few years. The store openings are part of the retail multinational’s aggressive expansion plan. The first store under the plan will be opened in Vladivostok, Russia’s far eastern city, in 2013, reported fibre2fashion, citing the Russian daily Vedomosti. Inditex entered the Russian market in 2006 and currently owns more than 274 stores in all the major Russian cities.
Johnny Rockets to open ten new outlets in Pakistan
US-based restaurant chain Johnny Rockets has inked a new franchise agreement with local partner Haris Malik to open ten new outlets in Pakistan by 2022. The agreement marks their entry into South Asia and for Pakistan to be the initial point of
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entry, noted the company. The first Johnny Rockets outlet under the deal is scheduled to open in spring at a mall in Karachi, with a second outlet to be opened in Lahore. Johnny Rockets currently has over 300 restaurants across the world. Its menu includes starters, chicken and salads, hamburgers, desserts and beverages. The restaurant also offers a children’s menu.
Footwear retailer Woodland to open 25 new stores in Hong Kong by 2012 end Footwear and apparel brand Woodland plans to expand its retail network by opening 25 new multi-brand stores in Hong Kong by 2012 end. Under the expansion, the chain recently unveiled the largest Woodland store of the Western region and launched new winter wear collection. Woodland Worldwide Managing Director Harkirat Singh said that the company currently operates 50 multi-brand stores in the Hong Kong market and around 100 stores in the Middle East.
Japanese retailer Lawson to expand in Thai market
Japan-based convenience store chain Lawson will tie up with Thai retailer Saha Pathanapibul to open convenience stores in Southeast Asia. The move follows the chain’s strategy to expand its retail network in Southeast Asia, where demand is expected to increase
in line with rapid economic growth. Lawson said that it intends to convert some of the Saha Pathanapibul stores into convenience stores. The company noted that Thailand would be the fourth overseas market for Lawson, after China, Indonesia and Hawaii.
Dabur to open 50 New U stores by 2015
India-based FMCG retailer Dabur has announced its plan to open 50 new outlets of its health and beauty brand ‘New U’ in order to expand its retail business by 2015. The company has entered into agreements with various domestic players to double its store count over the next three years. Dabur India Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal was reported as saying by the Business Standard that they are looking forward to eventually spinning off the retail business into a separate entity. “With the government opening foreign investments in retail, we would essentially look for foreign retailers as strategic investors,” added Duggal.
Allen Solly to open 20 new retail stores by December 2012 Aditya Birla Group-owned apparel brand Allen Solly is planning to unveil 20 new retail stores in India by the end of 2012. The proposed stores will be
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Asia NEWS opened under a new livery and will take the company’s store count to 160. Commenting on the plans, Allen Solly Brand Head Sooraj Bhat remarked that the new brand identity is part of the company’s strategy to cater to the slimmer fit that is popular amongst the younger generation. The stores will offer shirts, tees, trousers, winter wear, jackets and suites for men and dresses, tops and tunics, shirts and trousers and suites for women for all occasions.
Hong Kong replaces New York City as world’s top retail location
country’s growing luxury retail market. Spanning an area of 42,000 m2, the warehouse spans nine floors and is also the largest logistics centre in the Asian region. SDV South East Asia Director Yves Laforgue remarked that the region had seen steep growth in the premium luxury retail market. SDV will also offer transport and logistics solutions for the retail industry from the newly unveiled facility.
FamilyMart opens store in Indonesia
The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong has replaced New York City (NYC) in the global ranking for prime retail in a list released by American real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. The average annual rent at Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island increased by 35% to $2,630 per square foot at the end of June 2012.
FamilyMart has opened its first store in Indonesia, the FamilyMart Cibubur store. An area franchise agreement was signed with Wings Group, a major local consumer goods wholesaler and manufacturer. As part of its entry into this new market, FamilyMart has signed an area franchising agreement with PT. Fajar Mitra Indah, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Wings Group, a major manufacturer and wholesaler of consumer goods in Indonesia. FamilyMart will develop its business in this Southeast Asian country under this alliance.
SDV unveils $45m warehousing facility in Singapore
Five existing Spar stores rebranded Auchan
Global supply chain firm SDV unveiled a new warehousing facility in Singapore, entailing an investment of S$55m ($45m), constructed to serve the
Max Hypermarkets has rebranded its existing ‘SPAR’ stores in Bangalore and Mangalore to ‘Auchan’ based on the franchise agreement signed in August
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2012. The Auchan Hypermarkets will offer a fresh visual experience and stronger value proposition to its customers. Following Auchan’s global visual merchandising approach, the Bangalore stores will offer their customers a fresh new look and feel, while ensuring the best in quality, value and service. Max Hypermarkets and Auchan plan to open 12 to 15 new stores in one year across various geographies in India.
RT better than Wal for retail in China
Shelves stacked to the ceiling with lowprice hot sauce, Barbie dolls, and noodles stand near tanks where shoppers can fish out live sea bass for dinner. Welcome to RT-Mart, China’s version of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. From Shanghai to Chengdu, the outlets run by China’s largest big-box retailer, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, are recreating USstyle Wal-Marts, with one big difference: they are giving them the feel of local street markets with hairy crabs laid out on table tops and discounted hot-pot ingredients. That formula has helped it crack the country’s CNY507 billion (USD81b) hypermarket industry that overseas rivals Tesco Plc, Wal-Mart and Carrefour SA have struggled to get a handle on.
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The Middle East NEWS Pure Gold Jewellers has expanded its reach into Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka
The company said in a statement that it now operates in eight countries. In Saudi Arabia, the retailer is opening a total of six stores in Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh, it added. In Sri Lanka, the company has signed up for five outlets in Colombo and Kandy, which will all be operational within the next few months. The company has also revealed its plans to establish 25 outlets in Turkey, Jordan, Morocco and Lebanon by the end of 2012.
Dubai’s Emax eyes 50 MidEast stores by 2013 Electronic retailer Emax, part of Dubai conglomerate the Landmark Group, is planning to open 13 new stores in the Middle East by the end of 2013, bringing its total number of outlets to 50, it has been announced. The largest electronic brand in the Middle East, Emax has reported a 40-percent rise in annual sales and is planning to leverage this growth by expanding its network of stores across the region.
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UAE retailer signs up France’s Carrefour
SouqExtra!, the UAE chain of community retail centres, has announced that French retail giant Carrefour will open a supermarket in its upcoming Dubai Silicon Oasis project. The retailer said it has signed a contract with Carrefour Market to lease 15,800 sq ft of anchor store space at the new centre, which will be the sixth SouqExtra! community centre in the UAE. The SouqExtra! centre in Dubai Silicon Oasis, which will have a gross leasable area of 32,600 sq ft, is expected to open in late 2013.
Prada expands Miu Miu store network with new store in UAE
Italian fashion label Prada, specialising in luxury goods for men and women, has unveiled its Miu Miu boutique in Dubai, UAE. The boutique is located in Level Shoe District, an entire
metropolis dedicated to a collection of women’s and men’s exclusive footwear and accessories. The boutique features exclusive bags and small leather goods collections, designed by Architect Roberto Baciocchi. Prada retails handbags, leather goods, footwear, ready-to-wear apparel, accessories, eyewear and fragrances.
MMI, ELR to open new food and beverage outlets in Dubai Maritime Mercantile International (MMI) and Emirates Leisure Retail (ELR) will open six prime retail and food and beverage outlets in Dubai International airport in the beginning of 2013, following a competitive tender. To be located at the airport terminal’s three A gates, the new concepts include a new Le Clos fine wines and luxury spirits store, besides the first Moët & Chandon Champagne Lounge, the first Giraffe restaurant outside the UK, the first Heineken Lounge outside of North America and the first Costa Coffee Metropolitan format at an airport.
Emax to expand retail network in Middle East
Middle East-based electronics chain, Emax, plans to expand its retail network and strengthen its brand presence across the region by opening 13 new
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The Middle East NEWS stores by the end of 2013. The move will increase the number of the retailer’s stores in the Middle East to 50. Emax CEO Neelesh Bhatnagar said the company will utilise the growing consumer electronics market in the Middle East, to its benefit. “We aim to continue to expand our presence in the region, with plans to operate 50 stores by the end of 2013,” added Bhatnagar.
Beauty giant L’Oreal launches Saudi unit
Cosmetics and beauty giant L’Oreal has announced that it has set up a subsidiary to target sales growth among women in Saudi Arabia. L’Oreal said it had created L’Oreal KSA, a new subsidiary based on a joint venture with Al Naghi Group. L’Oreal brands have been present in the Gulf kingdom since 1982 and appointed Al Naghi Group as its sole distributor in 2000, but now the cosmetics company has taken a further step to grow its presence in Saudi Arabia.
Qatar retailer inks Oman expansion deal Qatar-based retailer Al Meera has signed an agreement to acquire hypermarkets and supermarkets in Oman as it continues to expand operations across the Gulf region. Al Meera Holding, a subsidiary of Al Meera Consumer Goods Company, and Al
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Meera Development Company signed a sale and purchase agreement to buy the assets of Oman-based Safeer Stores, according to a Qatar stock exchange statement. The deal entails Al Meera Holding acquiring retail assets under the Safeer brand operating at Al Falaj, Al Khuwair, Athaiba, Sohar and Barka.
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PepsiCo Asia, Middle East & Africa, Wins TAKREEM Award
M&S eyes more Middle East openings
British retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) has said it plans to open a number of new stores across the Middle East over the next few years. The company confirmed its commitment to the region as it announced plans to enter the Jordanian market for the first time. M&S said that it will open a new store at TAJ Lifestyle in Amman soon.
Saad Abdul-Latif, the chief executive officer of PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and Africa, has been honoured for his outstanding corporate leadership by TAKREEM Initiative, at the Takreem Arab Achievement Awards Ceremony in Manama, Bahrain, held on 30th Novembe under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain. Abdul-Latif was recognised for his leadership and vision at PepsiCo, where he currently leads more than 40,000 employees, across more than 90 countries, contributing to $7.4 billion in annual revenues in 2011.
Nesto to invest SR 1 bn in Saudi retail sector
Epicor to implement next-generation ERP for Smart Glass in Egypt
Nesto Group, a Dubai-based retail giant, has announced an ambitious plan to invest SR1 billion in the Saudi retail sector within the next three to four years, which will create more than 5,000 jobs for Saudi nationals. Abdul Nazar K. I., Nesto’s business development director, said: “The company will open three new hypermarkets within next three years.” Nesto Group and Brandzone are part of the Western International Management LLC, which is based in Dubai.
Epicor Software Corporation, a global leader in business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organisation, today announced that Smart Glass, an architectural glass processing company, has chosen to implement the Epicor next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Smart Glass will use Epicor ERP at its headquarters and state-of-the-art processing facility, located in Egypt’s El Fayoum province.
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Europe NEWS Swiss retailer Migros acquires 290 Tegut stores in Germany
stores and offers customers an extensive range of M&S’s stylish fashions across womenswear, lingerie, menswear and kidswear, as well as a selection of home products.
LEGO to open 10th UK store in Watford’s Harlequin
Swiss retailer Migros Genossenschafts Bund (Migros) has acquired 290 stores of German supermarkets chain operator Tegut Kundenbetreuung. The Migros acquisition will include the take over of brands which include Okay, Gutberlet, Gutberlet Vertriebs and TGT, while Tegut will retain its bakery production facilities, charcuterie and farms. The acquisition will further Migros’ expansion plans in Germany, reported Just Food. Migros is a co-operative with diverse business interests and operates supermarkets, convenience stores, department stores and specialist markets.
Marks & Spencer opens full-line store in So Ouest British retail major Marks & Spencer has unveiled its first new full-line store at So Ouest in Levallois-Perret, Paris. Spread over three floors, the new 6,900-m² fullline store is part of M&S’s ‘bricks & clicks’ strategy for France that covers both physical stores and the e-commerce platform. Located in Paris’ latest shopping destination, the new So Ouest store is one of the retailer’s largest international
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The iconic LEGO toy brand is to open its 10th UK store at the Harlequin shopping centre in Watford. LEGO will open a 2,521 sq ft store on the upper mall of the Harlequin adjacent to Disney and close to Marks & Spencer and Next. The new store will feature the three main areas that make up a typical LEGO store including the ‘pick a brick wall’ where customers can choose and buy specific LEGO bricks ad an interactive play area in the centre of the store called the ‘living room’. The new store will open in time for Christmas and is the latest in a line of debuts at the Capital Shopping Centreowned Harlequin where recent openings have included Lakeland, Apple and Phase Eight.
Sainsbury’s to create 10,000 smaller-stores jobs Sainsbury’s is to create thousands of jobs to meet growing demand in its convenience stores business. The retail giant said it expects to fill 10,000 positions
over the next three years as it continues to open smaller outlets. Its ‘local’ and ‘convenience’ shops have enjoyed almost 20-percent growth compared to last year. Sainsbury’s announced the hiring plan when it opened its 500th convenience store, in Southsea, Hampshire.
Restaurant chain EAT plans to open 100 new restaurants in UK UK-based restaurant chain EAT plans to strengthen its presence in the country by doubling its store count to over 200 by 2016. The restaurant chain currently operates 116 outlets and is expected to launch a new flagship store on The Strand in central London to kick off its expansion plans. Expected to cost £1m in investments, the eatery features a host of new technologies including digital menu boards.
Microsoft plans for physical stores unveiling in Europe
Multinational software major Microsoft is keen to expand its retail business to European markets by opening new stores in the region. The first of the Microsoft outlets are expected to be unveiled in 2013 with the software major currently in talks with real estate firms in UK. The company is reportedly reviewing the performance of its stores in US, to ascertain its best-performing format.
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Europe NEWS Debenhams opens first store in Bulgaria
Commenting on the opening, The Cooperative Food Chief Executive Steve Murrells remarked that the new composite distribution centre is a major investment, which will provide significant employment locally and will boost the local economy.
Carrefour to open two new virtual stores in France
Debenhams has opened its first department store in Bulgaria as it looks to establish its brand in a strategically important market for its European expansion. The retailer will be the anchor tenant at Bulgaria Mall in the capital Sofia, which services the affluent Boyana and Simeonovo districts. The store is the 71st international opening for Debenhams. Debenhams aims to double the scale of its international business over the next five years and is also working on opportunities in Serbia and Croatia as part of a broad European focus.
The Co-operative Group opens new distribution centre in England The UK’s largest mutual business group The Co-operative Group has unveiled a new distribution centre in Avonmouth, Bristol, to serve the country’s South West and Welsh regions. The 435,750-ft² centre will be fully operational by the first half of 2013 and will employ around 900 staff to deliver goods to about 500 The Co-operative Food stores in the areas of Bristol, north Somerset and South Wales.
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French hypermarket chain Carrefour is setting up two virtual stores to offer its customers a unique and surprising shopping experience. The virtual stores are a couple of four-sided cubes on which 300 products, such as dairy products, products for breakfast, hygiene products and frozen foods, are displayed. Using Carrefour’s My Shopping application, customers can scan the selected product’s barcode from the wall of images.
European retailer Aldi to double UK store count to 1,000 European discount supermarket chain Aldi plans to double its UK stores base to 1,000 over the next 10 years. The German retailer will invest £181m in opening 40 new stores by the end of the next year, taking its store count to over 500 in UK and creating 4,500 jobs. Aldi
UK’s joint managing director, Roman Heini, says that the company is looking to open 35-40 supermarkets each year thereafter.
Kellogg’s and United Biscuits to offer cashback mobile couponing service Kellogg’s and United Biscuits have signed up to trial a cashback mobile couponing service from Shopitize. A group of 1,000 plus savvy shoppers in Britain will start receiving deals from Kellogg’s and United Biscuits today (14 November 2012) when the couponing service goes live. Kellogg’s and United Biscuits’ exclusive deals for Shopitize users feature some of the nation’s favourite products, including McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes, Kellogg’s Special K, Crunchy Nut and Coco Pops breakfast cereals, Pringles and Special K Cereal Bars. By taking advantage of these offers through the Shopitize platform, they will save up to 50% on standard retail prices, the company claims.
Tesco trials extendedlength trailers Supermarket giant Tesco is running a trial of 25 extended-length Gray & Adams refrigerated trailers as part of plans to cut its carbon emissions. Tesco, which already operates a fleet of Gray & Adams supplied temperature-controlled single and double-deck 13.6m and short, urban trailers, said the company was an “obvious supplier” for the trailers.
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Africa NEWS
Foschini to open 56 clothing outlets in Africa by 2014
The restaurant serves South East Asian cuisine in an informal environment inspired from cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok and Jakarta.
Meikles to unveil second Pick ’n’ Pay
South African clothing and household retailer Foschini has announced its plan to open 56 outlets in Africa to expand its business in the region. Two of the proposed stores are expected to be unveiled in Mozambique and Ghana. Foschini currently operates around 1,920 outlets and plans to open new stores across the continent including some in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland and Nigeria. Foschini Chief Financial Officer Ronnie Steyn said that Nigeria, as Africa’s most populous nation, offers the greatest opportunity for their retail expansion.
Jumeirah Restaurants to launch Noodle House in Kenya Jumeirah Restaurants has inked a licensing agreement with Global Hotels Management Africa to launch its Noodle House brand in Kenya. Global Hotels will open seven Noodle House outlets in the country over the next five years under the agreement with the first of the outlets penned to open in early 2013 followed by a second restaurant in Mombasa. Jumeirah Restaurants Managing Director Phil Broad said the partnership with Global Hotels Management Africa is a significant step forward in the implementation of the company’s international growth strategy.
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Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed diversified entity Meikles Limited is this week set to unveil is its another state-ofthe-art Pick ’n’ Pay supermarket bringing to the number of such branches in the country to two. It will also open two new TM supermarkets branches in line with its expansion plans. The first Pick ’n’ Pay Supermarket opened in June this year. Pick ’n’ Pay is one of Africa’s largest and successful retailers of food, general merchandise and clothing. Meikles Finance Director Onias Makamba told NewsDay that Pick ’n’ Pay Kamfinsa had so far performed well.
Retailers turn to IT to stem coin shortage Retailers in Kenya are counting on the adoption of technology to stem a coins shortage that is affecting their operations. Through their umbrella body, Retail Trade Association of Kenya, they said technology based-solutions will offer temporary relief to the coins shortage problem. Retrak interim chairman Alfred
Ng’ang’a noted, in a statement, that retailers are exploring various options, including using technology and enhancing consumer education, to mitigate the problem.
Vlisco opens retail shop in Accra Mall, Ghana
Vlisco Group, a leading authentic designer and manufacturer of fashion fabrics in West Africa, has opened its flagship store in Ghana. The new retail channel is the first of its kind in Africa and will seek to give customers a unique, pleasant and memorable shopping experience. “Our goal is to create a store where customers can access a vast array of Vlisco products and at the same time receive professional services from welltrained store staff and special in-store consultants who would help you in choosing the right fabric and dress style that will match your taste, colour, frame and the occasion,” stated Erik Van der Staaij, managing director of Vlisco Group in Ghana.
iStore opens In Nigeria, offers training on Apple products With the recent launch of its business in the Nigerian market, authorised Apple reseller in Nigeria, iStore, has revealed plans to offer free training to customers
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Africa NEWS on Apple hardware and software. The new store located at the Ikeja Mall, Lagos, would offer free training through a tailored programme covering Apple hardware and software which will provide customers with the opportunity to get to know their Apple products better.
Pick n Pay opens outlet in Kitwe, Zambia
Pick n Pay Zambia has opened its outlet in Kitwe with the Government commending the chain store for investing over K132 billion in the country. In a speech read for him by Copperbelt Deputy Permanent Secretary Stephen Lindundu, Copperbelt Minister Mwenya Musenge commended the chain store for its massive investment of over K132 billion. Mr Musenge said the chain store had worked hard to develop strong community relations through its corporate social responsibility.
Nakumatt opens another branch in Uganda Retailer Nakumatt Holdings increased its regional footprint with the opening of its 37th branch in the Western Uganda town of Mbarara. The opening of the $3-million Nakumatt Mbarara is expected to set the pace for further branch
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openings in Kenya before the end of the year. With the opening of the three branches, the company said that Nakumatt Holdings would effectively manage to achieve its 40-branch target this year.
SPAR Group announces South African JV that will generate $7 million in revenue
SPAR Group, Inc. (SGRP), a leading supplier of retail merchandising and other marketing services throughout the United States and internationally, recently announced that the company, through its subsidiary in South Africa (SGRP Meridian), has completed the signing of a joint venture agreement to expand its operations in South Africa.
Middelburg Mall draws record turnouts this festive season Middelburg Mall may be a newcomer to the South African retail scene, but it has already attracted over three-million shoppers since its opening, and retailers are reporting excellent trading densities across the board. With this level of success, it is little wonder that Middelburg Mall Centre Manager Mike Tammadge
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has a positive outlook for retail, both in South Africa and at Middelburg Mall. For Middelburg Mall, the positive retail sales trend and its growing community will both drive trading success. “The continued growth in foot traffic will ensure that retail targets will be met and mostly exceeded, this festive season,� says Tammadge.
IGA Expands to South Africa With Unitrade Partnership
The International Grocer Alliance plans to continue to advance its global presence by partnering with Johannesburg-based Unitrade Management Services to bring the IGA brand back to South Africa. The Unitrade/IGA partnership will provide Unitrade with even stronger relationships with multinational manufacturers and suppliers, while allowing the company to stay loyal to its South African roots and communities. Additional partnership benefits include access to resources such as brand-building programmes, information on the latest international retail trends, community marketing initiatives, consumer reward programmes, store branding standards and guidelines, store format expansion, sales strategies to defend against competition, access to IGA’s private label product line, and customised training and people development through the IGA Coca-Cola Institute.
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Australia NEWS
PayPal launches new in-store payment option in Australia
Metcash’s new supermarket brand
E-commerce payments provider PayPal has launched a new in-store payment called API in Australia that enables retail customers to make payments without using either cash or a credit card. The new PayPal Here API application will be introduced in Australian shopping centres and retail stores for the first time in 2012, following its successful launch in the US last year. Customers can check into the store by opening the PayPal mobile app, place orders and pay using their PayPal account.
Metcash has launched the first store of its new Value Depot chain, which is planned to become a new national network of bulk purchase wholesale warehouses. The first 7000-sqm Value has opened at Eagle Farm in Brisbane, Queensland’s first bulk purchase supermarket. The Value Depot rollout will include new sites, as well as conversions of many of the 18 existing Campbells Cash and Carry (CCC) outlets. CCC currently services more than 170,000 registered customers across Australia.
Kogan enters the telco market
ACCC launches shopping app
Online electronics retailer Kogan.com has entered the mobile service space with the launch of Kogan Mobile. Kogan Mobile is the first Australian mobile provider to use part of Telstra’s Mobile Network for prepaid mobile services. The Kogan.com CEO and founder, Ruslan Kogan, said Australians have been paying way too much for too long and Kogan Mobile is now changing this. Customers pay $29 a month for unlimited standard calls, text, and 6GB of data, with cheaper rates for those who sign up for a full year.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a free shopper app providing instant advice for consumers. The ACCC Shopper app is available for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, and the app answers commonly asked questions about refunds, returns, warranties, and lay-buys, such as ‘What do I do if a product is faulty?’ and ‘What happens if I don’t have a receipt?’ It also allows consumers to store photographs of receipts as proof of purchase on their smartphone or tablet at points of sale.
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New Victoria’s Secret store opens in Oz
Victoria’s Secret has opened its fifth Beauty and Accessories concept store in Australia at Sydney Qantas Domestic Airport. The Australian licence for Victoria’s Secret airport stores is held by luxury airport retail specialists Valiram Group. The store is the second for Sydney Domestic Airport, along with three others at Melbourne International, Melbourne Domestic and Sydney International.
Zarraffa’s lands in WA
Zarraffa’s Coffee has opened its first Western Australia store after taking over former coffee chain, One For the Road. The Canning Vale store, located on the corner Ranford Road and Campbell Road, Canning Vale in Perth, is the first of five to open over the next two months, across suburban Perth and Kalgoorlie. Zarraffa’s Coffee CEO Kenton Campbell said the entire operation was ‘excited’ to finally see the Zarraffa’s giraffe ‘land’ in Western Australia.
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Australia NEWS Cotton On expands
Clothing company Cotton On will expand its headquarters in Geelong and create 500 new jobs, the Victorian government has announced. Premier Ted Baillieu said the new jobs would increase total employment at Cotton On in Geelong to about 1,300 as part of a 12,000-strong workforce worldwide, and ensure business operations remain in the region. Cotton On now has 1,000 retail stores in 11 countries, 650 of which are located in Australia.
KFC goes green
Selected KFC stores across NSW have rolled out new recycling systems, becoming the first to participate in a new ‘Do the Right Thing, Use the Right Bin’ initiative. Through the project, funded by the Australian Packaging Covenant, 59 KFC restaurants have been equipped with the systems for public use and a further 135 KFC restaurants have installed back of house cardboard recycling bins. Project is a partnership between the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF), the National Packaging Covenant Industry Association, the Environment Protection Authority, Closed Loop Environmental Solutions and YUM! Restaurants.
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Australia’s The Coffee Club to open a store every fortnight for next five years
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services in Indian rupee. Westpac has operated in India through its representative office since 2007 and was awarded a banking licence by the Reserve Bank of India in April.
New retail group seeks to address key issues
Australia’s largest home-grown cafe chain The Coffee Club has appointed the former managing director of Starbucks as its new CEO. Jason Ball has joined The Coffee Club after four years at the helm of the US coffee giant in Australia. In his newly-appointed role, Ball said he would focus on operational excellence and the brand strategy of the Brisbane-based business, and aim to open a store every fortnight for the next five years.
Australia’s Westpac opens its first branch in Mumbai Australia’s Westpac Bank has opened its first branch in India. The branch is located in Mumbai and will support Australian and Indian customers with trade and investment links into Australia and Asia. Westpac will offer wholesale and retail banking services in India including trade finance, deposits, remittances, payments and receivables, savings and current account, foreign exchange and treasury
The Australian Traders Group (ATG) has been formed by a number of retail-related industry bodies, with the stated aim of working collectively to address key regulatory issues confronting the retail sector and link with government to achieve change on behalf of its members and the wider industry. “Collectively, the ATG represents tens of thousands of retailers and suppliers, all of whom are advocating and lobbying for changes such as reducing the Low Value Imports Threshold (LVIT), counterfeit products, retail tenancy and other various tariffs, taxes and charges which put unnecessary regulatory burden onto Australian retailers and impede their ability to employ and meet modern consumer demand,” commented Australian Retailers Association (ARA) executive director Russell Zimmerman. The ARA has recently consulted with the industry bodies which now comprise the ATG to reduce the LVIT and close the GST loophole uncovered by an increase in online overseas imports. An increasing amount of Australian retailers operating online are on an unlevel playing field as a result of this loophole.
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America NEWS
Dickey’s Barbecue to open three new outlets in three US states
Texas-based Dickey’s Barbecue will open three new outlets in Florida, West Virginia and Wisconsin on 25 October 2012. The new Florida store will be located in the Bell Tower Shops, and will be owned and managed by local franchise owner Adam Rodriguez. The chain currently operates 260 outlets in 43 US states.
Stein Mart opens six new department stores in US
Video game retailer to open 80 GameStop Kids outlets in US
GameStop, an American multi-channel video game retailer, has unveiled a new store concept, GameStop Kids, in a move to maximise sales during the festive season. GameStop Kids, aimed at offering a unique and innovative shopping experience for kids, will be opened across 80 locations in select shopping centres throughout the US. Headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, GameStop’s retail network and family of brands include 6,628 company-operated stores in 15 countries worldwide and the company also owns the online store www.GameStop.com.
Sam’s Club set to open expanded store in Illinois Sam’s Club, a US-based membership warehouse club chain and a division of retail giant Walmart Stores, is all set to open an expanded store in south Addison, Illinois. An Additional 40, 000ft² of space has been added to the existing store. The expanded store will employ around 190 associates. The store will feature an expanded deli, bakery and produce department, including freshly prepared meals for members on-the-go, as well as all the essentials for weekend get-togethers.
99 Cents Only Stores to open two new stores in California
Cost Plus World Market to open new store in California Stein Mart, an upscale, off-price specialty store chain, has unveiled six stores in US this autumn, in a move to strengthen the brand’s presence across the country. Of the proposed seven stores, four are new outlets and three are relocated stores. The new stores are located in Surprise, Arizona; Katy, Texas; and Charlottesville, Virginia, while relocated stores opened in McAllen, Texas; Biloxi, Missouri; and San Dimas, California.
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Cost Plus World Market specialty and import stores have opened a new outlet in Simi Valley, California, US. The new store offers home furniture, tabletop textiles, dinnerware, gifts, home décor and gourmet food and beverages. The store will also carry a variety of wines. Cost Plus opened its first store at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, California, in 1958, and currently operates 263 Cost Plus World Market outlets in 30 US states.
US-based variety store chain 99 Cents Only Stores opened two new stores in Santa Maria and Santa Clarita in California. This is the second store to open in Santa Maria. The new Santa Clarita store occupies 24, 000 ft² of space. This is the second store to open in Santa Clarita. Founded in 1982, 99 Cents Only Stores currently operates 304 extreme value retail stores consisting of 222 stores in California, 37 in Texas, 29 in Arizona and 16 in Nevada.
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America NEWS Bench launches US website
G&D chosen by CIBC as Trusted Service Manager for mobile payments in Canada
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The two companies will deliver automated land administration solutions that enable governments to manage property rights efficiently, equitably and with transparency.
Walmart Canada opens 200th supercentre Bench has launched a transactional website in the US as it looks to become a major fashion brand in the country. The Manchester-based casual fashion brand said the site will not only provide a place for US customers to buy its clothing but will also engage customers through an eclectic mix of content and social media. Developed by PushON, the site is built using a combination of Magento, the e-commerce platform, and WordPress, to deliver superior content and social media interaction.
Peapod.com first in US to launch virtual grocery stores Peapod.com, the nation’s leading Internet grocer, has announced the launch of more than 100 virtual grocery stores at commuter rail stations in Boston, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Chicago. The first of its kind in the US, the virtual store technology features billboards of larger-than-life grocery aisles on the train platforms. Commuters with iPhones, iPads or Android phones simply scan a QR code on the billboards to download a free PeapodMobile app and start shopping on the spot by scanning the barcodes of the products displayed in the “aisles.”
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Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), a global market leader in secure technologies, is serving as the Trusted Service Manager (TSM) for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in their offering of NFC credit card payment services to their customers. G&D’s TSM service will securely download and provide the CIBC Mobile Payment Application and the credentials required for contactless payment transactions using NFCenabled smartphones, in line with global best practices for ensuring secure NFC transactions for consumers. The TSM service is managed from G&D’s fully certified North American TSM data centre located in Toronto, Ontario.
Automated land administration solutions for Latin America Thomson Reuters and Informática El Corte Inglés (IECI) have formed a strategic partnership to implement cadastral mapping and land information management systems in Latin America.
Walmart Canada has opened its 200th supercenter, in Edmonton, Alberta. The grand opening marks a major milestone for Walmart Canada. The company opened its first supercentres in Ontario in 2006. Currently, Walmart Canada has supercentres in six provinces and 373 stores nationwide serving more than eight million customers each week.
Sonae opens first store in Latin America Zippy has opened a store in the Dominican Republic under a franchising agreement. Sonae has strengthened its international presence with the opening of its first store in Latin America. This first step towards establishing Sonae’s international presence in the region took place with the opening of a Zippy store in the Dominican Republic under a franchising agreement with Phoenix Group. This process of expansion of Sonae SR has contributed towards progressively increasing Sonae’s international revenues, while at the same time enabling the company to benefit from exposure to markets in different phases of economic growth.
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Business NEWS Argos to close or John Lewis relocate 75 stores as Partnership opens it moves to become a first joint supermarket digital-led retailer and ‘At Home’ offering
for Tommy, as a minority partner and will begin its wholesale and retail operations starting 4 January 2013. ASSA will continue to operate the Tommy Hilfiger brand in all the other countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
NCR to buy software company Retalix for $650 million
Home Retail Group has announced that it will close or relocate 75 of its Argos stores over the next five years as it looks to reposition the retailer as a digitally-led business. Chief Executive Terry Duddy said, “the transformation plan aims to deliver growth by repositioning Argos as a digitally-led business from a catalogueled business, leading the market growth of digital commerce through online, mobile and tablet, and offering customers more products with the fastest, most convenient fulfilment options.”
Metro to sell Distagro food division to Sysco Canada German retail major Metro Group has signed an agreement to sell its Distagro foodservice division to Sysco Canada. Distagro supplies mostly restaurant chains, corporately-owned stores and gas station chains. The deal involves the Distagro warehouse in Boucherville which employs close to 140 people with Metro continuing to operate the SaintJean-Port-Joli warehouse and serve the Marché Ami, Marché Extra, Service, Servi Express and Dépanneur Gem banners that were supplied by Distagro.
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The John Lewis Partnership has announced the opening of its new Waitrose and John Lewis at Home stores in Ipswich. The shops, which have created 375 jobs, are the first Waitrose supermarket and John Lewis at Home outlets to open next to each other. John Lewis has invested £12 million in the two stores which share an entrance and a customer café. The John Lewis store features 43,000 sq ft of selling space over two floors. Computer terminals in the branch allow shoppers to browse products from the wider John Lewis assortment which can be ordered for home delivery or next day collection at the shop.
Tommy Hilfiger, Inbrands form Brazilian joint venture The Tommy Hilfiger Group has formed a joint venture with Brazilian multichannel distribution network Inbrands to operate, manage and distribute certain branded products of the retailer in the country. The partnership also includes American Sportwear (ASSA), the Latin America and the Caribbean distributor
ATM maker NCR Corp (NCR.N) said it would buy Israeli software company Retalix Ltd (RTLX.TA) for $650 million in a bid to expand its footprint in the retail sector. Retalix shareholders will get $30 per share, or a near 37 percent premium to the stock’s closing price of $21.90 on the Nasdaq on 27 November 2012. NCR, which has a market value of $3.83 billion, said it plans to finance the deal through a combination of cash and debt, and expects the deal to add to its 2013 non-GAAP earnings. NCR said it expects pre-tax cost synergies of about $5 million to $10 million in 2013, and about $20 million to $25 million over three years.
Sainsbury’s appoints Angie Risley as HR director Sainsbury’s has appointed Angie Risley as group HR director. Risley will replace Gywnn Burr who is leaving the supermarket chain in March 2013. Risley was most recently group HR director at
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Business NEWS Lloyds Banking Group. Prior to this she was group HR director at Whitbread. She is also a non-executive director at Serco, chairing its Remuneration Committee. In her new role, Risley will take responsibility for corporate, retail and logistics HR, reporting to Chief Executive Justin King. She will serve on Sainsbury’s Operating Board.
as Vero Moda and Jack & Jones. He will take up his new role with New Look on 7 January 2013.
B&M Bargains sold to US private equity firm
Target exec joins Verizon board
Verizon Communications has elected Kathryn A. Tesija, EVP of merchandising and supply chain at Target, to the Verizon board of directors, effective immediately. “Kathee Tesija brings to Verizon her valuable consumer insight as well as significant experience in managing the complex, large-scale, global retail functions of merchandising and supply chain,” said Lowell C. McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO. The addition of Tesija brings Verizon’s total board membership to 12.
New Look appoints Anders Kristiansen as CEO High street fashion chain New Look has appointed Anders Kristiansen as its chief executive. Kristiansen was previously vice chief executive of Bestseller Fashion Group China, the largest fashion retailer in China, which operates brands such
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Discount retailer B&M Bargains has been sold to US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in a deal which will see Sir Terry Leahy, the former CEO of Tesco, become its chairman. CD&R has bought a “significant stake” in the company which was acquired by the Arora family in 2005. Since the acquisition, the business has grown rapidly to over 300 stores, with sales in excess of £1 billion and 10,000 employees. Following the sale, B&M will continue to be managed by its existing management team.
Grupo Cortefiel invests in MICROS Franchise Planning The Spanish retailer will gain deeper insight and control over purchasing decisions. Grupo Cortefiel says it is implementing MICROS Franchise Planning to help coordinate its international franchise partners and drive revenues. Building on the successful implementation of Merchandise Planning modules for its owned stores, Grupo Cortefiel opted to add the Franchise Planning and Range
Visualiser modules from MICROS to provide an efficient collaboration solution for its franchise partners.
Metro to sell Real supermarket chain to Auchan for €1bn
German retail major Metro Group is planning to sell the Turkish and Eastern European operations of its Real supermarket chain to French retailer Auchan for over €1bn. The sale is part of Metro’s strategy to slim down its portfolio and focus primarily on its cash & carry and its electronic retail unit Media Saturn that are seen as having better long-term growth prospects. Real’s sale is expected to include the chain’s operations in Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine besides those in Turkey. The chain was formed in 1992 from the merger of various others chains - divi, Basar, Continent, Esbella and real-kauf, which had presence across Germany, Poland, Russia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.
MoneyGram, PayPal new global agreement Global money transfer company MoneyGram has signed an agreement with e-commerce payment company PayPal to enable customers to easily access money in their digital wallets in the physical world. Consumers with a
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Business NEWS PayPal account will now have the option of transacting with their funds - withdrawal and deposits at MoneyGram outlets. The agreement will allow e-commerce access to consumers who do not have or use a bank account or credit card. The companies are expected to launch a pilot of the services in the US in early 2013 with a global rollout expected to follow soon after.
ASOS names Kate Bostock as new executive director of product and trading
ASOS has appointed Kate Bostock, the former head of general merchandise at Marks & Spencer, as its new executive director of product and trading. Bostock will join the company in January 2013, taking over from Robert Bready who has resigned from the ASOS board after seven years to pursue fresh challenges. Bready is credited with playing a formative role in the growth of the company during which the ASOS retail team grew from 20 people to over 350.
VeriFone Systems and Fujitsu partnership VeriFone Systems and Fujitsu have entered into a partnership deal to offer retailers integrated mobile retailing solutions powered by VeriFone
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GlobalBay and integrated with the Fujitsu GlobalSTORE solution, or as a standalone mobile point of sale (POS). The co-branded solutions enable retailers to serve consumers from anywhere in the store. They feature support for advanced mobile payment acceptance, including digital wallets and alternative payments.
Should you buy Woolworths stores?
It is hard not to respect Woolworths for the job they have done over the past 20 years or so, building their brand and diversifying their business to the point where they are as ubiquitous as the Australian sun. Although they have assets and businesses outside of supermarket retailing, their sales are predominately driven from prime physical locations that have developed into a significant property portfolio. As part of a strategic review, the company has decided to split off the property portfolio from the rest of the business into a new entity called Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group, or SCAPG.
PayPal jumps into price-matching eBay Inc’s PayPal unit is seeking to oneup big box retailers in what is emerging as one of this holiday shopping season’s hot trends: price matching. The company introduced a programme offering customers cashback for any price
discrepancies they discover on the products they buy through their PayPal account, including airline travel. PayPal is promising users as much as $1,000 in refunds each from money it has set aside for the promotion.
Nestlé forecasts 50pc of sales will take place in emerging markets
The world’s biggest food company Nestlé said it expects to generate more than half its sales in emerging markets, including India and China, by the end of the decade. Developing markets currently account for 40 percent of its global sales. Nandu Nandkishore, Nestlé zone director for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, told AFP in New Delhi that by the end of the decade sales growth would reach 50 percent.
IKEA to move to clean energy by 2020, protect forests IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, will shift to renewable energy by 2020 and grow more trees than it uses under a plan to safeguard nature that has won support from environmentalists. The Sweden-based group, which wants to build on many customers’ desire for
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Business NEWS a greener lifestyle, also said it would limit sales by 2016 to energy-efficient products including induction cookers and LED light bulbs.
HMV sells Mama Group division to private equity group
Group. In a second appointment, Suzy Frith has joined the retailer as a nonexecutive director. With 25 years of experience in communications and global technology markets, Frith formed and ran a tech PR agency for many years and now sits on the boards of EPOS company Cybertill, market research agency SPA Future Thinking and marketing technology company Brightsource.
John Browett to leave Apple after just six months
Beleaguered global entertainment retail chain HMV has sold its live music division Mama Group to the private equity group Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) to cut its debt and renew focus on the retail division. The retailer has been working towards restoring the business to profitability with the funds expected to be employed to reduce the company’s debts. The retailer is also discussing further sales with other interested parties to sell G-A-Y and Heaven clubs.
Bathstore appoints Simon Burke as nonexec chairman Bathroom fittings retailer Bathstore has appointed Simon Burke as non-executive chairman. Burke is currently chairman of crafts retailer Hobbycraft and chairman of mobile commerce specialist Eagle Eye Solutions. Previously, he held chairman or CEO positions at Majestic Wine, Hamleys and Virgin Entertainment
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Apple has announced that its new head of retail John Browett is to leave the company after just six months in the role. The former Dixons CEO had been hired by the technology giant in April to drive the global expansion of its stores. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Browett had been selected due to his commitment to customer service being “like no-one else we’ve met.” However, it is understood that Browett upset Apple workers by cutting staff hours at the company’s retail stores, a move which Apple subsequently reversed and acknowledged as a mistake. Apple declined to give a reason for Browett’s departure but said it was already looking for his replacement.
European Bank to invest in Georgian retail sector
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has sanctioned a loan to one of Georgia’s latest retailer players - Smart Supermarkets, to aide the expansion of its network in the country. The loan will be employed to finance the construction of a distribution centre as well as to open 28 new supermarkets and convenience stores in Tbilisi and adjoining areas. The ERDB loan is a part of the bank’s investment in the Georgian retail sector to enhance competition in the industry.
Kathmandu appoints new director Outdoor adventure retailer Kathmandu has appointed former Tesco executive Christine Cross to its board. Cross is currently a director of supermarket giant Woolworths and has extensive experience in the international retail and consumer goods sector. She was formerly responsible for Own Brand development and international expansion for UK supermarket chain Tesco.
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IT NEWS Dynamax partnership supports new live video feature
Target revamps its digital experience with Razorfish
which enables organisations to drive down distribution costs, improve customer service and better utilise their fleet and resources.
Ergonomic Solutions introduces SafeGuard D-Frame for iPad 2 & 3
Dynamax Technologies has announced the latest addition to digitalsignage.NET, its cloud-based digital signage software. The company has partnered with IPTV solutions provider Exterity to allow digitalsignage.NET users to add live video feeds to their playlist and display an unlimited number of channels simultaneously. The new feature will enable Dynamax users to distribute broadcast-quality digital TV and video over existing building and campus IP networks to displays without compromising image quality.
O2 launches new mobile payment system for retailers UK-based mobile services provider O2, in collaboration with Visa Europe and Global Payments, has launched the new Mobile Point of Sale service (mPOS) which allows retailers to accept credit and debit card payments simply via mobile technology. O2 mPOS is a compact chip and PIN terminal that is connected to the retailer’s existing smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, and allows for card payments. Later, customer can check the transaction through receipt or via email or SMS if required.
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Target has selected Razorfish to relaunch Target.com for desktop, mobile and tablet as well as to design mobile apps to supplement the in-store experience. Razorfish will not replace any existing partners, including Deloitte Digital, IBM, Olson and SapientNitro. In 2011, Target re-launched Target.com, but users criticised the site for inefficiencies and a site crash that September, which immediately followed the widely publicised launch of a designer collection. Since then, Target has regained control of its online sales from Amazon, but the results have been described as “maligned and glitch” by industry insiders.
m-hance launches integrated mobile delivery management system m-hance, a provider of business software solutions, has announced the launch of m-hance Delivery Management to further extend the supply chain functionality of its core financial management applications. m-hance Delivery Management is an integrated mobile delivery management system
Ergonomic Solutions, a designer and supplier of mounting and security solutions within the retail sector, has announced the launch of the latest in its range of SafeGuard products – SafeGuard D-Frame. MobilePOS is fast becoming the ultimate solution for assisted sales. Shop staff can provide a personal shopping experience from assisting with enquiries through to the purchase itself.
Star Micronics launches new SMS220i iOS compatible Bluetooth printer Star Micronics has announced the latest addition to its expanding range of mobile printers. The company says the SM-S220i has been developed in response to the rapidly growing demand for a mobile Bluetooth printer that is compatible with multiple operating
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IT NEWS systems (Windows®, Android™, Linux, iOS). It is Star’s first printer to be approved by Apple Inc., and, unlike most printers available today, the SMS220i can pair directly with the Apple iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch® via Bluetooth. Compatibility with iOS is a result of Star’s investment in Apple Inc.’s MFi (Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod) certification. The SM-S220i also supports the Bluetooth SPP protocol that allows compatibility with other common operating systems.
NCR launches e-commerce suite for small retailers US e-commerce solutions provider NCR has unveiled NCR Retail Online, a new e-commerce suite for independent retailers that provides for online and point-of-sale integration. The company introduced the service to help small brick-and-mortar retailers match up to their major counterparts by taking their businesses online.
Thyron Posmate Smart gains iOS approval
makes ‘PosMate Smart’ the first mobile payment terminal deployed on the market to operate on any device across Apple iOS, Android and Blackberry.
Crossmark launches new self-service data portal for retailers Sales and marketing services provider Crossmark has launched a new selfservice data portal that delivers real-time business insights to manufacturers and retailers in the consumer goods industry. The data portal employs Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) and Microsoft SQL Server 2012 business intelligence tools to provide sales and marketing channels with quick access to real-time market data. This in turn is expected to allow quicker analysis and informed decision making for retailers on their growth strategies.
ViewSonic intros LCD touch display for high-traffic environments
and a dustproof surface that is controllable by finger, stylus or even a gloved hand. With a USB HID-compliant design, the TD2220 provides automatic touch functionality via USB connection under Windows operating systems.
Armodilo showcasing tablet kiosk at Digital Signage Expo 2013
Armodilo Display Solutions has announced that it will be showcasing its premium iPad Kiosk/Tablet Display Stands at Digital iPad kioskSignage Expo 2013 in the Las Vegas Convention Centre in Las Vegas on February 27 and 28, 2013. The tablet display solution company will be displaying its versatile, lightweight and multiple tablet-friendly kiosk systems which it says are well suited for the digital signage industry. “We are excited to be showcasing our premium products at DSE 2013. Interest has been extremely high in both the event and retail industries since our launch under a year ago,” said Iles Guran, Armodilo founder and president.
Flypaper launches new application Thyron Systems has announced the launch of the first fully certified payment terminal that can interface via Bluetooth with all the major smart-device application platforms. The recent iOS accreditation
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ViewSonic Corp has announced the launch of a dual point optical touch display solution, the TD2220. The 22-inch TD2220 display is equipped with dual point optical touch technology featuring a hardened 8H level scratch-resistant surface to ensure accuracy and durability. The display has full-HD 1080p resolution
Flypaper Studio Inc. has introduced the Flypaper Connect for .Net component to update data-based Flypaper digital signage content. Flypaper Connect for .Net enables users to access database information via web services written in . Net to update Flypaper content without republishing a project.
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IT NEWS Atmel announces line of drivers for kiosk, digital signage LCDs
of ORSYP’s Dollar Universe as the centralised job scheduling solution, especially for the automation of its business critical SAP system clusters.
Key Foods selects credit-recovery system
The Atmel Corporation has announced a new family of 8-channel LED drivers for applications in kiosks, rugged digital signage displays, military, medical and avionics. The drivers are integrated with a boost controller to bring a power management system with a patented Efficiency Optimizer to LCD backlighting applications. When combined with Atmel AVR microcontrollers including tinyAVR and megaAVR MCUs, the MSL3080/86/88 LED drivers provide a degree of flexibility, comprehensive fault and system monitoring, as well as a 5000:1 PWM dimming range.
Migros expands its adoption of ORSYP solutions for IT workload automation Leading Swiss retail chain has harmonised IT processes and capacity management. ORSYP, a leading provider of IT Operations Management solutions, the largest retail chain in Switzerland, is expanding its adoption of ORSYP solutions for IT workload automation and replacing legacy systems from CA Technologies. Migros will benefit from a unified platform
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Key Food Stores Cooperative has selected a system to help identify and recover lost supplier credits and update vendor files for integration into a centralised ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. Key Food selected the system, the Lavante Recovery+ solution from Lavante, San Jose, California, after it realised that between periodic audits it was missing potential credits from suppliers because of duplicate payments, improperly returned products or discounts not received, among other reasons, according to a statement released by Lavante. The cooperative, which encompasses more 130 supermarkets in the New York Metro area, wanted to automate this process in order to gain visibility into its auditing and more quickly identify and recover missing credits on a continuous basis.
iCandy launches Cloud POS solution MICROS, the leading provider of technology for the retail and hospitality industries, has announced that it will be providing its Cloud POS solution to support the launch of a pioneering card and gift store concept, iCandy. With two
stores opening before Christmas and a further five planned by February 2013, iCandy is looking to bring a fresh offer to the high street and wanted a POS solution that offers mobility, flexibility and scalability. The ability to provide central control with real-time reporting to enable informed decision making and business agility was also essential.
Microsoft allows Surface tablet greater retail ground
Software major Microsoft will make its tablet series Surface available at additional retail outlets beginning in the middle of December 2012. The company will undertake an expansion of its production facilities to meet increased demand. Microsoft will also launch a campaign to provide consumers with greater interaction options, thereby allowing greater purchases of the computer. Steve Schueler, Microsoft’s retail sales and marketing corporate vice president, told the Wall Street Journal that the moves to expand retail presence and ramp up production were based on consumer feedback and interest from retailers.
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SAP Hana: an overview
As the volume of data gathered by businesses grows at a very high pace, requirements for faster processing, storage and accuracy are also increasing. The fact that data is coming from a rising number of different sources, disparate data types often make managing and processing it a challenge. The article provides an overview of SAP’s HANA technology and what it can offer. SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software. The company’s best-known software products are its enterprise resource planning application SAP ERP, its enterprise data warehouse solution SAP Business Warehouse SAP BW, SAP Business Objects software, and most recently, Sybase mobile products and the inmemory computing appliance SAP HANA. SAP is one of the largest
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software companies in the world. SAP HANA (High Performance ANalytic Appliance) is a piece of technology that allows massive quantities of real time data to be processed in the main memory of the server in order to provide immediate results from analyses and transactions and is founded on SAP’s history of building in-memory products. SAP HANA was first released on the 20th of November
2010. SAP HANA is positioned in so called “Big Data” market meaning it deals with the processing and storing of large quantities of data, typically TB(terabytes), PB (petabytes) and even larger. At its launch, HANA started with 1TB of RAM supporting up to 5TB of uncompressed data. In late 2011, hardware with 8TB of RAM became available, supporting up to 40TB of uncompressed data.
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27 Offering its own database solution to support its Business Suite ERP places SAP in direct competition with some of its largest partners – IBM, Microsoft and Oracle. The more prominent competing products are: Appliances: • Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse (Microsoft) • Active Enterprise Data Warehouse 5600 (Teradata) • Exadata Database Machine (Oracle) • Exalytics In-Memory Machine (Oracle) • Greenplum Data Computing Appliance (EMC) • Netezza Data Warehouse Appliance (IBM) • Vertica Analytics Platform (HP) In-memory database management systems: • Kognitio Analytical Platform (Kognitio) • SolidDB (IBM) • Times Ten (Oracle) • Terracotta BigMemory (Software AG) • Manifact (Manifact) There are four components within the software group: • SAP HANA DB (or HANA DB) refers to the database technology itself, • SAP HANA Studio refers to the suite of tools provided by SAP for modelling, • SAP HANA Appliance refers to HANA DB as delivered on partner certified hardware (see below) as an appliance. It also includes the modelling tools from HANA Studio as well as replication and data transformation tools to move data into HANA DB. • SAP HANA Application Cloud refers to the cloud based infrastructure for delivery of applications (typically existing SAP applications rewritten to run on HANA). SAP HANA is a revolutionary platform that is best suited for performing realtime analytics and developing and deploying real-time applications. At the core of this real-time data platform is the SAP HANA database which is fundamentally different from any other database engine in the market today (figure 1).
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Figure 1: SAP HANA - platform for a new class of real-time analytics and applications
Whenever companies have to go deep within their data sets to ask complex and interactive questions, and have to go broad (which means working with enormous data sets that are of different types and from different sources) at the same time, SAP HANA is well-suited for the task. Increasingly there is a need for this data to be recent and preferably in real-time. Add to that the need for high speed (very fast response time and true interactivity), and the need to do all this without any pre-fabrication (no data preparation, no pre-aggregates, notuning) and you have a unique combination of requirements that only SAP HANA can address effectively. When this set of needs or any of it subsets have to be addressed (in any combination), SAP HANA is in its element. Real-time analytics – the analytics categories in which HANA specialises • Operational Reporting (real-time insights from transaction systems such as custom or SAP ERP). This covers Sales Reporting (improving fulfilment rates and accelerating key sales processes) , Financial Reporting (immediate insights across revenue, customers, accounts payable, etc.), Shipping Reporting (better enabling of complete stock overview analysis), Purchasing Reporting (complete realtime analysis of complete order history)
and Master Data Reporting (real-time ability to impact productivity and accuracy). • NetWeaver BW on HANA) – BW customers can run their entire BW application on the SAP HANA platform leading to unprecedented BW performance (queries run 10-100 times faster; data loads 5-10 times faster; calculations run 5-10 times faster), a dramatically simplified IT landscape (leads to greater operational efficiency and reduced waste), and a business community able to make faster decisions. Moreover, not only is the BW investment of these customers preserved but supercharged too. Customers can migrate with ease to the SAP HANA database without impacting the BW application layer at all. • Predictive and Text analysis on Big Data - to succeed, companies must go beyond focusing on delivering the best product or service and uncover customer/ employee/vendor/partner trends and insights, anticipate behaviour and take proactive action. SAP HANA provides the ability to perform predictive and text analysis on large volumes of data in realtime. It does this through the power of its in-database predictive algorithms and its R integration capability. With its text search/analysis capabilities SAP HANA also provides a robust way to leverage unstructured data.
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28 Real-time applications – the application categories in which HANA specialises • Core Process Accelerators – accelerate business reporting by leveraging ERP Accelerators, which are non-disruptive ways to take advantage of in-memory technology. These solutions involve an SAP HANA database sitting next to a customer’s SAP ERP system. Transactional data is replicated in realtime from ECC into HANA for immediate reporting, and then results can even be fed back into ECC. Solutions include CO-PA Accelerator, Finance and Controlling Accelerator, Customer Segmentation Accelerator, Sales Pipeline Analysis, and more. • Planning, Optimisation Apps – SAP HANA excels at applications that require complex scheduling with fast results, and SAP is delivering solutions that no other vendor can match. These include Sales & Operational Planning,
Business Objects Planning & Consolidation, Cash Forecasting, ATP calculation, Margin calculation, Manufacturing scheduling optimisation (from start-up Optessa), and more. • Sense & Response Apps – these applications offer real-time insights on Big Data such as smart meter data, point-of-sale data, social media data, and more. They involve complexities such as personalised insight and recommendations, text search and mining, and predictive analytics. Only SAP HANA is well suited for such applications, including Smart Meter Analytics, SAP Supplier InfoNet, SAP precision retailing, and Geo-spatial Visualization apps (from start-up Space-Time Insight). Typically these processes tend to be data-intensive and many could not be deployed in the past owing to cost and performance constraints.
What sets SAP HANA apart for other database technologies? Other database management systems on the market are typically good at either transactional workloads or analytical workloads, not both. When transactional DBMS products are used for analytical workloads, they require you to separate your workloads into different databases (OLAP and OLTP). You have to extract data from your transactional system (ERP), transform that data for reporting and load it into a reporting database (BW). The reporting database still requires significant effort to create and maintain tuning structures such as aggregates and indexes to provide even moderate performance. Due to its hybrid structure for processing transactional workloads and analytical workloads fully in-memory, SAP HANA combines the best of both worlds. You do not need to take the time to load data from your transactional database into
Figure 2: Broad portfolio of SAP HANA enabled solutions – Like “games” on the Xbox”
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29 your reporting database, or even build traditional tuning structures to enable that reporting. As transactions are happening, you can report against them live. By consolidating two landscapes (OLAP and OLTP) into a single database, SAP HANA provides companies with massively lower TCO in addition to mind-blowing speed. But even more important is the new application programming paradigm enabled for “extreme” applications. Since the SAP HANA database resides entirely in-memory all the time, additional complex calculations, functions and data-intensive operations can be applied to the data directly in the database, without requiring time-consuming and costly movements of data between the database and applications. This incredible simplification and optimisation
of the data layer is the “killer feature” of SAP HANA because it removes multiple layers of technology and significant human effort to get incredible speed. It also has the benefit of reducing the overall TCO of the entire solution. Some other database engines on the market today might claim to provide one or another of the benefits that SAP HANA brings. However, none of them can deliver on all of them. This is real-time computing, and customers can take advantage of this today via SAP BW on SAP HANA, Accelerators on SAP HANA and native SAP HANA applications (figure 2). There are various sectors in which SAP HANA can be deployed, such as: Combining online analytical processing and online transactional processing into a single database, SAP HANA creates
a unified view on enterprise data from transaction, analysis, decision, and planning systems. Real-time analytics applications and real-time transactional applications, including planning, can run in mixed operations. SAP HANA can drive system landscape simplification by eliminating the need for purpose-built databases such as operational data stores, and as a result reduce overall system proliferation. SAP HANA will become a very important asset in the best-run companies in the world, on premise as well as in supporting SAP applications in the cloud for large enterprises and small businesses. With the SAP HANA platform, SAP enables co-innovation for SAP customers and partners with the SAP Services and SAP Custom Development organisations, as well as with the SAP ecosystem.
Financial Services
· Hedge fund trading analysis · Real-time systematic risk management and reporting based on market trading exposure
Consumer Products and Goods
· Supplier risk management · Inventory recall reconciliation product trace · Product lifecycle and cost management · EPA standards compliance · On-shelf availability analysis · Real-time warranty and defect analysis
Manufacturing
· Manufacturing, production and maintenance
Analytics
Real-time asset utilisation analytics
Oil and Gas
· Operations performance management · Business transformation · Oil well performance analysis · Supply chain network visibility · Spend performance analysis
Retail
· Store operations · Points-of-sales retail sales analytics · Load balance optimisation · Real-time completive multi-channel pricing · Product damage, returns and spoilage
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30
Mobile POS – where store meets multi-channel
Marcia Crosland is the Director of the Customer Experience Consulting team within NCR’s Global Consulting Group, which works with retailers around the world offering insights and expertise to achieve maximum results. NCR Corporation is a global technology company leading how the world connects, interacts and transacts with business. NCR’s assisted- and self-service solutions and comprehensive support services address the needs of retail, financial, travel, healthcare, hospitality, gaming and public sector organizations in more than 100 countries. NCR is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia. Marcia Crosland, NCR
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31 Consumers today are demanding a multi-channel experience wherever they shop. Empowered by their own mobile technology, they can get product information and compare prizes when in the shop in real-time. For them, mobile interaction must feel like a seamless extension of all the other channels offered by the retailer. Mobile POS has become a trend retailers cannot afford to ignore. Retailers need to consider and manage many factors and make sure the mobile POS solution is implemented correctly. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. Therefore an expert examination of each business issues to best define the mobile scenario is key. Retailers that have deployed mobile POS have not only increased transactions but also boosted their customer satisfaction, thriving and accelerating beyond the competition. It’s no secret that consumers today are demanding - and that retailers must offer - a multi-channel experience, simply in order to survive. But thriving is an infinitely more difficult task. The rapid surge of mobile and tablet use provides an opportunity for retailers to thrive and accelerate beyond the competition. Empowered by their own mobile technology, consumers have shown that they prefer using mobile solutions in-store. Using this preferred channel, retailers are turning to mobile Point-of-Sale (POS) to deliver the multichannel shopping experience that consumers demand. Real-time Retailing Is the Key According to a recent article by Boston Retail Partners, Real-time Retailing Is the Key, retailers that have deployed mobile POS have not only increased transactions by 20% but also boosted their customer satisfaction rating to 82%. While only 7% of retailers currently use mobile POS, 52% plan to implement mobile POS within the next two years. Put simply, mobile POS is a trend retailers cannot afford to ignore. Key opportunities for retailers The opportunities for mobile POS range far and wide, from impacting the checkout area to assisting consumers on the floor and empowering associates
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to provide better service. Retailers who have deployed mobile POS can experience a variety of benefits, notably capturing more sales, increasing store capacity and improving operations. Improving customer satisfaction and loyalty, however, is a critical benefit in the converged retailing world. Mobile interaction must feel like a seamless extension of all the other channels offered by the retailer.
While the benefits of mobile POS can be significant, it is in no way a onesize-fits-all solution. In some cases, certain implementations of mobile POS could even work against you. For example, queue-busting is a mobile POS application where an order is pre-scanned and suspended before finalising at the traditional POS. However, it does not work well for every retailer. For retailers who rely on upselling at the checkout through
promotions, warranties or impulse items, revenue can be lost with queuebusting. Mobile POS must work in line with all aspects of your business, not sabotage your efforts to add revenue at the checkout. The bottom line for retailers is that you must direct your mobile POS implementation in the areas that will have the biggest impact for your store and your consumers. Understanding the intricacies of your unique business challenges and opportunities is the first crucial step. Top three challenges for retailers Once you determine the proper direction for your mobile POS implementation, you must then identify the challenges your store will face as a result. Let’s take a look at three of the most common challenges retailers encounter when deploying mobile POS. 1. Security, security, security Mobile POS units bring a new level of access to information for associates and consumers. Retailers must first consider how their mobile POS program will operate within the parameters of Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance, protection of personally identifiable information (PII) and loss prevention. A mobile wireless network must be PCI compliant to
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32 protect transaction and consumer data. Also, when considering a user interface design, a retailer must remember that mobile POS breaks down the barriers present at a traditional POS counter. Safeguarding PII must be considered, as consumers may be able to view the screen held in the palm of the associates’ hands. Retailers must define system management factors for safety. Issues like requiring employee authentication and restricting access to public sites and applications (apps) need to be considered. Does your device need to be retail hardened, or will a consumer device fit your needs? What tool, if any, will be used to manage in-store device inventory? What procedures or services will handle lost or stolen devices, particularly in regards to confidential customer data? \ 2. The never-ending list of operational challenges A retailer has many operational challenges to consider and overcome with mobile POS. He must consider questions around device sharing, the flow of the transaction, item handling, receipts and supplies. The questions and challenges can add up and are unique for every retailer. Homing in on your primary challenges and strategising realistic ways to manage the issues is a key step to ensuring your program’s success.
must equip associates with the skills required to approach your consumers on the fly, as well as provide them with instruction in how to work with new technology and apps. However, the training doesn’t stop with your team; your consumers will need to be trained as well. For example, if your shoppers are accustomed to front-end checkout and your mobile POS moves these transactions to the floor, you must educate shoppers to eliminate confusion. How, when and where you do so will be unique to each retailer.
Retail segments that can benefit Mobile POS has potential for practically any retail segment. As smartphone use surges, today’s shoppers often carry advanced mobile technology that gives them access to product and price information as they shop. With this in mind, associates on the floor should have even greater accessibility to full product details and store/warehouse inventory information.
Recommendations With so many factors to consider and manage, the retailer needs to make sure their mobile POS solution is implemented correctly. This process requires an expert examination of your business issues to best define your mobile scenario. Defining your mobile scenario gets back to the operational challenges and opportunities we’ve discussed. It is unique to every retailer. But how do you get there?
A recent Retail Systems Research survey, Omni-Channel Benchmark Report 2012, noted that “retail winners” aren’t mastering channel convergence in their own way – they are smart enough to ask for help. This separates the best from those who are still struggling with store systems while their peers are moving on to capturing the consumer. Findings show that the majority of retail winners have a greater willingness to work with outside integration partners than in the past: 56% compared to only 25% in 2011.
3. Training and marketing complexities Mobile POS may redirect your associates from tasks, like stocking shelves, and put them in direct contact with your consumers. The retailer
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Optimize store space. Reduce operational costs. Maximize performance of every shelf. Boost sales and customer loyalty.
An accurate, total store plan is essential for understanding and optimizing category space, impulse sales, and the overall shopping experience. Aldata Store Planning is a practical, comprehensive database-driven floor planning and analysis software solution that dramatically improves the retail space planning process. With Aldata Store Planning you can: ■ Efficiently and effectively create and maintain store layouts ■ Optimize the position, performance and layout of merchandise categories ■ Align store layouts with category management initiatives ■ Get a clear picture of store performance from advanced reporting and analytics ■ Quickly execute planogram and SKU level changes ■ Reduce investments in capital equipment
More than 20 years of experience in supply chain management
More information: Office Slovenia Aldata Solution d.o.o., Tržaška cesta 515, 1351 Brezovica Phone: +386 (0)8 2000 700, E-mail: info.si@aldata.com
www.aldata.com
34
The role and goals of planograms are changing, and with it, the challenges for retailers and suppliers
Ivan Guzelj, Aldata
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Ivan Guzelj has more than 20 years of experience working in the retail business. He is currently the general manager of Aldata Slovenia, which provides retail, distribution and logistics software and services in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Ivan Guzelj joined Aldata group in 2002. In his long retail career being he has participated in various projects as project director and has worked in the role of business consultant for world’s biggest retail chains such as Tesco Europe, Tradeka Finland, ATAC (Billa), Ahold Netherlands, Mercator, Match Hungary, DTC Poland, Dixy Russia, Alshaya Group, Atlantic Trade, Interex Balcan, Nelt Serbia. Prior to Aldata, Ivan Guzelj had worked as manager of Asters SCM Division since 1996. Aldata is the leading global provider of solutions and services for business process optimisation across the supply chain, including suppliers and end buyers. Its solutions help retailers, distributors and manufacturers save time and reduce costs, eliminate inefficiencies and enhance availability, service quality and customer loyalty. Aldata was founded in 1988. The company has experience in managing and implementing consulting and implementation projects for major retailers and manufacturers of wholesale goods and in organising areas such as wholesale and distribution. The services are available through its specialised stores.
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35 The key to retailers’ success is their ability to satisfy their customers’ needs. It is important for retailers to recognise their needs and wishes and to tailor their offering and services to meet local customer requirements and expectations. The experience of the largest global retailers shows that by implementing planograms, customised to each individual store, they can control their shelf inventory and manage sales to local customers with personalised offerings. The basic idea behind shelf planning is to align the volume of individual categories, assortment, the space that is available to individual products, shelf location, the number of products on a shelf and store layout with individual store sales data and customer data. This includes data available to the retailer and the manufacturer and data generated through market and consumer behaviour research. The generation of customised planograms is one of the key factors for ensuring customer satisfaction, sales growth and shelf inventory optimisation.
Companies that constantly adapt their offer to the expectations and needs of local customers while implementing effective shelf space management processes can keep hold of an important competitive advantage. This enables them to attract customers and retain their loyalty by winning where it matters the most – on the shelves.
developing a localised offer and diversifying products. Store planning is an important part of the strategy enabling retailers to offer added value to their customers. This way, they can offer them the products they need, when and where they need them, and allocate them to the shelves where the customers will find them.
A customer-focused approach and customer satisfaction are key to the success of any retailer. Today, consumers are better informed and use modern technologies to make their shopping fast and efficient. It is important for retailers to recognise their needs and wishes and to tailor their offering and services to meet local customer requirements and expectations. One of the major challenges for retailers is the fact that as much as 60 percent of inventory is displayed on shelves. Product assortments must be optimised through new approaches that include
Central monitoring and optimisation of supply chains are proven best practices used by all successful retailers. Their experience shows that by implementing planograms, customised to each individual store, they can control their shelf inventory and manage sales to local customers with personalised offerings. The basic idea behind shelf planning is to align the volume of individual categories, assortment, space that is available to individual products, location on the shelf and the number of products on a shelf, and the store layout with sales data for individual stores and customer
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data. This includes data available to the retailer and the manufacturer and data generated through market and consumer behaviour research. However, developing customised planograms is still a substantial challenge in practice. Even the leading global retailers admit that the implementation of such a model is a process with a number of hidden traps, such as implementation costs and the substantial initial efforts that are required to familiarise people and adjust processes, the environment and data to the new planning model. Apart from adapting the assortment and setting the rules on how to distribute the products on the shelves based on the purchasing behaviour and expectations of local customers and implementing various strategies and methods, other modifications are also required. These include redefining store replenishment logistics and the internal logistics of individual stores, order
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36 automation, obtaining adequate quality information and automating planogram development and maintenance. However, the design of customised planograms is one of the key factors for ensuring customer satisfaction, driving sales growth and optimising shelf inventory.
Reasons for implementing planograms customised to individual stores Our living environment has always continually changed but the changes occurring today are greater and faster than ever before. The economic crisis and unemployment have affected both consumers and retailers. Consumers are more careful and price-sensitive in their purchases, meaning retailers must adapt their pricing policy to consumer buying power. Not only do retailers have to offer the highest quality products at the best prices, they also have to include products that will address the specific needs of different segments. This is successfully achieved by applying an appropriate policy for their own brands, which are no longer considered as low price and low quality products. In the local as well as the wider environment new trends have been unveiled in consumers’ purchasing habits which reflect a different style and pace of life. Modern technologies have played an important role in changing the way consumers’ approach shopping. When shopping, consumers effectively use digital technologies, the Internet, mobile phones and social networks, and they have better access to and view the best offers and products on the market and expect retailers to adapt. Customer satisfaction may be every retailer’s mantra
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but is not always easy to achieve. It means offering exactly what the customers need, when and where they need it, and placing it on the shelf where they expect to find it. The changing environment therefore requires a different and modern shopping experience which includes a high level of service during the purchasing process as well as after, when the products are in use. It also requires adequate store formats and product offerings tailored to suit local consumers and shelves where the right products are displayed in right amount and manner so as to attract buyers and make sure they return.
Optimising store inventory Efficient stock management has always been one of the most important retailer strategies and challenges. While the majority manage their warehouse inventory successfully, experience and data reveal that shelf inventory management remains one of the greatest challenges retailers face today. The fact is that shelves are often not stocked with products that could have been sold and the inability to identify such products on shelves on time is a greater challenge for retailers than we may imagine. As a rule, stores use basic planograms that are based on shelf size, purchase processes and product orientation, although such assumptions are not always accurate or appropriate. Automated ordering and replenishment follows certain rules and principles, two of which are especially relevant: information about
the inventory, which is used in the ordering algorithm and concerns all store inventory, and product assortment, which is customised for a group of stores and not specifically for the store that is actually receiving the order. To design specific planograms the system must therefore be integrated into a wider IT environment and automation support must be provided, otherwise some products will be left on the shelves while others that could have been sold remain in warehouses or are not ordered through the system.
The goal and purpose of implementing customised planograms Retailers and manufacturers set various goals they wish to achieve by implementing customised planograms and applying different criteria for evaluating their importance and priority. The main goals include increasing sales and reducing inventory; designing planograms that support local customers’ requirements and can be implemented in each store; implementing assortment strategies in individual stores; managing planogram changes with the least amount of extra work; integrating processes and data to ensure planograms work as easily and efficiently as possible; and systematic and easy central documentation of planogram development rules. It will take a certain amount of time to realise these goals and achieve good results but experience reveals that the implementation of specific planograms brings positive results. On average, shelf maintenance productivity increases by 15% to 20% and inventory management productivity increases by 15% to 25%, depending on the category.
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37
The high cost of cheap printers
Jörk Schüßler, Citizen
Jörk Schüßler is Marketing Manager for Citizen in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Educated in Germany, Jörk has over 20 years of experience in sales environments, including sales and marketing in hardware, software, E-learning and television, and 10 years with Citizen Systems Europe GmbH. Following a number of senior management positions, Jörk assumed his current position as Marketing Manager for Citizen in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2011. Citizen Systems Europe operates from locations throughout Europe covering the EMEA region. It offers a wide range of printers for industrial, retail, healthcare and mobile applications specialising in label, barcode, portable and point-of-sale printers. In each case, the company’s products are sold and supported by a network of specialised partners. Citizen Systems Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citizen Systems Japan and part of the Citizen group of companies, a global organisation that manufactures products ranging from its world-famous Eco-Drive watches, calculators, mini-printers and industrial printing systems to machine tools, quartz oscillators, LEDs and other electronic components.
Cheaper printers cause poor printing, rejected deliveries and lost business. Jörk Schüßler, European Marketing Manager for Citizen Systems Europe, explains how the advanced features of printers from the market leaders will save you money and cut downtime.
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38 Citizen and its resellers constantly encounter retail managers who have bought cheap and come to regret it. When times are tough, manufacturers naturally look at ways of taking cost out of their businesses. However, care needs to be exercised, as saving a few pounds on capital equipment today can cost far more later on if that equipment fails. Put simply, short term gain can bring long term pain. The difference in price between low cost printers and those from leading brands may not be much – a few tens of pounds at most – but this is a small price to pay to prevent the huge losses in revenue and brand integrity that are often suffered when cheap printers fail and goods are left waiting to be handled or shipped. In contrast, the best of today’s desktop printers offer a range of features to enable easy operation and media loading, reducing the likelihood of failure. For example, the ARCP™ (Active Ribbon Control and Positioning enhancement system) used in Citizen printers is an innovative anti-wrinkle and automatic tensioning system for quick and trouble free ribbon loading, helping to achieve a perfect, clear print.
Costs rapidly rise when bad label printing results in pallets or boxes of product being sent back but the Citizen CL-S6621 6-inch label printer, which includes the ARCP™ automatic tension system, can provide high quality printing for pallets, while the 4-inch CL-S621 can handle boxes.
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The CL-S6621 is the smallest 6-inch label printer on the market, saving valuable desk space for customers as well as offering a range of powerful features. This printer is a remarkable 60% smaller than the next largest 6-inch printer and is packed with technology that boosts print quality and reliability. Along with ARCP™, the CL-S6621 also incorporates Citizen’s Hi-Lift™ Mechanism, which enables precision printing and, along with an ergonomic paper lifter, easier media loading. Precision printing is especially important when you consider that bar code labels often have to meet set standards controlling the thickness of bars, bar spacing, the ratio of narrow to wide elements and the levels of contrast between dark and light elements. If these standards are not met, for example due to a printing problem, then there is again the risk of rejected goods.
Of course, a key element of all the best models is that they are also designed for ease of use, even in environments where space is limited, which can prove to be extremely useful in retail. Functions can be accessible from the front of the printer, which avoids having to move the unit to load media or switch access, and allows paper or even tape to be loaded swiftly. The designers and engineers behind today’s barcode and label printers have provided some powerful solutions to common problems encountered during everyday operation. One such solution, offered by Citizen, is to provide printers with a convenient drop-in paper loading system that avoids the previously fiddly practice of loading rolls of media. The user simply drops the roll into the paper holder and the machine does the rest, preparing paper for printing within a matter of seconds. This reduces the potential for paper jams and thus the subsequent mishandling of the printer by pressurised staff. Similarly, automatic adjustment systems ensure that ribbon loading and tensioning is quick and trouble-free.
Today’s best printers are designed to provide simple, cost-effective and high quality label printing through not only practical features but also on-board programming that allows flexibility and easy integration with other applications. A BASIC interpreter allows programmes to be written and stored in the printer without the additional cost of a licence fee, while Cross-Emulation™ automatically detects the code being sent to it and switches the printer from Datamax® to ZPL® emulation or viceversa. This gives full compatibility with ZPL® printers and ease of integration into existing applications or networks, such as specialist environments or operation in stand-alone applications where connection to a PC is not needed.
The leading label, barcode, portable and point-of-sale printer manufacturers have also spent considerable time developing machines that use less power and, in some cases, have gone even further. Citizen printers offer low energy and waste consumption, as well as long-life components designed to last well above standard printer specifications. The capabilities of label printers are progressively evolving and recent developments in labelling technology are offering companies in all sectors the opportunity to improve both productivity and profits.
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39 Improving the shopping experience:
Self-service solutions as a means of differentiation for retail organisations
Responsible for Printec’s business operations in Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia, Mr Jarc has had a career going back more than 18 years at the intersection of financial institutions and IT, with a special focus on business operations support, organisation and sales in Slovenia and Croatia. Printec Group is a leader in transaction automation solutions and a major Systems Integrator in 15 countries in South-eastern Europe for the past 25 years. Printec’s retail market solutions supported by extensive experience in enabling financial transactions are designed to simplify and automate processes for retailers, leading to greater sales, increased profitability and lower operating expenses. In the present article, Mr Jarc elaborates on how smartly deployed technology can enhance the shopping experience while enabling operational efficiencies. Igor Jarc, Printec
Retail IT | Year 2 | Issue 08
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40 Smartly deployed technology can lead to differentiation for Retailers who will embrace self-service solutions, as global studies clearly demonstrate. Printec Group claims technology leadership in this field and showcases that Retailers in the region have already achieved impressive results such as optimised operational efficiencies and enhanced shopping experience by implementing Self-Checkout and Self Shopping solutions. According to leading global market studies, consumers across the world are more digitally enabled, demanding speed, convenience and control. As a result, they seek to have the best possible personalised services. On the other hand, retailers, operating in a highly competitive environment, focus on improving the services they provide to their customers, and at the same time are seeking ways to improve their operational efficiencies. This means that, under the current market circumstances of financial downturn and lower consumption levels, the highest level of differentiation will derive from the improvement of customer experience within the retail store, combined with a simultaneous reduction of operational expenses.
Technology, in this context, is the big enabler as it can assist retailers to achieve the above objectives through the use of self-service solutions. These solutions enable retail organisations to increase customer retention and loyalty as well as minimise operational costs. Printec Group is among those technology solutions providers that can address these specific customer requirements. Printec provides retail organisations in the region with integrated, state-of-the art self service solutions which create an exceptional and rewarding shopping experience while simultaneously evolving the retailer’s business toward increasingly positive results. In cooperation with leading vendors such as NCR, Retalix (to be acquired by NCR) and Datalogic, Printec’s integrated solutions enable retail organisations to optimise their efficiencies while at the same time putting consumers in the spotlight by exceeding their expectations.
competitive advantages for retailers, allowing more effective personnel deployment in stores, thus leading to cost optimisation and increased client satisfaction. Printec Group is among the first IT solutions providers to have implemented these integrated solutions in South-Eastern Europe with impressive results. Spar Slovenia, the second largest retailer in the country, was looking for innovative solutions that would assist the company in improving its competitiveness and gain market share. The retailer was aiming to attracting new customers, while protecting their customer base. Additionally they wanted to reduce operational expenses and support revenue expansion. Recognising that the checkout process is one of the keys to customer satisfaction and loyalty, Spar focused on finding ways to reduce waits in line and improve store throughput.
Self-checkout An alternative to the classical retail payment, allowing clients to selfcheckout and thus save precious time, these solutions reduce queue wait times. Recent research has shown that 86% of consumers are likely to do business with a company that offers self-service technology. Widely used in large supermarket chains in Western Europe, they enable consumers to scan, bag and pay for goods themselves. Self-checkout technology introduces a series of important
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41 The retailer selected NCR & Printec, its partner in Slovenia, and implemented 127 NCR self-checkout units in 29 different Interspar and Spar outlets in the country, including the new SPAR City store format, in rapid and seamless implementation carried out by Printec from the year 2010 on. The solution is deployed, managed and serviced so as to boost service levels for shoppers and sales levels for Spar in the best possible way. The success of the implementation can be witnessed in the fact that 40% of customers visiting the stores are using the SCOs.
It has been documented that selfcheckouts more than double the number of available tills within the same space as an assisted-service checkout, enabling retailers to serve many more customers at any one time. Research shows the NCR SelfServ Checkout reduces customer wait times by up to 40 per cent and increases customer throughput by 20 per cent. Besides the improved customer service opportunities that selfcheckout has provided to SPAR, one of the important benefits of the implementation is the ability to manage existing resources efficiently through improved employee scheduling. As one assistant typically looks after up to eight self-checkouts, Spar is now able to re-deploy staff to meet demand from shoppers for additional services elsewhere in the store. This includes improving on-shelf availability of products and helping shoppers find products. Generally speaking, self-checkout technology, when implemented in retail outlets, creates a new shopping experience
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which becomes more and more popular as it offers multiple rewards to both consumers and retailers.
Self-shopping Responding to Retailers’ need to increase customer retention and loyalty and decrease cost at checkout, Printec Group has provided supermarket chains in the region with another self-service solution: Self-Shopping. In cooperation with Datalogic, the world leader in barcode technology, Printec offers a self-shopping solution (ShopevolutionTM and JoyaTM shopper pod) that will create an exceptional and rewarding shopping experience while at the same time will evolve the retailer’s business toward increasingly positive results.
Customers are able to read the barcodes of selected products with a shopper pod by themselves, place them inside the trolley, and view their total purchase amount as well as read product information on the colour display of the terminal, gaining an easier and more interactive shopping experience. This solution, also combined with Printec’s Automated Payment Terminals, enables customers to pay for their goods, thus eliminating the need to go through the checkout counter. The solution offers great advantages for customers: a completely new, technological and fun way of shopping, with no queues at the checkout and a fast, self-payment service.
Strategy for technology implementation Group provides these and many other self-service solutions to organisations in South-Eastern Europe. The challenge that retail organisations face today is how they will incorporate these new technologies in their outlets, a process which will offer pioneers a significant competitive advantage by creating a new level of customer experience.
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Going international with e-commerce - how to get it right?
Expanding into new global territories can be risky but also rewarding. Going international with e-commerce means a lot of hard work, preparation and research has to be done before embarking on such a journey. In this article we attempt to provide some insights into global e-commerce. With the rapid expansion of Internet usage around the world, the number of the people purchasing goods online is growing. As customers seek better deals for their purchases, they increasingly turn to the Internet in their
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search, making e-commerce a very important part of retailers’ businesses .The Internet allows customers to look for good deals and compare prices, and this can be done from anywhere at anytime.
According to Centre for Retail Research (2012), the European Union now is world’s largest online shopping region having overtaken the United States. More than €200 billion was spent by Europe’s estimated 240 million online
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43 consumers, and e-commerce sales are predicted to keep growing, by 16% in 2012. There are far too many benefits of using e-commerce for both customers and retailers to mention all of them here, so just some of them are given below:
information about various product lines; this is easily accomplished on the retailers website where detailed product information can be provided to consumers.
No geographical limitations: A retail store can only serve a limited geographical area whereas e-commerce can serve unlimited customers in any location. Lower costs Fewer staff are needed to handle sales, the physical location does not need to be in a primary location, on a high street, etc., marketing can be done thought the website itself thereby lowering marketing costs.
Quicker product location: While customers have to walk around pushing a shopping trolley to find what they are looking for in a brick and mortar store, this process is easier and quicker on the retailer’s website. Eliminate travel time and costs Sometimes customers have to travel long distances to get to the store and in doing so face rush hour traffic; using the retailer’s website customers can avoid all these inconveniences and do their shopping in the comfort of their own home. An abundance of information can be provided There is limited physical space for retailers to provide information about their products and it is difficult for employees to know every piece of
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The opportunities available to retailers are obvious, and they are now paying special attention to their online sales as well as their in-store sales. While it is easier for retailers to engage with local customers who feel more comfortable buying online from a retailer in their country, going international and engaging with international customers requires additional planning and research. Retailers need to adapt to the local shopping habits in each market and build consumer trust by translating websites into local languages or offering additional payment methods. Taking this into consideration is an important step in embracing international e-commerce. Retailers should not underestimate the increased complexity and operational demands of handling international sales. Fortunately, adopting a standardised approach to managing international payments, offering multiple currencies as well as online fraud tools can help minimise the costs and risks associated with cross-border selling. Some points retailers planning global expansion should keep in mind are: Understanding the region It is absolutely essential for retailers to
find a local partner who can help them understand regional business customs, the local consumers and their shopping preferences before beginning any e-commerce initiatives. There is simply no substitute for travelling to that region and experiencing it first-hand. Business transactions are sometimes handled differently in other countries. For example, in China, deals are often sealed with a handshake rather than lengthy contractual negotiations and formal request for proposal processes. Retailers also need to understand government regulations and tax structures concerning e-commerce in the specific regions they are targeting well before expansion begins.
Delivery Retailers will need to research the new market to understand what is acceptable in terms of delivery times, the reliability of the postal service and what infrastructure will be needed on the ground. Retailers must be up front about where they do ship to on their websites. Consumer expectations for logistics and delivery are often much higher in regions outside of the US. In fact, in the UK, consumers can often choose a specific delivery window in which to receive their packages. Retailers have to make sure they understand these expectations before exploring operational issues such as fulfilment. Localisation (website and other materials) Retailers’ websites have to be adapted in accordance with the linguistic, cultural, technical and other locale-
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44 specific requirements of the target market, such as consumer habits and preferences. This entails translating the entire website, and also verifying that all the text make sense in the new market — that phrases, links and summaries are meaningfully translated. It makes the most sense to use service providers to translate website and other types of promotional copy; however, retailers should have a local reviewer check the final copy before it goes live. This is essential, as sometimes service providers miss colloquialisms and other regionalspecific terms that could accidentally offend or confuse foreign shoppers.
Currency options Up front, retailers should determine whether it makes more sense to have regional-specific catalogues with pricing in the local currency versus offering just a straight currency equivalent as well as tools that can handle currency conversion. For retailers trying to expand into several countries simultaneously, it may make sense for them to use an international provider which lets them drive international commerce without the need to have a fulfilment centre.
in foreign countries have different requirements for processing payments, and it can be very challenging to get international billing set up in a timely fashion. Preferred online payment methods vary from one country to the next. Bank transfers are most prevalent in the Netherlands and Germany, for example, while in Italy prepaid cards are hugely popular. Most of these regional preferences are well understood by now and some platforms can deal with local payment methods, but retailers must make sure they understand this from the outset. Because of these challenges, it is recommended that retailers work with locally knowledgeable providers who can handle payment methods and processes. Legal and regulatory issues Retailers are entering into a legal contract with foreign customers, so they must be careful and know what they can offer and what they can deliver. They have to do research into the legal and regulatory requirements surrounding contracts, sales, data collection and data privacy in every new market. This is particularly important if they plan to add customers to email marketing databases. The laws around data collection vary wildly from country to country and there may be harsh penalties for breaches.
Global expansion planning Retailers should determine which countries to expand in and when, as well as how they will prioritise this based on their business objectives. For example, some retailers started aggressively expanding in Asia and other emerging markets before they fully understood the pros and cons of doing business in certain regions. Foreign expansion without careful analysis and planning can lead to disastrous results.
It is also important to fully understand the competitive landscape in each country and what it means for your brand and product set. This type of understanding can often make or break how successful a retailer will be in a given region because every country has its own set of rules and nobody knows them better then the local players. Retailers should think globally and act locally. When careful planning and extensive research has been conducted enabling retailers to know the region and the customers well, the rewards are great. The likes of Amazon, eBay and Asos are some examples of great global ecommerce success stories.
Payment gateways and processing challenges Collecting payment in different regions can be tricky, as there are often many hurdles to overcome in terms of how payments are collected. Banks
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Discover Toshiba’s new vision for retail engagement at www.toshibagcs.com
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Interview: Leo Suarez, Toshiba TEC
Leo Suarez, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing & Strategy, Toshiba TEC
Together, IBM and Toshiba TEC represent the broadest multichannel offerings worldwide. The pace of retail expansion requires a strategy to serve this dynamic marketplace. This acquisition by Toshiba TEC creates not only the world’s leading point-of-sale company, but also a key business partner for IBM in its strategically important Smarter Commerce initiative. Retailers can invest with confidence in the proven abilities of these two leaders to deliver multi-channel commerce to more demanding consumers who want the same experience shopping online, in-store, mobile, social or by any other means.
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48 Can you explain the recent business transaction involving IBM Retail Store Solutions? Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions announced on December 1 that the following 26 countries/regions (Austria, Brazil, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and UK) have begun operations in Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions as part of the transaction in which Toshiba TEC will acquire IBM’s Retail Store Solutions (RSS) business. The agreement was announced on 17 April, 2012, with initial closing 1 August, 2012. Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions offers the full breadth of solutions offered formerly by RSS. Who is Toshiba TEC? Toshiba TEC, headquartered in Tokyo, is the digital product business of Toshiba Group. Its products include point-of-sale (POS) systems for the retail industry, which are widely used throughout Japan. Other products include barcode printing and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems for the manufacturing, logistics and retail industries, and Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP) systems for office use.
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How will clients benefit from Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions? Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, formerly IBM Retail Store Solutions (RSS) has been in the retail point-of-sale business for over 40 years. The RSS retail solution footprint is installed in 60% of the top 25 retailers worldwide. The combined strength of Toshiba TEC and IBM Retail Store Solutions includes proven technology installed in the top global retail establishments, industry recognition for innovation and development leadership, as well as world-class hardware, software, services and application solutions capabilities. By leveraging these integrated capabilities, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions is well-positioned to help retailers solve their most critical challenges, today and into the future. Specifically, the new company focuses on the following:
• Helping clients win the business and loyalty of the smarter consumer, with seamless point of sale and store solutions. • Enabling consumers to perform instore, a full range of store-to- store and cross-channel transactions and interactions. • Enhancing the evolving retail store environment, with flexible, optimised IT for individual stores, based on the retailer’s requirements and needs for personalised customer service. • Providing a store infrastructure with sustainable IT costs and reduced complexity via shared data and common services that also eases pressure on IT staff across channels and allows retailers to focus on other high-value priorities.
What synergy can be expected from this transaction? Many synergies are derived from this transaction, including: • Maximising client’s benefit worldwide store, a full range of store-to- store and cross-channel transactions and interactions. • Offering software and integrated solutions, and partnering with IBM to bring the Smarter Commerce experience to retailers and their customers worldwide. • Enhancing product development to create and provide value added products by combining both companies’ technical strength. • Expanding go to market capability to address additional solution areas and enhance segment focus (e.g. specialty, hospitality). • Implementing Toshiba TEC’s OneStop Solution, which provides a supporting framework, including planning, introduction, maintenance and service for clients in the retail industry as they expand new store developments worldwide. • Improving efficiency in procurement and production. • Expanding printing solution business in retail industry by utilising Toshiba TEC’s deep knowledge and expertise in the document solution business and RSS’ worldwide sales channel. Work will continue to enhance these synergies over the coming quarters.
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Retail IT Summits: 4. Retail IT Summit in Croatia
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50 On 18th October in the Antunović Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia’s 4th Retail IT Summit brought together representatives of the regional retail industry and the world ‘s leading manufacturers. Special guest and key speaker of the event was Jozo Džakula, Executive Director of IT in Konzum, the leading Croatian retailer. His topic was Mobile Technologies in Retail. The main topic of the event was the upcoming fiscalisation in Croatia and experiences in the region. The Summit was opened by Marijana Vuraić Kudeljan, Assistant Director of the Tax Administration. Now in its 4th year, the Retail IT Summit brought together leading regional retailers and providers of IT solutions came together to discuss all aspects of modern retailing. Solutions, technologies and concepts were the focus of this traditional conference. Upcoming trends and the future of IT in retail were not the only topic of discussion, however – current issues were also of major interest. This year the summit was very much dominated by the topic of the upcoming fiscalisation law in Croatia. Retailers like to stay informed about technologies that will not only speed up and automate processes, but that will bring in “a dollar more” profit.
This is the core idea on which these events are based. This year Retail Media had a large number of visitors, primarily because the Croatian public has high expectations of the topics to be discussed by speakers and guests, and also because of the famous names that Retail Media always brings to the event. This year’s special guest was Jožo Džakula, Executive Director of IT in Konzum, the leading supermarket chain in Croatia, with 700 stores in which more than Retail IT | Year 2 | Issue 08
650,000 customers make purchases every day. Besides its retail business, Konzum is intensively developing its wholesale operation with 19 VELPRO wholesale stores. At the 4th Retail IT Summit Mr Džakula tackled the concepts of using mobile technologies in Konzum and presented the biggest benefits to the retailer and customer of these technologies. The main topic of the 4th Croatian Retail IT Summit was the upcoming fiscalisation. Covering the legal and technical aspects, the conference was a great opportunity for retailers to discuss all aspects of the fiscalisation.
Right at the beginning of the conference, Marijana Vuraić Kudeljan, Assistant Director of the Tax Administration, presented the legal aspects of the fiscalisation. She also gave an overview of all the regulations that are currently under discussion as well as what can be expected in the near future. This was the perfect way to present the official government view to the participants of the summit. The legal and business aspects are only some of the challenges involved in these changes, which are currently the hot topic in Croatia. The other big issue is the technical
implementation of the fiscal requirements. Although the fiscal requirements are logical and not too complicated, the technical implementation could get very complex. This is especially the case in large infrastructures with many stores.
Roland Zališevskij from Service Plus Group presented exactly this aspect of the the fiscalisation. Before presenting potential architectures and technical solutions, he gave an overview of the technical implementations in the region. Countries like Serbia, Bosnia or Albania were used as examples, to compare different technical approaches. After that introduction he focused on the technical analysis of the required solutions both on the Croatian government side and on the side of the retailer. He finished his presentation by explaining the architecture of possible solutions and by presenting those functions which are not directly required but are definitely needed. After the presentation of the legal and business-related aspects and after the presentation of possible technical implementations, the participants of the summit engaged in in-depth discussions. Onur Altinbas from Verifone and Igor Jarc from Printec gave a presentation
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The company Itemica was established in 2012 with the objective of establishing a long term relationship with their strategic partner TRF Retail with the goal of participating in TRF product development. Their vision is to develop new complementary products, leveraging a strong partnership alliance with TRF Retail and other partners.
The Croatian media reports on Retail Media events on a regular basis, as does our global media partner, Microsoft’s Speak magazine.
Retail IT Summits are without doubt events of crucial importance to decisionmakers in the field of retail and IT. The next event being organised by Retail Media is the 4th Retail IT Summit in Serbia, 11th April, 2013. See you there!
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Mladen Malinar, CEO of M.A.I. Trade, NCR’s partner in Croatia, talked about new dimensions of using the newest NCR self-checkout systems, new ways for customers to enjoy their shopping experience, and new ways for retailers to find additional opportunities for profit and for a new image of themselves.
individual store and performance monitored). After Aldata, Iteca had their presentation with TRF Retail on the topic “TRF – Decision support system, a recognized smart tool in the retail business”.
Talk about business Get new ideas Be informed Learn form others
on the topic: How NFC will Revolutionise Retail. They talked about NFC platforms, explained how NFC transforms POS into intelligent customer relations tools, about NFC opportunities for loyalty, promotion, brand bulding, in-store tagging and incentive programmes, and how to think multi-channel and social. “Experience the NCR self-checkout solution“ was the topic of a talk by MPOS Group and M.A.I. Trade.
Ivan Guzelj from Aldata presented their experiences through the topic “The role and goals of planograms are changing, and with it, the challenges for retailers and suppliers“. He spoke about how retailer and CGP challenges are changing and space management should implement change too; about how shelf planning presents a significant part in the task of creating real added value for the customer (giving them what they need, when they need it, where they need it and on the shelf they expect to find it) and for the retailer (plans that can actually be implemented in an
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Boštjan Kožuh, Head of the BI department in Adacta presented business intelligence as a tool for competing in retail. Adacta Group develops and implements business IT solutions, provides business consulting and manages change within companies. Their efforts are geared towards achieving not only technical but above all content-related improvements and the maximum achievable business progression of their clients.
www.retail-it-summit.com
Also taking part in the 4th Retail IT Summit as exhibitors were Citizen, Špica Systems, Compex Commerce, Selmet, Comtron, Info Kod and many others.
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Retail business in the era of smartphones Volker Giessler, Senior Industry Consultant Retail in Teradata. Teradata is the world’s leading analytic data solutions company focused on integrated data warehousing, big data analytics, and business applications that provide actionable business intelligence. Teradata delivers award-winning, integrated, purpose-built platforms based on the most powerful, scalable, and reliable technology platform in the industry. Teradata’s assets include more than 10,000 associates in 42 countries, a strong diversified client base of over 1,200 customers worldwide and companies of all sizes, 2,600 + implementations worldwide. Volker Giessler, Teradata
The proliferation of smartphones is changing shopping habits dramatically. Right now online and brick-and-mortar stores are increasingly in competition. More than ever before, detailed knowledge about customer preferences and purchase intentions are the key success factors. Whoever is fastest to recognise this and take action will decide the outcome of the competition. This requires highperformance data warehousing, which enables a 360-degree view on the customer with seamless integration into the operational processes. RETAIL IT
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54 A spectre is haunting high-street and shopping centres: that of the “connected customer”. This spectre is inconspicuous among the shelves, as its big eyes survey the goods – and then it casually pulls out its smartphone to order the same item for a lower price on the Internet. After that it disappears and leaves the store behind, along with all its costs like rent, labour and inventory. In the US, an online bookseller promoted this buying behaviour by guaranteeing customers the retail price minus a discount, if they documented the price when ordering by smartphone. This development will put further pressure on the brick-and-mortar stores. Does this mean that sooner or later there will be no more brick-andmortar stores? There are at least two reasons why that is not going to be the case. Firstly, each channel has its own merits, which remain unchanged: someone who likes shopping in a store and sees a beautiful blouse will want to try it on, pay and take it home. The sensory perception of trying a garment on and feeling the cotton cannot be virtualised. Secondly, a whole new world is opening up where the customer is online at any time and any place, and which allows for entirely new ways of doing cross-channel marketing where the branch business also has its place. In fact, here a race has begun to see who can attract most customers and serve them in a more targeted way than the rest. Because of the ongoing networking of the consumer, there are numerous new approaches to significantly refining retailers’ knowledge of their customers.
Knowledge of potential customers These alleged “ghosts” are actually very easy to pin down, and although more complicated than ever before, their cell
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phones provide information on where they happen to be, and thus what their typical movements are. At the same time, search engines know which items customers are looking for, and through social networking sites like Facebook it is obvious who they typically contact before or during shopping. These are all valuable pieces of the puzzle, which make it possible to gain extensive insight into the purchasing intentions of individual customers – and also understand how they make their purchasing decisions. Retailers that continue to rely on non-targeted e-mails, SMS or leaflets will have issues in competing in the foreseeable future.
Analytical systems provide agility Crucial to an accurate knowledge of customers is the ability to consider the individual puzzle pieces not in isolation, but to assemble them into a coherent picture. Successful retailers have been doing this for a long time, through the use of a central data warehouse - an enterprise data warehouse where they combine all customer and market basketrelated data, such as that generated by loyalty cards. Solutions such as Teradata Relationship Manager from Aprimo will allow the company to roll out complex segmentations and a continuous dialogue with customers across all channels in near real-time. Step by step, more and more channels can be integrated into such a data warehouse environment. For example, British online
retailer JD Williams analyses the surfing behaviour of customers on its website, and targets them with relevant offers. This approach has dramatically increased their sales. However, a bricks-and-mortar dealer could provide a GPS-based app that shows the fastest way to the nearest store where the desired product is in stock. If the customer does not buy then and there, the retailer can follow up on the next opportunity, based on previously disclosed interest, when the customer is around the corner. In a similar way a retailer can leverage data from third party sources, i.e. from social networks, search engines and mobile operators. This results in much more accurate and more recent consumer profiles which will make it possible to answer questions like: Is the person is window shopping? Is there an intention to buy? Whom is he/she asking for advice? With an efficient solution, a retailer can analyse and interpret such data in real-time, possibly take action immediately and significantly increase its sales opportunities. This is why competition in the industry will focus increasingly on these capabilities. The richest data decides This includes a fight for data. It makes a combination between online and offline very attractive: a major German sports apparel manufacturer is planning a fashion boutique for young people where they can look in the mirror and shoot a photo which they can share and discuss with their friends on the net. This facility helps the retailer to create a unique customer experience and large amounts of digital feedback on the latest collection. But the analytics extends far beyond pure marketing activities: the company wants to get early insights into trends and shorten product life cycles for the young target group as a whole. This opportunity requires not only flexible designers, but also adaptive manufacturing and efficient logistics – a consistent approach that is unlikely to be achieved without the support of continuous analytical solutions.
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Retail is going full circle. Customer-centricity – a sign of the times?
Maartenjan de Wit leads all Industry Go-to-market activities for SAP MENA in Retail, Wholesale Distribution and Consumer Industries. In this role he is one the driving thought leaders working closely with SAP EMEA Industry team, customers and partners aligning their business strategies with SAP’s solution fit. As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. Founded in 1972, SAP (which stands for “Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing”) has a rich history of innovation and growth as a true industry leader. Today, SAP has sales and development locations in more than 50 countries worldwide. SAP applications and services enable more than 183,000 customers worldwide to operate profitably, adapt continuously and grow sustainably. Maartenjan de Wit, SAP
As consumer behavior is rapidly changing under the influence of mobile and social media, retailers are realizing that in order to be successful in tomorrow’s world, the shoppers experience is critical. Good old-fashioned personalization and absolute customer centricity might hold the key to the challenges of these days but how can you achieve this at the scales and margins of modern day retailers? It was my grandmother who taught me to ride a bicycle. She was 96 years old when she passed away a few years ago. She was an amazing woman whom I have always admired for her intelligence, her sense of humour, and her ability to
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entertain people with her stories. My grandmother was a fantastic storyteller and I spent many rainy Dutch afternoons on her couch, nibbling away at soggy cake, but enjoying every word of her detailed accounts of historic moments
in her life. On one such occasion, she told me about how when she was a young girl in the early 20th century, when her family used to run a small neighbourhood grocery store in the city where she lived. The store became the
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56 centre of a small community. My grandmother who, as the youngest child and only daughter, worked behind the counter, knew every customer by name. And it was exactly that personal relationship with its customers that made the little grocery store successful and able to provide a livelihood for this family with 13 children, until World War II brought an end to the existence of the store. It is this specific story that I keep thinking about when I see the incredible transformation that the retail industry is undergoing. My grandmother’s store was around at a time when the Industrial Revolution was still in full swing. When I was starting my career in retail, we were in the middle of the digital revolution. Now a new era begins. Whatever this revolution will be named by the analysts and self-proclaimed experts and bloggers, this is the revolution of the connected super-customer. This is a mobile and social media revolution. Consumers these days are using smartphones heavily, are hyperactive on social media, and have that entire library of human knowledge called “the Internet” at their fingertips at all times. And this is not limited just to youngsters and school kids. The stay-at-home mum is as connected to the marketplace as her fourteen-year-old daughter or her career-girl sister. The new technological advancements of humankind are causing a massive behavioural shift in the way in which we communicate with each other. Logically, therefore, this behavioural change also affects the way in which we can and will communicate with retailers. Connected in a way that was simply unimaginable 5 years ago, the modern-day consumer will make her purchase decisions based on what she hears about the retailer in the online social spaces, and she will not shy away from sharing her own views about the retailer’s performance (or lack thereof). Armed with the latest smartphone and a superfast Internet connection, she is creating her own experience with a retail brand through a blending of technology, information and opportunity. It is obvious that retailers the world over
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are trying to adjust to these trends, but how do you keep up with these disruptive new technologies and how do you regain the loyalty of customers that have such a wealth of choices? The answer may lie hidden in the stories my grandmother told me about the little family corner-store she worked in so tirelessly. My granny would probably advise us to go back to the beginning. Make it personal again! And maybe it is as “simple” as this. Maybe it is just a matter of making each and every customer feel that you know her personally. But how do you do that in a world where margins are thin and in which you have to scale to grow. How do you serve a 1:1 personal customer experience to hundreds of thousands of customers through a combination of hundreds of stores, multiple webchannels, and mobile apps?
The first thing to get right is the supporting level of intelligence that is required. My grandma personally knew all the customers and probably knew exactly what each and every individual’s preferences were. Herein lies the key to differentiation. Get to know as much as you can about your customer. Create a loyalty program. Be friends with your customers on Facebook. Analyse what they are saying about your brands and products on the social media. Study their shopping patterns. Understand their preferences. A lot of retailers are doing at least some of this already today, but very often this is a disjointed, un-integrated and standalone effort. If you as a retailer are able to gather all these sources of customer-intelligence in an integrated way, using in-memory technology for speed, you will have all of this knowledge
of your customers’ behaviour at your fingertips, at the speed of thought. Then all you need to do is apply that knowledge in real time. Get your customers engaged. Using mobile, social media or whatever channel the customer prefers, build communities around your product and thereby link your products and product groups with customers and customer groups. These links should not only impact points of sale and customer contact but they should be an integral part of the entire merchandising process from planning to sales.
Lastly it is critical to target customers with the right messages and at the right time. Your customer is fed up with impersonal one-way advertising messages and chest-thumping (don’t send me advertisements about garden furniture, I live on the 17th floor of an apartment building). Use the intelligence you gather about your customer to greet her personally regardless of the channel she uses for shopping. Make her feel special with personalised recommendations and promotions based on her shopping history, location or time of the day or week that are presented to her at the point of decision-making. Just like my grandmother used to do. Successful retailers of the future will be those retailers that do not rely on the backend systems of yesterday, but are looking forward to new advancements in building a personalised shopper relationship. Retailers should think of ways to bring mobile, loyalty, CRM and multichannel, social media and all the back-end systems together. It is, after all, much like riding a bicycle. If we stop moving then we fall. My grandmother taught me that. She was a wise woman.
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Key considerations for implementing a successful video analytics program in retail Stephan Beckmann is Product Marketing Manager, EMEA, Tyco Security Products, responsible for the American Dynamics product portfolio. Tyco is dedicated to advancing fire safety and security by finding innovative ways to save lives, improve businesses and protect people where they live and work. Tyco’s Security Installation and Services business sells, designs, installs and maintains integrated systems to detect intrusion, control access and react to movement, fire, smoke, flooding, environmental conditions, industrial processes and other hazards. These systems include fire detection, fire sprinkler, fire suppression, emergency communications, and nurse call systems in both new and existing facilities. Stephan Beckmann, Tyco
The evolution of video analytics technology for retail applications has only recently begun to deliver on its potential of offering cost savings in reduction of shrink and manpower expense as well as offering valuable marketing and sales information. A well-designed analytics program can be a successful part of a surveillance and business optimization plan, but retailers must carefully consider their needs, challenges and the options available before implementing such a program.
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59 Five years ago, video analytics for retail applications showed a lot of promise, but not a lot of delivery. Not everyone knew what to expect and the idea that you could push a button and all kinds of information would come out never came to fruition. As technology has progressed, however, the video analytics of today, as part of an overall integrated solution, can deliver useful information from both a loss prevention standpoint, and a merchandising and business management front.
Video analytics can ultimately lead to cost savings on the part of the retail company, minimising theft, reducing the need for extra operators monitoring multiple cameras and maximising marketing and sales efficiency. A welldesigned analytics program can identify the targeted behaviour of interest and alert appropriate people to specific activities, allowing them to focus their attention on other important areas of their jobs.
To implement a successful video analytics program as part of a surveillance and business optimisation plan, retailers must consider their needs, challenges and the options available. Perhaps the most important consideration for video analytics in retail
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applications is determining what exactly the company is trying to address. There are a number of potential applications, but all call for different setups, equipment and considerations, making it critical to determine application needs as specifically as possible before implementing a program.
the correct data. If the retail store wants to flag video when customers are not present during transactions or in the event of large cash transactions to see if an employee is palming money, then transactional theft reports most likely will need to accompany the analytics program flagging the video clip. 3. Are there specific behaviours that loss prevention personnel want to be notified about such as loitering or exiting through unauthorised doors, that may precede a theft?
For example, if a retail location is interested in seeing what employees or customers are doing with their hands while at the register, a single camera facing downward over the cash scanning area is a necessity for loss prevention purposes. A wider angle lens may be able to see two, three or even four registers at once, but the number of pixels per register is greatly reduced. This scenario would only make sense for situations where broader information was needed, such as if a customer is present during a sales transaction or how many people are standing in the queue. Determining loss prevention needs Deploying video analytics for loss prevention can combat both internal or external theft, such as organised crime theft, employee theft or a combination of the two. Retailers should consider the following questions: 1. Is the surveillance being used as a deterrent or are loss prevention personnel interested in creating evidence in the event of a crime? 2. What specifically does the store have a problem with or need data for? These needs will help determine what other systems need to work with the surveillance system in order to deliver
Capturing consumer behaviour For retailers that want to capitalise on the data that their video surveillance systems can provide about their customers, the options are as endless as with loss prevention applications. It cannot be over-emphasised, however, that the key challenges for the retailer are determining the specific scenarios they want data for, as well as in what form they want the data. Ask the following questions: 1. Who will be the recipient of the information and how technical do they need the data? Will the sales department be asking for daily or weekly reports on consumer behaviour? Is C-level management asking for high-level data? For example, if the marketing department wants to test the effectiveness of a particular promotion or end cap, they will want to measure the transactional
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60 sales during that particular period against a regular non-promotional time, or determine how many customers came by the aisle compared with the financial transactions that occurred during the time frame
2. How will the recipients of the data expect to interact with it? If the marketing department needs only daily or weekly charts or reports on people counting, queues and other consumer behaviours, it is critical to pinpoint these needs before implementing a surveillance and analytics program so that the software and systems needed to interact to supply the data can be determined.
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3. What actions, if any, are employees expected to perform based on the results? If management is interested only in reports about traffic flow rates or wait times at registers, then notifications or event triggers may not be necessary. However, floor managers may want to be notified via text or phone when a queue exceeds a certain amount of customers so they can add staff or open registers in real time.
handbag section, they may run a search and find the resulting 1,000 hits too overwhelming to evaluate. Therefore, they can adjust the search parameters to give them more meaningful, useful data. Re-running searches, fine-tuning the levels and parameters of capturing metadata, and determining whether lighting and cameras are positioned properly are true drivers of a robust analytics program.
Partnering for success Once retailers determine their goals with a video surveillance and analytics program, finding an experienced systems integrator to help guide them through their options is well worth the time and effort. A plug-and-play solution is not realistic and a systems integrator can help determine what systems, hardware and solutions make the most sense for the best return on investment. Retailers should test drive one or more systems to see how they meet their needs, but the fine-tuning really begins after a system is chosen. The right partner will help with the very important task of testing, adjusting and regularly re-evaluating the surveillance system — a prerequisite for success that cannot be overlooked. The system should run for several days or a week collecting as much data as possible to help identify what is working and what is not. If a store wants data on the number of people and times of day that customers are in the high-end
While determining the need is the first step in finding a video surveillance and analytics solution, needs evolve and technology continues to mature as well. What is on the market today will be different this time next year, and therefore, it is imperative to find a system that can provide you with what you want today, as well as the ability to meet future needs. Over the next five years, the trend will be of true integration of all the retail systems: POS data, people counters, video and beyond — not only at the store level, but regionally and globally. Such a trend in video analytics will make narrowing down your needs, as well as finding a viable, stable system and supplier, all the more important.
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intevo January v1_Layout 1 05/12/2012 14:54 Page 1
Thinking...
inside the box
INTEVO - Integration Evolution Leading the evolution of security technology, Kantech have introduced ‘INTEVO’, the world’s first, fully integrated security platform. Access control, IP video and Intrusion are combined in to a single appliance designed to simplify and streamline even the most complex security procedures. The ability to
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integrate with intrusion panels, monitor access control and connect these events with video information, makes INTEVO a must have for any new or existing security system. To find out more visit our micorsite at www.tycosphorizons.com/intevo
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NFC, here and now! The future is in our hands...
Onur Altinbas has been VeriFone Sales Director for Balkans, Russia & CIS Countries since August 2011. Since joining VeriFone in February 2007, he has served in various sales and management roles, where he has improved his knowledge and professional experience in the payment industry while at the same time approaching foreign markets like the Balkan countries, where he was Sales Manager. VeriFone Systems, Inc. is a pioneer and the global leader in secure electronic payment solutions. One thousand out of its five thousand employees are R&D experts. VeriFone provides expertise, solutions and services that add value to the point of sale with merchant-operated, consumer-facing and selfservice payment systems for the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare vertical markets. VeriFone solutions are designed to meet the needs of merchants, processors and acquirers in developed and emerging economies worldwide. Verifone solutions add value to the point of sale, resulting in improved merchant retention and the generation of new sources of revenue for its partners and customers. VeriFone Southern Europe and Russia is headquartered in Istanbul and is represented by its VIPs (VeriFone International Partner) around the region. Onur Altinbas, Verifone
Retail IT | Year 2 | Issue 08
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63 Near Field Communication (NFC) is the hottest technology at the point of sale. It will turn the point of sale into a point of interaction. Furthermore it will lead the way to mobile point of sale/interaction which will change the paradigm of the shopping experience entirely. NFC technology has been on the agenda for nearly ten years amongst industy players and has become well known to the public in recent years. However, due to the complexity of its blueprint and the variety of the industries involved it did not enter widespread public use until 2012. However, the dilemma was solved this year and both the number of NFC-enabled mobile handsets and POS terminals increased rapidly. The number of retailers from various segments who believe NFC will revolutionise the in-store experience are increasing every day. Contactless payments and Near Field Communication (NFC) are among the latest technologies populating the European high street and they are set to transform the point of sale from a single sales function into an ‘intelligent point of interaction’ with customers.
A recent report from the Economist Intelligence Unit for MasterCard, said that 38% of European retailers currently use contactless payment, with this number setting to rise to 44% in 2013.
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Visa also revealed that, during this year’s Olympic Games, there was six times the number of contactless transactions compared with the same period in 2011. Another study from Juniper Research showed that NFC mobile contactless payment transactions will reach nearly US$50bn worldwide by 2014.
with adapted payment methods. Contactless payment via card means transactions take less than a second and there is no need to input a PIN number, which drives more convenient and faster transactions. This helps merchants reduce queues and increase footfall whilst offering positive payment interactions. Via a consumer’s NFCenabled mobile phone, contactless payment goes a step further by creating a two-way interaction between the phone and payment device, thereby leading the way for added-value services and better engagement with the customer.
To meet shoppers’ demands, European retailers are exploring new approaches to combine advanced mobile platforms
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64 NFC technology is capable of delivering customised information targeted at individuals, opening up opportunities for personalised promotions such as couponing, vouchers and loyalty programs, thereby building the retail brand with meaningful advertising.
For this reason NFC could not be launched over the last decade in order to benefit from economies of scale. But 2012 happened to be the year in which the “chicken or egg” problem was solved, at least where NFC payments are concerned.
The NFC blueprint is a complex one. There are industry giants at the payment side, the acceptance side and, last but not least, at the telecommunications side. Knowing NFC technology would change the paradigm at points of sale, all those parties have been keen to develop their devices, software, gateways and solutions. However, harmony between them has been lacking, with local laws tying the hands of the industry giants both in the telecommunications and the electronic payment fields.
However there has been an accelerated growth of contactless technology all over Europe over the past two years. High-profile retailers and banks in the UK, Italy, Turkey, Poland and Spain are now deploying acceptance devices, not with optional but with integrated contactless and NFC capabilities. These devices are specifically designed to meet the needs of all merchants from various vertical segments including financial, retail, petroleum, government and healthcare. Undoubtedly, contactless payments and NFC in particular will help tie all point-of-sale elements together, but they also have the potential to create new ways to glue the online, mobile and in-store shopping experience together to deliver a seamless brand experience whatever the channel and service customers use.
of their sales and marketing strategy, since NFC will turn the acceptance terminal – with its single function of accepting payments – into an interactive device via which coupons can be redeemed, loyalty programs can be leveraged and instant sales promotions shared.
Technology such as augmented reality, where you can walk by a shop window and see yourself in an outfit from the store, is a great example of how payments and retail technology can progress. Imagination and creativity are key to seizing these opportunities in order to create a new and more personal in-store experience. Retailers’ success will come down to brand differentiation and connection with their customers through all the channels.
It is crucial that retailers begin aligning retail and NFC within their IT strategy as soon as possible in order to take advantage of the full potential of mobile commerce. It also needs to be a part
Retail IT | Year 2 | Issue 08
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