Integrated Solutions For Retailers, POS software, POS hardware, Retail software

Saks Fifth Avenue Fights Shrink With IP Cameras

The luxury retailer leverages improved visibility and access with IP surveillance cameras to combat internal and external shrink.

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Solving The Omni-Channel Puzzle	The Future Of The Retail Supply Chain	The 2013 Annual Resource Guide To Loss Prevention

Retailers are struggling to create a seamless customer experience across all channels, needing to align brand, product assortment, and messaging in an omni-channel word.	The retail supply chain has gone global, and now it is going mobile with new technologies to benefit the supply chain from end-to-end.	In this annual guide Integrated Solutions For Retailers takes a look at how loss prevention and asset protection are leveraging big data.

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Retail Margin Risk: 5 Critical Supply Chain Steps To Ensure Merchandise Plan Execution
The value of merchandise plan execution is critical to any retailer's margin objectives. By systematically identifying and eliminating supply chain performance related issues, retailers can mitigate those events that put margin at risk. In a recovering economy where working capital still remains constrained, the supply chain professional who can run a predictable and consistent supply chain, influence margin performance, and increase operating cash flow will be invaluable.
Thinking Outside The Box
Organizers at this year’s RILA Asset Protection Conference encouraged attendees to “Think Outside the Box.” At first blush it sounded a bit cliché, but on the flight out I got to thinking about all the different meanings the saying could have in our retail industry.

Large retailers could “Think Outside the Big Box” and learn tricks how their smaller counterparts are increasing sales. Established Brick-and-Mortar outlets could look “Outside the Store Box” and leverage the Omni-channel to better serve customers. And perhaps the most obvious pun that’s already established by merchandising teams is “Thinking Outside the Product Box” for improved packaging and placement.

Naturally my mind shifted to the role of surveillance for security and Loss Prevention for how we could use the box metaphor. Frankly surveillance has remained mostly stagnant for several decades with the use of analog CCTV. With the adoption of IP video over the last couple years, however, surveillance’s role has started to morph. That’s because manufacturers, software partners and LP managers have started to “Think Outside the Box Camera” – both literally and physically. By Hedgie Bartol, business development manager for retail, Axis Communications, Inc.
The Changing Face of Time and Attendance
In the first of this four-part guest series, Accu-Time Systems vice-president of marketing Larry Dawson examines the ubiquity of tablets and smartphones and how that is driving the design expectations of users of other kinds of products. According to IDC’s new report, Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker, tablets and smartphones will own approximately 83% of the smart connected device market by 2017. That represents about 1.8 billion additional new devices in the hands of users in 2017, up from 850 million devices shipped in 2012. By Larry Dawson, vice-president, marketing Accu-Time Systems
How Leading Retailers Are Using Managed Video To Drive Profitability And Grow Sales
Welcome to this three-part guest series, presented by Envysion, which focuses on using video to improve decision making and drive top line growth and profitability. This article represents the first article in the series and focuses on the how best-in-class retailers are utilizing video as a strategic management tool throughout the organization to gain better insight into store operations and capitalize on the customer experience as a competitive advantage. Read on to learn how leading retailers are utilizing video-driven business intelligence^TM across departments to optimize every aspect of the store for the strongest return. By Matt Steinfort
Omni-channel Meets In-Store Merchandising
Omni-channel seems omnipresent in most discussions about the future of retail. The term refers to connecting the store, the web, and the mobile web into a seamless experience that embraces the reality of a varied path to purchase.

Though the goal may be to become omni-channel, very few retailers are approaching that ideal. In their Global Cross Channel Retailing Report, the Ebeltoft Group says it remains to be seen if integrated digital strategies will be broadly implemented or confined to leaders in select categories. Whatever the outcome, it takes a while to get out of the gate because cross channel integration cuts across not only the data side, but human capital, sales and marketing. By Joe Holley, vice president-new business development displays/merchandisers, Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc.

Part 1 and Part 2 of this series are archived for your reference.
Funding Resources For Small Businesses
The rise and fall of small business has been a subject in the forefront of our nation’s economic discussions for some time now. I have witnessed in my community and surrounding areas the devastation of the closing of many small businesses that were the life blood of the communities where they once flourished.

More From The Expert Series

POS/e-commerce And Mobile Solutions Enable Growth For Top Tennis Equipment And Apparel Brand
Florida tennis afi cionados are familiar with Tennis Plaza, the retail brand that’s dominated the tennis market there for the past decade with fi ve stores; one apiece in Miami, Aventura, and Doral and two in Orlando. The retailer has also expanded its reach through its site at tennisplaza.com, which consistently ranks nationally among the top five e-commerce sites for tennis gear.
Digital Customer Experience Trends To Watch, 2013
Digital touchpoints support an increasingly large percentage of the overall customer experience. 2012 saw the emergence of several important digital customer experience trends that will gain momentum as firms look to unify the cross-touchpoint experiences they deliver in 2013. This report outlines key trends that will make up the landscape that customer experience professionals will be working in as they take strides to improve their digital customer experiences in 2013.
Retailers Take A New Approach To Addressing Out-of-Stocks
Retailing has always been a tough business, marked by demanding consumers, tight profit margins and intense competition. Retailers – even the most successful ones – also have had to confront and overcome various operational challenges such as managing inventories, controlling shrink, representing their brands in an innovative and attractive manner and maximizing every square foot of selling space, while improving shoppers’ experience.
Retail Margin Risk: 5 Critical Supply Chain Steps To Ensure Merchandise Plan Execution
The value of merchandise plan execution is critical to any retailer's margin objectives. By systematically identifying and eliminating supply chain performance related issues, retailers can mitigate those events that put margin at risk. In a recovering economy where working capital still remains constrained, the supply chain professional who can run a predictable and consistent supply chain, influence margin performance, and increase operating cash flow will be invaluable.
Scheduling For Outcomes
Employee scheduling is one of the most poorly supported HR-related tasks performed by retailers. Schedules, which are typically created two to three weeks in advance and modified on the day of operation based on in-store conditions, are often built by managers without any automated support.

Celerant Technology Corporation

Celerant Technology, a privately held Corporation, develops in-house and provides high-quality, advanced retail management software systems to retail organizations.
Accu-Time Systems, Inc.
ATS, an Amano company, is an innovative global provider of industrial time and attendance terminals for biometric and non-biometric workforce management requirements. The high quality, durable and user-friendly product line extends from entry-level time and attendance terminals to state-of-the-art programmable and best performing biometric workforce management and employee self-service systems. Visit www.accu-time.com.

Workplace

WorkPlace Systems is a leading supplier of world class cloud based Workforce Management (WFM) software and consulting services which improve efficiency and reduce labour costs, leading to improved store performance and customer experience.

QlikView
Business Discovery is a whole new BI approach that puts business users in total control. It enables them to create tailored insights that meet their precise needs and timelines so they can solve unique business problems.
Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc.
Family owned and operated since 1931, FMA is long recognized as a leader in the in-store merchandising industry. With over 75 years of experience in custom point-of-purchase displays we are committed to combining a variety of skilled professionals for each project.

Island Pacific Systems Inc.

In an ever competitive and changing retail landscape, the key to success is having the right product, at the right time, and in the right place across multiple-channel touch points. Making the right merchandising decisions, driving revenue and managing inventory requires an integrated, accurate, full-featured retail system.

Fleet Management — Fueling Savings In-Store And Out
Retailers know when it comes to replenishment, two of the largest costs are fuel and time, and new fleet management solutions are being designed to conquer these two challenges. For years, Verizon has been helping companies optimize their fleet management with 3^rd party solutions. However, Verizon recently released its own solution, called Networkfleet, this March. The solution was originally part of Hughes Telematics, which was acquired by Verizon early last year, and now has been optimized to work on Verizon Wireless’ CDMA network. This is a departure for Verizon, which has never owned a fleet management solution before.

Three Roadblocks To Omnichannel (And They’re All On Your Payroll)

I spent three days at Manhattan’s Momentum User Conference last week, and as suspected a great deal of the conversation there centered on the company’s new store inventory and fulfillment solutions. To be sure, when a company with a long history of helping retailers move boxes behind the scenes starts talking about its intent to serve consumers—replete with verbiage like loyalty and consumer profiling—it comes off as kind of a big deal. Indeed, it’s a risk on Manhattan’s part, given that so much of the retail industry has yet to embrace the idea that the supply chain can have such profound implications on customer experiences.

Australia — The Next Big Market For Retailers?

Retailers are moving internationally at a rapid pace as everyone is looking for the next big market. For U.S. retailers, much of this expansion has centered on Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Western Europe. However, as these markets continue to have sluggish economies, there is a new market that seems to be getting some significant attention, Australia.

Omni-Channel Retailing — The Only Way To Truly Capture The Customer

At NetSuite’s SuiteWorld 2013, one of the big announcements involved full release of SuiteCommerce for retail coming this summer. The all-encompassing platform for true omni-channel retailing has been available in limited release to several customers. One of these customers, Williams Sonoma announced it had migrated four of its brands, Williams Sonoma, West End, Pottery Barn, and Pottery Barn Kids, to the platform in an astounding 90-day timeframe.

When Associates Behave Badly: Collateral Damage To Your Brand

When you consider potential risks to the integrity of your retail brand in terms of data security, there’s a tendency to put almost all of your focus on the big, catastrophic stuff. Your sleepless nights come at the hands of nightmares about massive data breaches that impact wide swaths of your customer populace and corporate stakeholders; hacked customer databases that make headline news, for instance, or the loss of trade secrets to nameless, faceless network infiltrators thousands of miles away.