Retail TouchPoints: Transforming Inventory Strategies For Omni-Channel Success
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
The growing focus on online and offline data integration — as well as enabling flexible, multichannel purchasing and delivery options — all are part of a single goal: To understand and deliver upon consumers' more complex paths to purchase.
The key to receiving these detailed insights relies on the ability to obtain real-time vision into product availability and item movement across channels, Deena Amato-McCoy, research analyst for the retail and banking practice at Aberdeen Group, told Retail TouchPoints. Inventory consistency and flexible purchasing and delivery options allow retailers to make the sale even if items are unavailable in stores and ensure top-notch customer experiences.
"If shoppers can't purchase an item in-store because it's out of stock, they always have the option to hit 'buy' on their personal smart device, at a store-level kiosk or proprietary handheld device," Ms. Amato-McCoy said. "However, the only way this can happen is with an open, flexible platform that integrates every channel so that all files, from inventory to CRM, loyalty and pricing, can all operate seamlessly and harmoniously."
As merchants embrace omni-channel retail, there are numerous execution challenges. According to the RSR report, Executing on the Promise: Retail Fulfillment 2012, the top supply chain execution challenges are:
- Consumers expect retailers to provide a more seamless omni-channel experience (64 percent);
- Consumer demand is erratic and difficult to predict (50 percent);
- Digital channel growth outpaces store growth, putting new pressures on the supply chain (50 percent); and,
- Competitive pressures drive retailers to create shorter customer order-to-delivery cycles (46 percent).
"The primary issue behind omni-channel retail is that a shopper doesn't see a retailer as an online store or brick-and-mortar location; they see only one company," said Frank Riso, senior director of retail and hospitality lead, Motorola Solutions. "The challenge for retailers is to ensure that wherever customers buy a product, the price is the same, the service is the same, and if it needs to be returned, the process isn't long and convoluted."
Nikki Baird, managing partner of RSR, added that while disconnected inventory is a daunting hurdle for retailers, obtaining a single and comprehensive view of customers is more vital to understanding preferences, wants and needs. Once retailers tackle this area, supply chain remodeling and execution can follow shortly.
"The store is still a black hole when it comes to customer behavior, with new sources of data being created every day — from Pinterest to retailers' own social communities," Ms. Baird said. "All of that has to come together if retailers truly want to develop an understanding of their customers' paths to purchase. Without that understanding, any effort on supply chain or any other area of the business is a stab in the dark."