IT managers in retail companies are under pressure of competition and business model make enormous demands on corporate IT. If possible, exact predictions about the sales process, to coordinated follow-up orders to empty shelves to avoid optimizing the logistics are just three points on which the IT success or failure is critical. It is also the reluctance of many IT decision-makers with respect to concepts such as electronic shelf labels (electronic shelf labeling) to overcome outsourcing or RFID.
forces, the substantial competition in the trading companies to cost savings and efficiency gains. Automation and process improvement are therefore key tasks of IT departments. The use of IT to optimize business processes will become more important in the future. Provider of IT services must make sure to have the necessary industry and process know-how. In particular, IT vendors clarify where the business value of their concepts is for the company. It is also the reluctance of many traders to overcome concepts such as outsourcing or RFID.
optimized RFID product labeling has
10 years such as Gerry Weber dealt with the RFID technology - starting this month, RFID tags used product-wide. At the European Retail Technology Event in Amsterdam Christian von Grone, CIO of Gerry Weber gave an insight into the long path that had the textile companies from Halle in Westphalia go before RFID could be rolled out across the area. "Ten years ago, technology was not ready," regretted by Grone. "It looked promising, but was too expensive," he concludes.
Self-checkout reduces personnel costs
The electronic Shelf label (electronic shelf labeling) is primarily for food and clothing retail, cash & carry outlets and the electrical trade is important. Systems where the customer's goods even recorded (Self-scanning) or totally independently handles the checkout process (self-checkout), may contribute primarily to save on personnel costs. The comparatively high cost of these systems appear, however, the medium-sized retailer to deter investment in these solutions.
merchandise category Analsye requires BI system
Especially in the retail advertising department management (Category Management) an increasingly important role. This is the Assignment of products to product categories and the strategic direction of the company's product groups. The trade often cooperates closely with the manufacturers. For example, category management is an analysis of departments and the needs and potentials of customers required, which makes the use of a sophisticated business intelligence solution is required.
The introduction of electronic displays and posters (Digital Signage) system for the sales support is another way to pursue price optimization. In this way, advertising costs can be saved, because as the poster replacement is simplified. Importance of increasing efficiency point of view is the integration of the systems an das Content Management. Zentral gepflegte Preise erlauben unternehmensweite Kampagnen und vermeiden händische Eingabefehler, die unangenehm oder ungewollt teuer werden können.
Kundenbindung ist notwendig
Hinzu kommen noch die Bereiche Kundenfindung und Kundenbindung. Eine der wichtigsten Herausforderungen der IT im Handel ist die Erhöhung der Kundenbindung. Gerade in Zeiten von kleiner werdenden Budgets spielt Kundentreue eine immense Rolle. Die Anbieter von IT-Lösungen müssen verdeutlichen, welchen Beitrag sie zur besseren Kundenbindung leisten können. Insbesondere die Vereinheitlichung der Datenbanken und die Analyse von Kundendaten sind wichtige Herausforderungen der IT im Handel, bei denen die Anwender Unterstützung need on the part of providers. It is here that IT can play only a supporting role. The dealers need to be aware that customer loyalty means for you is: customer card, social media initiatives, or traditional advertising brochure.
promise problem
The old system solutions provider of IT indeed help for retailers, but not always, they are also easy to implement. Often are the existing applications from the time of mainframes, storage management, especially for large and complex according to traders entirely by twenty or thirty years under his belt. For companies, there would be a lot of problems: The knowledge of the software is documented in retirement, usually next to nothing - help in sight. To look for people who are familiar with the long-outdated programming languages, is used to search for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Nevertheless, legal requirements are entered and are cultivated in any way with the legacy systems.
For the multi-channel marketing is becoming a reality. What's in the small retail operation can miterledigen somehow - to update the inventory in-store and online, price adjustments, inputting corresponding product descriptions, packaging and shipping etc - is in store operations to provide logistical challenge. The customer expects spoiled as role models here, a smooth development of complaints, compliance with delivery times and reliable information on the availability of the goods. In addition, get dealer price by comparing machines under pressure to remove the price from the price of the manufacturer on and on. Building a brand that stands for reliable order handling and excellent after-sales service, can ease this pressure - but requires investment by the dealer in infrastructure.
IT strategy is REQUIRED
growing addition to the trading houses, the desire to avoid interfaces. Because the facts of complex corporate structures and the increasing networking within the enterprise IT in recent years has faced plenty of challenges. The request to the IT provider is in a language easily: they must build their solutions so that they can be easily integrated into the overall design of the user. This assumes that users have appropriate IT strategy. It is striking that more specialized applications in the retail software, point solutions or self-use developments as companies from other industries.
place here but instead a change: In particular, the large companies are striving to standardize and consolidate their IT. For providers of standard software solutions of trade is therefore particularly interesting, since additional sales potential can be developed. In addition to the State the cost savings through the use of standard software, users are advised to decide for the system and implementation partner insist that explain IT vendors and partners launch their industry expertise and specifically address the needs of trade. The potential is huge to be lifted, especially because for years no single IT strategy has been pursued. But the road is rocky: Too small, the margins may be times when the big investment just paid. The greater is the need for standardized solutions that can be introduced to operate and inexpensive.
Author: Frank Naujoks, i2s Zurich
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