The Retail Buzz

Get the most from your retail technology systems in order to increase your survival potential. Use this retail checklist to gain a competitive advantage in 2010:

• Ensure your retail technology equipment is PCI Compliant

• Use reliable retail-hardened POS hardware to run your POS system

• Add more POS stations to help prevent long check-out lines.

• Upgrade your POS software to the latest version to better manage inventory, customers, and vendors

• Get any customized programming that tailors your system to meet unique or specialized needs

• Have an efficient reporting tool with your POS software to gain valuable insight into your business

• Optimize merchandise distribution to increase sell-through and prevent markdowns

• Ensure merchandising and finance are working together as an integrated system

• Have reliable, up-to-date security systems set up (loss prevention systems) for both your hardware and store

• Back up your files and POS system regularly (Retail Backup recommended)

• Integrate credit card processing and gift cards with your POS system

• Integrate your online store (e-Commerce) with your POS system using EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)

• Keep Technical Support contracts in place to get the help you need to run smoothly

• Review your Returns Policy to minimize returns fraud

Here are some tips for 2010:

• Gather customer information at point of sale to use for targeted promotions

• Track your customer purchases and review customer's history at POS to improve customer relations

• Have a customer loyalty program in place

• Hold periodic events at your store

• Have contests with either employees and/or customers

• Run reports regularly to gain insight that helps you manage your business better

• Train your sales employees on basic customer service and find ways to reward them for this

• Minimize return fraud using upgraded POS software and security systems

• Expand your channels of retailing (videos, blogs, social networking, etc)

• Do planned pricing to unload stock through scheduled markdowns

• Offer classes to individualize your store

• Use framed signage to show why your merchandise is unique

• Provide a shopping experience that includes respect, honesty, and trust

Visit our website for informative articles, whitepapers, and retail industry eBook - all complimentary of One Step Retail Solutions: http://www.onestepretail.com/

Our latest retail industry article by retail expert Scott Kreisberg talks about an "inflection point", which occurs when an industry or segment faces lasting changes so large and significant that it calls for companies to adapt with a new strategy or ability to compete, or face what becomes an irreversible decline and failure.

Almost every company faces ongoing changes of one type or another in its
industry, and retail is no exception. However, various news and events of the
past year or two make me think that there are fundamental permanent changes
going on that will leave some retail chains behind if they are not on top of it.

I am not referencing the banking crisis or recession itself, which we will
eventually pull through after some period of time. Nor am I referring only to
some of the long-term trends we outlined in our report “Six Biggest Challenges
Facing Retailers Today”, which is available on our website.

Issues such as dealing with national chains and big box retailers have been
on the table for a while, and most smaller and mid-sized chains have figured out
how to successfully deal with that type of competition.

What I am referring to is the type of change called an ‘inflection point’
as defined by Andy Grove, the long-time CEO of Intel, in his book “Only The
Paranoid Survive.” This occurs when an industry or segment faces lasting changes
so large and significant that it calls for companies to adapt with a new
strategy or ability to compete, or face what becomes an irreversible decline and
failure.

Such an inflection point may bring even greater opportunity than before
for organizations who do figure out how to take advantage of it.

An article by Scott Kreisberg takes a look at factors that weigh in for improving the bottom line for a retail store.

There has been a tremendous amount of discussion by economists and government experts in regard to the type of recession we are in, as well as the possible ways we could come out of it.

The good news is that it seems to be a fairly unanimous sentiment that we are at or very near the bottom. Plus there are other positive signs such as retail sector sales picking up slightly (with autos excluded) in both August and September. However, there are varied opinions and speculation as to where things go from here.

This is pretty clearly demonstrated in the different models, or 'shapes', that the recovery might take, which have come to be characterized by various letters of the alphabet.

It is likely that many of you have seen these so I will only briefly touch on what they are. We have the classic 'V' shape recession, which is a clear downturn and bottom followed by clear and sustained recovery, the 'U' which is a longer time spent at the bottom and in recovery, and the 'W' or double-dip.

Read full article ...

One Step Retail Solutions, a leading reseller and service provider of retail point of sale software systems, recently launched a Retail Executive Advisory Panel (REAP) to conduct routine retail industry studies among retail leaders.

Retail executives participating in REAP will take advantage of being part of a panel of their peers to gain and share knowledge of retailing, including approaches to new and innovative retail strategies. Members of the Panel who participate in the studies then receive an Executive Summary of the study’s research findings, which provides them access to information from other top retail executives.

One Step’s objective is to bring top level retail executives together in a forum for pursuing excellence in their own retail business. Believing that these executive’s opinion measures heavily on the retail landscape, One Step plans to make strides in gaining more insight into what current challenges retailers face and what they are doing or not doing to boost their bottom line.

A new monthly newsletter publication, The Retail Executive, will get mailed out primarily to REAP members, providing another form of sharing articles and knowledge from top retail experts and REAP members about the retail business. The publication will also distributed to retail CEO’s, CFO’s, CIO’s and other top level executives in the industry who are not a member of REAP but wish to subscribe to the newsletter.

Information about joining REAP and subscribing to the newsletter is at the One Step website: http://onestepretail.com/OSD/REAP/

Recent article by Peter Pishko:
"It's Over and Done But The Heartache Lives On"

Consumer confidence is up once again, albeit a small increase attributed to the Cash for Clunkers program initiated by the Federal government.

We have gone through all of the hard decisions during the past 12 months, cutting to the bare bones of our organizations, jettisoning some staff and operations that should have been cut from our organization long ago, but also letting go of some talent and expensive endeavors or plans for expansion that in these economic times are not cost effective; all very smart moves for survival, but now where do we go?

The decision to cut staffing levels at our executive levels have made for some grateful employees who are 1) very happy to be employed, 2) loyal employees because the loyalty thing goes both ways, 3) over worked because they are picking up tasks and functions their former colleagues, bosses, underlings used to perform.

Our store level employees have been cut to bare bones, staffing is at a minimum, affecting customer service and loss prevention. One employee reported to me that they have no security in their building on a regular basis, maybe two or three times a week for 6 hours.

The decision to terminate employees is not an easy one; it has been shown that it is often more stressful to let staff go than to actually be the one being let go. Yet our employees carry on and they are asking the same questions we do: where do we go from here?

The defensive moves have been made, but the game is not won on defense alone. Time to return to our playbooks and take a look at the offense and who to put into the game, evaluate the whole playing field. We have survived but the game is not over...

Read rest of article ...

Watch our latest recorded Webinar, "Social Networking for Retailers" about the social media revolution and how retailers can utilize these channels to increase sales.

The Webinar discusses Web 2.0 strategies in the 21st Century and the shift in the way businesses communicate with their public. It shows how we've moved from "push" marketing to "pull" or "engagement" marketing.

Find out how to best use social media in your retail business, how to select the right social media channels, set boundaries, and establish a game plan to implement these social channels in your retail business.

Watch Webinar

New product release! One Step Retail Analytics!

One Step Retail Analytics is a solution that includes a new Retail Pro 9 Appliance with the new exclusive reporting engine.

One Step Retail Analytics provides the capability to build, modify, pivot, sort, rank, drill down, and process the data from your business.

• Increase efficiency and sales by quickly investigating hunches or changes in trends using a pre-built data mart and drill down analysis
• Manage using key performance profiles like turn, GMROI, sell through, days of supply or stock to sales by vendor, dept or merchandise
• Pivot, sort, rank data to get the view of your business you need to make the right decisions
• Build reports specific to your needs and your business

Read all about the new Retail Analytics!

The Smart Retail Web channel will be premiering Season Two of Smart Retail on October 12, 2009.

The webisodes, hosted by retail expert Scott Kreisberg, is a production of One Step Retail Solutions that broadcasts on SmartRetail.tv every Monday. The show features independent specialty retail stores and how these retailers stand up in the new era of retailing.

The new season revamped its format to add even more entertainment and lively interaction with specialty retail stores.

Watch new trailer of upcoming season!

One Step Retail Solutions is presenting a complimentary event for their Retail Pro customers called "Reaching Vital Milestones" at their annual Roadshow on September 15, 2009 at Dave & Buster's in Irvine Spectrum.

The Roadshow focuses on using technology and social media to increase profits and efficiency in a retail business. Highlights of the day include:

• Retail Pro User's Panel
• Social Media for Retailers Workshop
• Learning More About PCI Compliance
• How to Make the Most from e-Commerce
• WebCCTV Security Systems
• Retail Pro 9 and Business Intelligence
• Retail Pro Training Session
• Q & A with Kevin McAdam and Charles Wood

Internet TV Focuses on Smart Retailers

In a recent featured article in CA. APPAREL NEWS, it reviewed Smart Retail, the new Internet TV series hosted by Scott Kreisberg.

"Scott Kreisberg, chief executive officer of Glendale, Calif.-based software distributor One Step Retail Solutions, grew frustrated hearing all the doom and gloom coming from the retail sector over the past several months, so he decided to do something about it.'

"Scott talks about technology and what can be done with it, but none of it is a sales pitch. You have to be smart to get through this recession. Technology enables you to be really smart and strike better deals with vendors and manage inventories better. It becomes vital, and we'll be seeing some amazing things that retailers are doing to attract new customers and see why they are doing well even during these tough times."

As the old saying goes, "more is better" and this is truly the case for retailers who need to make profit-enhancing decisions quickly and with ease. That's where Retail Pro Business Intelligence (BI) comes in.

The BI module is designed to bring Retail Pro 9 users a distinct advantage for managing their business whereby they can monitor and analyze vast amounts of data in a snapshot view, enabling them to respond quickly to changes in their business conditions.

Since retailers need to be alerted to potential problems and make better, more informed decisions, BI is a tool that will provide valuable insight and actionable information to allow fast response in business conditions.

With independent industry research indicating a ROI of up to 2,000%, a business intelligence application should be a key component of a retailer's architecture.

Read article "Does Business Intelligence Give a Retailer Insight Into The Future?

For more information, contact a Sales Representative at One Step Retail Solutions and see how Business Intelligence could help your business. Send email to sales@onestepretail.com or call (800) 266-1328.

New episodes of Smart Retail are broadcast every week. Watch the latest episode "Building Your Store Around Your Community" featuring Bailey's Bedding & Bone - a new eco-friendly pet supply and dog boutique that opened with a big splash in their community and rapidly carving its niche and becoming known with the use of events, promotions and free publicity.



If you missed Episode 2 "Adding Value Using POS" featuring the Body Factory, a health and beauty supply store that opened 16 years ago and now has 3 stores draws a celebrity crowd and hooks its customers on their healthy drinks, then manages its customer base with POS.



Leave a comment on episodes at http://smartretail.tv/!

Resourceful retailers are finding creative ways to reinvent themselves and transform their business into something that entices and keeps customers. The more creative a retailer is, the more that business is going to last. Even in an economic down-turn, 50% of consumers will often pay more for a better customer experience.

While filming Smart Retail™, I saw some pretty clever retailing and it brought to mind all the opportunities that are out there for independent specialty retailers in this threatening economy. What it all boiled down to was unique customer experience and exceptional customer service.

Times have indeed shifted and retailers had to cut back to basics. Interesting that basics included customer service, isn’t it? This means that, in many cases, retailers had once dropped out the fundamental action of servicing their customers in better, more competitive ways.

The days when retailers could just sit back and watch customers come in because of location or brands or nice merchandise are over. Now retailers need to get on the ball and drive customers in with offers or gimmicks and keep them coming back because of something exceptional.

That something exceptional falls into customer service.

I once came across “the Japanese way” of customer service, which is giving customer-service representatives time for long conversations with targeted customers and tuning into the customer needs.

One time I was at an electronics store and was being serviced by an employee who was interrupted by another customer needing assistance while helping me. The employee got on his walkie-talkie and got another service representative over to assist the other shopper without making either one of us feel ignored. He then proceeded to give me his full attention again showing me this and explaining that and taking the time to make sure I could make the right decision on a product.

Servicing a customer is similar to how we want to be treated by our friends and family. We like the fact that our friends and family know us, know what we like, and treat us with more warmth than a stranger might treat us. It feels good to know they care and, in turn, they earn our loyalty and love.

When a wife prepares a gourmet meal for her family, sets the table nicely, and presents the food in a lavish manner, this is an over-and-beyond way of preparing a meal. It expresses that she cares and this transmits to her family who are experiencing something other than an average meal.

One of the retailers we filmed put on a party event, which they do every Thursday night at their store. Elaborate bouquets of flowers were arranged on tables, tasty snacks were laid out, wine was poured in nice wine glasses, and employees were greeting every guest as if they knew them for years. You would watch people walk in and stay for hours browsing around, talking, and just enjoying themselves.

Many of those people were already loyal customers who showed up as if they came to visit friends. Others had never been inside the store before and it was pretty certain that they left as a new loyal customer.

That came about because of customer experience.

And then there’s a specialty sports shop that specializes in skate boards which holds regular skate board events in their store, making the customer’s experience a fun one. Most of their customers are the type that wouldn’t think of shopping elsewhere and many of their younger clientele even tell the employees that they work to shop there.

One café turned their struggling business around based strictly on kindness. As local businesses closed down, their patrons vanished, until the owner promoted a campaign around kindness. Soon, the café was filled with people who came from all over town to experience participating in acts of kindness.

I myself have dined at particular places because of the experience I get when I go there, even though I may prefer another food menu choice. The employees that serve me treat me like a good friend has just come to visit, and we’re on “How’s the kids?” terms.

Many hair salons have loyal customers coming back for years and years. One salon cut her prices to a customer who suffered a pay cut at her job. She would never have known this happened to her customer if they didn’t get on a personal level with each other.

A suit shop really had an over-and-beyond approach for helping customers who hit hard times. They promoted that they would give money back to their customer if they lost their job, and let them keep the suit.

I keep finding and reading stories every day about exceptional service and care. An apparel store irons a shirt for a customer who needed it for a meeting that day. A hand-written note was sent to a customer thanking them for shopping there and commenting on the outfit they purchased. A dress was sent to a tailor to make it fit their customer better. Drinks were offered at an upscale men’s store while they shopped. A foot massager was positioned at a comfortable chair for a shopper’s companion.

I could go on and on but, bottom line is to get to know your customers, know what they want, treat them with exceptional service and show you care. The way you do that, the way you provide an experience for them when they come to your store, is the way you’ll bring them back.

By Scott Kreisberg

Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/scottkreisberg

Smart Retail, a new Internet TV series hosted by retail expert Scott Kreisberg, premiered June 19, 2009 to an eager audience who have been following the show updates via Twitter and Facebook from pre-production through post-production.