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Optimizing Omnichannel Commerce through Retail Store Deployment By Jennifer Brooks, Operations Senior Director
Consumers demand seamless, superior service across channels. Retail stores remain the foundation of that experience. But to integrate channels and meet customer expectations, you need to deploy the most effective retail store technology — quickly and successfully, without revenue-robbing downtime.
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Meet Maria. Like many consumers, she shops across multiple channels.Over breakfast, she gets an email on her tablet from her favorite retailer. On the train to work, she browses the retailer’s e-commerce site on her smartphone. She adds an item to her cart but decides she wants to see the product at the retailer’s store on her way home. A few days after she “showrooms,” she buys the product online and has it shipped to the store for pickup.
Sound familiar? It should. Because the majority of consumers now shop this way. And it’s true for all companies that serve consumers, from fashion brands and drugstore chains to grocery stores and bank branches.
Your customers interact with your brand through online, mobile, call-center and brick-and-mortar channels. They expect seamless movement and consistent, satisfying service across all those channels. Yet the retail store remains the foundation of that experience.
Because the store is so central, you need the right technology in your stores to integrate channels and serve customers effectively. And when you launch a new location or refresh an existing store — or hundreds of stores — you can’t afford to have your operations offline for long. You need your new equipment up and running quickly and effectively.
Channel CentralWhile online and mobile channels are growing in importance, the physical store remains central to the retail experience. Even though consumers increasingly use electronic means to research products and pricing, 61 percent value or highly value asking a store associate for recommendations. And 72 percent would rather ask an associate if another store has a product in stock than look it up themselves on a mobile device.2
71%
1, 2 “Customer Desires vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding the Omnichannel Commerce Gap,” Forrester Research, January 2014.
Shoppers who expect to view in-store inventory online1
Browse online, buy in store (webrooming)
51%
Figure 1: From “Showrooming” to “Webrooming”
0% 20% 40% 60%SOURCE: “Global Survey of E-Commerce,” Nielsen, 2014
60%
Browse in store, buy online (showrooming)
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But consumers want the store to be integrated with other channels. Seventy-one percent expect to view in-store inventory online, and 50 percent expect to buy online and pick up in the store. The value of sales completed in stores but influenced by the Web will grow from $1.3 trillion in 2013 to $1.8 trillion by 2017.3
Retailers are increasingly aware of this blurring of channels. Retailers estimate that one-half of their store revenue is already influenced by online and mobile channels.4 Market leaders are responding accordingly:
• At Best Buy, all 1,400 stores can fulfill online orders, cutting average online delivery time by two days.5 • At Walmart, 10 percent of items ordered online are shipped from stores, the majority in two days or less.6
• At Toys “R” Us, 31 percent of e-commerce sales are omnichannel, including in-store pickup, ship to store and ship from store.7 • At The Gap, a pilot order-in-store option lets customers place an online order from inside the store.8 • At men’s clothing purveyor Bonobos, customers can buy in the store and have items shipped to their door.9
Crossing Channels: Look Both WaysBut integrating the store with other channels isn’t trivial. In addition to extensive strategy, planning and organizational shifts, it requires an investment in technology. Smart retailers recognize this need. In fact, 60 percent expected their IT investments to increase in 2015. Where is that investment being targeted? Among the top priorities for retail CIOs is enabling an omnichannel approach.10
3 “Customer Desires vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding the Omnichannel Commerce Gap,” Forrester Research, January 2014.4 “Get Prepared for the Top Retail and Technology Trends,” Gartner, August 2015.5, 6, 7 “Why Every Retailer Should ‘Ship From Store,’” Forrester Research, May 2014.8, 9 “One Way Online Shopping Is Actually Helping Brick-and-Mortar Retailers,” Washington Post, September 3, 2014.10 “The Retail CIO Agenda 2015: Secure and Innovate,” Forrester Research, February 2015.
Increase >25%
Increase 10% to 25%
Increase <10%
Remain flat
Decrease <10%
3%
23%
34%
30%
3%
Figure 2: Retailer Technology Investments 2015
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%SOURCE: “The Retail CIO Agenda 2015: Secure and Innovate,” Forrester Research, February 2015
Decrease >10% 7%
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Retailers report that the most important reason to invest in omnichannel commerce is to respond to customer demands. Other key drivers include keeping pace with competitor capabilities, matching online pure plays such as Amazon.com and enhancing customer satisfaction and lifetime value.
That IT investment must occur in the front office, where customers interact with the brand. And it needs to take place in the back office, where sales associates and the store itself interact with inventory and other corporate systems.
In the front office, retailers are exploring new capabilities that help them engage customers wherever they are in their buying journey. Many of these capabilities begin with loyalty programs that enable retailers to automatically recognize customers as they move from online to mobile to store channels. So when customers enter the store, they might receive personalized coupons on their smartphones based on past purchases.
Technology companies are supporting these efforts with innovations. Intel, for example, has introduced digital signage that retailers can place throughout the store to showcase new inventory or promote closeouts. Such signage can include cameras that capture anonymous information such as the gender and approximate age of shoppers. They can also track where shoppers’ eyes linger, how long they look and where they go in the store after viewing the sign.
Strengthen data security
Integrate channels to enable omnichannel
Modernize merchandising to enable omnichannel
Implement analytics
Mobile-enable employees
77%
76%
63%
39%
25%
Figure 3: Top Five Retailer IT Priorities
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%SOURCE: “The Retail CIO Agenda 2015: Secure and Innovate,” Forrester Research, February 2015
Meet customer demands
Match competitor capabilities
Compete with online pure plays
Improve customer satisfaction
Improve customer lifetime value
62%
55%
36%
35%
Figure 4: Top Five Reasons to Invest in Omnichannel
0% 10% 40% 60% 70%SOURCE: “Customer Desires Vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding the Omnichannel Commerce Gap,” Forrester Research, January 2014
20% 30% 50%
36%
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In fact, indoor positioning systems are emerging as a key technology. Seven of the 10 largest retailers will use indoor positioning by 2017, to help shoppers quickly find products.11 Consumers seem happy to share their locations with retailers; more than 20 percent did so as early as 2013.12 In-store location tracking can help retailers create contextually relevant offers that improve sales, margins and customer satisfaction.
In the back office, retailers need to leverage the data they’re capturing out on the floor. That requires big data platforms in corporate headquarters to perform advanced analytics. It also calls for in-store infrastructure, from mobile point-of-sale and inventory-management systems to the wireless and telecom networks that support them.
And just as front-office marketing solutions can track shoppers, back-office inventory systems can track merchandise. So sales associates have instant access to inventory data within the store, in other stores and wherever else it may reside throughout the supply chain.
Some retailers are taking inventory management further with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags at the item level. RFID helps sales associates instantly locate inventory within the store, even if it has been misplaced. It also enables them to connect inventory with shopper behavior. For example, retailers can use RFID data to identify items frequently left in the dressing room, perhaps indicating a sizing problem. Leveraging technology in this way can simultaneously optimize store operations while improving the customer experience.
Rapid RefreshBut deploying new technology and upgrading existing infrastructure often require a store refresh — and this is where retailers run into challenges. That’s true for smaller retailers rapidly building out stores, and it applies to established players quickly refreshing hundreds or even thousands of locations across regions.
Retailers that choose to launch or refresh stores with their own IT staff can find this process daunting. They need to identify best-in-class solutions that enable new front- and back-office capabilities. They need to configure those devices to meet their unique needs. They need to integrate components from various vendors. And they need to rapidly stage, test and deploy equipment in each store location.
Those efforts can prove to be a logistics and staffing nightmare. Every day a store remains offline means lost revenue and lost customers. Project delays or unexpected equipment problems can mean further downtime and damaged reputation.
Then there are aspects of store rollouts few retailers anticipate. One is the need to manage relationships with multiple IT providers. Another is the need to centrally warehouse, configure and test components before they’re deployed in the store. A third is the fact that equipment needs to be paid for upfront, often months before it’s implemented and contributing to new revenues.
An experienced provider of retail IT services can offload this burden and provide a single point of accountability and effectiveness. Such a provider can identify unique needs, offer proven recommendations, design an effective solution and manage all the logistics. It can then procure, configure, test, stage and roll out a complete equipment package in every store, applying repeatable processes in a predefined timeframe. It can also provide training and ongoing support to make sure each launch or refresh is successful.
Omnichannel consumers like Maria will only become more common — and more central to retailer success. They’ll continue to rely on your retail stores while they interact with your brand through online, mobile and other touch points. Retailers who enhance their stores with technology that enables an omnichannel experience can achieve greater brand loyalty and competitive advantage.
11, 12 “Top 10 Strategic Predictions for 2015 and Beyond: Digital Business Is Driving ‘Big Change,’” Gartner, October 2014.
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A Complete Suite for Retail-Store LaunchesCompuCom offers a complete suite of IT services for retail-store launches and refreshes. Called MyStore —Powered by CompuCom, these services deliver everything retailers need for a new store opening or an IT refresh, all bundled in a comprehensive solution.
MyStore — Powered by CompuCom supports retailer objectives through eight core services:
• Project management — Built around best practices from Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®), Six Sigma, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and more.• Product procurement — Supports channel, direct-procurement and client-supplied approaches.• Logistics management — Addresses equipment procurement, configuration, distribution and tracking.• Staging and deployment — Includes equipment storage, inventory and consolidation.• Advanced configuration — Covers configuration standards, security, kitting, packing and shipping.• Installation — Applies phased or overnight store setup and installation.• Day One support — Delivers on-site technical support and training.• Recovery and disposition — Manages reselling or disposal of equipment with eco-acceptable programs.
CompuCom manages the entire process, including initial site surveys, device procurement and configuration, equipment installation and wall-to-wall Day One support. Our delivery organization is staffed by experienced and certified technical teams — boasting a record of 100 percent on-time store openings with zero defects. We leverage proven best practices, processes and tools to provide consistency, promote efficiency and meet unique requirements. Retailers benefit from:
• A rapid, reliable store launch or refresh based on proven, industry-leading strategies.• Lower cost for store rollouts, even for IT environments that require customization.• Mitigation of incidents and risks that would delay a store opening.• Reduced disruption to normal business operations.• A single point-of-contact for all aspects of store IT, including design, planning, deployment, training and problem resolution.• The ability to quickly leverage new store technology.• On-time store openings with highly available, effective IT infrastructures that deliver a superior customer experience and reinforce the brand.
50%Shoppers who expect to buy online and pick up in the store13
13 “Customer Desires vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding the Omnichannel Commerce Gap,” Forrester Research, January 2014
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ABOUT COMPUCOMCompuCom Systems, Inc., a global company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, provides IT managed services, infrastructure solutions, consulting and products to Fortune 1000 companies committed to enhancing their end users’ experience. Founded in 1987, privately held CompuCom employs approximately 11,500 associates. For more information, visit www.compucom.com.
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