Spring - InsideOutdoor Magazine

1999
Must
to generate sufficient volume to make the long tail Business be able to respond Challenges more quickly
Equipment
Driving the Use
to changes in consumer demand
economically productive for lots of players. And of Customer-Driven Business Intelligence
Footwear
Need a better match between
Linear (Equipment) over the next decade or so, argues Elaine Pollock,
products and customers
Must be
Equipment executive vice president at TNS Retail Forward
Must able improve to respond customer more service quickly
Linear (Footwear)
to without changes increasing consumer payroll demand costs
Footwear and lead author of the Retailing 2015 study, it’s
Need a better match between
Linear (Equipment) likely we will see a decline in the “mass-appeal approach”
to retailing in favor of “niche merchandis-
Must improve customer service
products
Difficult to
and
differentiate
A
from competitors
customers
Linear (Footwear)
without Need to increasing reduce out-of-stocks payroll costs
ing” and personalization.
s Your VoIP Service Compare to Your Old Service
Need Difficult to reduce to differentiate inventory
GA
panies with 100 or fewer employees “The Internet that have will adopted exert VoIP) more influence—continuing
and from improve competitors turns
to grow rapidly as a retail channel, but, Rapid growth Need to is reduce driving out-of-stocks us into new
markets - need better store selection tools
even more importantly, continuing to grow exponentially
as the conduit to the vast marketplace
and
s Your VoIP Service Compare to Your Old Service
Fragmented
Need
views
to reduce inventory
of our
improve
customers
panies with 100 or fewer employees that have adopted VoIP)
are costing us sales
turns
outside traditional space,” she says.
Rapid growth is driving us into new
markets - need better Need store to selection reduce shrink tools
Along with other emerging trends, such as demographic
dichotomies and household downsiz-
are costing us sales 0 0.5 1
Fragmented views of our customers
84%
84% 60% ing, 64% consumers’ instantaneous access to infinite
80% 92%
A Lot of Need Influence to reduce shrink No Influence
choices online 84% and 92% the growing ability for consumers
8% to remix, adapt or create what they cannot find
0 0.5 1
Some Influence
84% 24% 60% will 64% begin to splinter mainstream retail into smaller
niche offerings, 84% 92%
80% 92%
A Lot of Influence No Influence
84%
Source: Retail Systems Research
8% 8% 28%
suggests Pollock, even down
16%
16%
12% 4% 4%
Some Influence
8% 8% to 8% “units of one.” Constant connectivity and the
4% 4% 4% 4%
24%
anywhere/anyway/anytime access to products
Source: Retail Systems Research
8% 8% and 28% information 16% is leading to what PwC and TNS
16%
12% 4% 4%
8% 8% call “perfect 4% product 4% 4% access” 4% – availability of the
right product, at the right place, at the right time – Opportunities Retailers See to Improve
orse About the Same VoIP Better
which in turn allows shoppers to buy less of “what Satisfaction Across All Channels
is popular” and more of “what suits them.”
tar
In a global e-commerce economy, notions such Opportunities Create single Retailers brand See to Improve 87%
12%
orse About the Same VoIP Better
identity across all channels
as “limited editions,” customization and “fast fashion”
will replace “stack it high and let it fly” as the take delivery or return a item
65%
23% 12%
Satisfaction Across All Channels
Allow customers to purchase,
tar
Create across single channels brand
u recommend VoIP profitability service to mantra, Pollock and her team argue.
87%
12%
Allow inventory
identity
allocated
across all
from
channels
one
ness peers? The general rule of thumb that 80 percent of sales
47% 36% 16%
channel Allow customers be used to for purchase, another
come from 20 percent of SKUs may no longer apply, take delivery or return a item
65%
23% 12%
Improve operational across execution channels
u recommend VoIP as service the other to 80 percent of units could represent an
71% 26%
Allow inventory allocated
across all
from
channels
one
ness peers? increasing share of sales and profits.
47% 36% 16%
100
channel to be used for another
34% 21% 39%
<
Offer customized and
“The economics of scarcity will Employees
35% 51% 14%
give way to the
Improve
unique
operational
product
execution
offering
71% 26%
economics of abundance,” Pollock says.
Explore across new all channels,
Granted, online sales currently account for only
(i.e. mobile phones) 26% 40% 34%
100
34% 21% 39%
<
Offer customized and 35% 51% 14%
about 7 percent of sales among outdoor
Employees
stores with Consistent unique and clear product explanation offering
an e-commerce-enable Web presence, according
of product features and
61% 33% 6%
100
information Explore across new channels,
24% to figures from 52%
>
Outdoor Industry Association. But
(i.e. mobile phones) 26% 40% 34%
Employees
Improve our promotional
53% 38% 9%
there is more to it than your Web site’s level of e- Consistent and clear effectiveness explanation
of product features and
61% 33% 6%
commerce enablement or “online sales” 100 in the traditional
60 sense. It’s about 80 consumers’ 100 Employees
Very Important
Not very important
information across channels
24% 52%
>
20 40 expectations, and
Improve our promotional
53% 38% 9%
the challenges the retail industry faces in its attempt
effectiveness Somewhat Important
20
2 to 3become more 4 customer-centric 5 in a world where
40 customers 60 are more 80diverse, 100 more educated, more
Source: Retail Systems ResearchVery Important
Not very important
mmend Recommend demanding and Highly fully Recommend able to go somewhere else to
Somewhat Important
2 get 3exactly what 4 they want the 5 way they want it.
Consumers, therefore, says Brian Kilcourse, managing
partner for Retail Systems Research, “no longer
Source: Retail Systems Research
tar
Consider, for example, a recent Harris Poll commissioned
mmend
tar
by Chordiant Software in which a full 95
Recommend Highly Recommend
percent of consumer respondents said it was at least
somewhat important that companies know “who I am,
my buying history, past problems or complaints, preferences
and billing records.” More than a third said
knowledge of their personal history was important
and more than a quarter said it was very important.
see retailers’ traditional differentiators (product availability
and price) as sufficient to win their loyalty.”
So it’s not surprising that more than 50 percent of
retailers responding to an in-store technology survey
said their biggest challenge lying ahead is improving
customer service while holding the line on cost, versus
the 28 percent who said it was the troubling economic
1999
, Adds,
Changes
s, Adds,
Changes
2000
2000
Management
Management
2001
2001
Call Quality
Call Quality
2002
2002
Reliability
Reliability
2003
2003
Routing
Routing
2004
2004
Features
Features
2005
Capacity
2005
Capacity
2006
2006
Multi-Location
Multi-Location
16 | InsideOutdoor | Spring 2008
Business Challenges Driving the Use
of Customer-Driven Business Intelligence