NRF2014 Big Show Focuses On Retailer Solutions

For US retailers, it was disappointing at the end of 2013, in a big discount, traffic jams, shorter holidays and bad weather. Now, there is almost no time to breathe. The industry is ready for bigger mutations, such as concerns about privacy after massive data leakage, and retailers want consumers to have more illusions about discounts.

Alison Paul, vice president of DDT, a leading international consultancy, and director of retail and Distribution Division, said that as the new year begins, retailers realize the importance of redefining the industry. change It will happen between three and five.

Alison Paul has not seen such a big change since the development of a discount store like WAL-MART 50 years ago. "The last big change in the industry was in 1960, when many big stores appeared, which really opened up a huge discount department store model," she said. This is considered to be the biggest change since the invention of modern retail trade in post-war America. "I don't even know if that change is comparable to what it is now." Paul said.

The tension in the US retail industry continued until the end of 2013. According to the statistics of the National Retail Federation, retail sales in the United States increased by 3.8% in 2013 compared with the holiday sales season in 2012, but 2013 did not achieve the expected revenue of 3.9%. Looking forward to 2014, this year's Retail Federation conference, industry experts put forward their own ideas and possible solutions for the ailing industry.

　　 One of the focus of the solution: how to enhance the physical store experience

In 2013, e-commerce was the most popular trend. This year, people saw that online sales far exceeded the growth of physical store revenue. In spite of the rapid growth, more than 3/4 of retail transactions are still in physical stores. But lately Store experience The effect has sometimes been reduced by electronic exchanges. There is little contact between brands and consumers in such online transactions.

Paul Steinberg, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Motorola solutions, said: "we opened this theme last year, and this year it seems that we will get more resonance." Motorola solution is to provide communication solutions for retailers.

NRF experts say shopping needs an experience. Retailers should use their tangible assets to build connections between consumers and their brands.

For example, at the NRF conference, Intel's booth displayed a "mirror" waiting for its length to allow consumers to try on many clothes, and then to take pictures of them, compare and share photos of costumes with friends. Motorola's technology scans consumers to bring clothes into the locker room. Before consumers get back to their clothes, they can click on the screen to order those out of stock.

"A pure deal is a more efficient online transaction," said Jon Stan, director of CISCO consulting services retailing, a subsidiary of CISCO systems. But retail is far more than just a pure deal. "

　　 Two of the solutions: is shopping best using smart phones?

Despite significant progress in e-commerce last year, the function of smart phones is yet to be realized. The best place for smart phones is to browse items by shoppers, but the conversion to sales is very low. As a result, many retailers are exploring. Mobile devices New ways that can be used in stores.

"Mobile devices are basically the physical world of mice." Jay Janko, director of retail management at Verizon enterprise solutions, one of Verizon communications departments. {page_break}

Retailers are exploring mobile applications that track customers' shopping. When they arrive at a certain area of a store, they send tailored business information to them, recommend products based on past shopping, or allow shoppers to write automated shopping lists. Bob Moncrief, director of PWC's retail and consumer consultancy, said that visionary companies need to create an "enhanced experience" for their customers. For example, Alan Smith, chief information officer of Lululemon, points out that their brand apps enable consumers to find nearby yoga centers.

However, experts say that although retailers are beginning to realize the importance of integrating unique mobile technologies with their shops, it still takes years for them to be widely applied. Janet Holmes, chief information officer of Carter's children's store, says another challenge is that when consumers place an order online, where the store is allocated to achieve this single sale.

　　 Three of the solution focus: reduce the privacy of trading exchanges.

Of course, especially at least two important department stores, Taghit (Target) and Neiman Markus (NeimanMarcus), in the industry triggered a shock data leakage, high-tech sales, personalized recommendation and smart phone collection of various kinds of privacy coupons issue highlights.

A key industry problem is: where is the boundary between good and terror? Some shoppers welcome targeted coupons while others do not like to be tracked. Brian Giroual, senior director of global IT consulting, said: "this is definitely a boutique route, but this is also a concern for the industry."

Experts find that there are some key factors in determining the amount of information that shoppers are willing to share. Moncrief, a PWC accounting firm, says that age is a big thing. Millennials are more accustomed to sharing data, others get some value from them. Return Share data.

According to a CISCO study, if the next purchase is discounted, 52% of shoppers are willing to share information with retailers.

Giroud Al of Capgemini said that such a decision also comes down to a particular retailer, because shoppers are more willing to share information with high-end shopping malls.

Jon Stan of CISCO said that the most important thing in implementing the mobile strategy is to respect the wishes of shoppers. What they need is candor and education, which means that if a retailer installed a camera in its store, it should tell consumers that it is to analyze shoppers' behavior, not to track everyone. They also need to propose a way to allow consumers to opt out of these services.

　　 Four of the solutions: too many discounts hurt retailers' bottom line.

In the holiday sales season at the end of 2013, the discount problem plagued retailers, which resulted in lower store prices due to low traffic volume. As a result, retailers lowered their earnings forecasts for the quarter. Kimberly Greenberg, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in 2014 many retailers didn't expect too much of a very warm promotion environment.

One of the ways to end this endless discount is to innovate on products and introduce new essential clothing products. Alison Paul of DDT said: "if retailers want to stay in good condition for a long time, innovation is not only the key, but you want to continue to be different from other stores, so the good method is also worth exploring."

　　 Five focus of the solution: focus on retail Fundamentals

For new products and technologies, the industry will be largely influenced in 2014. Basic elements For example, on time delivery and consolidation of safety.

At the NRF conference, many experts stressed that data leakage is not only directly affecting the store, but also a threat to the overall interests of the industry. Industry leaders have called for the abandonment of most of the encrypted magnetic stripe cards currently used for credit cards and debit cards.

Alison Paul of DDT said, "this is not about a person. It concerns everyone. What we are doing is protecting the data of our consumers, because ultimately, if you lose trust, there will be no consumers. "