October 11, 2024 • 31 mins
Get ready to revolutionize your retail strategy with insights from Karen Halpern, Director of Retail and Hospitality Product Marketing at Priority Software. Discover how the integration of advanced technologies like AI and mobile are reshaping both online and in-store shopping experiences. Karen shares her personal anecdotes to illustrate the persistent challenges retailers face in connecting these channels and how even midsize retailers can harness these innovations to stay competitive.
Unpack the complexities of creating a seamless omnichannel operation in today’s fast-paced retail environment. Karen discusses the hurdles of disjointed systems, manual processes, and the significant investments required for IT modernization. Learn why some retailers hesitate to transition to cloud-based solutions and how Priority Software's all-in-one platform can ease these concerns, offering a roadmap to transform retail operations for the better.
Real-world success stories from brands like Ace Hardware, Columbia Wear, and Cowtown demonstrate the tangible benefits of adopting Priority’s solutions. From enhanced order management and inventory control to integrated loyalty programs, these examples underscore the measurable outcomes such as reduced IT costs and increased operational efficiency. The episode wraps up with strategic advice on recognizing the need for system upgrades and the advantages of partnering with Priority Software to meet today’s retail challenges head-on.
RetailWire is the retail industry's premier source for news, analysis, and discussion. With a focus on the latest trends, technology, and consumer behavior, RetailWire provides a platform for industry experts and thought leaders to share their insights and perspectives. Whether you're a retailer, supplier, or service provider, RetailWire is your go-to destination for staying informed and ahead of the curve.
Be sure to leave us a comment and let us know what you think. You might even hear your comment read on the next episode!
To learn more, or to join our Daily Discussions, visit RetailWire.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome to the RetailWire podcast series.
I'm Patricia Waldron, andtoday's topic is tech solutions
developed specifically formidsize retailers and my super
smart expert guest is KarenHalpern.
She's the Director of Retailand Hospitality Product
Marketing from Priority Software.
Priority Software is a leaderin enterprise software and it
(00:41):
helps companies all around theworld manage their business so
they're smarter, quicker andmore agile.
Welcome, karen.
Hi nice to be here.
Yeah, it's great to be chattingwith you today.
You've been in the retail spacefor many years and you've
worked with brands that peoplewill recognize global brands for
(01:02):
a long time.
What are you seeing in themarket?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So I'm looking at the retail from you know a wider
perspective of what's going onover the years and I see that
over the last 20 years retailhas changed dramatically on one
hand, but on the other, handthere are a lot of things that
actually stay the same.
So what has changed?
There are a lot of things thatactually stay the same.
So what has changed?
First of all, the online theonline experience, the online
selling channels.
This is something that haschanged dramatically how
(01:35):
retailers are accessing theircustomers, but, on the other
hand, the in-store experiencehas more or less stayed the same
.
Still, there is a traditionalstore with the counter, with the
traditional experience, butthis dramatic change requires
(01:58):
retailers to change the way theywork, right.
They need to change theirprocesses.
They need to be able to supportthis change in balance.
On top of that, there are a lotof advanced technologies that
have been added.
We think about mobile.
It's not so advanced anymore.
(02:18):
But if you think about AI,generative AI, things that can
influence how retailers managetheir inventory, how they do
personalization to theircustomers, how the user
interfaces towards the employeesand to the customers, they
change everything.
Now, when I look at things, Ilook at it first of all as a
(02:41):
consumer, because, like a lot ofpeople, I do shopping and I
love shopping, and when I doshopping, I also try to figure
out what affects my experience,and I'll give you a nice example
for it.
So I had a birthday recentlyand I got a voucher from a brand
that.
(03:01):
I really like and I wanted to goto the store to try out a few
items before I purchase and what.
I realized is that I?
The voucher that I got is onlyfor online.
First of all, it made mefrustrated and on top of that
and this is the second thingthat's happened to me as a
professional, I try tounderstand why this happens, and
(03:24):
the reason that happened isbecause there was a disconnect
between the in-store and theonline channels, and I also
asked the assistant about it andshe said yes, it's a known
problem, but we're strugglingand we're not connecting between
the two channels.
So that's from a consumer pointof view, between the two
(03:45):
channels.
So that's from a consumer pointof view.
And then from a professionalpoint of view, I look at those
processes and I look at thesystem that supports the
retailers and I understand whythere are so many challenges and
where it needs to go, how toconnect between them.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I think that's exactly right.
Online was developed separatefrom stores, and connecting them
is one of the biggest problemsretailers have, and, as
consumers, we expect it to beseamless, don't we?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, we do, like every other experience, but for
retail it's not there for mostbrands and for more smaller
retailers.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
And they have some unique characteristics and
challenges.
When you're working with, youknow, retailers that are
mid-sized or growing quickly.
What characteristics do youhave?
How do you kind of classifythem?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So in the industry it's quite typical to look at
them like any other technology.
First of all you've got theadvanced ones, which are the
early tech adapters that adoptnew technologies that are very
focused around the systems thatdrive the operations, and for
(05:07):
most of them those are systemsthat are very strongly
integrated.
There is a unification of thecustomer experience and because
of that the operation is alsoefficient.
There are the evolving ones.
Typically they are the leadersin the market more the larger
ones.
Typically they're the leadersin the market more of the larger
retailers.
(05:27):
That's a large portion of theirprocess and the customer
experience is alreadysynchronized and integrated.
However, they're still in theprocess of upgrading some
portions, so they're not themost advanced, they're in the
middle.
And then you've got all thetraditional retailers.
(05:47):
Those are typically the smallbusinesses, the medium-sized
businesses, that their processesare more focused around
operations.
They have systems that are notnecessarily all tied up together
.
Sometimes the store experienceis completely disconnected from
(06:13):
the commerce experience.
Sometimes it's integratedpartially.
Their systems are typicallyon-prem, which require a lot of
heavy IT.
Or if they're completely smallbusinesses, they have limited
(06:34):
capabilities.
They're focused around specificareas, specific domains in the
operation and they don't havethe end-to-end capabilities.
Yeah, and they don't have theend-to-end capabilities.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, I definitely see the differences and you can
tell, just even as a shopperright, who are the ones that
have invested in the tech andmaybe some of the others that
are cobbling together some ofthese processes across the
organization and it's obviouslyless successful.
So let's focus on the smallerand midsize retailers and maybe
(07:07):
you can kind of talk about whatsize parameters those are right
specifically and the uniquechallenges they face when it
comes to growing their brand,staying connected to customers
and, more importantly, competingwith big players that have, you
know, deep pockets and the moreadvanced technology to connect.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So your first question was what is the size of
those retailers?
So I wouldn't say that there isa limit to the size.
I would say that it's moreconnected to what is their IT
stack situation.
That's kind of where I wouldlook at them.
They can be rather large, with100, 200, 500 stores and online
(07:55):
capability, but still it'sdisconnected.
So they're still in thetraditional world and they can
be smaller around 10, 15, 20stores and be in the same
situation.
So I would say somewhere betweenthe range of, you know, towards
the 500 and plus is where welook at the upper limit from our
(08:19):
point of view.
How?
do we characterize them.
So what happens is that thesituation is that the most of
the revenue and we see a lot ofresearchers around that talk
about the growth of retail ismore focused on the online.
(08:39):
So the physical stores stillare growing, but most of the
additional revenue, or thegrowth of retail is going to be
on the online.
There are some numbers.
I recently read an article thatestimates that around 30% of
the revenue will come fromonline, but the overall growth
is still there.
Uh, the challenge for theretailers is to build the
(09:01):
organization that can support anoperation that is omni-channel.
So you have both the stores.
You have the physical stores,multiple locations, and the
online, and growing them bothtogether in an effective way
requires support of sales in aneffective way, marketing the
(09:26):
service and the processes.
It requires investment inout-of-the-box solution and
implementation, and this is achallenge.
Small and mid-sized retailershave to compete against the
larger ones, and if they want tocompete, they need to do it in
an effective way.
The customer experience, bothin the store and online, needs
(09:51):
to be connected.
Once they have the growingfootprint, they need to be able
to optimize optimize theirprocesses, optimize their
inventory and satisfy thecustomer demand, but make sure
that, for example, in inventory,not to overstock On the
operation.
If they grow not in anefficient way, they will
(10:18):
collapse.
So they need to maintain leanand efficient operation and on
the backside of the processes,not on the front end.
They need to become moreorganized right.
All the procurement needs to beorganized, the finance, the HR,
project management, all of that.
(10:38):
And those are the challengesthat they face.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
And I imagine a lot of those challenges related to
the systems that they're workingwith.
So to what extent are youseeing existing systems and most
of them are disconnected right.
Limit retailers' them aredisconnected right.
Limit retailers' ability toinnovate and scale.
What are some of the mostcommon obstacles you're seeing
(11:05):
when you're working withcompanies that are both starting
from the traditional store,adding online, and then the
born-on-the-net that are nowneeding to invest in stores
right?
So what are the most commonobstacles that you're seeing
that retailers need to address?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So we can look at it from the customer point of view
and we can look at it from theretailer's point of view, I
prefer.
Since I'm passionate about thecustomer point of view, I'll
start with that.
I think that one of thelimitations that retailers have
a lot of retailers that don'thave sufficient or strong IT
(11:43):
systems lack a single customerview.
There is a disconnect, first ofall, between the online and the
physical brick and mortarstores, but also between the
stores themselves, but alsobetween the stores themselves,
and this really affects thecustomer experience, because
from a customer point of viewfrom my personal point of view I
(12:05):
don't care if I'm online orphysical, I'm on my mobile or on
the website.
I am expecting the samecustomer experience From a
retailer point of view.
From the operation side, ifthere is a disconnect between
the different systems, there'salso a disconnect between the
operations on the online and thephysical stores.
(12:29):
For example, pick up in store.
This can only work if thesystems are connected or click
and collect.
It requires the online to beable to see what the inventory
is for the physical store.
(12:51):
There is a lack of automatedoperation because most of the
systems are not connected.
There are people that need todo actual manual work to clear
out the bottlenecks forinventory for pricing, for
managing promotions andcampaigns and discounts, for
(13:13):
customer service, forfulfillment.
There's a list of those thingsfor customer service, for
fulfillment.
There's a list of those things.
And on the IT side, in the backend of it, there's heavy
investment around theapplication, managing the
different applications, becausethere are several managing the
(13:35):
connection and the integrationbetween them and to be able to
achieve the business flows.
And on top of that there's theactual cost of the IT.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So there are a lot of steps to it.
There are a lot of steps and Ithink the IT, the data 80%
keeping things running and 20%doing something interesting
that's going to drive thebusiness is where we find a lot
of retailers.
These days.
Your system is a little bitdifferent because it's an
(14:03):
all-in-one and it's acloud-based system.
When you talk to retailers andthey're looking to make some
kind of transformation betweentheir current environment and a
more modern, integrated, unifiedway of operating, what concerns
or hesitations are they sharingwith you about making this kind
(14:27):
of transformation?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So there are several things that we see across all of
the retailers that we talk to.
They're very expected, I wouldsay.
First of all, like anyorganization, especially the
more traditional ones, the onesthat don't adopt new technology
(14:51):
very fast, there's a hesitancyaround change management.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, yeah, it's very management.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah yeah, it's very scary, it's heavy.
The people within theorganization are risk aversive.
They do not want to do thosechanges.
They fear that there is goingto be a lot of focus that is
going to be around this changemanagement instead of focus
around, you know, the core ofthe business and on top of that
(15:21):
it's a core solution, right?
Everything is around thatsystem, so it's very risky.
The second question mark, orhesitance, is around cost, right
, what is going to be the costof those types of systems,
typically the traditional?
(15:42):
retailers have on-premisesystems.
They're quite expensive thehardware, the maintenance and
everything and that's a riskfrom their point of view.
They're considering on-premversus cloud.
They're considering on-premversus cloud.
They're also considering, orafraid of, the change in the
(16:04):
processes that they need to do,because typically if you
implement a new system, you needto change the way you work to
adapt yourself to the system isconfigured.
So that's another challenge orhesitance that retailers have.
(16:24):
And then there's, you know, aquestion about okay, do we do a
best of suite or a best of breed?
Do we continue with the systemsthat we have?
Do we upgrade them or do wemove to something that's
completely new and maybe haseverything?
So those are challenges that wesee and concerns that our
(16:50):
potential customers have.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Well, I totally get that change can be intimidating
for many reasons and also riskyto the business.
Given these challenges aboutchange management and so forth,
can you tell us a little moreabout your approach and what
makes the platform such a goodfit for these retailers?
Obviously, it's being used bytens of thousands of retailers
(17:13):
and brands around the world.
How do you help them transform,Karen?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
So let's first remind ourselves what is the solution,
because it will help usunderstand how we can overcome
the concerns that retailers have.
So Priority is an end-to-endplatform that covers both the
point of sale, unified commerce,retail management, all the way
(17:43):
back to the enterpriserequirements, the ERP side of it
.
It's cloud-based and it's SaaS.
So here are already some thingsthat we can answer to the
concern.
First of all, the fact thatit's SaaS it means that
subscription is the method oflicensing right and that's
(18:08):
relatively less expensive thanbuying a full license for an
on-prem solution.
The fact that it's cloud is itmeans that IT requirements
decrease, that the investment inIT is lower.
And the fact that it's a singleplatform that covers everything
(18:28):
.
It kind of means that we're aone-stop shop.
Whatever you need in terms ofretail management, the solution
has the ability to cover it.
However, it's modular so youdon't need to take everything.
You can choose based on theneeds, and the fact that it's a
single platform means that thereis no integration, reducing the
(18:50):
risk of integration,maintaining the integrations,
upgrades and things like that.
Since it's working on aplatform, it enjoys the platform
capabilities, which means theflexibility and the
customization andcustomizability that can be done
(19:13):
on top of it, meaning thatretailers don't need to change
the way they work.
The system can work around theway the retailers work and not
the other way around.
Since the platform is open andfuture ready, it allows
retailers to plan ahead as theygrow, as they add additional uh
(19:35):
channels at they add additionalcapabilities.
This can be also on themarketing side.
It can be additional commercechannels and so on.
On top of that, there arethings that are very related to
priority itself.
First of all, the experience.
You mentioned it.
We support hundreds andthousands of retailers and we
(19:59):
faced a lot of challenges in thepast and we know how to
implement.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
We have best practices and we have
methodologies that allow forsmooth implementation that
reduces the risk and those areall super important and I love
that you've got the store piece,you've got the online and then
all the back back end functionsfor merchandising and inventory,
because, to your points earlier, that unified view of product
(20:29):
and customer is something thatstill so many chains are missing
.
So can you share with us somereal world examples on how your
solutions are helping otherbrands around the world change
their operations and why they'vechosen priority over other
(20:50):
solutions?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
That's a good question.
So let's start with Ace.
It's hard work.
We're working with one of theregional franchises for Ace.
This franchise has 62 storesplus an online channel as well.
Specifically, they had a veryfocused need.
(21:17):
They were focused aroundimproving their operation,
improving their order management, their inventory control and
also connecting between theonline and the brick and mortar
stores to create a moreomni-channel experience.
They also added loyaltycapabilities from our platform
(21:40):
to enhance personalization andcustomer experience and on the
back end side, they're using itfor procurement, for vendor
management and also for assemblyprocesses.
They're not manufacturers,however, they do assemble part
of the products that they selland they needed a solution that
(22:01):
covers all of that.
Another example ColumbiaColumbia Wear again a franchise
that has more than 50 storesplus the online.
The same, quite similarchallenges, because I think most
retailers eventually havesimilar challenges.
(22:22):
They want to be more efficient,they want to provide a good
experience, and Columbia we'refocusing around managing their
warehouse and they needed asolution that also includes all
of their enterprise aspects,including the financing,
including the HR and so on.
Another example is Cowtown.
(22:44):
Cowtown is a small retailer inCanada that has several
megastores and they reached outto Priority after they tried to
use and upgrade their existingsystems.
They tried to do it more thanonce and they failed and they
(23:04):
felt that they need a partner towork with and they were
searching for capabilitiesaround replenishment, around
inventory, around, of course,the customer experience and also
the employee experience instore.
So there are a lot of retailers, but there are a lot of
commonalities as well.
Most of them are searching fora solution that will reduce
(23:29):
their IT costs, that willsupport them in the growth of
revenue and make their operationmore efficiency and, of course,
the customer experience is king.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yeah, because you're never going to get the
efficiencies and profitablegrowth if you're not serving
customers in the way that theyexpect.
That's totally right, and withsome of these are there expected
results or improvements orcertain KPIs or return that
retailers get when theyimplement your solutions.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
So I think the first one is around the IT costs.
That's the easiest to measureright, Moving away from
traditional systems and multiplesystems to a single system that
is on the cloud and that has aSaaS licensing model reduces the
IT costs immediately, but thereare additional areas that are
(24:28):
more evident as time grows.
First of all, the operationefficiency, because there is a
lot of automation that issupported by the system.
There are a lot of aspects thatare around balancing the
inventory, efficient processesin the store, between the store
and different channels, and soon.
So operational efficiency andon top of that, the one that is
(24:49):
the holy grail, is the growthand the revenue.
Customers are more satisfied.
Customers buy more, they have abetter experience in the store
or online and cross thedifferent channels and, that's
evident returning customers.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah, and that's going to be measurable over time
.
That's great.
That there's kind of immediatebenefit to the organization and
longer term ability to achievetheir business goals.
That's awesome.
And are there special benefitsfor brands who want to ramp up
store operations or service?
For brands who want to ramp upstore operations or service?
(25:27):
Even though online is growingrapidly, the only time you're
directly in face-to-face is withstores, right, that's where you
directly are connecting withcustomers and I think there's a
renewed focus on storeoperations.
Are there special benefits forbrands who have a goal in that
particular area?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
so a lot of the capabilities that priority has
developed are capabilities thatalso affect the in-store
experience.
So if we started with the factthat the in-store experience
hasn't changed dramatically overthe last hundred years, you've
got the cashier, you've got thecounter.
(26:06):
You as a customer.
You go in, you do your shoppingon your own and you only reach
the point of sale at the endafter you've made all of your
decisions and there is lessoption to influence the buying
process in with that interaction.
(26:27):
When we look at the newcapabilities, that the solution
like priority that has mobilefirst as a focus, that has, uh,
new and innovative solutions forthe store experience.
Some of them, you know thetraditional ones, are the tablet
, the mobile point of sale,you've got the self-service
(26:50):
kiosks and all of that andyou're able to integrate
additional solutions to thesystem because of its openness.
It dramatically changes the waycustomer experience, instead of
engaging with the customer atthe end, you're kind of engaging
with them, similar to online.
(27:11):
You can advise, you can checkinventory for customers.
You're working alongside thedecision process and not
afterwards.
That's from the customerprocess and not afterwards.
That's from the customerexperience point of view.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Absolutely, and from the employee experience too,
because so much of their time isfocused on manual tasks or
other tasks that they're reallynot able.
They're tied to old systems,right, so they're not able to be
out with customers engagingalong the process, along the
path to purchase.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
That's true, and we've got additional
capabilities that are very, veryfocused around the employees,
what we call the B2E side ofthings.
So, for example, on top of theregular point of sales, we have
application and capabilitiesthat are able to automate
processes, the ability toschedule your shifts.
(28:10):
There are a lot of focusesaround the employee and their
experience as well, and makingit as simple as possible,
because sadly, employees inretail kind of change quite
quickly and we need to onboardthem.
We need to be able to simplifytheir knowledge and ramp up and
and uh to make them effective assoon as possible yes, because
(28:33):
well-trained and happy employeestranslates into better service
for customers and, obviously,higher growth.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah that those are great things to talk about.
So, finally, what advice wouldyou give to retailers who
realize they've outgrown theirsystems and who are ready to
take the next step?
How can they get started withpriority?
Speaker 2 (28:53):
So, first of all, before starting with priority, I
think there are some steps thatthey need to think and consider
.
So first of, all, a lot of themare contemplating replace or
upgrade, and I would recommend,first thing, first considering
replacing the platform insteadof, you know, trying to stitch
(29:16):
additional modules to when youalready have or stretch it
beyond its capability.
Yeah, search for animplementation that will be
faster, because the systems thatyou're going to replace or
upgrade are your core systems.
(29:37):
They're attached to yourrevenue.
Core systems, they're attachedto your revenue.
But you need a solution thatcan be implemented rather
quickly and can reduce cost overtime and typically, best of
suite, covers those capabilities.
And the last one that I reallylike is find a vendor that is
(29:58):
not just a vendor, that is apartner.
So that are kind of theguidelines and in terms of how
to take the next step.
You can visit Priority and askfor a demo and we'll be happy to
show you.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
That's great insight and I really like the way that
you've broken it down and givenadvice that's really based on
many years of working withwell-known brands who have been
able to transform theirorganization.
I really appreciate you beinghere today and for advising us
on how retailers can overcomethe tech limitations that are
(30:39):
preventing them from competingwith larger chains, meeting
customers' ever-changing demandsand the growing expectations
for an omnichannel experience.
So, on behalf of RetailWire,priority Software, karen, thank
you very much for being heretoday and remember that you can
get more information at the shownotes area, in the video
(31:02):
description and the link of howyou can connect with Karen and
other members of the PrioritySoftware team.
Thanks a lot, thank you.
Welcome to the RetailWire podcast series.
I'm Patricia Waldron, andtoday's topic is tech solutions
developed specifically formidsize retailers and my super
smart expert guest is KarenHalpern.
She's the Director of Retailand Hospitality Product
Marketing from Priority Software.
Priority Software is a leaderin enterprise software and it
(00:41):
helps companies all around theworld manage their business so
they're smarter, quicker andmore agile.
Welcome, karen.
Hi nice to be here.
Yeah, it's great to be chattingwith you today.
You've been in the retail spacefor many years and you've
worked with brands that peoplewill recognize global brands for
(01:02):
a long time.
What are you seeing in themarket?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So I'm looking at the retail from you know a wider
perspective of what's going onover the years and I see that
over the last 20 years retailhas changed dramatically on one
hand, but on the other, handthere are a lot of things that
actually stay the same.
So what has changed?
There are a lot of things thatactually stay the same.
So what has changed?
First of all, the online theonline experience, the online
selling channels.
This is something that haschanged dramatically how
(01:35):
retailers are accessing theircustomers, but, on the other
hand, the in-store experiencehas more or less stayed the same
.
Still, there is a traditionalstore with the counter, with the
traditional experience, butthis dramatic change requires
(01:58):
retailers to change the way theywork, right.
They need to change theirprocesses.
They need to be able to supportthis change in balance.
On top of that, there are a lotof advanced technologies that
have been added.
We think about mobile.
It's not so advanced anymore.
(02:18):
But if you think about AI,generative AI, things that can
influence how retailers managetheir inventory, how they do
personalization to theircustomers, how the user
interfaces towards the employeesand to the customers, they
change everything.
Now, when I look at things, Ilook at it first of all as a
(02:41):
consumer, because, like a lot ofpeople, I do shopping and I
love shopping, and when I doshopping, I also try to figure
out what affects my experience,and I'll give you a nice example
for it.
So I had a birthday recentlyand I got a voucher from a brand
that.
(03:01):
I really like and I wanted to goto the store to try out a few
items before I purchase and what.
I realized is that I?
The voucher that I got is onlyfor online.
First of all, it made mefrustrated and on top of that
and this is the second thingthat's happened to me as a
professional, I try tounderstand why this happens, and
(03:24):
the reason that happened isbecause there was a disconnect
between the in-store and theonline channels, and I also
asked the assistant about it andshe said yes, it's a known
problem, but we're strugglingand we're not connecting between
the two channels.
So that's from a consumer pointof view, between the two
(03:45):
channels.
So that's from a consumer pointof view.
And then from a professionalpoint of view, I look at those
processes and I look at thesystem that supports the
retailers and I understand whythere are so many challenges and
where it needs to go, how toconnect between them.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I think that's exactly right.
Online was developed separatefrom stores, and connecting them
is one of the biggest problemsretailers have, and, as
consumers, we expect it to beseamless, don't we?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, we do, like every other experience, but for
retail it's not there for mostbrands and for more smaller
retailers.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
And they have some unique characteristics and
challenges.
When you're working with, youknow, retailers that are
mid-sized or growing quickly.
What characteristics do youhave?
How do you kind of classifythem?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So in the industry it's quite typical to look at
them like any other technology.
First of all you've got theadvanced ones, which are the
early tech adapters that adoptnew technologies that are very
focused around the systems thatdrive the operations, and for
(05:07):
most of them those are systemsthat are very strongly
integrated.
There is a unification of thecustomer experience and because
of that the operation is alsoefficient.
There are the evolving ones.
Typically they are the leadersin the market more the larger
ones.
Typically they're the leadersin the market more of the larger
retailers.
(05:27):
That's a large portion of theirprocess and the customer
experience is alreadysynchronized and integrated.
However, they're still in theprocess of upgrading some
portions, so they're not themost advanced, they're in the
middle.
And then you've got all thetraditional retailers.
(05:47):
Those are typically the smallbusinesses, the medium-sized
businesses, that their processesare more focused around
operations.
They have systems that are notnecessarily all tied up together
.
Sometimes the store experienceis completely disconnected from
(06:13):
the commerce experience.
Sometimes it's integratedpartially.
Their systems are typicallyon-prem, which require a lot of
heavy IT.
Or if they're completely smallbusinesses, they have limited
(06:34):
capabilities.
They're focused around specificareas, specific domains in the
operation and they don't havethe end-to-end capabilities.
Yeah, and they don't have theend-to-end capabilities.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah, I definitely see the differences and you can
tell, just even as a shopperright, who are the ones that
have invested in the tech andmaybe some of the others that
are cobbling together some ofthese processes across the
organization and it's obviouslyless successful.
So let's focus on the smallerand midsize retailers and maybe
(07:07):
you can kind of talk about whatsize parameters those are right
specifically and the uniquechallenges they face when it
comes to growing their brand,staying connected to customers
and, more importantly, competingwith big players that have, you
know, deep pockets and the moreadvanced technology to connect.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So your first question was what is the size of
those retailers?
So I wouldn't say that there isa limit to the size.
I would say that it's moreconnected to what is their IT
stack situation.
That's kind of where I wouldlook at them.
They can be rather large, with100, 200, 500 stores and online
(07:55):
capability, but still it'sdisconnected.
So they're still in thetraditional world and they can
be smaller around 10, 15, 20stores and be in the same
situation.
So I would say somewhere betweenthe range of, you know, towards
the 500 and plus is where welook at the upper limit from our
(08:19):
point of view.
How?
do we characterize them.
So what happens is that thesituation is that the most of
the revenue and we see a lot ofresearchers around that talk
about the growth of retail ismore focused on the online.
(08:39):
So the physical stores stillare growing, but most of the
additional revenue, or thegrowth of retail is going to be
on the online.
There are some numbers.
I recently read an article thatestimates that around 30% of
the revenue will come fromonline, but the overall growth
is still there.
Uh, the challenge for theretailers is to build the
(09:01):
organization that can support anoperation that is omni-channel.
So you have both the stores.
You have the physical stores,multiple locations, and the
online, and growing them bothtogether in an effective way
requires support of sales in aneffective way, marketing the
(09:26):
service and the processes.
It requires investment inout-of-the-box solution and
implementation, and this is achallenge.
Small and mid-sized retailershave to compete against the
larger ones, and if they want tocompete, they need to do it in
an effective way.
The customer experience, bothin the store and online, needs
(09:51):
to be connected.
Once they have the growingfootprint, they need to be able
to optimize optimize theirprocesses, optimize their
inventory and satisfy thecustomer demand, but make sure
that, for example, in inventory,not to overstock On the
operation.
If they grow not in anefficient way, they will
(10:18):
collapse.
So they need to maintain leanand efficient operation and on
the backside of the processes,not on the front end.
They need to become moreorganized right.
All the procurement needs to beorganized, the finance, the HR,
project management, all of that.
(10:38):
And those are the challengesthat they face.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
And I imagine a lot of those challenges related to
the systems that they're workingwith.
So to what extent are youseeing existing systems and most
of them are disconnected right.
Limit retailers' them aredisconnected right.
Limit retailers' ability toinnovate and scale.
What are some of the mostcommon obstacles you're seeing
(11:05):
when you're working withcompanies that are both starting
from the traditional store,adding online, and then the
born-on-the-net that are nowneeding to invest in stores
right?
So what are the most commonobstacles that you're seeing
that retailers need to address?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So we can look at it from the customer point of view
and we can look at it from theretailer's point of view, I
prefer.
Since I'm passionate about thecustomer point of view, I'll
start with that.
I think that one of thelimitations that retailers have
a lot of retailers that don'thave sufficient or strong IT
(11:43):
systems lack a single customerview.
There is a disconnect, first ofall, between the online and the
physical brick and mortarstores, but also between the
stores themselves, but alsobetween the stores themselves,
and this really affects thecustomer experience, because
from a customer point of viewfrom my personal point of view I
(12:05):
don't care if I'm online orphysical, I'm on my mobile or on
the website.
I am expecting the samecustomer experience From a
retailer point of view.
From the operation side, ifthere is a disconnect between
the different systems, there'salso a disconnect between the
operations on the online and thephysical stores.
(12:29):
For example, pick up in store.
This can only work if thesystems are connected or click
and collect.
It requires the online to beable to see what the inventory
is for the physical store.
(12:51):
There is a lack of automatedoperation because most of the
systems are not connected.
There are people that need todo actual manual work to clear
out the bottlenecks forinventory for pricing, for
managing promotions andcampaigns and discounts, for
(13:13):
customer service, forfulfillment.
There's a list of those thingsfor customer service, for
fulfillment.
There's a list of those things.
And on the IT side, in the backend of it, there's heavy
investment around theapplication, managing the
different applications, becausethere are several managing the
(13:35):
connection and the integrationbetween them and to be able to
achieve the business flows.
And on top of that there's theactual cost of the IT.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
So there are a lot of steps to it.
There are a lot of steps and Ithink the IT, the data 80%
keeping things running and 20%doing something interesting
that's going to drive thebusiness is where we find a lot
of retailers.
These days.
Your system is a little bitdifferent because it's an
(14:03):
all-in-one and it's acloud-based system.
When you talk to retailers andthey're looking to make some
kind of transformation betweentheir current environment and a
more modern, integrated, unifiedway of operating, what concerns
or hesitations are they sharingwith you about making this kind
(14:27):
of transformation?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So there are several things that we see across all of
the retailers that we talk to.
They're very expected, I wouldsay.
First of all, like anyorganization, especially the
more traditional ones, the onesthat don't adopt new technology
(14:51):
very fast, there's a hesitancyaround change management.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, yeah, it's very management.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah yeah, it's very scary, it's heavy.
The people within theorganization are risk aversive.
They do not want to do thosechanges.
They fear that there is goingto be a lot of focus that is
going to be around this changemanagement instead of focus
around, you know, the core ofthe business and on top of that
(15:21):
it's a core solution, right?
Everything is around thatsystem, so it's very risky.
The second question mark, orhesitance, is around cost, right
, what is going to be the costof those types of systems,
typically the traditional?
(15:42):
retailers have on-premisesystems.
They're quite expensive thehardware, the maintenance and
everything and that's a riskfrom their point of view.
They're considering on-premversus cloud.
They're considering on-premversus cloud.
They're also considering, orafraid of, the change in the
(16:04):
processes that they need to do,because typically if you
implement a new system, you needto change the way you work to
adapt yourself to the system isconfigured.
So that's another challenge orhesitance that retailers have.
(16:24):
And then there's, you know, aquestion about okay, do we do a
best of suite or a best of breed?
Do we continue with the systemsthat we have?
Do we upgrade them or do wemove to something that's
completely new and maybe haseverything?
So those are challenges that wesee and concerns that our
(16:50):
potential customers have.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Well, I totally get that change can be intimidating
for many reasons and also riskyto the business.
Given these challenges aboutchange management and so forth,
can you tell us a little moreabout your approach and what
makes the platform such a goodfit for these retailers?
Obviously, it's being used bytens of thousands of retailers
(17:13):
and brands around the world.
How do you help them transform,Karen?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
So let's first remind ourselves what is the solution,
because it will help usunderstand how we can overcome
the concerns that retailers have.
So Priority is an end-to-endplatform that covers both the
point of sale, unified commerce,retail management, all the way
(17:43):
back to the enterpriserequirements, the ERP side of it
.
It's cloud-based and it's SaaS.
So here are already some thingsthat we can answer to the
concern.
First of all, the fact thatit's SaaS it means that
subscription is the method oflicensing right and that's
(18:08):
relatively less expensive thanbuying a full license for an
on-prem solution.
The fact that it's cloud is itmeans that IT requirements
decrease, that the investment inIT is lower.
And the fact that it's a singleplatform that covers everything
(18:28):
.
It kind of means that we're aone-stop shop.
Whatever you need in terms ofretail management, the solution
has the ability to cover it.
However, it's modular so youdon't need to take everything.
You can choose based on theneeds, and the fact that it's a
single platform means that thereis no integration, reducing the
(18:50):
risk of integration,maintaining the integrations,
upgrades and things like that.
Since it's working on aplatform, it enjoys the platform
capabilities, which means theflexibility and the
customization andcustomizability that can be done
(19:13):
on top of it, meaning thatretailers don't need to change
the way they work.
The system can work around theway the retailers work and not
the other way around.
Since the platform is open andfuture ready, it allows
retailers to plan ahead as theygrow, as they add additional uh
(19:35):
channels at they add additionalcapabilities.
This can be also on themarketing side.
It can be additional commercechannels and so on.
On top of that, there arethings that are very related to
priority itself.
First of all, the experience.
You mentioned it.
We support hundreds andthousands of retailers and we
(19:59):
faced a lot of challenges in thepast and we know how to
implement.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
We have best practices and we have
methodologies that allow forsmooth implementation that
reduces the risk and those areall super important and I love
that you've got the store piece,you've got the online and then
all the back back end functionsfor merchandising and inventory,
because, to your points earlier, that unified view of product
(20:29):
and customer is something thatstill so many chains are missing
.
So can you share with us somereal world examples on how your
solutions are helping otherbrands around the world change
their operations and why they'vechosen priority over other
(20:50):
solutions?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
That's a good question.
So let's start with Ace.
It's hard work.
We're working with one of theregional franchises for Ace.
This franchise has 62 storesplus an online channel as well.
Specifically, they had a veryfocused need.
(21:17):
They were focused aroundimproving their operation,
improving their order management, their inventory control and
also connecting between theonline and the brick and mortar
stores to create a moreomni-channel experience.
They also added loyaltycapabilities from our platform
(21:40):
to enhance personalization andcustomer experience and on the
back end side, they're using itfor procurement, for vendor
management and also for assemblyprocesses.
They're not manufacturers,however, they do assemble part
of the products that they selland they needed a solution that
(22:01):
covers all of that.
Another example ColumbiaColumbia Wear again a franchise
that has more than 50 storesplus the online.
The same, quite similarchallenges, because I think most
retailers eventually havesimilar challenges.
(22:22):
They want to be more efficient,they want to provide a good
experience, and Columbia we'refocusing around managing their
warehouse and they needed asolution that also includes all
of their enterprise aspects,including the financing,
including the HR and so on.
Another example is Cowtown.
(22:44):
Cowtown is a small retailer inCanada that has several
megastores and they reached outto Priority after they tried to
use and upgrade their existingsystems.
They tried to do it more thanonce and they failed and they
(23:04):
felt that they need a partner towork with and they were
searching for capabilitiesaround replenishment, around
inventory, around, of course,the customer experience and also
the employee experience instore.
So there are a lot of retailers, but there are a lot of
commonalities as well.
Most of them are searching fora solution that will reduce
(23:29):
their IT costs, that willsupport them in the growth of
revenue and make their operationmore efficiency and, of course,
the customer experience is king.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yeah, because you're never going to get the
efficiencies and profitablegrowth if you're not serving
customers in the way that theyexpect.
That's totally right, and withsome of these are there expected
results or improvements orcertain KPIs or return that
retailers get when theyimplement your solutions.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
So I think the first one is around the IT costs.
That's the easiest to measureright, Moving away from
traditional systems and multiplesystems to a single system that
is on the cloud and that has aSaaS licensing model reduces the
IT costs immediately, but thereare additional areas that are
(24:28):
more evident as time grows.
First of all, the operationefficiency, because there is a
lot of automation that issupported by the system.
There are a lot of aspects thatare around balancing the
inventory, efficient processesin the store, between the store
and different channels, and soon.
So operational efficiency andon top of that, the one that is
(24:49):
the holy grail, is the growthand the revenue.
Customers are more satisfied.
Customers buy more, they have abetter experience in the store
or online and cross thedifferent channels and, that's
evident returning customers.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah, and that's going to be measurable over time
.
That's great.
That there's kind of immediatebenefit to the organization and
longer term ability to achievetheir business goals.
That's awesome.
And are there special benefitsfor brands who want to ramp up
store operations or service?
For brands who want to ramp upstore operations or service?
(25:27):
Even though online is growingrapidly, the only time you're
directly in face-to-face is withstores, right, that's where you
directly are connecting withcustomers and I think there's a
renewed focus on storeoperations.
Are there special benefits forbrands who have a goal in that
particular area?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
so a lot of the capabilities that priority has
developed are capabilities thatalso affect the in-store
experience.
So if we started with the factthat the in-store experience
hasn't changed dramatically overthe last hundred years, you've
got the cashier, you've got thecounter.
(26:06):
You as a customer.
You go in, you do your shoppingon your own and you only reach
the point of sale at the endafter you've made all of your
decisions and there is lessoption to influence the buying
process in with that interaction.
(26:27):
When we look at the newcapabilities, that the solution
like priority that has mobilefirst as a focus, that has, uh,
new and innovative solutions forthe store experience.
Some of them, you know thetraditional ones, are the tablet
, the mobile point of sale,you've got the self-service
(26:50):
kiosks and all of that andyou're able to integrate
additional solutions to thesystem because of its openness.
It dramatically changes the waycustomer experience, instead of
engaging with the customer atthe end, you're kind of engaging
with them, similar to online.
(27:11):
You can advise, you can checkinventory for customers.
You're working alongside thedecision process and not
afterwards.
That's from the customerprocess and not afterwards.
That's from the customerexperience point of view.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Absolutely, and from the employee experience too,
because so much of their time isfocused on manual tasks or
other tasks that they're reallynot able.
They're tied to old systems,right, so they're not able to be
out with customers engagingalong the process, along the
path to purchase.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
That's true, and we've got additional
capabilities that are very, veryfocused around the employees,
what we call the B2E side ofthings.
So, for example, on top of theregular point of sales, we have
application and capabilitiesthat are able to automate
processes, the ability toschedule your shifts.
(28:10):
There are a lot of focusesaround the employee and their
experience as well, and makingit as simple as possible,
because sadly, employees inretail kind of change quite
quickly and we need to onboardthem.
We need to be able to simplifytheir knowledge and ramp up and
and uh to make them effective assoon as possible yes, because
(28:33):
well-trained and happy employeestranslates into better service
for customers and, obviously,higher growth.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah that those are great things to talk about.
So, finally, what advice wouldyou give to retailers who
realize they've outgrown theirsystems and who are ready to
take the next step?
How can they get started withpriority?
Speaker 2 (28:53):
So, first of all, before starting with priority, I
think there are some steps thatthey need to think and consider
.
So first of, all, a lot of themare contemplating replace or
upgrade, and I would recommend,first thing, first considering
replacing the platform insteadof, you know, trying to stitch
(29:16):
additional modules to when youalready have or stretch it
beyond its capability.
Yeah, search for animplementation that will be
faster, because the systems thatyou're going to replace or
upgrade are your core systems.
(29:37):
They're attached to yourrevenue.
Core systems, they're attachedto your revenue.
But you need a solution thatcan be implemented rather
quickly and can reduce cost overtime and typically, best of
suite, covers those capabilities.
And the last one that I reallylike is find a vendor that is
(29:58):
not just a vendor, that is apartner.
So that are kind of theguidelines and in terms of how
to take the next step.
You can visit Priority and askfor a demo and we'll be happy to
show you.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
That's great insight and I really like the way that
you've broken it down and givenadvice that's really based on
many years of working withwell-known brands who have been
able to transform theirorganization.
I really appreciate you beinghere today and for advising us
on how retailers can overcomethe tech limitations that are
(30:39):
preventing them from competingwith larger chains, meeting
customers' ever-changing demandsand the growing expectations
for an omnichannel experience.
So, on behalf of RetailWire,priority Software, karen, thank
you very much for being heretoday and remember that you can
get more information at the shownotes area, in the video
(31:02):
description and the link of howyou can connect with Karen and
other members of the PrioritySoftware team.
Thanks a lot, thank you.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.