7 Ways to Drive Foot Traffic at Retail Stores

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In a cut-throat competitive retail market, the margins for errors are non-existent. If you exist and thrive in retail landscape then there is always a definite reason resonating behind it. If your retail store doesn’t get the desired foot traffic then there is something terribly wrong in your actions, unlike others who are succeeding. The retail stores doing well are finding unique and creative ways to enthral the masses. And an increase in foot traffic is directly proportional to sales. So how can you succeed in doing that? Here are the 7 ways to drive foot traffic to your retail stores:

1. Safety & Security– Safety and security are a prime concern for any shopper. If you indeed provide them these feelings then shoppers thronging at your store is distinctly realistic.
2. Organized & Clean– Any dishevelled aisle in any store generates a negative emotion inside them. And you end up losing them forever. So keep your store organized, clean and hygienic.
3. Customer Service– All your staff should be people friendly, approachable and should always carry a smile on their faces. The other way around doesn’t work anywhere.
4. Follow up– Follow up your existing customers with exciting offers, wish them on their birthdays, anniversaries etc.
5. Never leave any shelf empty– This is very critical and you must always keep your store updated with latest technologies like predictive analytics to avoid stock outs or empty shelves.
6. Consistent Sales & Discounts– The consistent sales, discounts and offers excite and elate any customer. So offer them your best and stay assured , foot traffic is bound to increase in your store.
7. Drive Emotions– Human beings are driven emotionally. And any store must make their customers feel like they belong here.

4 Benefits of Cloud Storage for any Retailer

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The endeavour of storing data has undergone myriad changes over the years. From punching cards of yesteryears to the cloud-based storage of data in today’s time, ways of storage have undergone drastic changes. CISCO forecasts that global cloud traffic will more than quadruple by the end of 2019, from 2.1 to 8.6 zettabytes (ZB), outpacing the growth of total global data center traffic, which is forecast to triple during the same time frame (from 3.4 to 10.4 ZB). And the amount of data possessed by brick and mortar retail stores worldwide is huge. So if you are tired of migrating files between your phones, tabs, and laptops then going for cloud storage certainly have advantages. Here are few things that retailers can benefit from cloud storage:

1. Reduced IT costs– The data is secured by servers and monitored by professionals, thereby eliminating the cost incurred in software security.
2. Instant Sync & Backup Features– The fear of losing data creates a panicky situation for retailers. But data on cloud storage prevents any kind of outage you might face otherwise. Plus, the instant sync and backup features automatically store data across devices.
3. Elevated Transparency– Retailers can upload and share data with the team they want to interact with. Hence, it increases efficiency along with collaboration with elevated transparency.
4. Easy File Sharing– The data you want to share is easily accessible to the one you want to share with, on cloud.

However, if you’re using Retigence’s predictive analytics then you need not worry; you can reap the aforesaid benefits all at the same time as it runs on cloud (SAP HANA).

Online Retail is Overhyped!

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The end of the holiday seasons is like the last lap for any small, medium and big sized retailers.Thereafter, reduced footfalls bring back incessant yawns. This is pretty worrisome for any retailer. And you can not afford to ignore the fact that your physical stores get harmed by the loss of sales to online channels However, there are no hard and fast rules on what to be done next. In fact, the fear of losing out to online store is only short lived and overhyped, as far as I think, based on an informed guess.  Alright, let me present you few facts. Look at the American retail market, aptly considered the most mature retail market across the globe. Over there, online channels are opening physical stores to make their presence felt. And this trend is gaining momentum.

In fact, all the globally renowned behemoths of online retail are in a hurry for opening brick and mortar stores. And they have already opened hundreds of them across the United States and the plans are for opening more. In fact, the online retail clutter is helping offline stores to get better in their offered services to customers. To make dent in the online clutter, avoid stock outs in store by leveraging your inventory management via predictive analytics. Any case of stock outs in physical store results in the loss of customer, as it makes the customer go for online shopping; where availability of the item in question leads to immediate purchase.

However, the recent times have witnessed tectonic shifts in the retail landscape. Trends are reversing and look promising enough for ensured sustainability of brick and mortar stores.  There are many things that can’t go online like venue entertainment, apparels, luxury items, groceries, shoes, beauty and fitness. And the thrill of instant gratification is simply unmatched when it comes to brick and mortar stores. So stop fearing and instead, concentrate on making your retail store better than ever by embracing technologies.

Switch to Accountability Rather than Deniability

Let us debunk the myth of difficulty in being a transparent, clean and ethical supply chain. The pretence that it is unrealistic to maintain a clean supply chain is blasphemy. As a supply chain executive, you are given a choice to switch to accountability or continue with deniability. If there is a conflict between business values and practices than forget getting peace of mind. Trading your morals for marginal benefits will definitely have a grave impact on your long-term goals. And a healthy and transparent supply chain is going to set the cash registers ringing.

However, in the majority of companies, the supply chain is usually ignored till the dirt surfaces. It is a blunt reality that monetary imperatives often win out over ethical responsibilities. As far as the problems are concerned, technology can salvage the supply chain.

So far we have witnessed how technology has brought transparency in all spheres of our life. Computerization automatically led to transparency in every sector including retail as well. With the advent of new technologies, visibility and tracking of inventory have become a reality.

Visibility and tracking in real-time are core concerns of inventory management. So being adaptive to technology can certainly prosper the thought of having ethical and transparent supply chain. The reason being the margin of errors gets narrowed down.

Nevertheless, the big firms have a really complex supply chain network involving many suppliers. The sheer size is huge and difficult to manage manually by ‘old pen and paper technique’ or by making thousands of excel sheets. The amount of data requires real-time and speedier actions to track inventory and manage it in better and transparent way. In recent times, predictive analytics offers the convenience of tracking your inventory in real-time and on a regular basis. Retigence's StockWise provides you the solution to stock wisely. So be accountable for your supply chain.

Who Checks Out Faster…Men or Women?

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Men stare at space while women check multiple outfits. Isn’t that a sweeping statement or maybe a cliché? Men have been stereotyped and on the other hand, women are the epitome of having an insatiable desire to shop. Any man’s expressions look like waiting till eternity for her woman to finally make up her mind. The flickering of fluorescent lights in the shopping mall continues to hypnotize the man. So do men hate shopping?

Contrary to popular opinion, many men are perfectly happy to hit the stores. It is the process of shopping that they hate. The generalization that men and shops do not gel well together is a cliché. There is a subtle difference that retailers need to understand. Biologically, men buy for their needs while women shop for their wants. Women are naturally programmed to be a gatherer whereas; men behave like a hunter since primitive times. And this 21st century is no different. So any man’s job is to target the exact thing rather than wandering aimlessly to look at various options available. Men are far more decisive when it comes to shopping.

However, women shop on behalf of their kids, husband, in-laws, friends, professional associates and even for their friend’s kid, to name just a few. Their tendency to constantly evaluate their purchases and the impact it will have onthe people they care for is visible to everyone. So it is a must for retailers to understand their absent influencers as well.  By doing so, retailers can overcome the hidden barriers to the sale.

Diversity in the shopping behavior of both the genders need to be addressed before forming any notion about them. Nowadays, both the genders are staying single and settle down later in life. So don’t risk your sale by forming stereotypes about them.

Don’t Risk Sending Those Shoppers to Your Competitors

Choice doesn’t make us happier but instead accomplishes the contrary by making us uncertain. Yeah, I am talking about the plethora of choices that flashes in front of us as soon as we enter the aisle of any retail store. Aisle of any store is potentially a place where we can get a panic attack. Most of the times, culling our favourite products in the store puts us into a dilemma.

From a retailers’ perspective, inventory trimming is perfectly fine if it is done thinking as a customer rather than as a profit generator. What to keep and what not to keep should be directly calculated via daily records of sales. Delisting or enlisting any product should be done keeping customers in mind. It must satisfy the customers. First and foremost, cull down the products that are not big sellers and add products selling like hot cakes. Keep optimal SKUs for products in high demand and with higher profit margin.

Don’t rely on convoluted supply chain. So start thinking like a customer. How would you react and act, had you been in their shoes? Start monitoring inventory levels by the help of technology. Mitigate risk by taking decisions based on demand forecasting. Quantify the data available to optimize inventory level. Shelves are the place where products sell; warehouses just take care of buffer inventories. Perform daily check as ‘old pen and paper approach’ won’t work anymore. Let bygones be bygones, start afresh and take technological help to witness optimized inventory levels.

Impact of Globalization on Supply Chain

In the last three decades, Supply Chain Management has faced challenges that were never thought of before. This era of hyper-competitiveness has dethroned many concepts in practice. Supply Chain nowadays is immensely important not only for the company but the economy of any country. Driven by overwhelming market forces, globalization has in fact raised concerns towards gaping loopholes in the supply chain across the globe. The globalization hasn’t made supply chain management easier on contrary. It has dramatically changed how any firm operates while pouncing on their shares in the global marketplace amidst relentless competitive environment. With the onset of globalization, managing supply chain has become even more difficult and complex.

However, when the inventory management is automated then it becomes easier to identify, quantify, prioritize and mitigate risk for better decision making. The recent technological manoeuvres have made automation of inventory management a reality. The dawn of the era promises efficient and effective inventory management.

Still, you can guess the complexity of supply chain when you read about any company’s global web of offshoring, manufacturing and designing destinations. And all of them lay thousands of kilometres apart from each other. That’s where managing it becomes complex and hectic without any scope for errors. Nevertheless, predictive analytics and big data on cloud have helped firms to knock down their inventory problems and given them an eclectic view of management. Indeed, Globalization has significantly changed the supply chain forever and for better.

Seducing the 5 Senses of Customers in the Retail Stores

Our brains love multi-sensory experiences. We find something beautiful when our sensory manifestations (of sight, touch, smell, taste & sound) are delightful: a tantalising aroma, an engaging sight pleasing to eyes, a touch delighting our senses, an uplifting and soothing sound or a taste rejuvenating our taste buds. Well, retail is all about details. And to boost sales in a store, firms are doing so much more just to capture those five senses of the customers. Let’s look at how those five senses seduce and boost sales in retail stores:

1. Sight– Impulse purchasing is primarily driven by seeing as per research. Customers prefer easy movement and visibility while scanning the aisle of any store. Their observations of what they visualize drive sales. So keep your stores visually pleasing to eyes.
2. Touch– The urge to touch is quite instinctive to the customers. A store that allows touching engages its customers. Probably,  it instills a sense of ownership in their minds.
3. Smell–  As per research, a male store with feminine scent will make you lose male customers and vice versa. Aroma creates an association and hence sales.
4. Taste– For food, beverages or confectionary stores, providing a sample to engage the taste buds is probably a great idea to get loyalty. Maybe, not every store can engage taste buds in that way; so what, even a glass of water with love would serve the purpose.
5. Sound– A soothing music or head banging rock number can create an impression. Keeping everything upbeat and positive via music does drive sales. So unleash the power of music to keep them captivated.

5 Reasons- Brick & Mortar Stores are Here to Stay

Can you even imagine of getting a haircut online? There can’t be a virtual barber giving you a haircut. The reason is we humans are made up of flesh and blood. And we reside in a physical world. Here are top 5 insights which prove why Brick & Mortar stores are going to stay:

1. Classic Pastime- Since primordial times, humans have always indulged in shopping. The ways to shop have undergone a radical change but the love for shopping as our favourite pastime has always remained intact.
2. Seek Adventure- There is something we carry in our genes since primitive times. Adventure runs in our blood and we act naturally. We seek adventure to fulfil our inner demands and shopping does exactly that.
3. Instant Gratification- Shopping provides instant gratification. As a customer, you walk into the store, select product, then pay and walk out of the store. Even in the case of returns, we experience instant gratification.
4. Most Sought After- The rise of online stores did generate fears among brick and mortar stores all over the world that now is the time to die a slow death. But the trend reversed as big online stores started venturing into opening physical stores. To this day, nothing can beat the feeling of shopping offline.
5. Personalized Assistance- Brick and mortar stores provide personalized assistance to every customer. In fact, that is not possible for online shoppers. You have to be in a physical store to experience that.

Brick and mortar stores are here to stay. To provide a unified shopping experience online, integrating online with offline and vice versa is the key. Physical stores don’t need to go back in time but instead just be adaptive to the new technologies that are coming in.

Prevent Retail Arbitrage by Using Predictive Analytics

Retail arbitrage is fairly simple concept to understand. When someone takes advantage of market price differences of a product and sells it a much higher price for making a profit. Retail stores lose heavily due to retail arbitrage. And how?

Well, let me explain in layman’s term. Suppose you own a group of stores named ‘Parivar’. There are around 10 stores in the city.   Basically, each store sells 10 chairs per week. But one week every store only manages to sell 5 chairs. And the next week shipments of 10 more chairs arrive as per expected sale from each store. The next week also retains the same figure and 10 more chairs are shipped to each store. Remember there are 10 stores like that. In the 2nd week, there is no space left in store to accommodate huge stockpile of chairs in the store. So, each store decides to remove those extras from the stores. The decision is taken to sell it online or to anyone who is willing to purchase at discounted rate and hence quickly remove those inventories. This is known as retail arbitrage.

And this retail arbitrage is causing you huge loss which can sum up to million bucks if not taken care of. Usually, it is not taken care of. So why not use predictive analytics technology to avoid retail arbitrage and to have balanced inventory levels according to the demands of the market. Use retail intelligence and prevent excess stock on a daily basis via predictive analytics. Provide a smart retail store to your customers. Need we say more.

How Can Predictive Analytics Ensure Availability of Food Grains Across India

What a contrast to watch millions hungry and dying and still having reports about the bumper harvest each and every year? What’s the point in being the food basket of the world and yet unable to feed your own countrymen? Why millions remain hungry and yet we are an agro-based economy?

Just a few years ago, India permitted 100% FDI in cold chain storage which is encouraging and positive outlook on the way we are looking at things now. The opening up of FDI in retail with the clause of 50% obligatory investment in backend infrastructure will be quite helpful in overcoming the supply chain inefficiencies. Activities like processing, manufacturing, distribution, design improvement, quality control, packaging, logistics, storage, ware-house, agriculture market produce infrastructure etc. come as the part of backend infrastructure. Outlays like land cost and rentals, if any, will not be counted for backend infrastructure.

At present, lack of education at farm level and obsolete means of production coupled with deficiency of requisite infrastructure have further contributed to shorter shelf life of the product and enlarged wastages. Globally retailers are likely to bring in superior technology; knowledge and years of understanding which ought to go a long way in dealing with these discrepancies.

Recent technological innovations promise to bring out the desired changes in storing of food grains at warehouse facilities around the country. Predictive analytics can be a useful resource to avoid wastage of food grains. It can play a huge role in preventing wastage of food grains and ensuring efficiency in the public distribution system which in turn would ensure availability across India.

Only If They Could Predict!

Thousands of years ago, our holy Hindu scriptures predicted about the materialistic affinity that the whole world will be engrossed with, in Kali-Yuga. It is true in the times we live. Centuries ago, French Seer, Nostradamus predicted about 9/11. “Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the Metropolis…” It certainly indicated about the two airplanes that crashed into the twin towers of New York, the commercial hub of the world. The prediction about the rise of Hitler was mentioned by Nostradamus. Predicted centuries ago but proved to be true. Predictions have been a very exciting part of the world culture. It could give us a sense of fulfillment only if we could foresee our future.

What if this prediction stuff could be imbibed in the business environment? The retail clan around the world is indeed in need of predictions. The paradigm shift in technology has unleashed the ways to predict inventory levels across the supply chain. Retail Chains have already started benefitting from predictive analytics in a smart way. Predictive analytics is the way to predict what inventory level to keep and what not to keep on the daily basis. The predictions are succinctly based on the fed data of the retail store regarding their daily sales and current inventory level. And managing inventory is undoubtedly quite complex. Logistics and supply chain heads can’t have lofty dreams without realizing the nuts and bolts aspects of their inventory level. Predictive analytics crunches the fed data to get those numbers to keep your inventory levels optimized. Prediction works even now like primordial times. So, expect many path-breaking changes via predictive analytics in retail in times to come.

Unlearning ‘Haste Makes Waste’

“Where is the tablet for migraine? I don’t see them in my cupboard”, Piya said in an irritable voice. “Hold on! Let me check”, I replied. Indeed, it was annoying. I found the tablet but it had already expired. My sweetheart was on the verge of tears along with spotty vision in both her eyes. Well, I tried my level best but a migraine can be very cruel. So, I hurriedly decided to check the tablet out in the nearest pharmaceutical store. Before that, I piled up all the soft cushioned pillows beside her. She couldn’t talk but for keeping a track, I kept her on the phone with me. While rushing towards the pharmaceutical store, I was so much worried about her. I reached the store only to hear that stock is there but it has expired. I had no time to waste so I ran towards another store only to find it there. “Don’t worry, I am coming in a minute”, I assured her on the phone.

Beyond the grief of seeing Piya tormented by migraine, I was irreversibly frustrated by the situation of the expiration of required medicine at stores. Why can’t, at least, medical stores track expiration issues which are critical for their consumers.

Around the world, too many drugs get wasted due to sheer ignorance and hastily taken decisions regarding inventory issues. There are technologies to avoid them and keep track of expiration issues. And informing stores about when to buy and how much to buy. So that working women like Piya do not have to go through so much pain.

5 Lessons of Karma for Retailers from Bhagavad Gita

In the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna enlightens Arjun when he laments over his decision to fight his own relatives. Lord Krishna guided him to do his karma and leave the rest. So let’s discover and unfold the lessons of karma for retailers from Bhagavad Gita, the greatest religious epic ever told.  Retailers cannot control everything but there are few things they can definitely control. And that is their karma. Here are 5 lessons of karma for retailers from Bhagavad Gita:

1. Be Temperate in Everything- Avoid Extremities in Life– Retailers must take this quote seriously in managing their inventory. Excess inventory or low inventory level leads to severe losses.
2. Wisdom becomes inaccessible due to selfish attitude– Just try to remember, your own greed led to piling up of inventory levels which were not required at all. All because the wholesaler gave you an offer you just couldn’t refuse. Hence, your selfish attitude for short-term ended up dooming your long term.
3. Do not abstain from ‘action’- It doesn’t help– Running away from duties is not a way forward. Likewise, when you ran away or simply ignored the upcoming tragedy in your supply chain. The aftermaths could have been avoided.
4. Equanimity in Actions– be free from the expectation of the outcome- If as a retailer, your karma is focussed on providing seamless retail experience to your customers then you would have taken decisions to keep your inventory level in constant check and on a daily basis.
5. Do not doubt- As a retailer if you are using predictive analytics technology to leverage your supply chain then do not doubt because you have done your karma. 

How can SMEs avoid Inventory Financing

There are instances when Banks turn down the request of SMEs for asset-based lending. It means obtaining a line of credit based on assets. For SMEs, assets are their existing inventory and to purchase additional inventories they require capital. That’s where they are turned down by the banks. However, big retail organizations easily get asset-based lending from big institutional banks.

SMEs use their existing inventory as collateral to obtain the revolving line of credit. But they don’t get the credit due to their previous track records with the banks. There are other ways to get inventory financing. However, it is said that borrowing and spending is not a way towards prosperity. And spending on getting additional inventory can create a severe cash strain on small businesses. So why not use technology that helps SMEs to track down the items not selling well? This will keep their inventory lean and allow frequent turnover. And why not avoid overbuying inventory and have enough in stock to schedule inventory deliveries at the right time and the right place?

But before implementing all this, SMEs have to keep a daily track of in stock, out of stock or dead stock via the help of technologies that rely on predicting the inventory levels on daily basis. The ability of predictive analytics can surely help you avoid the problems you’re going to face ahead by balancing the inventory levels. And the future belongs to those who prepare for it today. So, today is the day.

Stock Out is No Excuse!

“Wake Up!” she screamed pulling off the quilt from my face. ‘Alright, but sweetheart it’s Sunday’ I replied lazily. Anyway, with limited options and screams that reverberate in your ears, I finally woke up. Like any usual Sunday, I quickly freshened up and got ready. My sweetheart takes out the car and I get in for the ride to the nearest superstore. There was heavy traffic on the roads so to relax my better half I switched on the stereo to play some legendary rock numbers. My wife gleefully smiled at me and said, “Undoubtedly, you have a great choice.” “I know, you are a proof of it” I replied. Then after some shared laughter, some rock n roll and head banging stuff, we finally reach the FMCG store. My wife takes out the product list and rushes towards the store grabbing my hand.

Well, Sunday can’t be a fun day if you are at the store. The store is already brimming with customers. Sunday rush and the enthusiastic customers from all over the city is a very chaotic scene to witness. But amidst the rush, there are few screams of unavailability. My wife held the beacon of those few screams. She was looking for refined oil of certain brand and that was out of stock at the moment. ‘When it was selling so fast then why didn’t you keep more in stock?’ my wife literally yelled at the store manager.

However, she was indeed right. The store manager was flummoxed. He apologized and after that, my wife rushed to another supermarket to get that product.

In multi-billion dollar FMCG retail market, apologies to the customers about stock out won’t work. And monthly or quarterly or yearly inventory check will always contradict the demands. Ideally, daily inventory check is the solution.

5 Causes of Inventory Write off

Nuances of writing off the inventory stockpiles are tough.  Too much of inventory tends to make analyst overly optimistic about store’s value. Too little inventory undervalues the store in the eyes of the analyst.  Overall, there are definite reasons which need to be foreseen before we end up writing off the inventory. There are five possible causes for writing off the inventory:

1. Low Visibility: Inventory processes sometimes ignore inventory that lay wasted in warehouses. No one cares and no one has any idea of what to do ahead.
2. Bad Management: Most of the times inventory management team is not given full freedom to implement their decisions on inventories. In the end, to the world, it appears that inventory manager was the main culprit behind all this. Instead, higher authorities were taking decisions uncalled for to bring in the turmoil.
3. Response time: The evaluation of inventories in excess, in stock or dead stock, can certainly lead to a better picture of inventories. A continuous and rigorous evaluation will lead to seamless inventory flow as per demand.
4. Daily Check: One more big reason for piling up of unnecessary inventories is simply because the checking time of inventory levels is done on weekly, monthly, and quarterly or annually at worse. The inventory levels must be checked daily to have an optimal level of inventory.
5. Prediction: Predicting the fast changing trends for better sale and maintaining desired inventory level to fulfil the demand is the need of the hour. Predictive Analytics can salvage the supply chain and inventory management by predicting the required inventory levels.

6 Things Every Woman Wants Retailers to Know

Shopping for a woman is more like a detective novel, a soap opera climax or an addictive novel full of drama and nail-biting finish. In shopping, women’s behavior symbolizes more of a gatherer, one who finds and collects stuff. This particular trait has been a major driving force behind creation of such a gigantic and diverse retail landscape. All over the world, women shoppers have been the biggest influencers. So, retailers need to know women better for their own benefits. Here are the 6 things every woman want retailers to know:

1. Driven Emotionally– Women are by nature very emotional and sensitive. A little bit of pampering, a short and sweet message and a hug can melt their hearts in no time. So, other than making a glittering and colorful store, retailers need to add a lot of emotional value to their stores to drive sales.
2. Shops for all– Women have diverse roles. They shop as a mother for their child, for their husband as a wife, for their friends or for office colleagues. So, their shopping cart is basically meant for many.
3. Most of the Transactions– Nearly all the transactions for either household chores or other stuff are done by the women. It is true for all households in the world.
4. Loves Variety– The more diverse you store is, the more women are going to fall in love with it. Diversity and variety make your store interesting and appealing. So, the idea is to keep more varieties and remove unnecessary inventories.
5. Provide them what they came for– Many times, a woman’s cart is representative of ‘this is not what I came for’. Many times, they end up purchasing things which they didn’t come for in the first place. So, the companies should do proper research before launching any product.
6. Pamper them– Retailers need to pamper them by sales, discounts, and other stuff to whet their impulsive shopping behavior.

Cheers! But where is my favorite Beer?

Records date back to Neolithic Age in 5000 B.C. when nomadic people ventured into farming and grew grains for beer brewing. An ancient clay tablet from Mesopotamian times discussing the preparation of beer is the oldest known document to mankind. Even for building the Great Pyramids, the labourers were paid with beers. Historical data about beers is mind blowing. The recent times have changed drastically but one thing hasn’t changed and that is the universal love for beers.

Now in the modern times of 21st century, be it a casual drinker, college graduate or an ardent lover of beer, they all need it for fun and pleasure. According to the Technavio Report, beer market in India is expected to reach $ 9.03 billion by 2018 owing to the growth rate of 16.94%. All the states and union territories in India have different rules and regulations for alcoholic beverages. None of the states or union territories have any rule in common. In India, beer is highly taxed and most regulated industry. As per AIBA(All India Brewers’ Association), only 55,000 outlets are available in a country of over a billion people. Beer drinking is the fastest growing alcoholic beverage in India.

And in the case of beers, everyone has a distinct choice of beer. So when the patrons are told that the beer is unavailable then they are unlikely to opt for another brand. That’s the common phenomenon all over the world among beer lovers. Why can’t store managers track which beer is selling fast and which beer is not? In the end, those beers (which didn’t sell) are actually dumped in the garbage after expiry period. So there is a huge loss when the whole statistical data is taken into account.

However, the loss could be avoided if store managers take help of predictive analytics to track the situation of stock out, stock in and excess stock. And it breaks our heart to see an empty shelf of the beer we love and excess stock of beer we love to hate.

Risk of Climate Change on Supply Chain

Recently, the historic United Nations Climate Change Summit was held in Paris. Nearly 200 countries participated and agreed on mutual consensus to keep the global warming at bay by reducing greenhouse gases emission. However, the aftereffects of industrialization globally are witnessed in the form of hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, storms, tsunamis and global warming. And their impact is devastating on supply chains of businesses.

Russia suffered a loss of $ 15 billion in 2010 as droughts and wildfires destroyed crops. Typhoon Halong in South-East Asia resulted in loss up to $ 10 billion due to 41 days business disruption. Just a few examples will be enough to glance at nature’s wrath. The economic losses are mainly due to the halt in the supply chain. Natural disasters don’t even allow the supply chain to take the first step of acquiring raw materials.

In the face of calamities like this, companies will need to evaluate the risk of losing a supplier from the affected region. Firms need to look at their contingency plan to find alternate solutions. They need to have the plan to take the inventories to a safer location if possible. If it is not possible then have a backup plan on the mandate to avoid losses.

Have a predefined and predictive technology to at least caution you on what to keep and what not to be kept. At least using technology can create enough back up to save your supply chain. That’s why any company shouldn’t crucify itself between the regret of yesterday and fear of tomorrow.

The Future of Inventory

Is your inventory manager in full control of inventory? Does he/she track and purchase inventory or evaluate suppliers? Well, the truth is far away from it. Sadly, the inventory manager ends up becoming the victim of his colleagues’ business decisions and plays a very limited role in formulating inventory results. Meanwhile, the vicious cycle of taking ruthless decisions of relentless inventory orders ends up becoming a huge stockpile of unnecessary items. It results in great loss ahead.  In fact, majority of orders were given a go ahead because the supplier or the distributor gave them an offer they can’t refuse. So the collusion ultimately proved fatal to the company. In the end, inventory manager was given the blame.

But how was he/she even related or behind those vices? In reality, he/she was told to prepare those cumbersome spreadsheets which are seemingly impossible to comprehend. Naturally, he/she ends up losing the way.

The inventory manager is most important architect of supply chain. He/she should be given full freedom to tackle the problems.

He/she should have a dashboard which displays clarity of figures. The dashboard should be able to sense the current status, predict future trends and formulate what is required to do on a daily basis. The inventory management must acclimatize with technological advancements to get the better picture. The main issue is about predicting because the consumer trends are changing so fast. The predictive analytics should be able to crunch mind boggling data of stock in, stock out and excess stock to deliver a balanced inventory level.

However, the critical situation faced by retail behemoths globally sends clear signals that don’t mess up and get caught in your own web of troubles.

Innovation via Digital Media has transformed Retail

Are retail companies innovating enough to make the customers feel that they are a part of an exclusive fraternity? Saying not at all will be too harsh on them. Any customer would love to be a part of the retail group that treats him/her like their own family rather than being served as a faceless customer. So focus on target customers and make them feel like they own the brand. And companies on the social platform are proving it by engaging, responding and interacting with customers online.

Firms are posting pictures of apparels, sunglasses and other products on their fan pages. That’s how the interaction goes on. The likes, comments and shares by customers on Facebook are a free word of mouth publicity. Customer grievances are heard and sorted out on social media platforms. Any tweet on Twitter for or against any product or company is taken seriously as a single tweet can make or break the reputation of any company.

There are retail stores which sell products on which Facebook likes and most pinned products are displayed. Product reviews by previous buyers can be seen as well. There are group discounts on Facebook Fan Pages. Even customers cannot resist the temptation of lucrative offers and prizes online. And it automatically initiates the conversation on social media about the product and hence the publicity garnered is simply incredible. That’s why digital media is given so much of importance. In pre- social media era, conversation with customers was never so easy and

accessible.

Top 4 Challenges Faced By Ice Cream Industry

Image Source: Bliss Ice-Creams

My earliest childhood memory is eating a scoop from an ice-cream parlour. Fights would erupt over ice-cream and end with ice-creams. Any child carries that inherent memory of having an ice-cream. I feel nostalgic when I remember those days when I and my little brother used to compete over the petty issue of who ate more scoops. Especially during any marriage ceremony the competition between us would take a whole new turn. One can’t forget those loveable and laughable moments. During summer holidays, it used to be more important than regular appetite that we used to love and rejoice.

The popularity of ice- creams among human fraternity has soared with time. In fact, the ice-cream industry in India is inching towards a whole new paradigm. According to a source, the ice-cream industry is pegged at ₹ 3,500 crores and witnessing a double digit growth of 20-25% annually. Predictions reveal a market of $ 1.1 billion by 2017.

Ice-cream industry is one of the most significant industries around the world. It is typically a seasonal product. Especially in India, summers are the time when the demand touches the sky.

As the demand skyrockets even it should match the supply. But our favourite ice-cream suffers this mismatch. Here are the top 4 challenges faced by ice-cream industry:

1. Power-cuts– In fact, the biggest problem faced by retailers.
2. Maintaining product temperatures at retail outlets.
3. Fluctuating weather patterns
4. Demand Forecasting– Predicting the demands is a major problem. However, predictive analytics can help. It can’t cool your ice-cream but can predict which product to be kept to cool and what not to keep at all.

Why Agility is a way forward for Experience Retailing

Today’s shoppers are smart enough to scan and select a product via their smartphone even before they decide to step in the store. Consumers’ have been empowered with wholesome information and reviews regarding the product before going for the actual purchase. Many big retail stores around the world are already providing their customer the Omni-channel retailing experience. It means any customer can scan the product on mobile first before actually buying it in retail stores.

The whole process of seamless navigation is indeed an exhilarating experience. The millennial, in particular, has low tolerance on obsolete process getting in the way of their seamless shopping experience. And they cannot get in the long queue when they are already empowered with the ease of paying money online. So retailers should understand the point. By standing in a queue, they are actually doing privilege to you. But do they deserve to do that? Absolutely not, so why not provide them a hassle-free experience of shopping. The incessant wait to pay and leave shouldn’t exist at all in retail stores. And the retailers have to be agile enough to respond quickly to the demand. For that, they need to improve internal operations i.e. supply chain and inventory management via technological measures using predictive analytics and the internet of things in retail sphere.

The right time has come to abolish queuing and register areas. Probably, replacing them with something more fluid, easily accessible and the internet friendly avenues would definitely work.

Shoplifting is injurious to Retailers’ Health

Why people steal something which they could easily afford? Numerous cases of a celebrity caught stealing a lighter, a wig on a mannequin, candies and other petty things. However, the kind of money they have is enough to buy the whole retail store. Still, they do shoplifting. This thing is termed as kleptomania which is an irresistible urge to steal, so much that you cannot refrain from avoiding it. And celebrity shoplifting gets flashed as headlines in top tabloids and news on television. After that paparazzi chase those celebrities round the clock.

Most of the shoplifting cases occur in retail stores. Shoplifting and worker theft caused retailers a loss of $ 32 billion in 2015 in the USA alone. Celebrity shoplifters inspire other shoplifters as well. Soon after any celebrity shoplifting scandal, the number of thefts increased in retail stores. Teenagers get attracted by the novelty, the adrenaline rush and the rebellion of these celebrities on celluloid. Certainly, they get negatively inspired and fall prey to the fatal attraction. Unknowingly, they end up doing something which they learnt from their iconic figures. For celebrities, shoplifting can be a ploy for garnering publicity or maybe suffering from some kind of mental instability since childhood.

But, these iconic figures are bound to be replicated. It doesn’t really matter what happens. However, it hurts the retail industry and reduces their profit margin. If retailers trying so hard for their customers then why can’t we do little for them. At least to make them avoid billion dollar loss only due to shoplifting.

Alert System to prevent a $1.1 trillion loss in Retail Annually

Image Source- Tech in Asia

The IHL report in 2015 published an astonishing report on the loss of $ 1.1 trillion annually in the retail sector. The report put the worldwide losses up to $ 471.9 billion due to overstocks and losses up to $ 634.1 billion due to out-of-stocks. Quite an intimidating figure for anyone related with retail.

Take an account of a personal incident. I went to a shop to buy an electronic gadget. The officials there assured me of its availability but after a half-hour of search, they finally accepted its unavailability. I was disgusted and they were ashamed. So, I went back home, opened my laptop and got that electronic gadget on an e-commerce website. In a way, a customer lost to brick and mortar store is gained by e-commerce store. Many customers like me are literally lost due to defunct supply chain and logistics system of big stores of retail. Their own size is big and their losses even bigger.

So what is being done till now? Supply Chain and Logistics is the spine of any retail store which can be selling apparels, watches, sunglasses, grocery items, alcoholic beverages, pizza, chocolates and many more. You just have to name it.  And the underlying problem among all the items is the unavailability of most sought after item and availability of least liked or hated item. Still, customers have options of buying it online. But to this day, they love shopping at brick and mortar stores due to its glitz and glamour.

Anyway, coming back to the electronic gadget not found, was it in the backyard of the store, was it shoplifted or was it that it never reached the store?

The major problem with all retail store is that they have enough inventory stockpile leading them to not buy anymore. The real problem is the difference between the inventory system and what the reality of the store is.  The counting of inventory is done once in a year and consumer trends keep changing each day. So how can anyone keep up with the demand? Demand forecasting can root out the problem. Predictive analytics is definitely a solution and an assurance to correct inventory distortion; a system to alert your inventory management about stock-out, over-stock or dead-stock.

5 Things that need to be done by Supply Chain & Logistics Community in 2016

The retail environment is always poised to grow bigger and better in the coming year. A new year provides us ample amount of time to correct our mistakes previously done, brings in new prospects and technologies.  There are enough commendable reasons to adapt the technologies for your own benefit as the retailer. Managing supply chain and logistics is no mean job without the help of technology. The companies that have adopted the new technologies have improved their supply chain and logistics. And they are already reaping benefits. So it is always better to learn from other’s mistakes than doing it oneself. Life is too short to keep repeating the same mistakes again and again. Here is the list of 5 things to be kept in mind if you’re heading supply chain and logistics:

1. Know your Target Audience: See you aren’t a retailer to keep an eye on it. But a hunky-dory supply chain is a myth without customers in mind. So keeping up with them actually helps in tracking the requirements customers’ have.
2. Know the Stock Levels: You have to track stock-outs, excess stocks or dead stocks anyhow. Your supply chain and logistics chain will have an abysmal health which is surely going to move it towards collapse in near future. You don’t have to deal with trivialities when you can track your inventory via Predictive Analytics technology.
3. Use Cloud Technology: Cloud technology can be used as an advantage for SMEs in 2016. SMEs flexible approach and smaller size will make them more agile and easily adjust to the cloud-based solutions.
4. Internet of Things: Internet of Things in retail will lead to automation and visibility in your store. It will make tracking much easier and bring transparency.
5. Reduction in Cost: Overall, adapting technology will surely reduce logistics and transportations cost.

Untapped Potential of the Internet of Things for SMEs

Unless you are quiet and dull like a moss covered rock, you must have heard about the Internet of Things. Anyway, the Internet of Things (IoT) can be succinctly defined as a development of the internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity allowing them to send or receive data. It’s more like the social network of things. At the moment, developed countries around the world are throwing a huge sum of money on the Internet of Things. Established research firms predict hugely diversified usage of IoT-enabled devices in retail, manufacturing, agriculture, automation and our daily home appliances. IoT is a quiet revolution and already holding the beacon of the new industrial revolution which has already begun.

So how it has got to do anything with small and medium companies? Well, SMEs in any country around the world are major contributors in employment and the economy. That’s why SMEs need to leverage their business by usage of IoT.

And as per Gartner predictions of IoT, by 2020, this world will have 4 billion connected people, 50 billion devices (8 Per Person), and 2.6 trillion pounds of revenue from IoT and over 25 billion embedded and intelligent systems, 25+ million applications and 50 trillion GBs of data. The statistics are outrageous, right?

Now, the main components of IoT are sensors, things (devices, machines etc.), data, internet connection, systems (analyze, process & store the data) and communication platform. This components will allow any SME for a consumer-oriented approach in the future of technology and will transform the economy and the way consumers and businesses live via usage of next-generation of energy friendly connected devices.

SMEs in retail can seamlessly integrate their processes for a consumer friendly outcome. Everyone benefits here. IoT in retail breaks new norms to pave the way for fostering better business for SMEs.

Retailers, Please Stock in the Good Books!

I was walking down the aisle of the bookstore. I was there to find the latest book in demand. Meanwhile, I was catching the whiff of other books and it felt so immersive for a book addict like me. The scent and the solitude altogether were offering a magical environment to stay there forever. The bookstore was the biggest and most comprehensive one in the town. So, I was just hoping to find that book pretty soon. But as the saying goes when the man proposes, God disposes. That’s how God disposed of my proposal. Well, I would rather blame book retailer for that, not God.

Personally, I hated the fact that the bookstore didn’t have that book in the shelf. It was infuriating. Despite knowing about the huge demand, why couldn’t he/she keep the required stock?

Book reading is loved by millions around the world. Some crave for detective stories of Sherlock Holmes and some like May-December romances of Mills & Boons. So, when a book addict like me becomes a victim of stock outs, it makes my heart sink and darkness on my brain descends.

In fact, it is horrifying for retailers to see it happen. The logistics optimization and a seamless supply chain are what any retailer wants. The unequivocal demand from retailers is to provide them solutions. Obviously, new technology hasn’t disappointed but has started revolutionizing the retail sector. So, retailers should start learning to adapt what is in their benefit. Predictive analytics is for small or big bookstores, so that readers find the book in demand and which they are actually searching.