Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 26
mystore RetaileR's guide voL. 10.6: teCHnoLogy
testing the water
Retailers should treat new technology like a
pool: dive in but before you do, test the temperature with your toe.
Godfrey recommends that independent retailers experiment at small scales with new
technologies to see how they work. And they
should only incorporate new technologies in
the business if the technology solves a problem-never go tech for tech's sake.
The experiment may start without the
thought of technology at all. Godfrey says that
retailers may want to find manual solutions
to the problems they need to solve in their
stores, "even if it doesn't scale," he says. If the
manual solution works, then retailers can look
to automate the work with technology. even
then, he says, retailers should move carefully
with technology by first testing it in a controlled experiment. Have a clear goal and clear
measurement for how the automation should
perform. If it performs, then look at rolling the
technology out across the store's operations.
Finally, Godfrey says, retailers will want to
consider incremental investment into the new
technology. In the app world, retailers can test
many apps at no charge before moving into a
scaled subscription plan. The big mistake to
avoid is to invest in big technology that takes
a long time to generate a return and "doesn't
move or change when we need it to change."
26 |
canadian retailer | holiday 2014
"Be careful about committing to decisions
that lock you into a particular technology," he
says. Maintain business agility by staying agnostic about technology, experimenting to determine if a tech solution solves a retail problem and moves incrementally.
Quick roi...
Truthfully, there is no quick return on investment-every investment is, at some level,
a gamble. But for retailers who know what they
want to accomplish, some technologies on the
market can help them improve key metrics
without costing a fortune.
...in tracking inventory
"A system that tracks inventory well, that
identifies which products are selling well and
when, and can process transactions, is a very
good investment," says Antoine Azar, a cofounder of app developer thirdshelf.
A number of systems that use cloud computing exist on the market. Because they leverage
cloud computing, and because they can operate on commercially available mobile devices,
these inventory tracking systems require less
set-up and less up-front investment.
Retailers without an inventory management
system that ties into their POS system will
want to examine companies like LightSpeed
and LivePOS, two cloud-enabled POS providers. They will find they can transform their
operations when they know more about how
products move through their store.
"It's a quick win," says Azar.
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014
Member Insights
Retail Currents
Retail: At Issue
Delighting the Empowered and Enabled Consumer
Technology Tips for Small Business
Retail Council of Canada and Google Help to Spark Retail
Social Workers
Chasing the “E-tail” to Keep Pace With the 24/7 Shopper
Know Your Clients and Drive Your Sales
Advertiser's Index
Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - cover1
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - cover2
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 3
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Member Insights
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 5
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Retail Currents
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 7
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 8
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 9
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Retail: At Issue
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 11
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 12
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Delighting the Empowered and Enabled Consumer
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 14
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 15
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 16
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 17
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 18
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 19
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 20
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 21
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 22
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 23
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 24
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Technology Tips for Small Business
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 26
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 27
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 28
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 29
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Retail Council of Canada and Google Help to Spark Retail
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 31
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 32
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 33
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Social Workers
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 35
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 36
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 37
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 38
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 39
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Chasing the “E-tail” to Keep Pace With the 24/7 Shopper
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 41
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 42
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 43
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 44
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 45
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 46
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 47
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Know Your Clients and Drive Your Sales
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Advertiser's Index
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - cover3
Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - cover4
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