Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 27

Q&a with ian goldman

Ian Goldman, CEO of Celerant Technology, a provider of retail management software, discusses what
retailers can do to maximize technology investments.
Q: What are some of the technological tools
that independent retailers can implement that
will quickly give them an ROI?
A: With an integrated e-commerce platform, retailers can really optimize their investment by
implementing systems that communicate via a
single platform. With fully integrated websites, we typically see six to nine months as a
reasonable time to see a return on investment.
In comparison to the overhead costs of opening
a new brick-and-mortar store, an e-commerce
site has minimal investment and takes far less
resources. When the site is seamlessly integrated with the retailer's software at the store, site
updates are easy-from right within the POS,
there is no need for any manual order entry,
Smart tech investments can make good retailers great.
and real-time inventory levels are available.
when an order is completed online-whether
Too often we see retailers that have "patchwork" platforms
it be from your own e-commerce site or even
that they've pieced together to save money. But in the end,
Amazon or eBay-the system will know which
they are only causing more work for themselves, resulting
store is best suited to fulfill that order and will
ultimately in dissatisfied customers.
send the order to that location to be fulfilled,
Q: Many independent retailers are behind in their technolin one automated process, requiring no
ogy. Some smaller shops don't have inventory management
manual intervention. using software better
systems and some still ring through purchases using Excel.
to fulfill the needs of omnichannel retail has
How do you respond to retailers who say they don't have the
been the driving force this past year and will
budget to upgrade their store's systems?
continue to be the focus moving into 2015.
A: With a little research, you'll find there are low cost options
Q: What do retailers in Canada need to do
for automating these functions, which will provide an increto prepare for a culture where mobile paymental return on that small investment. Smaller shops have
ments are expected?
to think of technology just as they do their other operational
A: Research before investment is critical.
resources. Retailers don't open their first store with the idea
You must know your customers and their
of immediately hiring twenty sales people on the floor. They
start with one or two. Same thing with floor space-you begin habits. No one is going to see an immediate
rush of customers looking to pay with their
with just enough space to get you started, and then expand
mobile phone, but as long as you purchase
your footprint as your business grows. Starting with small
the proper type of signature capture device
investments and small returns will pave the way for increwith NFC (Near Field Communication)
mentally larger investments with larger returns.
and your credit card processor works with
Q: Often when we talk about retail technology in the media,
Apple, there is nothing more needed. It's
we talk about customer-facing technology. Let's talk about
important to discern if your customer-base
back-end technology. What have been the exciting developwill want you to accept mobile payments
ments in operational retail tech in the last year, and why?
in the long term. A good comparison is the
A: The ability to use your brick-and-mortar locations as warerise of debit cards back in the nineties. It
houses. Big box retailers have been doing this for years, but
wasn't like everyone woke up one day and
now smaller retailers have the technology available to define
said, "I'm done using cash." It took time, and
a set of parameters that minimizes stock-outs while mitigatonce you've taken the time to determine if
ing potential issues with over-ordering. This "best store logic"
accepting mobile payments is right for your
will allow retailers to easily and optimally fulfill orders across
business, companies such as ours will be
multiple locations. Factors are pre-set within the system, such
prepared with the technology businesses
as store locations, size of store, inventory levels, et cetera. And
need to succeed in the future.

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holiday 2014 | canadian retailer

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Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014

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