Off the Shelf provides a platform for Retailers and Consumer Packaged Goods companies to discuss and gain insights on the pressing problems, trends and solutions.

May 27, 2013

Orchestrating consumer demand in a fast paced world

Guest Post by Keats Sukumar, Marketing, Retail, CPG and Logistics, Infosys

 

The path to purchase is more volatile than ever before. Today, companies need to be ahead of competition to understand, influence, engage and convert consumers. Consumers who absorb and transmit real- time information are easily influenced by brands and companies that convert their 'demand-moments' into 'purchase moments'.  While on one hand companies must understand their consumers; on the other hand they must be prepared to respond swiftly to demand moments.

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April 3, 2013

Social Selling - the future is here

 

Online retail portals like Storenvy are creating niche place for themselves in Social Selling. Storenvy is a large Online Mall - with over 35000+ stores offering products across several categories and each week over 15,000 items are added to Storenvy.

 

It is not humanly possible for anyone to identify the best item in this Online mall suiting your taste and that's where the social angle comes in. I.e. each time a product is bought @ Storenvy it gets promoted and is visible to the rest of the shoppers. Anytime a shopper is browsing an item it gets listed in the order of real time popularity. Also the shopper can view the reviews from the previous shoppers of that item. The portal also generates a personalized shopping list on a daily basis based on current trends. Shoppers are not just influenced by other shopper's reviews but also by their shopping list!

Another example is of a Sandwich shop in New York , which allows its online users to build custom sandwiches , once an order is placed the custom sandwich is also included in the Restaurant's Regular Menu. If any of the online customer were to order this custom sandwich then a portion of the sales is also credited to the original customer (who built the custom sandwich) for future purchases. In this model , the retailer is actually co-creating value for both themselves as well as the customer (let us not forget the loyalty angle)

 

Can this trend be extended to a brick and a mortar store?

 

How will we do this?

 

We need to capture the shopper behavior at a store (via cameras) - which items were 'browsed' (viewed) , which items were evaluated ( labels or tags were read), lost sales (empty aisles) and finally the items which were bought (sales at POS)). This is just a snapshot of data which can essentially give the retailer greater insights into consumer shopping behavior. Plus sharing this real time with other shoppers through - Mobile apps, Store Displays (for each aisle) can influence the shopping decisions especially for new products launches.

 

With advances in Mobility, ubiquity of Social Apps, consumers will be more and more influenced by the social media for their purchases. Social selling is the future of Retail.

Posted on behalf of Thomas Mathen, Associate Manager, Client Services, RCL

EUC : Eliminating Dependency on Hardware

 

A popular music platform on the cloud allows me to access my favorite tunes no matter where I am : home, office, in transit. It does not matter if I am on a laptop, a mobile phone, television, desktop - experience remains the same.

 

Extending this to an enterprise, by virtualizing apps and moving from a thick to a thin client we can drastically reduce dependency on a device for the end user. Virtualization means moving local apps to a central server.

 

Many of the vendors are now providing cloud equivalent of their software including cloud storage which compliments this vision. Several of the ERP shops are already making their core modules available on the cloud. There are several workplace productivity tools which are mobile ready like timesheet modules, absence management.

 

A User hence does not require high end configuration device or be limited by the office network to be functional. This translates to lower hardware cost (replace devices with cheaper tablets), reduce disruption incase of hardware failure (as the end user can switch to an alternate hardware incase there is an issue with the primary device), remove device support service from the critical path.

The first step will be to review the enterprise application stack and come up with a virtualization roadmap - hosted, citrix, VDI, client server. Applications which are required in the offline mode should be able to sync up with the server seamlessly when the connection is restored. Virtualization roadmap should be followed by an enterprise device strategy by roles.

 

This also builds foundation for BYOD strategy, which essentially puts the onus of device on the end user. Enterprise can move away completely from Asset procurement and lifecycle management. End Users have the flexibility of choosing their own device and network provider and the enterprise has to focus on ensuring the availability of applications.

 

Overall this is a win-win for both end users and enterprise.

Posted on behalf of Thomas Mathen, Associate Manager, Client Services, RCL

Managed Services - Becoming useful to the Business

Managed Services by definition is managing the IT Services (aka Commodity Services) via outcomes and SLAs . The basic mantra is for the client to become more strategic and a metrics driven organization( its own IT arm now focusing on new Cutting edge technologies, Enterprise architecture , Thought leadership and supporting new business enablement ideas) and leaving the daily IT operations to their IT Services Partner.

 

One may argue that by letting go of the operational arm, due to the inherent nature of Managed Services, client IT team is actually distancing themselves from the day- to- day IT operations. Client IT Managers often grapple to get status on support issues as now they have to go through various IT Support layers. In the Pre- Managed Services days, the Client IT team would have been engrained into IT operations , by virtue of one team doing support and development and hence would have had real time information on support tickets. So, how can IT become useful to the Business in the Managed Services world?

 

IT Services Partner should build a Business Liaison Layer in its organization thereby removing dependency on Client IT Layer for day to day Business Liaising on Support issues. Well, let us be practical, without major rebadging upfront, the very foundation of Managed Services will not support this on Day 1.Typically clients would not like to rebadge their key IT Managers as this is a huge risk to their business. Also it could take months for the IT Services Partner to build this capability internally across all areas. So this option will fall into continuous improvement bucket and is not an immediate solution.

 

Another option which we can consider is what I would like to call "Control Rods in a Nuclear Reactor" scenario - here the Nuclear Reactor is "Managed Services Operations" and the Control Rods are the "Client IT - interventions". Per this option, the Client IT team focuses on its core functions but makes interventions into the Managed Services operations only when required. The Managed Services Team continuously broadcasts the current status of the support ticket, tagging it by the relevant Business area so that its operations are transparent and "Business Visible". The Broadcast module should be a bolt on to the ITSM framework resulting in minimum impact to Support productivity, personnel diversion. The module seamlessly translates the status of the tickets to the Client. e.g. If the Order Management System is down , the System automatically sends update on who is working on it, time spent, ETA, Escalation status , contact numbers. During critical tickets, the client IT team, based on some exception criteria, can make interventions when thresholds are about to be breached.

 

Managed Services structure cannot be "one size fit all". It has to be customized based on individual client landscape and business needs and has to continuously evolve to be relevant.

 

Posted on behalf of Thomas Mathen, Associate Manager, Client Services, RCL

March 7, 2013

Soak Period for Store rollout - A process that needs to be standardized

Rolling out any patch or software update to a chain of stores is always a challenge.  The complexity lies predominantly on the number of instances where the same software package is running.  While there are standard set of challenges for any software update to a stand-alone system, it has the potential to become catastrophic if they were not done with enough attention to details. This is especially applicable for roll outs involving large number of stores.  Many retailers face this problem regularly.  A package that is approved for release and performs as expected in pilot, simply causes unbelievable trouble when it is rolled out to the entire chain. Operations team is bombarded with a sudden spike in ticket volume. What went wrong?  A thorough testing was done before the release, pilot was carefully monitored - so what was missed?

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February 26, 2013

Foreign players in Indian Retail - When & How will the wait end?

September' 2012 marked the opening of Indian retail sector to foreign players with government of India announcing upto 51% foreign stake in local ventures. The approval provided by government is however, guarded by stiff investment restrictions and mandatory local sourcing guidelines. Even post the passing by of more than four months since, the Government is yet to receive a proposal from any of the global majors to mark their entry in Indian arena.

 

But are the government laid guidelines the only roadblocks hindering free flow of foreign players? A deeper analysis into Indian customer's mindset brings out interesting consumer behavior patterns.

 

A typical Indian customer is heavily dependent on "Convenient" local mom and pop stores (Kirana) on account of the

  • Personalization of services - the familiar Kirana owner would be aware of consumer's preferences, requirements in terms of brand & ordering frequency.
  • Local credit facility offered by the stores
  • Flexibility in terms of conditions for product exchanges & returns is immense and can't be matched by organized sector.

It is for these advantages catered by mom- pop stores that the sole survivors in Organized retail are price- point players like Big Bazaar, Star Bazaar, etc. Other Players which are non-price-point players  have been faced with losses which is depicted by the fact that many of these chains have had to shut down their stores.

A little market research and insight into the positioning of the key retail players which can mark the true onset of FDI in India, the factor which stands out as the key deciding factor in MNC's India entry is:

Right Local partner:

    • The local partner should be the one which has the correct understanding of the pulse of Indian consumer, their needs & purchase behavior.
    • The local partner should be familiar with local market rules, regulations & should have expertise in warding off the key challenges Indian market offers (Red- tapeism & Supply chain weaknesses)

Its only after the finding of the Right local partner that the below mentioned factors would come into the picture. Of course the below mentioned areas would be efficiently handled in liaison with these partners.

G-Localization:

The much used internationalization concept can't be adapted in a better manner here than anywhere else. It is of prime importance that the global giants realize the difference in Indian consumer psyche whereby there are fundamental differences from the western strata. The concept of deep freezing, ready to eat meals, selling of fizzy drinks in crates are still limited in terms of adoption. It's thus, of prime importance that the product reinvention is done post a detailed market research.

Brand recall and Store placements:

While all the three biggies mentioned above are extremely popular with Indian educated elite class (thanks to their exposure to global markets), this might not be sufficient to entice the major business driving chunk. Further, stores such as Wal-Mart operate as destination stores. The physical distance of the stores from the buying population/ city hot-spots and brand familiarity has to be directly proportional. Without some unique positioning & attractive propositioning, destination store model wouldn't be a success in India.

Human resource retention:

Staff retention in Indian retail sector is another challenge global retailers would have to combat with to effectively penetrate India.


It is only after the foreign players have a well drafted plans addressing all these issues that We the common Indian consumer can finally see the opening of FDI in Indian retail in the truest sense.   


January 24, 2013

Infosys-Troux : New opportunities on the horizon!

 

It's always interesting when you realize there is an opportunity for growth when you venture into something new! If you are familiar with Troux and what it does- let me reassure you that direction this article is NOT heading towards to is with replacing the services Troux as a company provides.  On the contrary it speaks more on what should be thought about to sustain the benefits of the product Troux.

 

An organization deciding to invest in Troux for managing its applications portfolios would definitely be aiming to reap the benefits of its investment by going after the low hanging fruits of rationalization and cost cutting. While the obvious is stated, it is important to see the bigger picture of using Troux to run a marathon and not just a sprint.

 

While Troux as a company helps the organization to learn how to leverage the tool, the organization has its own responsibility of having the right feet on the ground who can not only ensure guidance for successful implementation and maintenance along with optimal data collection but also envision the appropriate plan for testing and governance to maintain the right data and keep it evergreen.

 

As Troux progresses to charm more large scale sectors and organizations - strategic partners who are affiliated with Troux will definitely be able to contribute more to the growth of the many such organizations!

 

November 28, 2012

Global Business Dominance for Consumer Product companies through Enterprise IT

Guest Post by Nakul Srinivas, Assistant Marketing Manager, Retail, CPG & Logistics, Infosys

Enterprise Resource planning figured in the top 3 for IT Budget allocations for CPG (Consumer Product Goods) companies in 2012 in a 2011 Gartner forecast (Pragmatism Marks Consumer Products Companies' IT Spending Plans, Published: 21 December 2011 by Janet Suleski - http://www.gartner.com/id=1881224). This clearly shows that ERP implementations are a top priority for CPG companies worldwide. ERP refurbishing may be necessary to achieve the level of coordinated agility companies need to achieve, to respond quickly to market opportunities or threats.

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October 22, 2012

Are you Game?

I was intrigued when my son walked up to me with a request to order a pizza he had made on ipad game app from Dominos. The fun and excitement of playing the game coupled with pride of self-accomplishment was inescapable in his eyes...we did order the pizza and it was clear that Dominos now had a new Gen Y consumer.

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October 1, 2012

Ecommerce needs an E-Lift

Imagine the convenience of indulging in Grocery shopping right at your home - and not being bothered

by the weather, clock, rush hour traffic, POS queues and coupon clutter.  I am not trying to make a case

for ecommerce here but want to make a case for enhancing it completely so that it becomes a

compelling experience for the Grocery shoppers - powerful and personalized yet simple.  With the

advent of 4G, ubiquity of high resolution tablets, 3D technology - I do not think this is a big ask. Of

course the retailers will be pushed to their limits -supply chain and distribution network will now need

to be more agile, inventory management and forecasting more accurate, business intelligence and

analytics more dependable but this will also benefit them from additional product advertising

revenues, predictability in orders, cross sell & up sell opportunities, better shrink management,

collaboration opportunities between retailers, new product categories - personalized items  and of

course the store will be now open 24X7 for business! The Brick and mortar could well be replaced by

intelligent "break pack" distribution centers  which are no longer cost centers and the fleet owned and

operated by a third party, round the clock.  Am I dreaming?

 

Posted on behalf of Thomas Mathen