Blogs: Posts

Survey Says: Most Companies Lagging in Carbon Accounting Comprehension and Execution

mconlin — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:44:12 GMT

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Last week we announced the results of our first ever global carbon accounting survey. The goal of the survey was to gain insight into the ability and willingness of companies to identify their greenhouse gas emissions; to find out how they technically capture emissions; and to clarify the extent to which companies have to meet legal requirements for sustainability, as well as partner and customer demands in this arena.

The results – compiled from nearly 1000 companies surveyed across the globe – were pretty astounding. Fifty-eight percent of companies surveyed had not even heard of the term “carbon accounting”; less than a third could accurately describe what the term means, and a full 80% of companies surveyed don’t monitor their company’s carbon footprint.

So why are companies lagging in their comprehension of carbon accounting as a whole, and in the execution of said carbon accounting initiatives?

One reason is many companies see carbon accounting or energy management efforts as a distraction rather than something they can quickly and easily quantify. I also think there is some cynicism out there colored by individuals’ own personal opinions. Many people feel the whole carbon issue equates to acceptance of science behind global warming. Irrespective of your views on the science, if you choose not to believe it and bury your head in the sand, you do so at the risk of putting your organisation at a competitive disadvantage. Legislation is here and if you are not mandated by it now, it will be coming your way.

Done right, carbon accounting can be a part of your normal course of business – not an extra task – and like other GRC initiatives; it has the potential to create process efficiencies for operational cost savings.

Another hurdle for carbon accounting is many companies don’t realize the significance of monetizing these efforts. What’s more, the trading of carbon credits is often way outside of their core business role. It’s a new skill set/competency that most people flat out don’t have – but expect to see the job market heat up over the next few years in The New Carbon Economy. Major financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Berkeley's and Citi Bank, already have carbon trading desks in London, the commodity market for carbon offsets, is the fastest growing commodity market in the world with companies buying and selling carbon credits like pork bellies or silver.

At the point when the economies of the world were in a more robust state, green initiatives and carbon were a lot higher up on both media and corporate agendas. But as the downturn took hold, organizations started looking inwards at themselves and less at their green credentials. However operational cost savings and a green corporate agenda are not mutually exclusive. By managing your operations in an energy efficient manner, there’s tremendous financial upside in the form of operational cost savings, and also possible increased revenues – not to mention compliance, as there’s going to be a “train” of increasing compliance requirements in this arena. We say – get ahead of the curve – start following it now. Compliance is actually a byproduct – you’ll actually save your company money and open up a whole new revenue stream.

Posted by Chris Purcell, Product Marketing Manager, Epicor

Category: Distribution; Retail

Published: 1/29/2013 1:32 PM

Epicor Shines at NRF

enagy — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:02:19 GMT

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This week Epicor put its best and most fashionable foot forward at NRF – the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention & EXPO in New York City, where more than 24,000 in the retail industry convened to peruse the industry’s most innovative technologies to serve, engage, and inspire consumers. Conference attendees were greeted with mild weather -- no snow! – and a chance to see former president Bill Clinton deliver the opening day keynote address. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend because I was having too much fun showing off my iPad, which had several Epicor Retail solutions on it to showcase our expertise in mobility across our product set.

One of my favorites was our Clienteling solution which puts customer data, direct from the Epicor Retail CRM database, into the hands of the sales associate allowing them to better engage with and upsell customers and more importantly build that more personalized relationship – inspiring them to buy more. I love being able to easily view items in the customer’s closet and everything they have purchased from a retailer regardless of what channel they purchased it in. Sales associates now have the tools to better suggest complimentary items to what they already own or new arrivals of their favorite brands making the customers shopping experience a pleasant one. And how about being able to check me out anywhere– like while I’m putting my shoes back on in the fitting room? Using my same iPad, I can switch right over to Epicor Retail Mobile Store solution and complete a full checkout which means the customer can avoid going to the cash wrap station.

Taking mobility to the business user (the field and/or corp. exec) – I was proudly showing off the E picor Retail Business Intelligence - Information Center solution also on my iPad. Business users can create their own personal dashboard and data views relative to what they want to know and more importantly need to take some action on or make a decision. You can also get notifications – so just like when you get a meeting reminder 15 minutes before a meeting, you can get a similar notification on something like a store or product that is over or under performing and in real time since its pulling data from Epicor Retail Business Intelligence.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what my colleague and “twin”, Diane Neaven, was also showing in her Mobility talk which was the Epicor Retail WebIM Merchandising module. This allows stores to use their mobile device - in Diane’s case her iPad - to enter inventory transactions accessing Epicor Retail Merchandising in real time. These real-time updates help retailers to better monitor trends and relationships among product sales and store locations, resulting in optimized, timely inventory management.

Those of you who know me, even a little, know I can’t do a blog without talking somewhat about Cross, Multi, Omni-Channel Selling/Retailing. Of course this was something else retailers, industry analysts, publications, and partners heard me speaking about at this year’s NRF show. Why? because Epicor has the Holy Grail - Epicor Retail Enterprise Selling solution which is best in class when it comes to centralizing real-time inventory across a retailers enterprise and finding the best fulfillment location. And the icing on the cake is our seamless integration with the Epicor Retail Suite – Store, Merchandising, WMS, Sales Audit. If you’re a retailer and you’re not able to sell me something no matter where it is in your chain, you are giving millions and millions of dollars away to your competitors and I know this for a fact. Your call to action is contact me or anyone else in Epicor and we will help you see the light.

Last, but certainly not least, is how retailers are providing a seamless shopping experience across their channels without adding a lot of overhead to do it. The Epicor answer is our Multi-Channel Transaction Adapter (MCTA) which simplifies the task of sharing key functions and logic across channels and devices. What we mean by key functions and logic is one promo tool and logic for promos, one CRM used by all, centralized inventory for all, one place for tax, one way to calculate the basket, etc. So, for instance, instead of E-commerce, F-Commerce, M-Commerce all having their own promotion engine and CRM database why not have one across all channels with one place to get the data from? The MCTA simplifies things for the retailer, and also provides the shopper with a more consistent shopping experience regardless of where or how they shop – remember consumers don’t shop by channel, they shop by brand!!

All in all, lots of energy on the show floor and retailers seemed very up tempo – down economy or not. It’s almost as if retailers know: Now is not the time to just connect and engage customers, it’s the time to inspire them and shine. Epicor is here to help you get there!!

Posted by Diane Cerulli, Director, Product Marketing

Category: Retail

Published: 1/30/2013 12:52 AM

Epicor and Ace Hardware continue to work together to enhance customer experience in retail field

enagy — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:50:04 GMT

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As the provider of a fully integrated technology solution to 14 distribution centers in the U.S.A. and 4,600 stores located in all 50 states and 60 countries, Ace Hardware Corporation is one of the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry. Ranked by J.D. Power and Associates as the “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Home Improvement Stores for the Sixth Consecutive Year,” it’s no wonder that the company has reigned as the helpful hardware store in thousands of communities across America since 1924. With the recent announcement that the company will continue to choose the functionality, flexibility, and integration capabilities of Epicor point of sale (POS) software as its only recommended POS solution, it is clear that Ace Hardware is committed to remaining a leader in the field.

However, the company is not only marked as one of the top competitors in the industry; it is also known as a visionary among them. When Ace entered the retail scene 85 years ago, their approach to business was inspired, allowing individual stores to purchase merchandise in bulk to save money and buy at the lowest possible price. Ace has continued on this trend and continues to be notable for providing a variety of hardware products, as well as niche items and services relevant to each individual community.

Ace makes it possible to remain relevant by allowing each store to be independently-owned and operated by local entrepreneurs who live in the neighborhoods in which the store resides. Not only are these business owners passionate and hard-working, but they are also active community members who are invested in assessing and serving the needs of their clients and neighbors. By extending their relationship with Epicor for the next three years, the hardware retailer will continue to protect their status as a reliable, efficient, and profitable business operation that is dedicated to customer satisfaction.

Posted by the Epicor Social Media Team

Category: Retail

Published: 1/30/2013 1:49 AM

Customer Engagement on the Rise

enagy — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:56:37 GMT

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Over the last year customer centricity has been one of the top concerns in the minds of retailers. In a recent thought leadership report by Apparel Magazine, the ever-growing and fluctuating topic of customer engagement is brought to a new level – Customer Centricity 2.0. According to Apparel, “Today’s leading apparel retailers are changing their focus from improving what customers will encounter within the store to how consumers can engage the brand and the enterprise as a whole in all channels, in turn enhancing the entire shopping experience and fostering long-term retailer-customer relationships.”

If you ask Apparel, the “essential elements” of managing a legitimate customer-centric organization requires the following:

CRM/Clienteling
Advanced Segmentation
Mobile POS and Mobile CRM
Channel Unification and Channel-Agnostic Retailing
Integrated Planning, Merchandising and Alloction
Advanced Business Intelligence

When asked about what successful retailers are doing to achieve heightened customer engagement, Ian Rawlins, vice president of marketing for Epicor, said “Advanced transaction and CRM systems are key, but customer centricity must be enabled and supported in all areas of the enterprise. Retailers are also looking for fully integrated solutions that provide a seamless, multi-channel view of information – solutions that let retailers know, in real time, what inventory is available where, and allow inventory in one location or channel to be used to fill orders in a different one.”

What are the challenges of conducting business in today's marketplace? What is your organization doing to become a more customer centric organization?

Posted by the Epicor Social Media Team.

Category: Retail

Published: 1/30/2013 1:55 AM

Innovative Technology from Epicor Flourishes with Newly Designed Stores: Build-A-Bear Workshop Unveils through November

enagy — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:01:21 GMT

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Epicor Retail customer Build-A-Bear Workshop®, the interactive entertainment retailer of customized stuffed animals, recently opened its first highly anticipated newly designed store at West County Center in St. Louis. The store is one of six that the company will open through November in select markets across the United States. The updated store allows Guests of all ages to personalize the bear-making process and offers them a different experience each time they visit a Build-A-Bear Workshop store.

The new interactive stations throughout the store leverage Epicor Retail Multi-Channel Transaction Adapter (MCTA)--recently honored with a Gold Stevie^® and People’s Choice Stevie^®from the 2012 American Business Awards. The MCTA is used to build the transaction with pertinent data all along the way as the Guest scans their “bear” of choice and adds personalities, adds sound at the Hear Me station, names it and gives it an address at the Name Me station which all leads up to the final Take Me Home check out at Epicor Retail Store point of sale (POS) system. Build-A-Bear’s vision, innovation and inspired use of technology bring the ultimate interactive experience to its customers, young and old and Epicor is proud to be part of it.

[[blogvideo:http://www.youtube.com/v/bCMWmLCBil4]]

Visit a newly imagined “Build-A-Bear Workshop” store near you:

West County Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Stoneridge Shopping Center® in Pleasanton, Calif.
Annapolis Shopping Mall in Annapolis, Md.
The Somerset Collection in Troy, Mich. (opening Friday, Oct. 26)
Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Va. (opening Friday, Nov. 9)
Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis, Ind. (opening Friday, Nov. 16)

Posted by the Epicor Social Media Team

Category: Retail

Published: 1/30/2013 1:57 AM

Hope, Dreams, and a Touch of Technology goes a long way in Liberian Schools and Orphanages

enagy — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:28:19 GMT

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I’ve attended the SuperSaturday event for the last two years. It’s packed with the top retail analysts and C-level executives who are in town for the NRF Annual Convention & Expo. The event is fast-paced covering the latest data and trends in the retail industry. However, what I look forward to most about the event is Greg Buzek/IHL Services talking about the Retail Orphan Initiative (www.retailroi.org) and how our (Epicor) sponsorship donations aided children around the world – providing new schools, playgrounds, safe water wells, building homes for orphans and caregivers, rescuing hundreds of girls from human trafficking, and distributing high nutrient meals to starving people.

Being able to give through sponsorships is wonderful but seeing who you’re giving to is truly magical. I know this because I just came back from visiting three schools and two orphanages in Liberia that have benefited from RetailROI funding.

What did I see? Hundreds of smiling, happy children hungry to learn, dream, and aspire to become doctors, teachers, beauticians, carpenters and journalists in a country they love so dearly. They may not have electricity or running water but they have a roof over their heads, food in their bellies, a school to attend – with teachers, a principal and a pastor mentor – thanks to RetailROI and Lifesong for Orphans. Eight months ago RetailROI sent Jones Christian Academy twenty netbooks so they could start a computer class. This week we installed Khan Academy software which will provide both teachers and students additional lessons across several subjects and improve their computer skills. Also with their new printer, they may even start printing out tests!

Being there in person also helped us to better assess other needs of the schools and orphanages that we can provide assistance to in the future, like building an additional classroom for the deaf students at the Rehab School (their classroom has been located outside), ensuring every child has a desk to sit at, fixing security/property walls that haven’t been able to withstand excess water during the rainy season, determining what can be put in place to better prepare the kids for high school, college, and employment and so much more.

However, the highlight of my trip was spending time with the kids. I am very grateful to Build-A-Bear-Workshop^® who filled one of my suitcases with 100 smallfrys® bears, bunnies, and monkeys to give to the kids. From the youngest to the oldest – the kids loved them!

To no surprise, there was not a learning curve on how to use gamessurprise, there was not a learning curve on how to use games on my iPad even though most had never seen one – their favorites were Angry Birds, Tomcat, and Paper Toss – not to mention seeing themselves in the camera.

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Key “learnings” for me are these kids need a secure place to live with opportunities to dream and be able to see those dreams come true. Our funding needs to focus on sustainable long term items such as education and technology that will allow for them to succeed in the future. To assist with this funding, Epicor will be taking donations of $10 for RetailROI at the upcoming NRF in January 2013. As a thank you for your donation you will receive a Build-A-Bear Workshop smallfry® bear, bunnie or monkey. Please visit Epicor at the NRF Expo (booth #1805) and Help a friend – build a future!

Three key goals of RetailROI:

Bring Awareness to the enormous needs of orphans worldwide
Encourage companies (Retailers, Vendors, Manufacturers) to create programs internally for their companies to help with the need
Raise Funds through the following ways to help "feet on the street" charities who are making a real difference

For more information about the Retail Orphan Initiative, please visit www.retailroi.org.

Posted by Diane Cerulli, Director Retail Product Marketing, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/30/2013 2:23 AM

Meet the Executive Team: Paul Farrell – Executive Vice President, Worldwide Research & Development

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:48:15 GMT

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Meet Epicor’s Executive Vice President, Worldwide Research and Development, Paul Farrell. Paul brings over 20 years of experience with enterprise resource planning systems to the company and is responsible for product development of the company’s enterprise software product lines.

Q: Paul, What is your vision for the new Epicor?

A: I think the vision for the new Epicor is to deliver the only software solution a customer will ever need.

Q: What is most important in your role as EVP, Worldwide R&D that will help to achieve this vision?

A: My major role is to ensure that we maintain a balance between producing products that people want to buy and producing products that people want to use. Customers when buying a product want a solution that has every bell and whistle. However generally when using it they need their “5 screens” completely, uncluttered, optimized and simple.

Q: If you could trade places with any other person for a week, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?

A: Billy McNeill– the captain of the Glasgow Celtic (my favorite football “soccer” team and undisputed greatest football team in the world). He led them to the European cup, nine consecutive league titles and many cup wins as a player. Later as a manager he led the team to numerous league and cup wins. Swapping for the week he won the European Cup would have been great.

Paul sitting in the Celtic dugout at Celtic park with his wife, Jo and sons, Thomas and Ewan.

Posted by Morgan Liti, Social Media Team, Epicor

Category: Distribution; Technology and Innovation; ERP; Manufacturing; Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 8:43 AM

Meet the Executive Team: John Hiraoka, CMO

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:59:44 GMT

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Meet Epicor’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, John Hiraoka. John joined Epicor in 1998 and brings over 25 years of enterprise applications design, development, sales, marketing and operations experience to the company. In his role as chief marketing officer, John is responsible for the company’s overall corporate, product and marketing strategy, as well as corporate development, strategic partnerships, alliances, and mergers and acquisitions.

Q: John, what is your vision for the new Epicor?

A: To be the company that fundamentally changes how enterprise business software works. The industry has talked about it for a long time – we are doing it.

Q: What is most important in your role as CMO that will help to achieve this vision?

A: Getting out the message on what we’ve done and also what’s coming. Helping companies see that “next generation” business applications are real, here now, and can provide phenomenal benefits in productivity and usability.

Q: What did you want to be when you were 12-years-old?

A: President.

John demonstrating his love of crustaceans.

Posted by Morgan Liti, Social Media Team, Epicor

Category: Distribution; Retail; Technology and Innovation; ERP; Manufacturing

Published: 1/31/2013 9:51 AM

Meet the Executive Team: Kathy Crusco, CFO

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:04:03 GMT

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Meet Kathy Crusco, Epicor’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. Kathy brings over 20 years of experience to her role as CFO of Epicor Software Corporation, and came to Epicor in May 2011 following the merger with Activant Solutions Inc., where she also served as CFO.

Q: Kathy, what is your vision for the new Epicor?

A: For me, the vision is to be the fastest growing ERP company in the marketplace and I think with the combination [of the recently combined Epicor and Activant] we can do that. We have the best product and I believe we have the best people, who have a real passion for Epicor – now it’s really about providing the best service and with that, we’ll be the fastest growing ERP company.

Q: What is most important in your role as CFO that will help to achieve this vision?

A: The most important role that I play is working with the management team to ensure that we have the strategy to achieve the goals and objectives we put in place. I also think making sure our processes support that strategy so that we can provide the information and the best results is of the upmost importance. I view Epicor as a customer-facing organization and the number one goal is to provide superior customer service to our customers, both internal and external.

Q: What is your favorite weekend activity?

A: Going boating on Clearlake with my family – although it’s getting much more difficult to have my two boys (who are 17 & 19) agree to go on family outings with “mom and dad.”

Kathy with her husband and son at his last varsity high school soccer game in his senior year. Kathy says soccer is one of her family’s shared passions.

Don’t miss the next feature where we’ll be speaking with Epicor’s CMO, John Hiraoka.

Posted by Morgan Liti, Social Media Team, Epicor

Category: Distribution; Retail; Technology and Innovation; Manufacturing; ERP

Published: 1/31/2013 10:00 AM

Meet the Executive Team: Pervez Qureshi

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:08:43 GMT

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Successful leadership of one of the largest and fastest growing global enterprise business software companies requires many skills - vision, passion, determination, humility, and limitless energy just to name a few. It shouldn’t be surprising that Epicor’s executives not only embody these attributes, but also a number of other qualities and characteristics that drive them both personally and professionally.

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be chatting with the Epicor executive team not only about their vision for the New Epicor, but also to learn more about them personally and what they do when they’re not at work, on the road, or online – like what motivates them, how they decompress, or what we might find in their refrigerator on a Sunday morning.

For our first installment, I’d like to introduce you to Epicor’s President and CEO, Pervez Qureshi. Pervez brings more than 20 years of management experience in Silicon Valley’s hi-tech industry to his role as president and CEO of Epicor.

Pervez Qureshi, President and CEO

Q: Pervez, what is your vision for the new Epicor?

A: It’s very simple – to build the leading, worldwide, midmarket ERP company and to deliver solutions that grow our customers’ revenues and profitability.

Q: What is most important in your role as CEO that will help to achieve this vision?

A: To make sure we have the best people that are engaged, energetic and inspired to focus on our mission. It’s really all about our people and making sure they have the tools, training, resources and education needed to further our mission.

Q: What’s your favorite stress reliever?

A: First, philosophically, I have two strong beliefs: 1) that no person is tasked with a burden greater than they can bear and 2) that with difficulty comes ease and with ease comes difficulty. For me, these two beliefs prevent stress rather than relieve them, as they help me to remember that any obstacle in front of us is not that big and that we are capable of handling even the most seemingly difficult situations.

As far as an actual stress reliever beyond those two beliefs – that would be meditation.

Epicor’s Chief Executive Officer, Pervez Qureshi

Stay tuned for the next installment of Meet the Executive Team featuring Executive Vice President and CFO, Kathy Crusco.

Posted by Morgan Liti, Social Media Team, Epicor

Category: Distribution; Retail; Technology and Innovation; Manufacturing; ERP

Published: 1/31/2013 10:05 AM

Meet the Team: Bill Wilson – Senior Vice President, Retail Product Development

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:47:24 GMT

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Meet Epicor’s Senior Vice President, Retail Product Development, Bill Wilson. Bill brings over 29 years of technology experience to the company and came to Epicor in May 2011 following the merger with Activant Solutions Inc., where he served as senior vice president, product development.

Q: Bill, what is your vision for the new Epicor?

A: We are lucky to have a very clear (and I think compelling) vision that we are already executing: to be the leading global provider of industry-specific business applications that drive growth and profitability for our customers. From the product standpoint, this means protecting customers’ current product investments with long-term support, extending them with a steady stream of enhancements and new offerings and, over time, sharing and converging these great technology assets into true next-generation offerings. Because we have these incredibly rich and varied product lines today, it’s easy to forget that we’re still quite early in the overall evolution of ERP technology and have really just scratched the surface of how our customers will be able to transform their businesses using our products and services in the coming years.

Q: What is most important in your role as SVP, Retail Product Development, that will help to achieve this vision?

A: It’s all about execution and innovation. We are very well-positioned, with a great group of knowledgeable, dedicated, long-term employees, a large, loyal set of customers, a global infrastructure, and exciting new technology. But we’re also a complex business with many new challenges. My role is to help make sure that we confront key issues and get tough decisions made in the right way – that we knock out barriers and obstacles to innovation, that product development remains deeply embedded with other groups and with our customers to help them solve their business problems, and that we don’t get derailed by missed commitments, quality issues, or lack of communication. And in my spare time if I can help close a few deals – that’s always fun.

Q: What is the last book you read?

A: Deliverance, by James Dickey. I saw the movie as a teenager, but didn’t really know about the book until my wife recommended it. It’s disturbing, but also a great read that tackles some of the “big questions” of man, nature and civilization in the guise of a ripping adventure tale. I still give the edge to No Country for Old Men (she doesn’t agree), but this is close.

Posted by Morgan Liti, Social Media Team, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 10:39 AM

Big News for Epicor Retail Solutions

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:48:54 GMT

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The past few weeks have brought lots of exciting news for current and prospective Epicor Retail customers – from the announcement of the new mobile retail point-of-sale offering , which is fully mobile-enabled for easy deployment on Apple iPads and Windows mobile devices, to the partnering with Global Bay to provide retailers running heritage Epicor solutions with an innovative suite of mobile retail applications. On Monday, Epicor announced that they are ahead of the game when it comes to leadership and reach in terms of the retail marketplace, as the company has been named the leading vendor of Point-of-Sale (POS) software among the top 250 specialty soft goods and hard goods retailers by global research and advisory firm, IHL Group.

Epicor was the first vendor to rank first place in both reports from IHL Group: POS Software for Softgoods Retailers and POS Software for Hardgoods Retailers, which we think is a pretty impressive feat. This is also the sixth consecutive year Epicor has taken first place in the Softgoods Retailers report.

“Epicor continues to build momentum in the retail marketplace based in part on the breadth of the company’s POS solutions and top-tier customer deployments,” said Greg Buzek, founder and president of IHL Group. “With the merger of Activant and Epicor earlier this year, the company has expanded its presence in the retail space – particular with hard goods retailers – allowing the company to deliver additional products and services to its global customer base.”

Epicor’s retail software solutions and services are used by hundreds of the world’s leading retailers – from Aéropostale and Automotive Supply, Inc., to Walker Drug and Zales. Designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s shoppers and demanding retail environments, Epicor offers a rapid ROI, low cost of ownership and a single point of accountability to help our customers, better serve their customers. Check out our site for more information and take a look at the reports to see what the hype is all about!

Posted by Morgan Liti, Social Media Team, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 10:47 AM

Meet the Team: Paul Salsgiver – Executive Vice President and General Manager, Retail Software

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:53:36 GMT

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Meet Epicor’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, Retail Software, Paul Salsgiver. Paul brings over 35 years of experience to his role and joined Epicor in May 2011 following the merger with Activant Solutions Inc., where he served as executive vice president and general manager of the retail distribution group.

Q: Paul, what is your vision for the new Epicor?

A: To make Epicor the number one software solution provider in each market we currently serve and all new markets we choose to enter – also to make Epicor a highly desirable company to work at for employees and future employees.

Q: What is most important in your role as EVP and GM, Retail Software, that will help to achieve this vision?

A: My role is to provide the leadership and resources for all retail team members so that they can attain their highest productivity, service and product excellence to deliver the best ongoing business experience to all Epicor customers.

Q: What is your favorite place to travel?

A: I am an avid fly fisherman so I like to be on active trout streams where I can enjoy a wonderful outdoor experience landing some of nature’s beautiful creatures. I return all I catch back to their environment so they can continue to grow and thrive. I spend time in the Tahoe region the most enjoying this sport.

Paul enjoying his favorite pastime - a little fly fishing.

Posted by Morgan Liti, Social Media Team, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 10:50 AM

Life Without a Mobile Device – How Would I Shop?

mconlin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:57:29 GMT

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I chuckle when I think about how I have used my mobile device over the last few years. We all started out by it being a phone and a device for using email remotely. I quickly moved to being able to get on the Internet but nowhere near to what I do today.

With my “consumer” mobile device, I research product, compare prices, look at reviews, find retailers who have the product I want (and at the best price), get coupons and promotions, and store all my loyalty cards and e-mail receipts. Ohhh how it makes shopping so much easier….and being a solution provider, Epicor is helping retailers keep up with my expectations.

With Epicor Retail Store, mobility has been around for some time – being able to either do line busting or full POS, find product in other locations, assist with clientelling or check in inventory all exist today. Although retailers still want and need to do these, there are other features, functions or support needed for today’s techno shopper – emailing receipts, accepting mobile coupons, reserving and ordering product for pickup in another store, and my favorite that is coming soon to a store near you is a variety of mobile payment options. If you don’t have a store solution that can support these today, contact Epicor and we can help you get there.

So there’s no surprise that Mobility is a key topic at the Aberdeen Summit June 21 – 22, where Epicor is a sponsor. I look forward to having some great discussions on how mobility is changing the game for retailers and consumers alike. Come join me at the Aberdeen Summit and gain insight, share experiences and be inspired. See you there!

For more information on the Aberdeen retail summit, please visit: http://summits.aberdeen.com/index.php/retail.html

Posted by Diane Cerulli, Director, Strategic Product Planning

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 10:56 AM

Find out how Mobility is Changing Retailers and Consumer Experience

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:32:21 GMT

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According to Aberdeen's December 2010 POS Mobility benchmark report, 40% of retailers (both in-store and online) have identified the growing consumer dependence on mobile devices as a top operational pain point. Mobility, in general, is gaining increased attention and momentum among retailers from both an employee-facing or consumer-facing perspective. For example, 38% of retailers are currently at some stage of mobile retail technology or mobile channel adoption, compared to 18% at the end of 2008. At the same time, the consumer’s mobile phone has emerged as a POS and channel growth opportunity that presents both increased customer transaction processing speed potential and incremental revenue options for retailers within stores.

At the upcoming Aberdeen retail summit, partly sponsored by Epicor, Dave Hogan, Executive Technology Advisor for the National Retail Federation (NRF) will share his thoughts and perspectives on how mobile is both changing and enhancing the customer’s online, in-store, couponing, and gift card experience, examining the process from product research through post-purchase. He will be joined by executives from Mobile Marketer and leading retailers.

For more information on the Aberdeen retail summit, please visit: http://summits.aberdeen.com/index.php/retail.html

Guest post from Aberdeen Research
Written by Sahir Anand, VP/Principal Analyst; Greg Belken, Research Analyst; and Chris Cunnane, Senior Research Associate

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:31 PM

A New Global Leader in Business Software: Epicor and Activant Combine

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:34:19 GMT

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Apax Partners announced the completion of its acquisitions of Epicor Software Corporation and Activant Solutions Inc. Apax Partners intends to combine the two companies to create one of the largest global providers of enterprise applications focused on the manufacturing, distribution, retail and services sectors. The combined company - Epicor Software Corporation - now has more than 33,000 customers in over 150 countries and over $800 million in annual revenue.

The new Epicor will have significant scale, as well as the ability to leverage highly complementary product lines, a broader channel partner program, and an expanded geographic reach. Epicor's strength and heritage in the manufacturing and services sectors is a perfect match with Activant’s market leadership in distribution. Additionally, the combined company’s retail sector solutions now cover the full spectrum – from small hardgoods retailers, to national specialty softgoods and apparel chains, to global general merchandise department stores.

As both companies have demonstrated throughout their nearly 40-year history, the new Epicor is committed to continuing its customer-focused product strategy and protecting customers’ investment in their products. With very little overlap in product offerings and complementary product strategies, Epicor will continue to enhance the joint product lines with new features and functionality; while providing a clear path to next-generation capabilities and enabling technologies that customers will need as their businesses evolve.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for further announcements on management team structure and progress integrating the two companies.

Category: Retail; Technology and Innovation; Distribution; ERP

Published: 1/31/2013 6:33 PM

Get Your Loss Prevention On (Demand)!

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:35:23 GMT

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Every retail operation must take measures to counteract inventory walking out the front door. Shoplifting, shrink and fraud aren’t new, but thieves are constantly hatching ever more sophisticated methods of lifting merchandise and cheating the system.

A recent article provides a glimpse into the operations of organized retail crime outfits and how retailers, such as Target are fighting back. The article talks about how thieves “snag popular, easy-to-move items — everything from Enfamil baby formula to Gillette razors to Olay lotion, often by the case. They work fast and efficiently, snatching a couple Dyson vacuum cleaners and busting out the fire doors of stores into waiting getaway cars.” The story also points out that the Internet now makes it easier than ever to dispose of stolen merchandise.

While retailers need Loss Prevention services – especially during tough economic times – they don’t often have the budget for it. This is why Epicor Loss Prevention Services group makes sense for retailers seeking to efficiently and cost effectively address Loss Prevention goals and initiatives with limited staff and tight budgets. Epicor’s dedicated Loss Prevention team has extensive experience in improving operation security and protecting assets, and driving down the cost of Loss Prevention functions across the store. They help retailers analyze department needs, develop realistic budgets, and then implement and maintain robust yet flexible processes that leverage the proven advantages of systematic Loss Prevention.

When top-line revenues are tough grow, retailers can improve their bottom line through Loss Prevention. The Epicor Loss Prevention Services group offers a proven methodology that focuses on education and awareness, positive reinforcement, activity monitoring, controls and follow through. Service offerings include:

10-Point Inspections: Epicor analysts review existing applications/processes and identify how to best leverage services to formulate a winning plan to support retail Loss Prevention efforts.
Strategic Consultation: Epicor analysts instruct retailers on how to conduct efficient investigations, use Loss Prevention tools more efficiently and in conjunction with other Epicor applications such as Sales Audit and CRM, and implement new processes to ensure consistent investigative techniques throughout departments.
Custom Report Development: Epicor analysts can create customized scorecards and dashboards to provide key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling Loss Prevention departments and executives to track overall program effectiveness.
Investigation and Recovery: Future options to augment Loss Prevention Field Teams and lend expertly trained and qualified field investigators to each case.
Calibration: Essential to staying ahead in today’s dynamic retail environment, Epicor conducts quarterly calibration to retain system focus and integrity.
Analyst on Call: This option provides customers with an assigned on-call Epicor Loss Prevention expert familiar with their specific Loss Prevention environment, providing in-house Loss Prevention teams with access to expert advice whenever it’s needed.

For more information, visit our Loss Prevention Services page.

Posted by Sally McQueen, Senior Principle Consultant, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:34 PM

Looking Behind the Software-as-a-Service Curtain

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:36:40 GMT

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What does an annual software-as-a-service (SaaS) fee get you? A lot more than you think. Not only do you get access to applications, but support, maintenance, updates and upgrades, plus all the compliance and business resiliency you could ever ask for – which is better framed up as what you’re not getting – risk, downtime and costs.

When I talk to customers about our SaaS offering, I talk about a number of benefits that most don’t think about:

Infrastructure with the requisite levels of redundancy, scalability, security
The cost of deploying and maintaining infrastructure that covers all these bases is so incredibly cost-prohibitive these days that many small to midsize retailers could never build it on their own. Then again, why would you if you don’t have to?

Compliance with PA-DSS, PCI-DSS and SAS70
Any retailer considering a hosted model should ensure the applications they’re getting are PA-DSS validated, and also that the infrastructure behind the application is PCI-DSS and SAS70-certified. Having both PCI and SAS70 certifications ensures that two different sets of “eyes” are seeing to it that the right data security and process controls are in place.

Power to the data center
The cost of powering a data center continues to escalate. Costs here include air conditioning, as well as backup generators to ensure business continuity in the event of a power failure.

Automatic updates
Consider the time savings and the value of not having to worry about managing software updates and upgrades that one would normally have to undertake; everything from Microsoft security patches and upgrades, to anti-virus dat updates that need to be distributed to every POS register on an ongoing basis. SaaS also offers you peace of mind in the form of investment protection via new application features and functionality enhancements that flow seamlessly to your estate.

Help desk and IT resources to support store personnel in the field
Maintaining a retail technology ecosystem can take a village. Fortunately, our solution offers comprehensive support services that can field questions and resolve issues, taking the onus off of corporate.

Plan B (back ups and disaster recovery)
Even the most basic disaster recovery action of moving and storing tapes offsite at a third-party location is challenging for many SMB retailers. Retailers can sleep at night, knowing their applications and data are safe and secure with Epicor. Annually, we simulate the disaster recovery process, validating our processes for minimizing business impact and maintaining business continuity.

In many cases, opting for a SaaS delivery model is more than just getting those applications on tap (“hosted” or on demand), it’s about acquiring more time and resources to drive your business, vs. driving IT, and it’s also about taking costs out of your business. When retailers tally up the numbers, it bears a strong case for SaaS. For example, when factoring in redundancy from a personnel perspective, you can say that you need more than one IT person (people do, after all, get sick and even IT folks need the occasional day off); so therefore you need to factor in the cost of two IT people, etc.

Many of the costs of certain service aspects that are part of the SaaS delivery model discussed here are often already encompassed in some other line items within a retailer’s budget. Time and time again, retailers are realizing just how much cost can be wrung out of their operations and how much more they can get by moving to a SaaS delivery model.

Posted by Clifford Perlman, Director of Business Development - SaaS, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:35 PM

While Retailers Weather the "Perfect Storm," Will Consumers Be Plunged into a New Era of Minimalism?

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:37:53 GMT

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In past blog posts we’ve discussed key trends (the impact of the economic downturn, and how technology has empowered the consumer in the area of price comparison, etc.) and various strategies retailers are employing (markdown optimization, multi-channel, etc.) to address these pricing pressures. Pricing is one side of the equation; today I’d like to look at the other part of the equation—cost.

Retailers are feeling the squeeze—sales volume is down, pricing pressures are tremendous, and costs are also skyrocketing on the supply chain side. It’s the Perfect Storm!

Many retailers are grappling with a real dilemma—do they dare raise retail prices to protect their margins? And if so, will this result in fickle and moody consumers taking their business elsewhere? Not wanting to tempt fate, many retailers are reluctant to raise prices until they exhaust all other options.

On the supply chain side, we’re seeing retailers adopt a number of strategies. For one, retailers are expanding their time horizon and locking in prices on raw materials further ahead than ever before. They’re also diversifying their supplier base to mitigate risk. By sourcing from different suppliers, retailers are avoiding “putting all their eggs in one basket,” and looking to eliminate dependencies, take advantage of lower labor rates in certain geographies, and lessen the impact of inevitable weather issues, natural disasters, and socio-political unrest. We’ve also noticed heightened interest in sourcing and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), as retailers look to trim costs in order to preserve margins.

In the past, the value proposition for PLM was primarily time-to-market. Retailers who sourced raw materials and then assembled them into finished goods commanded better margins, but also introduced more complexity to get their goods to market -- managing and coordinating all the various business processes and timelines, as well as the shipping, duties, freight, customs, and regulatory requirements. PLM helped retailers manage these aspects, helping to wring out excess costs and increase efficiencies, breaking down silos and centralizing information for improved collaboration.

Today, PLM is being used to optimize costs. Retailers are using PLM to design and configure products from the ground up in the most cost effective way. Case-in-point: Cotton prices are starting to come down after reaching record highs, but the effects of higher prices still are having ripple effects through the apparel production chain. Designers have begun doing more with less by cutting out pockets, cuffs and hoods on garments and creating more sleeveless and capped-sleeve pieces to cut down on the amount of cotton needed to produce them. However, some analysts expect consumers to feel the effects of high cotton prices for the next two to three years.

So the real question is how will all these behind-the-scenes strategies affect what we as consumers will see on the racks going forward? Higher prices on garments, or prices that remain steady, but with stripped down, minimal details? While retailers weather ‘the Perfect Storm,’ will consumers be plunged into a new era of minimalism?

Posted by Diane Neaven, Director of Product Management, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:37 PM

Getting Inside Your Customers Hearts and Minds with Business Intelligence

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:39:36 GMT

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In today’s challenging retail environment, it has become more important than ever that the many wheels and cogs of the retail enterprise work together to bring about success. Bringing an infusion of insight to guide all parts of the business in overall decision making, Business Intelligence (BI) is like the oil that makes this machinery churn more effortlessly. And who doesn’t want a well-oiled retail machine?

In many retail organizations, marketers have been collecting information on customers and their buying habits for years. But now, we’re seeing a “democratization of BI” where it is being leveraged across the organization. As a result, retailers are coming to find a great up-until-now-untapped potential for organizations to leverage this detailed information for purposes other than marketing.

In the Business Intelligence repository, you have one central location for information about customers, sales by style, color, period, etc. This enables savvy retailers to evaluate market basket by persona to uncover trends. And some of these trends are leading retailers down roads they never may have considered before.

For example, ever wonder why you see menswear stores starting up a women’s department, or popular office supply warehouses selling “As Seen on TV” products such as Ove Gloves and Pedi-Eggs? Both of these events stem from BI, or more specifically trends unearthed thanks to BI. As any woman knows, the vast majority of menswear is actually purchased by women. So, why not give the lady of the house an opportunity to pick up a little something for herself while she’s picking up the mister's shirts and ties? And a vast majority of home-based businesses (who stock up at office supply warehouses) are run by women; women who also buy things like Ove Gloves and Pedi-Eggs.

It’s vital that retailers understand who their customers are and what drives them. That said, it’s becoming more difficult to understand customers. Today’s customer is more sophisticated, has many more choices and a lot of retailers competing for their business. And also, they are “breaking the mold” when it comes to their buying behaviors. For example, women in their 50s aren’t purchasing like 50-year-olds did in the past. (50 is the new 40, don’t you know!)

And that’s why BI is so very valuable. You need to crunch a lot of data and do it quickly to know just what your customers are up to, so you can make the right decisions. Smart retailers know BI can help them to get inside their customers hearts and mind, so they can have a better chance of getting inside their wallets.

Posted by Ashraf Zaid, Director of Product Management, Technology and Architecture, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:38 PM

Retailers Feeling the Love this Year with V-Day Shoppers

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:41:15 GMT

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Boasting both Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl, February is shaping up to be a good month for retailers and the economy. Survey data confirms this to be true. Take for example, the NRF 2011 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted for the NRF by BIGresearch, which gauges consumer behavior and shopping trends related to Valentine’s Day. The poll of 8,913 consumers was conducted from Jan. 4-11, 2011.

According to the survey, the average US consumer will shell out $116.21 on traditional Valentine’s Day merchandise this year, up 11% from last year’s $103. Total holiday spending is expected to reach $15.7 billion, also up 11% from $14.1 billion last year.

As usual, men will spend the most on Valentine’s Day gifts. The average man plans to spend more than twice as much ($158.71, up 17% from $135.35) as the average woman ($75.79, up 5% from $72.28).
As you might expect, jewelry tops the list of retail sectors when it comes to dollar amount. Consumers will shell out $3.5 billion on jewelry this Valentine’s Day, up almost 17% from an estimated $3 billion last year.
Incidentally, pets will also be feeling the love this year; the average person expects to spend $5.04 on Valentine’s gifts for their pets, up a significant 54% from $3.27 last year. If you’re budget is a bit larger and you’re looking for a unique gift for the pooch that has everything, might I suggest the Tokyo Hip Satin Bomber Jacket?

Stuffed animals always factor largely into Valentine’s Day. And if you want to give to your little ones and support a great cause, you can join the Build-A-Bear Workshop from Build-A-Bear, an Epicor customer, throughout the month of February in supporting The Children’s Heart Foundation (CHF), which works to advance research of pediatric congenital heart defects. While there, don’t forget to sign up for their Stuff-fur-Stuff club; it’s a great example of a best-in-class retail loyalty program. You can sign up online at: http://mystuff.buildabear.com/ContentPages/LogIn.aspx

Happy Valentine's Day!

Posted by Dave Burton, Director, CRM Product & Services, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:40 PM

As Seen on the NRF Show Floor: Retail in the Post-PC Era

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:42:25 GMT

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt noticed the Western world is gravitating to mobile computing devices in ever increasing numbers. This may be the understatement of the decade.

For some time now, it has been predicted that mobile devices would ultimately replace desktop PCs for most users. As mobile devices become the computer we all carry, it’s creating a phenomenon one writer says is moving us into the Post-PC Era. Last year's massively successful iPad launch and the plethora of Android devices being announced on a daily basis tells me that we’re nearly there.

This is significant from a retail perspective as it opens up opportunities to leverage mobile as the ultimate cross channel (in store/web) tool. By messaging directly to consumers on their choice of mobile technology, they can access information when they want it – in the store at the exact moment when they are considering a purchase.

This week at NRF we’re announcing our Point of Sale and Back Office retail application support for Apple iPad devices . It’s a development that I’m particularly passionate about. iPad opens up a world of opportunity to create consultative engagements with shoppers, leaving store associates untethered from the counter. The iPad’s additional screen size “real estate” is also a boon to retailers who can showcase their wares in a highly experiential and graphically appealing fashion, capturing the hearts and minds of shoppers. For high end retailers, this can help up the basket size. Imagine: imagery of a handbag or jewelry item that completes a look; a preview of the new line that will be featured at the next trunk show, or the “free gift with purchase” or an award item tied to a specific dollar threshold.

If you’re at NRF, I invite you to stop by the Epicor booth (#2105) to see a live demo of our Point of Sale and back office retail applications on an iPad, and check out our take on retail for the post-PC era.

Posted by Duncan Taylor, Director, Product Management, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:41 PM

Raising the Bar on the Retail Floor: Mobile Messaging for Customer Self Service

mconlin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:44:17 GMT

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Anyone who has ever worked on the floor in a retail environment should be eligible for some sort of medal. I still have flashbacks to my time as a store associate at WalMart. Had I been equipped with an extra pair of arms and legs, I still don’t know whether I could have kept up with the overwhelming sea of customers needing assistance during big sales.

As frustrating as this is to the sales associate, it can be even more frustrating to consumers. Those in the swarm who can’t get their questions answered, or the size, color, or configuration they need, often walk away empty handed and disillusioned, taking their wallets elsewhere.

Today, retailers are finding a solution to this problem – in the palm of their hand. At this year's NRF show, we announced that Epicor is now helping retailers leverage text messaging for in store self-service/customer service, to both empower customers and relieve overwhelmed store associates. By giving customers easy access to product data via their smart phones, putting product information in the hands of consumers, they are finding they can improve customer sales support without putting extra sales representatives on the floor.

Guided by in store displays, customers can text a keyword to a short code to get information about that product. It’s somewhat analogous to a concept that has been used in museums for a number of years now. View an exhibit and access a device to obtain information about the item on display.

After texting the keyword to a short code, customers receive a text message with an embedded link to a mobile optimized web page where they can view product information, pricing, consumer reviews and even make a purchase. Consumers may also find features such as: store locators, “send to friend”, and sign up for text message alerts for on-going specials, offers and promotions.

This use of mobile messaging provides real-time connections to satisfy customer needs, and support cross-channel efforts to unite in store and online worlds. If you’re at NRF, come drop by our booth – 2105 – for a live demonstration.

Posted by Dave Burton, Director, CRM Product & Services, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 1/31/2013 6:43 PM

The Holidays Showcase Marketing Best Practices in the New Age of Engage

enagy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:31:38 GMT

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Retailers are serious when it comes to marketing during the holiday season, and it’s a great time to see new creative, innovative approaches and what’s working and what’s not. Times are changing, and retailers are trying new ways to tap into the collective consciousness of the reticent shopper and motivate them to indulge in a little retail therapy.

Black Friday = Any Day Ending in “Y”

Most years, Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) traditionally signals the start of the Christmas shopping season. This year, many stores opened on Thanksgiving Day to give shoppers that one extra day to get a jump on holiday shopping. Many retailers extended their Cyber Monday (the online equivalent of Black Friday deals) for a full week. And, retailers looked to exploit any and all other ways to entice shoppers to “get this party started”. One colleague told me a local boutique in her area was promoting their own exclusive shopping event called “Pink Friday.”

Friends & Family Promotions: Our In box Overfloweth

It’s that time of year when we think fondly of our friends and family. Retailers do too. Thus, you’ve no doubt seen the plethora of “Friends & Family” promotions. Once viewed as an “insider exclusive”, the blatant overuse of F&F campaigns has killed off a lot of their cache. Does anyone get excited anymore when they get a “Friends & Family” promotion? Worse, do you resent retailers suggesting they are your friend, when really you feel more affinity toward your second cousin in Idaho that you haven’t seen in 10 years? F&F promotions can still be used effectively to improve reach and expand databases with “like minded consumers,” but they need to be authentic. One of our customers, Timberland, was recently featured as an example of a retailer doing F&F right, leveraging a true organic distribution method and an 11-digit alpha-numeric code to track response.

Mobile

With U.S. mobile e-commerce revenue forecasted to reach nearly $24 billion in 2015, and the cost of mobile messaging campaigns so appealing, many retailers are diving in to solicit savvy smartphone shoppers. Retailers such as Cole Haan are launching new m-commerce sites that are phone friendly versions of their e-commerce sites in order to make holiday shopping easier. They’ve also launched a new text message program to make shoppers aware of time sensitive holiday promotions. Shoppers can text the word COLEHAAN to 888444 to receive special holiday updates.

Posted by Dave Burton, Director CRM Product & Services, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 2/4/2013 5:20 AM

In Search of Customer-centricity—Retailers’ Holy Grail

enagy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:33:24 GMT

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There’s a lot of buzz these days around the topic of customer-centricity. Customer-centricity is the "holy grail" for retailers—when retailers attain a higher level of consciousness and ultimate comprehension of customers’ needs and behaviors and organize their business practices and processes taking this into account to support a rich and rewarding customer experience.

One growing area of customer-centricity is personalization. Despite the down economy (or maybe because of it), retailers are investing heavily in this arena to deliver a customized experience that is relevant to a specific consumer preference and need. Personalization is becoming far more common on retailers’ web sites as merchants seek to bolster their bottom line with upsells and cross-sells, according to a report conducted by research firm, The E-tailing Group Inc., that was issued in July of this year.

The report found that 42% of merchants say they provide some personalization, 26% say their post-order e-mails are sent based on consumers' previous purchases, 25% say their site greets returning consumers by name and 18% say their site recommends products based on past customer purchases. And 34% of retailers surveyed said they planned to add personalization this year. Moreover, 52% of merchants say they plan to pursue personalization initiatives to improve their sites’ performance.

Personalization doesn’t just live and breathe online. Case in point: Kohl’s sends me flyers and promotional offers—along with several of my family members who all live under the same roof. This has provided an interesting case study on how one retailer is personalizing its direct mail offers to cater to the buying behaviors and preferences of myself and my family members. The flyers I receive are focused on shoes and accessories (ok, they’ve definitely got me pegged!). My sister-in-law receives mailers oriented at women’s clothing, and my brother receives mailers promoting men’s clothing. Kohl’s also knows who in my family shops all the time, as opposed to those who only shop at certain times of the year, and I’ve noticed the discounts and incentives are geared as such – the richer offers are sent to those more frequent shoppers (my sister-in-law), while us ”every so often” shoppers receive lower discounts. What they don’t realize is if they sent the richer discount to me, they may see me more often and if they sent a lesser one to my sister-in-law, they would still see her as often!

Many retailers are far behind Kohl’s when it comes to customer profiling and personalization of offers. When it comes to customer-centricity, retailers need to assess what information they have at their fingertips and how they can then leverage that information to drive the organization to be more customer-centric. But what if you don’t have the information you need to even get started on the path to customer-centricity?

These topics and more will be discussed during our upcoming webinar on customer-centricity. Join me and RIS News along with Sahir Anand, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Aberdeen Group, on Thursday, Dec. 16th, for a discussion on “Driving Profit through Customer-centricity: Lessons from 2010 and Strategies for the Year Ahead.” We’ll review the customer-centric strategies and solutions that worked best in 2010, and which ones offer the most promise for the years ahead.

Posted by Diane Cerulli, Director, Product Management - Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 2/4/2013 5:31 AM

Goo-Goo-Googly: Epicor Google Adapter Brings Local Availability to Google Product Search

enagy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:38:22 GMT

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Do you, like me, spend time researching online before going shopping to your favorite store? If so, then also like me, you probably have experienced the disappointment of walking into that store only to learn the item you researched is either not carried in your local store or is out of stock.

It’s an issue that Google is attempting to eliminate via Google Product Search, which is the topic of a collaboration we announced this week to help retailers (and consumers) lasso the power of local search. The new Google Adapter that was added to the Epicor Retail Enterprise Selling solution enables retailers to show consumers—right within their search results—whether or not items are in stock at nearby stores when using Google Product Search. It answers the critical question, "Does the store near me carry this item and does it have it in stock?"

Among the first Epicor customers to use the new Enterprise Selling Google Adapter is Sport Chalet (see Google Product Search screen shots from my iPhone below). Renowned for providing a level of service that is unparalleled in the retail sporting goods industry, Sport Chalet now offers consumers product information and in-store inventory availability for its more than 18,000 products.

Despite the growth of eCommerce, 93% of shopping is still done in stores and 7% online, according to Google. The company says it’s trying to combine online shopping benefits of being able to research and locate items with the store shopping benefits of seeing and testing or trying on an item in person. We’re excited for our Epicor clients that we’ve been able to partner with Google to provide consumers with more relevant information to enrich their online research.

If you’re a retailer that’s looking to plug in to Google Product Search and give consumers access to your wares via local and in-store availability, we should talk…

Posted by Diane Cerulli, Director, Product Management—Cross Channel, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 2/4/2013 5:33 AM

Retailers Entice Reticent Shoppers with Cyber Layaway

enagy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:39:37 GMT

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While Black Friday and Cyber Monday – which traditionally signal the start of the holiday shopping season -- are still a ways away. A number of retailers are trying to kick start things. Case in point: the folks at KMart and Sears, who launched their own self-proclaimed National Layaway Week in early October as the impetus to get consumers thinking about holiday shopping and take advantage of what they call a “relevant shopping solution.”

Layaway, which first entered the scene during the Great Depression when people didn't have the cash to make a purchase at once, is -- thanks to recent economic flailings -- back in vogue. A mainstay in department stores up through the 70s and even early 80s, it disappeared when retailers began to offer more opportunistic and profitable store credit cards.

But given consumers’ new found (forced?) penchant for stowing credit cards – last year NRF reported U.S. shoppers using credit cards during the holiday season was expected to decline 10 percent -- and/or credit limit slashing, layaway or "lay-by" plans have become a popular service for stores looking to recruit and secure consumer dollars this holiday shopping season.

Today, the layaway has been made even more convenient, thanks to the Internet. KMart offers an online center where customers can find local stores offering layaway, reserve items in selected categories for holiday giving and manage the online payments that will let consumers pick up those items in-store before Christmas.

The online layaway feature lets customers locate a store participating in the program by entering their ZIP code at www.kmart.com. They can also look for a special layaway icon against selected products in online commerce and indicate at checkout that they want to put those items on layaway at their local participating Kmart store.

This new “cyber layaway” seems to be working quite well for the company. KMart says it saw double-digit increases in its layaway customers and sales in 2008 after an online/offline campaign to promote layaway. The company said users searched the term “layaway” twice as much in August 2009 as they did in the same month in 2008. Since recent economic indicators seem to offer hope that consumers might be a little less conservative with their holiday spending this year than last, layaway might just be the ticket – offering them to gift to their hearts content while still staying within their means.

Posted by Diane Cerulli, Product Management Director, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 2/4/2013 5:38 AM

The Customer-Centric Merchandising Revolution is Not Being Televised…But It Can Be Seen on Racks Near You (Part 2 of 2)

enagy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:41:33 GMT

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In my last post, I started explaining how I think it’s valuable to look at the concept of customer-centric merchandising from the consumer’s perspective. And I talked about how retailers were focusing on providing goods that consumers’ need (think classic investment pieces) rather than appealing to the wants that dictated trendy merchandise of a less economically challenged age. Here are a few other ways that retailers’ offerings are mapping to the new consumer mindset:

New Consumer Mindset/Buying Behavior: During the first year of poor economic conditions, retailers already had inventory levels locked in – their only recourse was to mark down to move merchandise. As a result, consumers made out like bandits and now believe they can wait out the discounts.

As Seen on a Rack Near You: Stock outs. Sound like the antithesis of giving the customer what they want? As a matter of fact it is. There’s a “mark down mind game” going on. By carrying less inventory and selling goods at full price or first markdown, retailers are essentially retraining customers to “buy now” or live without it and to not assume they can wait and buy it on sale. This is a tactic employed by luxury retailers to protect brand exclusivity and margins. I’m a big bargain shopper, and often stalk items thinking that when it hits the discount rack – I’ll pounce. And sure enough, the past couple of seasons, I keep coming up empty handed; retailers are definitely “moving our cheese” – straight to outlet stores or liquidators!

New Consumer Mindset/Buying Behavior: When customer spending tightens, they are more apt to move to cheaper alternatives faster if they do not see sufficient value in the customer experience. (For more on this, see my post on Fast Fashion).

As Seen on a Rack Near You: The advantages of customer loyalty are more pronounced in a downturn; loyal customers cost less to serve and they typically spend more with companies they trust. Retailers are working hard to keep customers happy. If consumers don’t see what they need on the rack – (i.e. a certain color or size of item), many retailers are now promoting services such as real-time inventory look up. In this way, they’re saving sales and tapping inventories that might not otherwise move and showing customers they’ll go the extra mile to ensure they get exactly what they want.

How are you seeing customer-centric merchandising around you? When we all gather at Perspectives, will everyone be wearing camel?

Posted by Diane Neaven, Director of Product Management, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 2/4/2013 5:39 AM

The Customer-Centric Merchandising Revolution is Not Being Televised…But It Can Be Seen on Racks Near You (Part 1 of 2)

enagy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:43:32 GMT

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The term “customer-centric merchandising” is used a lot in our industry these days, almost to the point where we’re not always sure exactly what it means in certain contexts. I thought it might be fun and interesting to consider customer-centric merchandising from the consumer perspective and take a look at what’s actually happening in the stores, instead of focusing on the software end of things.

Fall is the season that sets the standard for hot looks and new fashion trends as we gear up for cooler weather and a return to school. This year’s fall fashions debuted amid mounting fears of a double-dip recession. However, retailers were prepared to meet consumer demands, thanks in part to customer-centric merchandising. To see how retailers were factoring in this new consumer mindset, all you have to do is take a look around:

New Consumer Mindset/Buying Behavior: Consumers aren’t going out and changing their whole wardrobes. Instead, they are being very strategic in their purchases; they might buy a new handbag, or a couple pairs of shoes, or maybe a great, classic coat.

As Seen on a Rack Near You: Stores are promoting clothes that can be worn day or night and for more than one season, ushering in a return of the classics and “investment pieces” in traditional neutral colors such as camel, gray and navy. (Noticeably absent this year are “hot” fall colors of the past -- i.e. colors such as chili pepper red and burnt orange.) Look around and you’ll notice another change -- selections are ultra-tailored to location to appeal to preferences and sizes of each store’s unique customer demographics. In this way, consumers are ensured to find and get what they want; and retailers are ensured higher success rates in prying open wallets and making the sale. Assortment planning and management is no longer an option, it’s a must!

Another way retailers are acknowledging the times and tailoring their wares to consumers’ needs is creating new affordable lines of merchandise, providing a palatable price point for the “aspirational” buyer. Sometimes called the novice luxury shopper, this is a consumer who doesn’t have money to burn, but still aspires to experience the feeling of exclusivity that comes with high end brands. A lot of them have been feeling the pinch in the downturn, and several higher end retailers have been quick to respond rather than lose customers. At the same time, we’re seeing the discount department stores wooing the aspirational shopper who’s feeling the pinch, by introducing lines from some big name designers you wouldn’t have expected to see in such places in prior years.

For more thoughts on customer-centric merchandising as seen in and among the racks, stay tuned for Part 2 of my blog…

Posted by Diane Neaven, Director of Product Management, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 2/4/2013 5:41 AM

Retailers Wrestle with M Commerce, Grapple with Lack of Industry Collaboration

enagy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:44:20 GMT

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Recently it was reported that China’s Union Mobile Pay saw mobile commerce (m-commerce) sales volume equivalent to $4.4 billion U.S. (30 billion yuan, which is about 3.1 billion euros). Union Mobile Pay also reported 140 million registered users, as of the end of last year. That’s certainly makes a strong case for the efficacy of m-commerce, but of course the caveat here is that China is “mobile-payment friendly” -- something that North America and Europe cannot claim.

I talk to many clients that are looking for direction when it comes to m-commerce. While many retailers are currently leveraging mobile from a marketing/promotional perspective, fewer have “crossed the chasm” to offer mobile payment, revered as “mobile on steroids” in a recent article that purports mobile pay may triple cross channel effectiveness. Apparently, 57% of consumers recently surveyed said they want mobile payment and 90% of those consumers said they would pay more for the ability to pay using the mobile channel. Additionally, 64% said they would switch carriers for mobile payments and 58% would switch banks.

These numbers seem to make a strong case for the value proposition behind mobile payment so why is it not present and accounted for? There’s been a plethora of reports regarding security issues surrounding mobile phones, and this is one area of definite concern for retailers considering mobile commerce, but Evan Schuman of StoreFrontBackTalk points out that one of the biggest issues thwarting mobile payment is that folks (mobile carriers, banks, credit cards and retailers) can’t seem to agree on how the pie should be divided. While these players are fighting it out, other vendors are plugging an alternative -- the means for retailers to offer their own mobile payment service to customers without adding any new hardware or becoming dependent on so-called bank- or carrier-controlled Near Field Communications (NFC). Lest they choose the “wrong horse” and find themselves having to backtrack, many retailers are sitting it out on the sidelines, waiting for industry standardization.

What do I think?.. I think that one of the big guys will eventually step up and publish a mobile payment solution that the devices, apps, and security guys all like, and this will become the acceptable standard. It may have a VISA or Mastercard or another logo from one of the big IT houses. My money is actually on PayPal. They’ve got to get their costs down ... obviously … but they’re in the right place to capitalize on this. A strong web presence, acceptability by GenY users, and they’re getting into the payment processing space in a big way. The only downside is the account access to pay for goods. (But believe it or not, I have made my first retail purchase using PayPal. I bought some tires/tyres and paid the deposit at the shop by logging into PayPal and paying him directly.) I must admit I was a bit worried about using the guy's PC and going into my own account, but, it worked out okay. Once this is held on an app, Paypal will be flying!

What do you think? Are you moving ahead with your m-commerce plans, or taking a wait-and-see approach? Post a comment and I’ll follow up with you.

Posted by Duncan Taylor, Director, Product Management, Epicor

Category: Retail

Published: 2/4/2013 5:43 AM