Category: Blog

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2017 – key takeaways

Posted on by admin

etp-blog-black-friday-key-takeaways

As the Black Friday weekend came to a steady close, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales statistics are now in the books and with that data in hand, it is time to dissect it, dive deeper into various aspects of it, analyse it, and make note of the inferences and learnings to be used for the future.

To begin with, it was reported that American consumers spent over US $19 billion online over the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday in 2017. This was a 15 percent rise in spends as compared to spends done during the same time-frame last year.

Moving on, more than 64 million Americans used both online and physical stores to carry out their purchases from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. Consumers who shopped at both online and brick-and-mortar stores spent US $82 more on an average than online-only shoppers, and US $49 more on an average than brick-and-mortar stores-only shoppers. Black Friday 2017 seemed to be the most popular day for brick-and-mortar retail stores with more than 70 million shoppers, followed by Small Business Saturday (Nov. 25, 2017) with about 55 million shoppers.

One of the most important takeaways for retail businesses basis the above statistics is both offline and online retail channels were used by consumers to shop. In fact, consumers who used more than one channel to shop spent higher on an average than those who used only a single channel.

Mobile shopping or m-commerce has developed in to a popular channel for consumers to discover and buy products. And this popularity reached new levels this year as mobile purchases surpassed those on desktop throughout the entire Black Friday weekend. Mobile sales accounted for more than 60% of orders overall, an increase of 10% over the last year. Thus, retailers across the globe need to definitely harness this channel to boost their sales in the future.

With online, offline and mobile – 3 important channels at play significantly in this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping event, a very important learning for retailers is that omni-channel retail can help them maximize their sales.

Another important aspect of this year’s Black Friday shopping event was that, though dominated by U.S., other countries across the globe also noted a significant spike in their sales on the same day. Reports state that countries like South Africa, Spain and the United Kingdom saw over 3 times as many orders on Black Friday, whereas Germany, Canada and France witnessed over 2 times the orders. Other countries like Ireland, Singapore and China also noticed a bump in the number of orders on Black Friday 2017. Thus Black Friday is becoming a global phenomenon soon. For retail businesses across the globe, this translates into an opportunity to attract more customers and drive higher sales.

Retail brands looking to strike big in the near future must pay heed to these key takeaways and use the right combination of people, processes and technology to succeed.

This festive shopping is going Omni-channel

Posted on by admin

etp-blog-omnichannel-festive-shopping

The Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza would not have become a huge phenomenon nor would it have been a record-breaking event had it not been for disruption technology such as omni-channel. That’s not all. As per a survey, 81 percent of holiday season shoppers use up to six channels to make their purchases for the festive season. These are significant numbers and must not be overlooked. All these are clear and straight-forward indications that omni-channel is the best step for retail businesses in the right direction during the upcoming Christmas shopping season.

It would not be an understatement to state that ‘for most retail businesses and other entities ‘omni-channel’ should be their go to strategy this festive season. What this implies is, retail owners need to channelize their efforts in delivering a unified omni-channel customer experience throughout the shoppers’ journey right from research through purchase to returns. Enabling omni-channel fulfillment options like click-and-collect, endless aisle, click-and-deliver, drop shipping and so on would definitely help the cause. To make it more impressive, adding new and innovative options such as ‘reserve online, try in-store’ or ‘book online, pay in-store’, could not only pave the way for retailers to have an edge above their competitors, but also prove to be ‘deal clinchers’. Going the extra mile, omni-channel returns also need to be taken seriously. While handling returns the right way should be a priority for brands, they need to improvise on the way returns are accepted so as to make it easier and faster for the end customer. For example, retail companies can provide customers with kiosks at malls and stores for returns.

To be able to do all of the above, retailers need to get these 4 fundamentals right:
– Making their business customer focused or customer-centric
– Integrating all channels (processes, operations, systems) seamlessly
– Having a consistent branding across all channels
– Enabling accurate, real-time information accessibility wherever necessary

Offering a unified omni-channel experience and the challenges of getting that right should be top of mind for retailers looking to bolster their sales this Christmas and New Year. However, retailers who are determined to get their fundamentals right to the ‘T’ as well as adopt forward looking, innovative omni-channel retail solutions could emerge trailblazers in the festive shopping arena.

Unifying the customer experience during this festive shopping season

Posted on by admin

etp-blog-click-and-collect-endless aisle

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday – presumably, the biggest days for shopping right around the corner, it is one of the best times of the year for two main reasons – the festive season is very near and the festive shopping gets going in full swing. Retail companies looking to ring in higher festive shopping sales this year need to get a few basic things right for the festive shopping such as their display, merchandise, promotions and so on. Having said that, it is the age of omni-channel retailing and as such, brands must also look to leap ahead in their game, in order to deliver the unified omni-channel customer experience that shoppers would be expecting during this festive shopping season.

‘Click and Collect’ or ‘Buy Online Pick up In-store (BOPIS)’ is one of the revolutionary omni-channel retailing techniques that retail businesses can adopt into their strategies and operations to cater to  festive shoppers’ expectations. As the name ‘Click and Collect’ suggests, the concept is that shoppers can make their purchases online and then opt to collect the products at their desired ‘brick and mortar’ stores. This way, shoppers can use both online and offline channels at their convenience to shop and to receive gratification of their purchases. As per a recent survey, 58% of shoppers will use a buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) fulfillment option for their holiday shopping this year. The benefits are multifold. For shoppers, it is the ease and convenience of shopping so that they may avoid the need to look for products at the stores during the festive rush and eliminating the wait time due to shipping. For retailers, it is the enhancement of their brand presence both online and offline, and the opportunity to ‘cross sell’ and ‘up sell’. This could be both online through suggestions and offers, and offline when the shoppers come to collect their products at the store. ‘Click and collect’ or ‘BOPIS’ can therefore enable retailers to offer a seamless omni-channel customer experience during their festive shopping.

Another technique or strategy that retail businesses can employ this festive season to increase sales and boost customer loyalty across channels is ‘endless aisle’. An omni-channel concept, ‘endless aisle’ fundamentally enables shoppers to shop online for products that are not available at that brick and mortar retail store, with the help of handheld devices or kiosks that populate additional product assortments/options through e-commerce sites. The best part is, this can be done right from the store. So a shopper looking to buy a particular product but unable to locate it at the store, can still buy that product from the online portal at the store. This helps eliminate the risk of lost sales for retailers and the frustration for shoppers during out of stock situations. Moreover, it saves shoppers the effort to look for the product elsewhere and thus enhances their experience and trust in the retail brand, cementing the brand-customer relationship. Like ‘Click and Collect’, even ‘endless aisle’ involves both offline and online channels thus empowering retailers to deliver a unified customer experience across channels.

The Singles’ Day Phenomenon and what should the Indian retail businesses learn from it!

Posted on by admin

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, generally kicked off the holiday shopping season with crazy deals offered by retailers to get in more sales. But this year the story seems to be different. This past weekend, on November 11, or Singles’ Day, as it is popularly known in mainland China, got the global headlines gaga about it, setting a new start for the crazy shopping frenzy.

Before looking into what really happened, a brief privy about Singles’ day.
Chinese Singles’ Day or Guanggun Jie is a festival widespread among young Mainland Chinese people who celebrate the fact that they are proud of being single. The 11th day of November (11/11), is chosen because the number “1” resembles an individual that is single. As the day started getting popular, once a celebration for China’s singles, Singles’ Day has turned to be a 24 hour shopping extravaganza.

115-etp-blog-singles-day

So how did Singles’ Day 2017 create history?
This year, the sales on Singles’ Day was more than 3 times the combined sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2016 of US$6.79 billion in the United States, resulting this festival being the largest offline and online shopping day in the world thanks to Alibaba, the Chinese e-Commerce giant now rivaling Amazon, doing sales 168.2 billion yuan (approx. US$25.3 billion). Looking at the previous years, Alibaba’s sites Tmall and Taobao garnered sales of US$5.8 billion in 2013, US$9.3 billion in 2014, US$14.3 billion in 2015, and US$17.8 billion in 2016. Thus, this year’s sales of above US$25 billion has broken the previous year’s record.

While the US$25.4 billion worth of sales can be etched into record books, Alibaba also set a world record for payment transactions. Its mobile wallet app Alipay processed 256,000 payment transactions per second in 2017 taking the tally of the transactions processed by Alipay in the entire 24 hours to 1.48 billion. And that is not it, the delivery orders through Cainiao – Alibaba’s logistics affiliate reached close to 700 million, breaking 2016’s record.

Alibaba said that it had turned 100,000 physical shops around China into “smart stores” for this year’s event and via these pop-up smart stores and in-store technology, Alibaba and the retail brands helped drive online traffic to brick-and-mortar stores, further erasing the boundaries between the two channels.

While all that happened in China, the Singles’ Day online shopping craze picked up in some of the Southeast Asian countries like Singapore too, where Singles’ Day is still a relatively new thing. Lazada, the Southeast Asian online retailer owned by Alibaba, sold US$123 million of merchandise, a 171 per cent increase over the previous year. Shoppers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam ordered 6.5 million items, 191 per cent or nearly double that of last year.

4 important learnings from the Singles’ Day 2017 shopping event:

  • Omni-channel retailing is the real deal when it comes to breaking sales records in a single day eclipsing previous years’ sales, as Alibaba and participating retail brands used both physical and online channels to help consumers make the most of the festival
  • Promotions with the right messaging and at the right time can boost sales, as Alibaba started promotions 3 weeks before the event with a motto that resembles the sort of greetings, Chinese across the world exchange at the Lunar New Year
  • Customer engagement is key to make success of a shopping day as Alibaba engaged with its customers not only before the event through promotions but also offered its most-loyal customers and viewers a gala that featured international and Chinese stars
  • Mobile is a very important shopping channel for the success of shopping events, as Alibaba said that 90% of their sales were made on mobile and over 70% of orders on Lazada were placed from mobile devices

What’s in it for Indian retailers?
The above mentioned learnings are definitely worth analyzing and applying in the Indian retail market, especially during festival shopping events and one day this will help the shopping event(s) in India eclipse the likes of Black Friday and Singles’ Day and grab international headlines. Another thought to ponder is, should Indian retailers look at Singles’ Day as an opportunity and a reason to boost their sales?

Internet of Things (IoT) in Retail – Self-checkout Kiosks

Posted on by admin

etp-blog-iot-selfcheckout

IoT has emerged as an undisputed hero of the retail sector. From smart shelves to AR-enabled mirrors, IoT has taken retail by storm. It has not only reaped benefits for the retailers, but also has been successful in providing an enthralling shopping experience to the customers.

Smart shelves have already revolutionized the way retailers assort their products without having an adverse impact on their bottom lines. Another exciting offering from IoT is self-checkout kiosks. To put it simply, self-checkout kiosks help customers pay for their purchases without human intervention through digital means. In its most basic form, it can be thought of as an upgrade to the snack vending machine, but in reality, it is much more than that.

Self-checkout kiosks have evolved tremendously in the last decade. Many retailers use them to solve various issues related to billing such as long queues, cash management, RFID tag tracking among others. They have not been restrained to just being giant bulky machines that are capable of handling transactions. Nowadays, retailers can also provide mobile application based payments through QR code embedded on the products, contactless payments or such other means. This application enables customers to check out as and when they want instead of waiting for their turn in a queue. Though not exactly a kiosk, it enables self-checkout quite effectively.

Retailers have also come up with some really user-friendly LED touchscreen panels, which help customers make their purchase in a hassle-free manner while having a memorable shopping experience. These interactive kiosks are capable of handling multiple payment modes and can also keep track of the customers’ previous purchases and preferred promotions using an intelligent algorithm.

However, the problem associated with self-checkout kiosks is products being stolen. This can be taken care of by using smart shelves or by attaching efficient RFID tags, which would impel customers to put their products on the RFID remover once they are done with the payment, thus ensuring the safety of the products. Also, some customers might find them difficult to use, this issue can be resolved by installing LED touchscreen kiosks or by using mobile applications as explained earlier.

IoT is here to stay. It helps retailers to embark upon a journey that is both exciting and beneficial for them. It is the prerogative of the retailers to incorporate such smart technologies in their business operations to enhance their bottom line while providing the customers with a hassle-free and exciting shopping experience. Long live innovation! Long live retail!

Also Read: 7 Trends Shaping Asia’s Future Retail Landscape

5 Festive things retailers should do to relish a successful shopping season.

Posted on by admin

etp-blog-5-festive-tips

It’s time for the festive holiday season once again, and for a retailer, this should only mean one thing: it is time to ramp up the planning and implementation of processes. The festive season is the biggest shopping period of the year, and for many retail businesses, festive shopping can be the opportunity to really boost their sales. It goes without saying that retail owners will do their best to rise to the occasion and add that extra bling to their business. In-order to help retail companies ring in higher festive shopping sales, here are a few simple things that need to be done.

1.Festive displays –

Ensuring the displays, those at the window and in-store, shop layouts, online websites, and mobile apps are aligned with the theme of the festive season, and are attention grabbing, enticing consumers to at least take a look. Once they peek, the merchandising and product displays should be able to hook the shoppers and lure them to take further actions. At the brick-and-mortar store level, elements like lights, signage, and props can be used whereas on e-commerce sites and mobile apps, color theme, banners and images can be used to bring that festive look.

2.Festive merchandise –

Merchandise and products need to have the flavor of the festive season. As such, having limited edition merchandise for the festive season or running attractive offers on certain merchandise exclusively during the festive season is sure to spike interest amongst shoppers. In some cases, even planning and arrangement of merchandise on the shelves with some festive touch can be good enough for consumers to notice.

3.Festive inventory –

To ensure that shoppers are able to get the desired products in their preferred quantities and time-frames that they are looking for as well as to reduce the out of stock situations, retail owners must plan their festive inventories right. Not only that, they should keep a track of the stock turnover and order new inventory accordingly, keeping it ready to replenish stocks without delays. In some cases, it may be advisable to have additional stocks in order to avert no stock situations. Using techniques like ‘endless aisle’, retailers can avert lost sale situations when the inventory is not obtainable at the store.

4.Festive support –

If retailers are expecting shoppers to pour in large numbers especially during peak and rush hours, they need to hire additional staff not only at the store, but also at the call center or online support to handle such situations. This would ensure that adequate number of associates are available to assist customers in such situations. In addition to this, having extra point-of-sale (POS) counters for check-out, using handled/mobile POS devices for billing can help forestall long queues. Also, retail owners should manage their websites and apps well so that they load and update quickly despite heavy traffic. All this will ensure that shoppers experience no lags and reduced wait times warding off situations of cart abandonment.

5.Festive offers –

In the festive season, shoppers look forward most for the umpteen discounts and promotions that retail brands offer. Festive discounts and promotions are a norm now and most of the retailers run various marketing campaigns to attract customers. Thus, it is important for retail businesses to offer more relevant and personalized promotions that will entice shoppers. Using cross-selling and up-selling techniques would further benefit both customers and retailers.

Internet of Things (IoT) in Retail – Smart Shelves

Posted on by admin

112-etp-blog-iot-smart-shelves

The possibilities related to retail have truly been endless – omni-channel, VR, AR, AI, and IoT being some of them. While these may seem like stiff challenges for retailers to implement, they need to recognize the opportunities hidden behind these challenges. These opportunities could impel retailers to explore newer and more efficient avenues to cater to their customers’ needs, to streamline business processes, and to improve bottom lines.

One such opportunity that knocks on the door of retailers is the Internet of Things (IoT). It is no more a buzzword, it has gained prominent significance in the retail space. The Internet of things (IoT) is a network of connected devices embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and so on which enable these objects to collect and exchange data. This concept of IoT has many applications depending on the physical devices that are connected and one of the most remarkable applications of IoT in retail is Smart Shelves. As the name suggest, shelves that have been made capable of storing, processing and sharing data are known as smart shelves. They provide with various benefits to the retailers such as:

  1. Easy replenishment: As smart shelves are capable of monitoring data pertaining to the items placed on them, they send real time updates to the retailers with integration to their POS software, so as to enable them to restock the shelves as and when required. POS software can then be used to automatically generate purchase orders for low stock items.
  2. Customer interest identification: The shelves can identify which products are more sought after and which are not by analyzing the data associated with product returns. This also helps retailers in identifying customers’ interests and better manage their inventory. POS software can further enhance this by providing insights into customer buying behavior and purchase history.
  3. Tracking misplaced items: There are various instances where items get misplaced, causing a dent to the retailers’ bottom line. Smart shelves can help retailers to curb the problem of misplaced items by alerting them through notifications and allowing them to look into the matter without causing any damage to the sales and the inventory. POS software, when integrated with security cameras, can also help identify the cause of misplaced items, such as shoplifting.
  4. Pricing display: An interactive kiosk or LED panel attached to the shelves can really enhance the efficiency of the store as it will allow people to search for the desired product and associated price, promotions and other relevant information without any trouble. POS software can be linked to these displays to ensure real-time pricing accuracy and automatic updates during sales or promotions.

In the modern age of digitalization and tech savvy customers, it is imperative for retailers to identify the points/strategies which can be implemented to improve the overall performance of the business. IoT POS Software, along with various other techniques such as omni-channel retail and AI can help retailers achieve the desired growth in a short span of time.

Also Read: Augmented Reality – The New Normal In Retail

ETP Group presents ETP #Futuretail – The Omni-channel Transformation of Retail Businesses.

Posted on by admin

etp-futuretail-india-2017

Simply operating multiple retail channels does not constitute an omni-channel strategy, unless done right. Today, customers may start in one channel and switch to another as they progress to a definite buying decision. Omni-channel implies making sure these complex ‘hand-offs’ between channels must be effortless for the customer.

ETP presents ETP #Futuretail India 2017, an inspiring session on ‘The Omni-channel Transformation of Retail Businesses in India’ to show how to convert such omni-channel challenges into opportunities. It will be held on 11 October 2017 at the Vivanta by Taj.

During the event team ETP led by Mr. Naresh Ahuja, Chairman & CEO, ETP Group will lead discussions on the importance of ‘The Omni-channel Transformation of Retail Businesses in India’. He will shed light on the abundant opportunities at hand for the retailers in this dynamic region by adopting an omni-channel strategy for their businesses as well as share insights on some of the key trends in traditional retail, e-commerce and omni-channel retail. ETP customers will share their learnings and ETP will share its research and technology.

Mr. Varun Suri, Solutions Director, ETP Group will present a live demonstration of ETP’s Omni-channel Retail Solutions to establish how ETP can help retailers in India to overcome the challenges in omni-channel retailing.

Take this opportunity to network with industry experts and leading lifestyle retailers in India representing several verticals such as fashion, footwear, electronics, mobiles, books and stationery, sporting goods, furniture and home furnishings, over cocktails and dinner at the Vivanta by Taj,  Plot No.1, Sector 44, Gurugram, Haryana 122004 on 11 October 2017. This exclusive event is invite only.

ETP #Futuretail will continue to drive the omni-channel transformation of retail businesses across Asia-Pacific, India and the Middle-East.

Converging the offline and online retail channels. #Futuretail is here!

Posted on by admin

etp-click-and-collect-2

‘Click-and-collect’ or ‘Buy Online, Pickup In-store (BOPIS)’ is one of the many offsprings of omni-channel retailing and a way of shopping for many modern-day shoppers. It involves both online and offline channels of retail becoming a part of the customer’s shopping journey from demand to fulfilment. As such, it harnesses the pros of both the retailing channels, thus enhancing the overall customer experience as well as helping the retail business to be able to optimize both the channels to drive more sales and increase profitability. So also, there are other benefits that ‘click-and-collect’ brings to the table for both retail owners and end customers, and it goes without saying that the former need to make use of this powerful omni-channel technique.

All said and done, to reap the benefits, there are some essentials that need to identified, worked upon and put in place for the entire system to function optimally. For ‘click-and-collect’, there are 3 important pillars that need to be working in tandem.

E-commerce:

As click-and-collect needs an initiation at the online channel, the e-commerce site becomes very important. As it probably is the first customer facing touchpoint in the ‘click-and-collect’ customer journey, it has to be up and running well, right from the word go. Importantly, it should be updated timely with the right and relevant information to enable easy reference and decision making while shoppers are online with the intent of making purchase. Moreover, it should not be siloed but well integrated with the offline channels.

Order management system:

Order management systems (OMS) initially were used to handle e-commerce only and store only sales. But with the advent of omni-channel and click-and-collect, order management systems need to be more comprehensive and robust to not only handle orders from both channels, but also be able to orchestrate them through the right fulfilment centre as well as keep track of the order till the last mile. This demands an extremely complex order management system that is centralized and integrated with both channels. This serves as the backbone for managing inventory and routing the information flow that is almost real-time and updated, across the retail enterprise to perform the operations better.

Point-of-sale:

As the point-of-sale (POS) is essentially at the check-out counter of the brick and mortar store, it is an important component for ‘click-and-collect’ to happen smoothly. Modern day POS systems must be designed to meet omni-channel requirements of the retail business. One such requirement is enabling the store associates to ensure the easy and error free processing of orders that have come from the e-commerce platforms. Further, from the POS, the store associate should be able to forward the request for using another store or warehouse for fulfilment and this can happen if the POS is integrated with the OMS.  Finally, it is at the POS where the order is realized by the end customer, which makes it an important and the ultimate customer facing touchpoint for the overall customer experience.

While the e-commerce and POS could be considered to be the alpha and the omega of the retail customer’s ‘click-and-collect’ journey, it is their integration with each other through the OMS that makes the entire process successful. It is necessary for the updated, accurate and real-time information to be shared between these 3 components at all times, and this is only possible through integration and not working in isolation.

ETP Omni-channel Connect is a powerful technology that enables retail enterprises to efficiently integrate the 3components:

e-commerce, OMS and POS to ensure a holistic view of the customers’ data and a unified view of inventory information to handle ‘click-and-collect’ and other similar features such as ‘endless aisle’ and ‘click-and-deliver’. Moreover, the ETP V5 Omni-channel Retail Solutions which include a robust omni-channel POS solution, an integrated CRM Solution, a powerful promotions engine and many more can enable retail owners to drive the omni-channel transformation of their retail business to stay relevant in #Futuretail.

Retail and the importance of integration

Posted on by Omprasad Devadiga

etp-blog-integrationisolation

Operating an e-commerce website should not be considered as a separate and isolated business practice instead it is an extension to the retailer’s physical presence that helps drive sales and improve the bottom line. More often than not, it is the inability of retailers to understand the necessity of integrating their physical stores with their e-commerce website or marketplaces, which could cost them dearly in terms of sales, revenue, and clientele.

E-commerce websites, if implemented efficiently could help increase footfalls at the physical stores by enabling retailers to implement newer and innovative strategies such as Click and Collect, Click and Deliver among others. However, operating an e-commerce website in isolation cannibalizes their own physical stores. There’s a reason why most of the e-commerce and online market players make losses despite of clocking healthy sales. To improve the online sales, retailers often indulge in offering hefty discounts and free deliveries, without realizing that it causes the overall sales to take a hit. They should realize that to compete with marketplaces and e-commerce giants, they are not needed to have a price war with the existing players. Indulging in a price war might increase the number of visitors to the website but it also makes customers search for newer avenues where they can find the desired product at a lower price.

Retailers should rather focus on customer loyalty, inventory management, assortment planning, promotions planning and in-store shopping experience which can certainly be done by integrating the e-commerce website with the physical stores. Integrating the two helps in getting real time updates regarding customers, sales and inventory, while allowing the retailers to come up with innovative business strategies. For instance, retailers can implement click and collect that could increase the chances of cross selling and upselling along with serving the aforementioned purposes. This in turn would help retailers in improving the bottom line while being on the right path of growth that ensures sustainability and scalability.

In most cases, cannibalizing can have catastrophic repercussions on the overall performance of the business. It is better to research on the possible outcomes of having an e-commerce website along with preparing an efficient plan to integrate it with the physical stores using the right technology, such as ETP Connect. This being done, there does not exist the minutest possibility of missing out on the advantages of going omni-channel.

Also Read: Omni-Channel Technology Solutions For Your Retail Business