Small stores can now benefit from systems that were once the preserve of only the biggest players, says Stuart Tiedeman
The announcement by Boots that it plans to roll out a contactless payment system which allows shoppers to hold a card up to a reader to make purchases without having to enter a PIN is testament to the growing acceptance of technology.
Systems such as this give suppliers and retailers the opportunity to meet the needs of shoppers more effectively while improving the shopping experience.
Retailers and suppliers want the shopper to be at the heart of what they do, so this convergence of retail and technology is a win-win for both parties. Software is available that helps the retailer to use every touchpoint on the customer journey to enhance the shopping experience; making shoppers more brand aware, increasing brand loyalty and boosting basket spend.
However, it is important to make sure this technology runs throughout the whole supply chain. If retailers are more reactive to what's going on in their shopping environment then it is likely they'll have the right products in stock, in the right quantity, on the right day.
Unless you have the right technology in the back office it is extremely difficult to get to the position where, for example, you know it's going to rain on Saturday so you place an order for umbrellas across your stores Thursday evening.
This is not so much an issue for large chains, but the smaller convenience groups have struggled to take advantage of this not because they didn't want to invest in technology, but because they couldn't afford to as it was too expensive.
But now, with cloud-based EPoS systems available off the shelf, retailers no longer need to invest thousands in hardware up front, so this is within their grasp.
Of course, technology can be taken further; Argos shows that it is possible for retailers to become almost totally kiosk-based. While it is not necessarily right for the fmcg market to shift to this model completely, by embracing this technology it can start to extend the product mix by using kiosks to allow shoppers to order items not carried in-store. This allows smaller players to stock more lines and, vitally, to grow.
Stuart Tiedeman is sales director at Retail Marketing International
The announcement by Boots that it plans to roll out a contactless payment system which allows shoppers to hold a card up to a reader to make purchases without having to enter a PIN is testament to the growing acceptance of technology.
Systems such as this give suppliers and retailers the opportunity to meet the needs of shoppers more effectively while improving the shopping experience.
Retailers and suppliers want the shopper to be at the heart of what they do, so this convergence of retail and technology is a win-win for both parties. Software is available that helps the retailer to use every touchpoint on the customer journey to enhance the shopping experience; making shoppers more brand aware, increasing brand loyalty and boosting basket spend.
However, it is important to make sure this technology runs throughout the whole supply chain. If retailers are more reactive to what's going on in their shopping environment then it is likely they'll have the right products in stock, in the right quantity, on the right day.
Unless you have the right technology in the back office it is extremely difficult to get to the position where, for example, you know it's going to rain on Saturday so you place an order for umbrellas across your stores Thursday evening.
This is not so much an issue for large chains, but the smaller convenience groups have struggled to take advantage of this not because they didn't want to invest in technology, but because they couldn't afford to as it was too expensive.
But now, with cloud-based EPoS systems available off the shelf, retailers no longer need to invest thousands in hardware up front, so this is within their grasp.
Of course, technology can be taken further; Argos shows that it is possible for retailers to become almost totally kiosk-based. While it is not necessarily right for the fmcg market to shift to this model completely, by embracing this technology it can start to extend the product mix by using kiosks to allow shoppers to order items not carried in-store. This allows smaller players to stock more lines and, vitally, to grow.
Stuart Tiedeman is sales director at Retail Marketing International
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