I have a potential concern with the health of the Australian retail sector at the moment.
Its just a few weeks to Christmas and the shopping mall of Australia should be buzzing..
But the mall and shops seem to be, ( at least to me, ) quiet.
And behind the scenes cost cutting measures are in place in many of the large retailers.
Companies are announcing head count freezes, delaying projects and everybody seems to be preparing for soft sales numbers during this period.
Lets hope it will all rebound in 2011.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Australian Card Authentication Technology
Ventures International Group is representing an Australian Card Authentication Technology company (“The Company”) which is already achieving market acceptance and has been adopted by Visa Europe who are currently actively promoting it to their member banks.
The Company is now actively engaging with potential strategic partners for whom the technology is synergistic with their current business in either the Global Payments industry (credit cards, ATMs, POS, interbank networks, SI’s), or the Security space.
• The company is seeking to raise AUD $33.5M to facilitate an offer to be made to one of the major global accounting firms to enable it to exit from its current 51% stake in the business
• This represents the world’s first and only multi- feature authentication, transaction integrity and identity protection solution that is commercially endorsed and supported by a leading Payment Card Industry (PCI) member – Visa Europe.
• The Company was established May 2006 by a group of security and technology specialists with more than 25 years combined experience in strategic information security, risk management and commercialisation of technology software and services.
• The Company aims to become the global leader in innovative security solutions spanning multiple potential markets. Its flagship product is a credit/debit/ATM/ID card with embedded keypad, display, microprocessor and proximity chip that is currently marketed for use in card-not-present transactions.
• The use of the technology could also be extended for use in all card-present transactions such as ATM, PIN-Entry-Devices (PED) and Point-of-Sales (POS) terminals.
• The enabling technology is strongly protected by worldwide patents.
• This is a multiple-capability security solution that addresses the numerous security threats associated with financial fraud and theft, as well as identity theft. The unique ability to combine multiple security solutions in a single delivery unit (either an ISO:7810 compliant card or a mobile phone), enables the general public - for the first time - to greatly enhance their security, without the onerous need to memorise multiple passwords, or the need to carry, and look after, multiple tokens and cards.
• The revolutionary and patented solution has the capacity to largely eliminate many of the more prevalent financial frauds such as card skimming and online payment fraud, while reducing the ease by which to perpetrate other attacks such as phishing, all of which affect everyone involved in using electronic banking, PED and POS transactions, and of course paying for goods and services on the internet.
• For the first time there is a product available to the public that will protect their financial transactions, and their identity, in a format that is easy to use, effective, and even desirable. The possibility of marketing a piece of security technology and making it a sexy, advanced technical status symbol (think iPhone vs any other mobile phone), means that for the first time greatly increased security can become a ‘Pull Marketing’ product that the public will actively demand from their banks.
• Independent research revealed has an extremely high approval rating amongst techno savvy Gen-Y consumers willing to pay for the chance of getting hold of a card.
• After an extensive evaluation, testing and certification process, Visa Europe signed a deal with the Company that will see the technology made available across all Visa Europe’s 4,600 member banks. Visa Europe has over 380 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards in use. ( The USA card market is in excess of 1.3B cards)
We would pleased to provide more detailed information, including the Information Memorandum, upon execution of the attached NDA.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Olavs J. Ritenis CEO Ventures International Group
M : +65 9185 3044 (Singapore) M : +61 405 448 938 (Australia)
E : olavs@ventures-international.net
20 Cecil Street, #15-08 Equity Plaza, Singapore 049705
www.ventures-international.net
The Company is now actively engaging with potential strategic partners for whom the technology is synergistic with their current business in either the Global Payments industry (credit cards, ATMs, POS, interbank networks, SI’s), or the Security space.
• The company is seeking to raise AUD $33.5M to facilitate an offer to be made to one of the major global accounting firms to enable it to exit from its current 51% stake in the business
• This represents the world’s first and only multi- feature authentication, transaction integrity and identity protection solution that is commercially endorsed and supported by a leading Payment Card Industry (PCI) member – Visa Europe.
• The Company was established May 2006 by a group of security and technology specialists with more than 25 years combined experience in strategic information security, risk management and commercialisation of technology software and services.
• The Company aims to become the global leader in innovative security solutions spanning multiple potential markets. Its flagship product is a credit/debit/ATM/ID card with embedded keypad, display, microprocessor and proximity chip that is currently marketed for use in card-not-present transactions.
• The use of the technology could also be extended for use in all card-present transactions such as ATM, PIN-Entry-Devices (PED) and Point-of-Sales (POS) terminals.
• The enabling technology is strongly protected by worldwide patents.
• This is a multiple-capability security solution that addresses the numerous security threats associated with financial fraud and theft, as well as identity theft. The unique ability to combine multiple security solutions in a single delivery unit (either an ISO:7810 compliant card or a mobile phone), enables the general public - for the first time - to greatly enhance their security, without the onerous need to memorise multiple passwords, or the need to carry, and look after, multiple tokens and cards.
• The revolutionary and patented solution has the capacity to largely eliminate many of the more prevalent financial frauds such as card skimming and online payment fraud, while reducing the ease by which to perpetrate other attacks such as phishing, all of which affect everyone involved in using electronic banking, PED and POS transactions, and of course paying for goods and services on the internet.
• For the first time there is a product available to the public that will protect their financial transactions, and their identity, in a format that is easy to use, effective, and even desirable. The possibility of marketing a piece of security technology and making it a sexy, advanced technical status symbol (think iPhone vs any other mobile phone), means that for the first time greatly increased security can become a ‘Pull Marketing’ product that the public will actively demand from their banks.
• Independent research revealed has an extremely high approval rating amongst techno savvy Gen-Y consumers willing to pay for the chance of getting hold of a card.
• After an extensive evaluation, testing and certification process, Visa Europe signed a deal with the Company that will see the technology made available across all Visa Europe’s 4,600 member banks. Visa Europe has over 380 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards in use. ( The USA card market is in excess of 1.3B cards)
We would pleased to provide more detailed information, including the Information Memorandum, upon execution of the attached NDA.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Olavs J. Ritenis CEO Ventures International Group
M : +65 9185 3044 (Singapore) M : +61 405 448 938 (Australia)
E : olavs@ventures-international.net
20 Cecil Street, #15-08 Equity Plaza, Singapore 049705
www.ventures-international.net
Friday, October 29, 2010
New RFID Manu..
Shenzhen New Force Communication Technology Co., Ltd is a high-tech enterprise specializing in researching, developing, producing and selling 915M ultra high frequency (UHF) of radio frequency identification (RFID) Products. We master core technologies and win independent intellectual property rights covering UHF RFID reader, antenna, electronic label and RFID application system.
The New Force Communication own enormous technological potential. Since its inception, the company has been coming off with the following honors: Shenzhen hi-tech sector, Shenzhen Double software enterprise, FCC certification of USA, CE and RoHS certification of EU. And the patents for invention about UHF reader were applied for also. The New Force Communication’s products are widely applied in parking, access, logistics, warehouse management, assets management, theft-proof and counterfeit-proof, automation of assembly etc, and covering many provinces of China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Southeast Asian, North American and Europe etc.
The New Force Communication have founded a RFID Joint Research Lab with Hunan University, one of the famous University in China. This provides powerful support and scientific foundation in theory, experiment, calculation and application aspects for the company engage in hi-tech innovation. The RFID Joint Lab combines the advantages of manufacturing, institution and research teams, ensures the leading position in RFID technology. The New Force Communication’s enterprising and cooperative researching team transfers the technological achievements which they research&develop quickly, offers customers the best solutions which adapt to every special need in different area in time, include software and hardware development, systems integration, after-sale support and personnel training etc.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
SCM Software as a Service (SaaS)
Less Software build native SaaS applications on the Force.com platform from SalesForce.com which enables users to efficiently Buy, Manage and Sell their Inventory to their customers.
The Application supports multiple channels for selling their products, including Field-Sales Tele-Sales, Web-Stores and eBay which enables companies with the ability to Acquire, Manage, Distribute products and Fulfill customer’s orders.
Modules Include:
Acquisition Inventory Management Order Fulfillment
Business intelligence at the start…
Less Software’s approach to building applications starts with asking the business intelligence questions first then build the application to answer the questions using analytics, reports and dashboards to help our customers manage their business.
Specialties
Supply Chain Management, SCM, SAAS, supply chain management, inventory management, supplier relationship management, supply chain solutions, logistics software, procurement software, supply chain logistics, scm software, logistics management software, supply management software, saas logistics, saas procurement, web based supply chain software and I.M.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Social Media for the Winery Business
If you are a winery and do not have a formal Strategy for Online marketing, then please download this pdf from ewinery as it discussed the pro's and con's , do's and don'ts of social media as it pertains to the wine industry.
While social media is improtant to your brand and messaging its only part of the online marketing or direct to consumer growth market.
Contact me to discuss further..
While social media is improtant to your brand and messaging its only part of the online marketing or direct to consumer growth market.
Contact me to discuss further..
Monday, June 21, 2010
Top 100 Retail Movers 2010
This free report, sponsored by Motorola, highlights the top companies, people, issues and trends that dominated retail in a very tumultuous year.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Retail Business Intelligence
Manthan - The latest in Retail Technology B.I
As a retailer today, you know - better than anyone - the need for speed in retail.
The need to arrive at optimal enterprise-wide strategies and tactics, as swiftly as possible.
The need to formulate the ideal rapid responses to ebbs and flows in the market.
In short, the need for accurate, fluid, streamlined decision making.
This is why you need solutions that have evolved beyond providing mere decision support. Products and services that are designed with our deep domain expertise in retail, to do more than merely provide raw information.
Tools that let you make sense of the flood of data pouring in from across your organization, and help you choose the best course of action.
And then, help you implement your decisions, seamlessly, enterprise-wide.
As a retailer today, you know - better than anyone - the need for speed in retail.
The need to arrive at optimal enterprise-wide strategies and tactics, as swiftly as possible.
The need to formulate the ideal rapid responses to ebbs and flows in the market.
In short, the need for accurate, fluid, streamlined decision making.
This is why you need solutions that have evolved beyond providing mere decision support. Products and services that are designed with our deep domain expertise in retail, to do more than merely provide raw information.
Tools that let you make sense of the flood of data pouring in from across your organization, and help you choose the best course of action.
And then, help you implement your decisions, seamlessly, enterprise-wide.
Retail Technology Webcast
"Facing a difficult economic environment, retailers have started to scrutinise their IT investments. As a result they are prioritising solutions that cut costs, improve efficiency and enhance their customers experience to boost profitability, even in saturated markets."
Planet Retail's Joachim Pinhammer, Senior Retail Technology Analyst
Session 1
Focus: Retail Technology Date: 28 June 2010 Time: 11am (UK Time) Duration: 40 minutes
Planet Retail's Joachim Pinhammer, Senior Retail Technology Analyst
Session 1
Focus: Retail Technology Date: 28 June 2010 Time: 11am (UK Time) Duration: 40 minutes
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
competitive supply chain of the future
According to the experts, the competitive supply chain of the future must have:
Optimization: The alignment of global supply chain resources
Synchronization: The ability to coordinate, organize and manage end-to-end supply chain flows
Profitability: The result of creating value through supply chain activities
Adaptability: The degree to which supply chain members can change in response to unexpected events
Velocity: The speed at which end-to-end flows occur in the supply chain
Optimization: The alignment of global supply chain resources
Synchronization: The ability to coordinate, organize and manage end-to-end supply chain flows
Profitability: The result of creating value through supply chain activities
Adaptability: The degree to which supply chain members can change in response to unexpected events
Velocity: The speed at which end-to-end flows occur in the supply chain
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Ten Attributes of a Superior Self-Checkout Solution Environment
The most successful self-checkout solution represents a blend of innovation, engineering excellence and in-depth understanding of the customer experience. It incorporates rugged, precision-built hardware in a user-friendly configuration designed for flexibility and exceptional total cost of ownership.
But make no mistake, when it comes to assuring the best all-around experience for your customers as well as store associates and the information technology (IT) team, nothing differentiates a superior self-checkout implementation more than the solution software.
The link is to an NCR sponsered whitepaper on Self checkout technology.
But make no mistake, when it comes to assuring the best all-around experience for your customers as well as store associates and the information technology (IT) team, nothing differentiates a superior self-checkout implementation more than the solution software.
The link is to an NCR sponsered whitepaper on Self checkout technology.
Improving the Instore Experience
This pdf presentation ( see link) looks at 5 technologies at play in the Retail store environment that when used correctly can enhance the shopping experience and ensure retailers get closer to their customer base.
Click on the link about to download pdf or copy and paste this link :
http://global.networldalliance.com/downloads/white_papers/GlobalShop09_Enhancing_The_In-Store_Experience.pdf
Click on the link about to download pdf or copy and paste this link :
http://global.networldalliance.com/downloads/white_papers/GlobalShop09_Enhancing_The_In-Store_Experience.pdf
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Top 10 Retail White papers
The Top 10 Most Popular on RetailCustomerExperience.com for March
"Top 100 Retail Movers and Shakers" was once again the most popular downloaded publication last month, while a story that offered tips for marketing toward women was the most popular article.
Read on for the complete Top 10 lists for March on RetailCustomerExperience.com.
TOP 10 WHITE PAPERS
1. Top 100 Retail Movers and Shakers
2. Top 10 Customer Satisfaction Survey Best Practices
3. Designing the Shopping Experience: Five crucial steps
4. Measurement and Analysis for Digital Signage
5. Small-Screen Displays in a Retail Environment
6. 10 Reasons Why Kiosk Projects Fail
7. Kiosk Branding
8. Slides: Enhancing the In-Store Experience
9. Digital Display Technology: Learning the Basics of Digital Signage
10. Social Media: An Inside Look at the People Who Use It
"Top 100 Retail Movers and Shakers" was once again the most popular downloaded publication last month, while a story that offered tips for marketing toward women was the most popular article.
Read on for the complete Top 10 lists for March on RetailCustomerExperience.com.
TOP 10 WHITE PAPERS
1. Top 100 Retail Movers and Shakers
2. Top 10 Customer Satisfaction Survey Best Practices
3. Designing the Shopping Experience: Five crucial steps
4. Measurement and Analysis for Digital Signage
5. Small-Screen Displays in a Retail Environment
6. 10 Reasons Why Kiosk Projects Fail
7. Kiosk Branding
8. Slides: Enhancing the In-Store Experience
9. Digital Display Technology: Learning the Basics of Digital Signage
10. Social Media: An Inside Look at the People Who Use It
Monday, March 22, 2010
Supply Chain Data: Real-Time Speed Is Seductive, Dangerous
Let's call it the Wall Street Effect: Many companies now face tremendous pressure to ensure that all corporate data is "up to the second," just like those traders on The Street who bask in sub-second financial data and those consumer "day traders" who now demand equal speed.
Give me my data, and Give it to me fast!
That "need for speed" in today's supply chains is one of the underlying messages of a recent report from Aberdeen Group: "Supply Chain Intelligence: Adopt Role-Based Operational Business Intelligence and Improve Visibility." (Free with registration.)
Given that Wall Street Effect, users of supply chain systems today expect this up-to-the-second data. Customers now look for it as well. The Aberdeen report notes that 21st-century supply chains must collaborate with and respond to customers, suppliers and partners at real-time speeds. Supply chain risk needs to be assessed as it happens.
In several instances, the report's authors, analysts Nari Viswanathan and Viktoriya Sadlovska, point to a coming shift in historic supply-chain strategy: from the traditional "supply chain organization" to a "customer-focused customer value chain organization" that utilizes "advanced BI technologies that are pervasive and role-based."
That may be a buzzy mouthful, but the message is clear: Supply chains must become quick to respond--to anything, anyone and anywhere in the chain.
Bad Data Delivered Faster Is Still Bad Data
Give me my data, and Give it to me fast!
That "need for speed" in today's supply chains is one of the underlying messages of a recent report from Aberdeen Group: "Supply Chain Intelligence: Adopt Role-Based Operational Business Intelligence and Improve Visibility." (Free with registration.)
Given that Wall Street Effect, users of supply chain systems today expect this up-to-the-second data. Customers now look for it as well. The Aberdeen report notes that 21st-century supply chains must collaborate with and respond to customers, suppliers and partners at real-time speeds. Supply chain risk needs to be assessed as it happens.
In several instances, the report's authors, analysts Nari Viswanathan and Viktoriya Sadlovska, point to a coming shift in historic supply-chain strategy: from the traditional "supply chain organization" to a "customer-focused customer value chain organization" that utilizes "advanced BI technologies that are pervasive and role-based."
That may be a buzzy mouthful, but the message is clear: Supply chains must become quick to respond--to anything, anyone and anywhere in the chain.
Bad Data Delivered Faster Is Still Bad Data
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Multichannel Logistics: Walmart.com’s Site-to-Store Strategy
Multichannel Logistics: Walmart.com’s Site-to-Store Strategy
At the end of every year, Walmart holds a meeting for the investment community. Because so much of Walmart's core strategy revolves around excellence in supply chain management, I always enjoy hearing about the company's plans. What interested me the most this year was Walmart's multichannel strategy.
The linked article details some of the key points..
• Amazon is the company's main target. Walmart.com, of course, is currently much smaller than Amazon, but it is growing faster. Walmart is trying to leverage its reputation for price leadership to take on Amazon. While the company doesn't have the vast selection of books that Amazon has, Walmart wants to be the price leader for bestsellers. Many prescription drugs are now offered for $4 and can be delivered to the home. Whereas Amazon attracts many price-insensitive convenience shoppers, Walmart is clearly targeting price-sensitive shoppers, and these shoppers pay close attention to shipping charges. Some of Walmart.com's products ship to the home at ridiculously low prices. For example, if you go to the Health & Beauty section of Walmart.com, you will find that it offers 97 cent shipping for many items.
• In taking on Amazon, Walmart has added more than a million products through a partner network. Because of this, Walmart offers a much larger variety of products online than what it offers in stores. Like at Amazon, shoppers can view the same product from different partners, read reviews on the reliability of that partner, and pick the partner that offers the best combination of price and reputation.
• It is Walmart's "Site to Store" strategy, however, that really differentiates the company from other online retailers. A customer can use the Site-to-Store service to have eligible products shipped for free to their local Walmart. For a customer that is already a regular Walmart shopper, this is a great convenience. In fact, a Walmart.com fact sheet claims that nearly 90 percent of its customers shop in Walmart stores at least once per month. The online site thus serves a dual purpose. Shoppers can also use the site to research products they might want to buy in the store. For example, Walmart added a tool that allows customers to set weight loss goals and then view the food products they shop for most frequently in stores and check product details, like ingredients and nutritional content.
Forty percent of Walmart.com sales are Site-to-Store purchases. To support Site-to-Store, Walmart is experimenting at a couple of store locations with a drive-thru pick up option. It is also making the store sections where online purchases are picked up larger and more prominent.
Site-to-Store is an impactful strategy for a couple of reasons. Multichannel purchasers are typically much more profitable than customers that just shop at the store. A presentation I received from Manhattan Associates (an ARC client) about its multichannel software solutions cited Nielsen Online data showing that the typical Walmart multi-channel shopper spent 38 percent more per year than Walmart offline shoppers in 2008. Presumably this is why Walmart is testing, rather than rolling out, the drive-thru option. The company wants to make sure that what it gains from an increase in online shoppers more than makes up for the smaller transaction sizes.
But what is most impactful in the Site-to-Store strategy is that it allows Walmart to utilize its existing network of 147 US distribution centers (DCs), 51 transportation offices, 7,200 tractors, 53,000 trailers, and 8,000 drivers. Last year, Walmart made two moves in its DC network: the company opened a DC to support food imports and it closed a Walmart.com DC!
Walmart also mentioned that it had implemented a new inventory management system. I wondered why until I started to think about its multichannel offerings. If you want to support Site-to-Store or be able to sell against network-wide inventory, you would need a unified inventory management system.
Walmart competes on low prices and its multichannel tactics reflect this strategy. The company's website makes it clear that online prices do not always match store prices, and prices may also vary between stores. This is widely considered a multichannel mistake, but one can see the logic of this for a low-cost provider like Walmart. Further, I can't find a phone support option at Walmart.com.
Apparently, all ordering problems must be addressed by email.
Walmart clearly wants to use its size and scale to compete more effectively. Leveraging its existing logistics network to support Site-to-Store is just one example.
At the end of every year, Walmart holds a meeting for the investment community. Because so much of Walmart's core strategy revolves around excellence in supply chain management, I always enjoy hearing about the company's plans. What interested me the most this year was Walmart's multichannel strategy.
The linked article details some of the key points..
• Amazon is the company's main target. Walmart.com, of course, is currently much smaller than Amazon, but it is growing faster. Walmart is trying to leverage its reputation for price leadership to take on Amazon. While the company doesn't have the vast selection of books that Amazon has, Walmart wants to be the price leader for bestsellers. Many prescription drugs are now offered for $4 and can be delivered to the home. Whereas Amazon attracts many price-insensitive convenience shoppers, Walmart is clearly targeting price-sensitive shoppers, and these shoppers pay close attention to shipping charges. Some of Walmart.com's products ship to the home at ridiculously low prices. For example, if you go to the Health & Beauty section of Walmart.com, you will find that it offers 97 cent shipping for many items.
• In taking on Amazon, Walmart has added more than a million products through a partner network. Because of this, Walmart offers a much larger variety of products online than what it offers in stores. Like at Amazon, shoppers can view the same product from different partners, read reviews on the reliability of that partner, and pick the partner that offers the best combination of price and reputation.
• It is Walmart's "Site to Store" strategy, however, that really differentiates the company from other online retailers. A customer can use the Site-to-Store service to have eligible products shipped for free to their local Walmart. For a customer that is already a regular Walmart shopper, this is a great convenience. In fact, a Walmart.com fact sheet claims that nearly 90 percent of its customers shop in Walmart stores at least once per month. The online site thus serves a dual purpose. Shoppers can also use the site to research products they might want to buy in the store. For example, Walmart added a tool that allows customers to set weight loss goals and then view the food products they shop for most frequently in stores and check product details, like ingredients and nutritional content.
Forty percent of Walmart.com sales are Site-to-Store purchases. To support Site-to-Store, Walmart is experimenting at a couple of store locations with a drive-thru pick up option. It is also making the store sections where online purchases are picked up larger and more prominent.
Site-to-Store is an impactful strategy for a couple of reasons. Multichannel purchasers are typically much more profitable than customers that just shop at the store. A presentation I received from Manhattan Associates (an ARC client) about its multichannel software solutions cited Nielsen Online data showing that the typical Walmart multi-channel shopper spent 38 percent more per year than Walmart offline shoppers in 2008. Presumably this is why Walmart is testing, rather than rolling out, the drive-thru option. The company wants to make sure that what it gains from an increase in online shoppers more than makes up for the smaller transaction sizes.
But what is most impactful in the Site-to-Store strategy is that it allows Walmart to utilize its existing network of 147 US distribution centers (DCs), 51 transportation offices, 7,200 tractors, 53,000 trailers, and 8,000 drivers. Last year, Walmart made two moves in its DC network: the company opened a DC to support food imports and it closed a Walmart.com DC!
Walmart also mentioned that it had implemented a new inventory management system. I wondered why until I started to think about its multichannel offerings. If you want to support Site-to-Store or be able to sell against network-wide inventory, you would need a unified inventory management system.
Walmart competes on low prices and its multichannel tactics reflect this strategy. The company's website makes it clear that online prices do not always match store prices, and prices may also vary between stores. This is widely considered a multichannel mistake, but one can see the logic of this for a low-cost provider like Walmart. Further, I can't find a phone support option at Walmart.com.
Apparently, all ordering problems must be addressed by email.
Walmart clearly wants to use its size and scale to compete more effectively. Leveraging its existing logistics network to support Site-to-Store is just one example.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
WMS Architecture and Total Cost of Ownership
WMS Architecture and Total Cost of Ownership
Steve Banker of ARC has written a new article on WMS configurability or Business Process Modelling & configurablity. Its a good read idf your looking to install an configurable , flexible WMS
Steve Banker of ARC has written a new article on WMS configurability or Business Process Modelling & configurablity. Its a good read idf your looking to install an configurable , flexible WMS
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Supply Chain and Logistics Predictions for 2010
Demand Signal Repositories (DSR) market continues to grow briskly: Based on research ARC conducted for an upcoming market study, the DSR and related applications market grew 49 percent in 2009. And this occurred in the midst of a large global recession! Based on ARC estimates, i2 Technologies, a new entrant to the market at the end of 2008, grew its DSR-related revenues from under $1 million to over $10 million in one year.
We also estimate that IBM has grown its revenues in this area to over $10 million in three years, despite not offering a core DSR database product. And now Oracle has entered the market, and we expect the company to generate at least $10 million dollars in DSR-related revenues in the next five years. (i2, IBM, and Oracle are all ARC clients). Based on these factors, it's hard to imagine this still immature market not growing by a very health margin again next year.
Also look to Bluesky Tech - They have a killer app for FMCG
Google continues to roil the supply chain technology market: As I highlighted in a recent post, Google has shaken up the GPS and navigation industry with some recent announcements. Google is developing a map database to compete with the routing and navigation maps provided by NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas. The company also announced it is offering a free turn-by-turn (TBT) navigation app with its Android 2.0-based smart phones. I don't expect these to be the last announcements that surprise logisticians. I expect Google to continue investing in mobile technologies, in free cloud-based applications, and in other new areas designed to rattle its mortal enemy Microsoft. Google's primary focus is serving the mass consumer market, not providing logisticians with new solutions. Nevertheless, I expect to see more solutions based on Google technologies come to market in the supply chain arena.
Going Green: With the USA EPA ruling earlier this month that CO2 and other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health, thus giving it the power to regulate CO2 emissions under the Clean Air Act, some form of legislation from Congress is arguably the better poison for companies to swallow. The clear winners at this point: software vendors offering "carbon information management" solutions (see "Managing Carbon: A Green Opportunity for IT" and click here to read all our postings this past year related to sustainability).
We also estimate that IBM has grown its revenues in this area to over $10 million in three years, despite not offering a core DSR database product. And now Oracle has entered the market, and we expect the company to generate at least $10 million dollars in DSR-related revenues in the next five years. (i2, IBM, and Oracle are all ARC clients). Based on these factors, it's hard to imagine this still immature market not growing by a very health margin again next year.
Also look to Bluesky Tech - They have a killer app for FMCG
Google continues to roil the supply chain technology market: As I highlighted in a recent post, Google has shaken up the GPS and navigation industry with some recent announcements. Google is developing a map database to compete with the routing and navigation maps provided by NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas. The company also announced it is offering a free turn-by-turn (TBT) navigation app with its Android 2.0-based smart phones. I don't expect these to be the last announcements that surprise logisticians. I expect Google to continue investing in mobile technologies, in free cloud-based applications, and in other new areas designed to rattle its mortal enemy Microsoft. Google's primary focus is serving the mass consumer market, not providing logisticians with new solutions. Nevertheless, I expect to see more solutions based on Google technologies come to market in the supply chain arena.
Going Green: With the USA EPA ruling earlier this month that CO2 and other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health, thus giving it the power to regulate CO2 emissions under the Clean Air Act, some form of legislation from Congress is arguably the better poison for companies to swallow. The clear winners at this point: software vendors offering "carbon information management" solutions (see "Managing Carbon: A Green Opportunity for IT" and click here to read all our postings this past year related to sustainability).
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The State of the Retail Supply Chain
The Retail Industry Leaders Association and the supply chain faculty at Auburn University recently published a report called "The State of the Retail Supply Chain." The research results are based on interviews with Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Directors from 45 large retailers headquartered in North America, including many retail organizations respected for their supply chain capabilities.
I've attached a link to the complete pdf document - i recommend all SCM & retail Exec's dowloan and circulate the document within their teams.
The people, products and knowledge for all companies ( not just US based) to be "leaders" is avaialable today.
If you'd like to know more contact me..
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Multi-Channel Retailing
OVERVIEW: Multi-channel retailing is a deceptively easy concept. Simple in terminology, but complex to explain and even more so to deliver. This paper provides an overview of what it is about, covering the drivers, benefits, challenges and organizational changes needed to get there.
What is Multi-Channel?
Retailers traditionally maintained a single department, offering sales and support via a single mode of customer interaction like the physical store. Over time this has expanded to include multiple ways of selling to, engaging, and interacting with the customer, primarily via mail, catalogue and telephone.
Advancing technology however, has led to a number of new ways of inter-personal interaction like the internet, mobile phones, and interactive TV; and as these embed deeper into social culture, subsequently new channels for offering product and service.
Multi-Channel then refers to the delivery of customer propositions via multiple channels with at least some degree of cross channel integration in management, information and service, i.e. in a consistent and coordinated way across all channels.
Complete integration and sharing of information and experience across all channels is now being referred to as Merged-Channel retailing, but that's a story for another paper. If you want to know more, have a look at my paper on The High Street 2.0, which is about merging online and offline customer experiences.
Drivers
While emerging technology has been a key enabler, multi-channel growth is essentially driven by consumers. According to Shop.org, 34% of consumers today use at least three channels when shopping. Research has found them to spend up to 10 times more, to generate 25 to 50% more profit and demonstrate greater loyalty than their single-channel counterparts. The core driver then is customer demand.
The other major driver is cost saving through efficiency and effectiveness. Managing channels separately may not only impair customer relationships but also result in cost increases resulting from running separate order-management and customer service operations, multiple warehouses and fulfilment systems, and buyers and merchandisers duplicating effort across the different channels.
Multi-channel is also driven by strategic competitive advantage and differentiation opportunities, and regulatory pressures around ensuring that all customers are able to access products and services on offer.
Benefits
There are a huge number of both organizational and customer related benefits to be gained from implementing a multi-channel strategy. Here’s a few:
Organisational Benefits
• Increased revenue and growth opportunities – more touch points into target market
• Better responsiveness and sensitivity to changing environments
• Competitive advantage over pure-plays particularly around immediacy, education opportunities for complex products and easy e-merchandise returns.
• Organisational efficiency and effectiveness opportunities through sharing of processes,
technology and information
Customer Related benefits
• Better and wider customer interaction with a greater variety of information available for improved understanding of customers and identification of opportunities for increasing value per customer (business intelligence)
• Increased customer loyalty through better understanding of customers
• Better customer experience reducing churn and increasing loyalty
• Opportunity to leverage and improve brand perception
Customers themselves also benefit from increased choice in interaction opportunities and the ability to switch channels as convenient.
Challenges
I'd argue that the underlying success factor in multi-channel retail from an external perspective is a seamless customer experience, and from an internal perspective is a single customer view – different sides of the same coin. Most of the challenges to any retailer appear to stem from attempting to achieve this.
The two key areas of impact here are technological and organizational dependent on retailer age and size. The older the organization, the more likely they are to have legacy systems, and the larger they are, they more likely they are to face resistance to change. Multi-channel may therefore require integration of disparate technologies, while also needing a complete review of structure, skills, staff incentivisation, and a host of other business and marketing processes.
The 5 main challenges faced by similar retailers entering the multi-channel space are as follows:
1. Evaluating cost of investment in development of cost effective, secure, scalable environments and systems integration against probable short term impact on bottom line
2. Pricing across different channels - Store channels have higher cost structures than web channels for example, and price competition is higher on web, but consumers can be put off by different pricing for the same product
3. Channel synchronisation i.e. ensuring brand, customer experience and customer information
consistency across channels while avoiding the 3E trap i.e. trying to provide ‘everything to
everyone everywhere’
4. Problems in merging and standardising customer data i.e. unifying different systems which may have very different data models
5. Difficulties in reducing or abolishing organisational boundaries to cope with new channels
In summary, customers for whom a multi-channel approach will yield the most benefits are often those for whom achieving it the most problematic – they have the largest customer bases, most complex lines, and longest histories of systems development, with many business critical systems that supply old CRM processes.
Organisational Impacts and the Changes Needed
A successful shift to multi-channel retailing requires a number of changes to the way any traditional retail business functions, primarily in the areas of commercial capability, technical capability, and organization and processes.
Commercial Capability
• Retailers must develop the ability to differentiate between offering attributes across different
channels because they vary in effectiveness and efficiency.
• Modeling capability will be crucial in enabling a deep understanding of the target audience’s
channel preferences and their perceptions of service
• Pricing, brand impact and route to market will have to evolve to ensure a seamless customer experience.
• The organisation will have to shift towards developing multi-channel value propositions and
commercial strategies.
Technical Capability
• The core capability needed is a single customer information view, ideally via a single platform for enterprise wide customer relationship management and proposition development. This requires full integration of database and management systems across channels and also with supply chain activities.
• Multi-channel IT architecture requires a channel independent, service oriented and scalable
integration of different front-end and back-end legacy systems and 3rd party services. The front- end should support open industry standards like XML and web-services.
• Measurement capability will be vital for monitoring and review channel integration
Organisational Process
• There may be need for a culture change programme to shift from a product or function focused approach to a customer focused approach
• Where separate channels have their own objectives, management, staff and systems, these may need to be synchronised or even merged if necessary
• Organisational restructure may require a new model that adapts people, processes and
technology to meet the coordinated approach to channel management. Strong support from CEO and Management will be required.
• Multi-channel trend analysis on the industry in question will need to play a larger role in the
corporate strategy formulation process
• Channel strategy and associated business propositions must be embedded into the basic
processes of the organization
Where do you start?
A good place to start your multi-channel journey is by considering Flint and Spieler’s 4 stage process (Source - IBM white paper on Multi-Channel Customer Management: The Benefits and Challenges)
1. Create a multichannel strategy
2. Determine the relative priority for the channels
3. Reorganise for multichannel operation by reconciling central brand, experience and service
standards control with the need for local autonomy in managing individual channels
4. Adopt and implement best practices for integrating new with old technology
Summary
To summarise, while the benefits are many, this paper should have highlighted the fact that there are a number of challenges involved too. Embedding real multi-channel practices will take time as it involves both a cultural and technological shift for any organisation. My recommendation when making early stage investment and ROI decisions around multi-channel retailing, is aim to focus on long-term value and competitive advantage rather than short-term profit. In other words, think longer term when developing your business case, and have the patience to see it through. It will pay off.
What is Multi-Channel?
Retailers traditionally maintained a single department, offering sales and support via a single mode of customer interaction like the physical store. Over time this has expanded to include multiple ways of selling to, engaging, and interacting with the customer, primarily via mail, catalogue and telephone.
Advancing technology however, has led to a number of new ways of inter-personal interaction like the internet, mobile phones, and interactive TV; and as these embed deeper into social culture, subsequently new channels for offering product and service.
Multi-Channel then refers to the delivery of customer propositions via multiple channels with at least some degree of cross channel integration in management, information and service, i.e. in a consistent and coordinated way across all channels.
Complete integration and sharing of information and experience across all channels is now being referred to as Merged-Channel retailing, but that's a story for another paper. If you want to know more, have a look at my paper on The High Street 2.0, which is about merging online and offline customer experiences.
Drivers
While emerging technology has been a key enabler, multi-channel growth is essentially driven by consumers. According to Shop.org, 34% of consumers today use at least three channels when shopping. Research has found them to spend up to 10 times more, to generate 25 to 50% more profit and demonstrate greater loyalty than their single-channel counterparts. The core driver then is customer demand.
The other major driver is cost saving through efficiency and effectiveness. Managing channels separately may not only impair customer relationships but also result in cost increases resulting from running separate order-management and customer service operations, multiple warehouses and fulfilment systems, and buyers and merchandisers duplicating effort across the different channels.
Multi-channel is also driven by strategic competitive advantage and differentiation opportunities, and regulatory pressures around ensuring that all customers are able to access products and services on offer.
Benefits
There are a huge number of both organizational and customer related benefits to be gained from implementing a multi-channel strategy. Here’s a few:
Organisational Benefits
• Increased revenue and growth opportunities – more touch points into target market
• Better responsiveness and sensitivity to changing environments
• Competitive advantage over pure-plays particularly around immediacy, education opportunities for complex products and easy e-merchandise returns.
• Organisational efficiency and effectiveness opportunities through sharing of processes,
technology and information
Customer Related benefits
• Better and wider customer interaction with a greater variety of information available for improved understanding of customers and identification of opportunities for increasing value per customer (business intelligence)
• Increased customer loyalty through better understanding of customers
• Better customer experience reducing churn and increasing loyalty
• Opportunity to leverage and improve brand perception
Customers themselves also benefit from increased choice in interaction opportunities and the ability to switch channels as convenient.
Challenges
I'd argue that the underlying success factor in multi-channel retail from an external perspective is a seamless customer experience, and from an internal perspective is a single customer view – different sides of the same coin. Most of the challenges to any retailer appear to stem from attempting to achieve this.
The two key areas of impact here are technological and organizational dependent on retailer age and size. The older the organization, the more likely they are to have legacy systems, and the larger they are, they more likely they are to face resistance to change. Multi-channel may therefore require integration of disparate technologies, while also needing a complete review of structure, skills, staff incentivisation, and a host of other business and marketing processes.
The 5 main challenges faced by similar retailers entering the multi-channel space are as follows:
1. Evaluating cost of investment in development of cost effective, secure, scalable environments and systems integration against probable short term impact on bottom line
2. Pricing across different channels - Store channels have higher cost structures than web channels for example, and price competition is higher on web, but consumers can be put off by different pricing for the same product
3. Channel synchronisation i.e. ensuring brand, customer experience and customer information
consistency across channels while avoiding the 3E trap i.e. trying to provide ‘everything to
everyone everywhere’
4. Problems in merging and standardising customer data i.e. unifying different systems which may have very different data models
5. Difficulties in reducing or abolishing organisational boundaries to cope with new channels
In summary, customers for whom a multi-channel approach will yield the most benefits are often those for whom achieving it the most problematic – they have the largest customer bases, most complex lines, and longest histories of systems development, with many business critical systems that supply old CRM processes.
Organisational Impacts and the Changes Needed
A successful shift to multi-channel retailing requires a number of changes to the way any traditional retail business functions, primarily in the areas of commercial capability, technical capability, and organization and processes.
Commercial Capability
• Retailers must develop the ability to differentiate between offering attributes across different
channels because they vary in effectiveness and efficiency.
• Modeling capability will be crucial in enabling a deep understanding of the target audience’s
channel preferences and their perceptions of service
• Pricing, brand impact and route to market will have to evolve to ensure a seamless customer experience.
• The organisation will have to shift towards developing multi-channel value propositions and
commercial strategies.
Technical Capability
• The core capability needed is a single customer information view, ideally via a single platform for enterprise wide customer relationship management and proposition development. This requires full integration of database and management systems across channels and also with supply chain activities.
• Multi-channel IT architecture requires a channel independent, service oriented and scalable
integration of different front-end and back-end legacy systems and 3rd party services. The front- end should support open industry standards like XML and web-services.
• Measurement capability will be vital for monitoring and review channel integration
Organisational Process
• There may be need for a culture change programme to shift from a product or function focused approach to a customer focused approach
• Where separate channels have their own objectives, management, staff and systems, these may need to be synchronised or even merged if necessary
• Organisational restructure may require a new model that adapts people, processes and
technology to meet the coordinated approach to channel management. Strong support from CEO and Management will be required.
• Multi-channel trend analysis on the industry in question will need to play a larger role in the
corporate strategy formulation process
• Channel strategy and associated business propositions must be embedded into the basic
processes of the organization
Where do you start?
A good place to start your multi-channel journey is by considering Flint and Spieler’s 4 stage process (Source - IBM white paper on Multi-Channel Customer Management: The Benefits and Challenges)
1. Create a multichannel strategy
2. Determine the relative priority for the channels
3. Reorganise for multichannel operation by reconciling central brand, experience and service
standards control with the need for local autonomy in managing individual channels
4. Adopt and implement best practices for integrating new with old technology
Summary
To summarise, while the benefits are many, this paper should have highlighted the fact that there are a number of challenges involved too. Embedding real multi-channel practices will take time as it involves both a cultural and technological shift for any organisation. My recommendation when making early stage investment and ROI decisions around multi-channel retailing, is aim to focus on long-term value and competitive advantage rather than short-term profit. In other words, think longer term when developing your business case, and have the patience to see it through. It will pay off.
Monday, November 9, 2009
What Causes Shelf Out-of-Stocks?
Steve Banker from ARC has written up a good article on out of stock management .
See this link for the full article..
What Causes Shelf Out-of-Stocks?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Retail Customer Experience WebSite
I'd like to recommend a one-stop website for all your retail customer experience needs.
The site showcases; products, events, news articles, company listings, research papers, whitepapers, videos and much much more.
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