Retail Resolutions

It’s that time of year again, when everyone begins to make New Year’s resolutions, and it should be no exception for retailers.  I know that 2012 forecasts have already been made, and the sales goals have been submitted, so the bigger questions becomes, how do you plan on reaching the 2012 goals.

This is where your Retail Resolutions should come in.  These are 5 goals every retailer should focus on in order to improve profitability and growth.  They are:

1.       Increase sales opportunities
2.       Reduce shrink
3.       Improve customer service
4.       Lower expenses
5.       Continuously train staff

Separately, these 5 tasks can seem daunting, but by using the profit amplification solution and improving retail operational excellence (ROX) you can accomplish all of these resolutions at once.

The profit amplification solution uses pattern seeking software to identify anomalies within a company’s data.  These patterns can be used to identify such things as areas of high shrink or low sales.  It can also analyse enterprise wide inventory levels to ensure that the correct merchandise is in each store, and utilizes other data to ensure the efficient allocation of staff and resources.

When these patterns are recognized they are ranked in order of profitability growth opportunity and then actionable tasks are assigned using best practice solutions.  These solutions direct management and staff on the proper way to correct the identified issues.

Identifying areas of high shrink is half the battle.  The next step is figuring out how to reduce it.  The profit amplification solution will provide recommended actions to prevent further losses.

Increasing sales opportunities is sometimes reliant on ensuring that the right inventory is in the right place at the right time.  Profit amplification analyzes a company’s inventory data and can send notifications about inadequate or inconsistent inventory levels in a store. By ensuring the proper allocation of merchandise you can improve sales and customer service.

Lowering expenses happens through the identification of the most efficient allocation of personnel and equipment.  If sales are higher in women’s apparel then men’s, then one can assume more staff should be allocated there.  The profit amplification solution analyses the sales figures and provides that recommendation, so less time is spent on reading reports and more time is spent helping the customer.

The pattern recognition aspect of profit amplification also allows for the identification of staff errors and allows for identification of intent.  If the staff member’s intent was malicious then they can be terminated, but if there was no malicious intent it could simply be a matter of retraining.

One simple piece of technology and process improvement allows you to tackle the 5 biggest retail resolutions of the year.  Ain’t New Year’s grand.  Happy New Year!!

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