As I watched the Super Bowl Sunday night, I wondered how many sleepless hours went into the creation of all those ridiculously expensive ads. They get sillier and sillier, this year with screaming chickens, executives in underwear, and humans willing to lay down their lives (literally) for beer. These commercials are entertaining, indeed. But as I read my latest VDC report, I realized there’s another area that desperately needs retailers’ attention…
According to VDC, amid the vast installed base of Smartphone shoppers, over 25% of items on the shopper’s list go un-purchased because the shopper is unable to find them!*
The report points to more options for retailers this year in terms of cross-channel and customer-facing retail management applications—particularly mobile POS, self-shopping and select hospitality-related applications that decrease the time it takes customers to locate inventory. Furthermore, over 50% of the retail executives VDC interviewed said they will focus on strategic investments in 2010 as opposed to cost-cutting initiatives.
This is precisely where it pays to have expert mobility consultants and a well defined roadmap to effectively plan, execute and manage highly scalable mobile retail strategies in a world where it’s very easy for consumers to play hard-to-get.
Did you see the ads? Share your favorites with us!
*Source: VDC’s 2009 Market Intelligence Service, 6th Edition, Retail Service Market Analysis: An Executive Brief by David Krebs, VDC director
Friday, February 12, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
2010 Retail Outlook: Top 3 themes of last week's NRF
Despite last year’s harsh playing field for retail, I was amazed by how many turned out in New York for NRF’s BIG Show last week. Then again, now is probably the best time for retailers and vendors to assemble and share ideas for a better 2010.
As I bounced around between educational sessions and booth “show-and-tells,” I met many people from all over the country—each giving similar testimonies of the same basic challenges. Many of these discussions intrigued me, but there were 3 distinct themes to take away:
1. All the Right Players Go Mobile.
2. Sustainability Underscores Everything.
3. The Giants Are Embracing Social Media.
Essentially, technology is king this year, especially in the areas of mobile retail management and solutions that will help retailers ride out the economic tidal wave. We also saw great validation of social media as a powerful strategy to monitor and stir the pot of opportunity, even among the big players.
There was a great article by Matt Pillar, Editor In Chief, Retail Solutions Online/Integrated Solutions For Retailers magazine this week on these key themes. Check it out and share your comments – What are your thoughts? Your predictions? Will social media ever lose its buzz? What other trends are coming down the pike?
As I bounced around between educational sessions and booth “show-and-tells,” I met many people from all over the country—each giving similar testimonies of the same basic challenges. Many of these discussions intrigued me, but there were 3 distinct themes to take away:
1. All the Right Players Go Mobile.
2. Sustainability Underscores Everything.
3. The Giants Are Embracing Social Media.
Essentially, technology is king this year, especially in the areas of mobile retail management and solutions that will help retailers ride out the economic tidal wave. We also saw great validation of social media as a powerful strategy to monitor and stir the pot of opportunity, even among the big players.
There was a great article by Matt Pillar, Editor In Chief, Retail Solutions Online/Integrated Solutions For Retailers magazine this week on these key themes. Check it out and share your comments – What are your thoughts? Your predictions? Will social media ever lose its buzz? What other trends are coming down the pike?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
New year, new look
Goodbye, 2009. Hello, 2010! With the Tiger as the new Chinese symbol we are all hoping to start out the year with a ROAR! Well, at least we can still hunt for deals. We’ve just returned from the National Retail Federation (NRF) show in New York City and all signs are pointing to a better year for mobility solutions.
Many executives we talked to said they were going to invest in key enterprise mobility projects and that innovation and execution by their vendors were critical - (check out this article about Home Depot on Bloomberg’s Web site). It’s all about extending the power of mobile computing to the associates who touch your customer.
We’ve just launched a new branding and market position for 2010: “Delivering Mobility. Driving Results.” via our Web site, which focuses on how we help our customers achieve success related to mobile applications and end-to-end mobility projects.
Our new and existing Fortune 500 customers can attest; we’ve been delivering solid mobility solutions for a very long time. Twenty-six years, to be exact. Now we’ve added our new Stratix Mobile software to deliver Field Sales and Field Service applications with true flexibility. This highly configurable rules-based software provides an unprecedented degree of flexibility in deploying business process change without the expense or lengthy engineering cycles of a custom mobile application. Check it out; we’ll be announcing some new customers shortly.
Our goal for the Blog this year is to provide you with a destination to learn more about how others are using mobility to drive results and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly in enterprise mobility.
Here’s to a great New Year!
Many executives we talked to said they were going to invest in key enterprise mobility projects and that innovation and execution by their vendors were critical - (check out this article about Home Depot on Bloomberg’s Web site). It’s all about extending the power of mobile computing to the associates who touch your customer.
We’ve just launched a new branding and market position for 2010: “Delivering Mobility. Driving Results.” via our Web site, which focuses on how we help our customers achieve success related to mobile applications and end-to-end mobility projects.
Our new and existing Fortune 500 customers can attest; we’ve been delivering solid mobility solutions for a very long time. Twenty-six years, to be exact. Now we’ve added our new Stratix Mobile software to deliver Field Sales and Field Service applications with true flexibility. This highly configurable rules-based software provides an unprecedented degree of flexibility in deploying business process change without the expense or lengthy engineering cycles of a custom mobile application. Check it out; we’ll be announcing some new customers shortly.
Our goal for the Blog this year is to provide you with a destination to learn more about how others are using mobility to drive results and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly in enterprise mobility.
Here’s to a great New Year!
Monday, January 4, 2010
See You in New York!
Visit the NRF’s “Retail’s BIG Show 2010” Convention & EXPO
New York City
Jan. 10-13
After a year like 2009, it’s a perfect time for retailers to join together and share valuable strategies for doing more with less. Join Stratix on Jan. 11 & 12 in the Motorola Booth #1623 at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Retail’s BIG Show 2010, where we will discuss how mobile technology can effectively drive down TCO, accelerate speed to market, and improve compliance and best practices for customer service.
Retail’s BIG Show brings together some of retail’s savviest executives, including IBM, Bank of America, Deloitte, SAP, Wal-Mart, Saks, Dunkin Brands and HSN, to discuss relevant and forward-looking topics for the retail industry. You’ll also learn about state-of-the-art technologies and services, including store design and planning in the NRF DESiGN STUDiO – a dedicated offering of education, networking and ideas for retailers, store designers, and visual merchandisers.
For event information click here. We hope to see you there!
New York City
Jan. 10-13
After a year like 2009, it’s a perfect time for retailers to join together and share valuable strategies for doing more with less. Join Stratix on Jan. 11 & 12 in the Motorola Booth #1623 at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Retail’s BIG Show 2010, where we will discuss how mobile technology can effectively drive down TCO, accelerate speed to market, and improve compliance and best practices for customer service.
Retail’s BIG Show brings together some of retail’s savviest executives, including IBM, Bank of America, Deloitte, SAP, Wal-Mart, Saks, Dunkin Brands and HSN, to discuss relevant and forward-looking topics for the retail industry. You’ll also learn about state-of-the-art technologies and services, including store design and planning in the NRF DESiGN STUDiO – a dedicated offering of education, networking and ideas for retailers, store designers, and visual merchandisers.
For event information click here. We hope to see you there!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Top Mobile Technology Trends for 2010
The New Year brings good news for Enterprise Mobility VARs! Experts believe the mobility market is ready for double-digit growth at a time when overall IT spending is predicted to remain flat to marginally down over the next 12-18 months. According to IDC's Worldwide Mobile Middleware 2009-2013 Forecast and 2008 Vendor Shares (Doc # 219186) from July 2009, the mobile middleware market is expected to grow from $853.8 million in 2008 to $1.6 billion in 2013, at a CAGR of 13.6 percent.
Some other key trends for 2010:
1. Consumers will be more demanding of flawless service because of the economy. They will continue to expect the immediate service and response made possible by a mobile workforce.
2. Larger mobility initiatives, versus smaller tactical deployments, that embrace a long-term mobile strategy will become crucial to competitive advantage.
3. Business Intelligence will become more mobilized and, in turn, will improve.
4. IT departments will be more open to supporting devices on multiple platforms.
5. Companies will provide internally branded and controlled “App Stores.”
What are some of your predictions?
Some other key trends for 2010:
1. Consumers will be more demanding of flawless service because of the economy. They will continue to expect the immediate service and response made possible by a mobile workforce.
2. Larger mobility initiatives, versus smaller tactical deployments, that embrace a long-term mobile strategy will become crucial to competitive advantage.
3. Business Intelligence will become more mobilized and, in turn, will improve.
4. IT departments will be more open to supporting devices on multiple platforms.
5. Companies will provide internally branded and controlled “App Stores.”
What are some of your predictions?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Stratix Mobile: The rules of the game have changed
If you're in the business of serving customers in the field, you know quite well that when it comes to business, agility wins. I hear more customers challenged by new compliance requirements and competitive pressures that evolve almost daily. When you need to implement a new business process to keep up with these demands, how much time and money are you spending on engineering labor to recode the software and deploy the change?
Those days are over. Stratix Mobile is here. And it has changed the rules of the game completely!
Click here to check out our brand-new suite of Stratix Mobile rules-based mobility products.
Those days are over. Stratix Mobile is here. And it has changed the rules of the game completely!
Click here to check out our brand-new suite of Stratix Mobile rules-based mobility products.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Airlines are losing much more than our bags
According to an interesting Wall Street Journal article, airlines spend more than $3 billion annually to track, ship and reimburse passengers for lost bags. Roughly 1.4% of all checked bags were mishandled worldwide last year, costing a hefty $100 per bag on average, mostly because of missed connections. Not under the airlines’ control, but certainly painful to their bottom line.
One of the biggest causes is the lack of interoperability between the airport and the airline’s computer systems. They cannot properly communicate or track data on the location of planes and bags.
But not for long. Loaders and sorters at airports in Europe and Las Vegas are using bar code scanners and logistics software to provide a constant flow of information that lets airlines locate almost any bag within seconds.
Click here to learn more about bar code scanners and mobility solutions or check out the full article from the Wall Street Journal online.
One of the biggest causes is the lack of interoperability between the airport and the airline’s computer systems. They cannot properly communicate or track data on the location of planes and bags.
But not for long. Loaders and sorters at airports in Europe and Las Vegas are using bar code scanners and logistics software to provide a constant flow of information that lets airlines locate almost any bag within seconds.
Click here to learn more about bar code scanners and mobility solutions or check out the full article from the Wall Street Journal online.
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