Smart Retailing, now!
Seducing the client. That is an art that the retail sector practises with enthusiasm. The P for presentation plays a central role here. But it shouldn't push out the other Ps of marketing. Retailers who score above average for all the Ps will be the winners of the future.
Experience, emotion, atmosphere, entertainment: supermarkets are, more and more, image builders. The shop is the brand and all the spotlights are focused on the product, the presentation, keeping customers interested and bonding them. But customers are critical, and they want their money's worth. Supplying added value in the form of customer friendliness and service at the lowest possible cost is vital for survival in a congested market. These are developments and trends that are destined to continue.
Creative and innovative
Looking at the Dutch retail sector, and particularly food, something else has happened. In recent years, price pressures in the retail sector have been severe. Returns have been eroded and profits minimised. So is it all gloom and doom? No, because there is a bright side here too: creativity and innovation have been encouraged, with additional impetus being provided by unrelenting technological progress.
Smart Retailing
Workforce organisation starts by establishing a picture of labour processes and the associated costs. Enormous improvements can be made when, at the store level, managers use the information about goods flows and client flows, and their impact on the organisation at the annual, monthly, weekly, daily and even hourly levels. The leading factors in present-day retailing are the processes, with the deployment of the workforce being organised around them. That is Smart Retailing, effective and intelligent. Innovations like self-scanning and automated order systems also require smart solutions. Self-scanning checkouts require answers to questions like 'when should staff be available and what will be the savings?’. And automatic ordering systems have a major impact on logistical flows. 'When should I put people to work to make sure everything runs smoothly?' is the question requiring an answer here.
Spoil your clients and still remain cost-efficient?
In short, thinking in terms of processes and organising people around them is not a thing of the future but everyday reality. By using its wide-ranging knowledge of the retailing process and ongoing IT technology, the Jurjen De Vries company has been able to supply retailers throughout the world with advanced instruments for cost-efficient workforce management. So the right employee is always in the right place, doing the right work for the job in the right number of hours. The result is savings on labour costs, higher profits and increased returns. And the clients? Clients get what they want: full shops where shopping is pleasant, where they are given a royal reception, and where the staff really do have the time to spoil them. Now that is smart retailing!
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