Why should fashion retailers deal with IoT? What problems could be solved in the stores? What results can be expected? As a retail decision maker you need to deal with IoT if increased article availability, exact inventories, interaction with customers and operational excellence in your stores are set as objectives. This practice-oriented guide sheds light on the triangle of “customer”, “processes in the store” and “deployment of new technologies” and shows how the use of IoT benefits retailers and ultimately the customer. The whitepaper reveals the formula for the perfect customer relationship, based on the right technologies and processes and shows how retailers can apply them to their business.
Detego, a market leader in real-time business intelligence for the fashion retail industry, is releasing its latest whitepaper, providing valuable information on the use of Internet of Things (IoT) in fashion stores. Titled as “The perfect customer relationship – How fashion stores leverage Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to put the customer in focus of all activities “, fashion retailers get a practice-oriented guide that highlights the most important aspects such as: Why should fashion retailers deal with IoT?, What problems could be solved in the stores?, What results can be expected? Retail decision makers need to deal with IoT if increased article availability, exact inventories, interaction with customers and operational excellence in the stores are set as objectives. The 35-page guide sheds light on the triangle of “customer”, “processes in the store” and “deployment of new technologies” and shows how the use of IoT benefits retailers and ultimately the customer. The whitepaper is available for download on the Detego website.
Detego discusses the various IoT technologies as a way for retailers to realize the perfect customer relationship. Based on customer’s needs, the practical tips are divided into 1. Self-service in the store: The customer as the main actor, 2. Brand Ambassador: The customer as influencer, 3. Co-Value Creation: The customer as partner and 4. Predictive Analytics: The Customer as creator of the future. All four subchapters describe what retailers can do to connect with the customer and enable an interaction in the store.
In addition, infrastructural prerequisites such as the optimal process support through IoT technology and in particular support for the sales personnel are discussed. With the help of IoT, retailers and their store personnel gain valuable data that is translated into recommendations for concrete action to take. In addition to the operational excellence in the store, it is primarily about the new shopping experience for the customer. The whitepaper reveals the formula for the perfect customer relationship, based on the right technologies and processes and shows how retailers can apply them to their business.
The one-size-fits-all sales approach is outdated. In the store, intelligent systems are needed to provide the customer with a personalised experience. Key elements for this are individual and personalised recommendations from the current product range and simplified processes that give stores associates more time for the customers.
In this webinar you find out how “Data Driven Empowerment” activates cross-selling potential, increases the number of articles per receipt and finally leads to satisfied customers and happy retailers.
All store assistants are busy at the moment and another customer enters the store. She has only one question: “Is the skirt in the shop window also available in XS?”– It’s not going to take long, however, nobody is available to assist. She briefly looks around on the sales floor…finds nothing and therefore leaves the store.
Increase service quality in the store with Artificial Intelligence
With digital sales assistants, fashion retailers no longer have to keep consumers waiting but offer them a convenient service. The in-store chatbot serves consumers via smartphone by answering initial questions such as: Is the article still available in my size? Where can I find it? How expensive is it? What accessories go with it? If an article is out of stock, Detega makes suggestions, e.g. to have the desired article shipped from another store to the customer´s preferred store or even directly to her home.
Recommendations for more consumer engagement
If a store assistant recommends additional articles to a customer, it could easily backfire as unwanted assistance can be considered intrusive and the customer might avoid visiting the store in future. However, if an in-store chatbot recommends an article that the customer clearly perceives as a possible additional purchase, he/she will have no problem considering the recommendation or rejecting it by simply swiping it away and look at other articles that he/she likes better. Chatbots enable a non-binding yet personalised dialogue – just as customers are familiar with online shopping.
The use of in-store chatbots. Benefits for retailers:
Detega…
- starts a dialogue with the consumer via smartphone as desired
- notifies store personnel to bring certain articles to consumers
- pushes purchases through „live“ discounts
- brings online shopping experience into the store
- activates cross-selling potential by letting customers browse through the entire product range
- recommends articles that are actually available in the store
- supports as well as unburdens store personnel
- deepens the brand experience
- compiles data on customer clusters and their preferred article combinations
- continues to interact with customers after they leave the store to inform them about special offers, etc.
- offers after-sales services to customers such as reservations in the store
The use of in-store chatbots. Benefits for customers:
Detega…
- helps with the decision-making process using information
- provides useful product recommendations such as: popular items, bestsellers, reduced articles and product variants
- accurate product recommendations due to Artificial Intelligence
- offers self-service via customers‘ smartphone
- offers online shopping experience in-store
- answers immediately – customers are not kept waiting
- gives information in real-time
- notifies the store personnel to bring desired articles directly to the customer
- allows customers to browse through the full product range
- guarantees an unforgettable shopping experience
- passes on customers to sales personnel when required
‘At the Point-of-Sale, the chatbot serves digitally-oriented target groups via their smartphones and passes them on to the sales personnel for individual service whenever the sales process requires it.’
Did we spark your interest?
Friendly sales personnel, stores in top locations and an appealing product assortment are not enough anymore for successful fashion retailing. Today’s consumers expect more: stores as temples of experiences, sales personnel that understands or even anticipates their needs and frictionless shopping across all channels. The use of IoT technologies in brick-and-mortar stores will support retailers to meet these expectations. But how much consumer engagement does it take to turn “today’s shoppers” into “loyal customers of tomorrow”? A search for traces…
What are consumers actually looking for?
That is quite simple: articles in the right sizes. Otherwise they are leaving the store without buying anything. Assuming that consumer engagement requires a proactive, not reactive sales culture, retailers need to start rethinking their business approach. This involves systems that provide high inventory accuracy and article availability, real-time information capability, and a single stock view across the entire store network including franchise and wholesales locations as well as online shops. In addition, it requires a customer-focused and empowered store personnel, equipped with smart devices and real-time information, to provide consumers with instant information about desired articles and the capability to reserve these articles or to deliver them directly to the customer’s home. It’s all about an effective way of interaction that is leading to a long-term customer loyalty. If the store staff is proactively supported by the in-store system by means of e.g. intelligent stock takes or smart replenishment processes, retailers – and ultimately the customer – benefit from high inventory accuracy and end-to-end article availability. This provides the base for a successful consumer engagement and is available with the Detego InStore Lean Edition.
What exactly do consumers expect?
A lot: individual and innovative shopping experiences. Spoilt by the convenience and services of E-Commerce, consumers’ expectations towards their shopping experience in brick-and-mortar stores are ever more stringent. Omnichannel services such as click-and-collect, return-to-store, ship-from-store and online availability check per store are part of these expectations and have to run smoothly. The Detego InStore Full Edition provides retailers the full-service package for their omnichannel business.
How does interaction with consumers look like?
Very versatile and via different touchpoints that customers choose, e.g. via their smartphone right after entering the store. The chatbot Detega gets in touch and supports with article and availability information, introduces the new collection and is also a virtual guide beyond the actual store visit. The Smart Fitting Room is also adapting to consumer requirements in an entirely experience-oriented way. It assembles preferred article variations and optimises the fitting service in close collaboration with the store personnel who brings desired articles from the sales floor or back room to the cabin when requested by consumers via the Smart Fitting Room application. Detego InChannels provides retailers with various opportunities for interaction with consumers that activate customer potential.
The Detego Suite supports retailers in meeting current and future challenges and keeps the store staff ready for increasingly demanding consumers while making the brick-and-mortar business run more efficiently.
Image source: IStock, Copyright: pixdeluxe
Did we spark your interest?
Retail software vendor, Detego, will be showcasing its latest digital in-store solutions for retailers at NRF, the world’s largest retail industry show on January 14-16 in New York, as a co-exhibitor on SAP´s booth # 2733. These include a new mobile solution for retailers, offering faster and cheaper access to the benefits of digital connectivity, as well as Detega, a new chatbot that supports customers throughout their entire shopping experience.
Detego’s software, in combination with tiny radio-frequency identity (RFID) tags on every item, makes it easier for retailers to boost inventory accuracy and on-shelf availability to levels consistently above 98 percent – a huge increment compared to the industry average of 75 percent. While Detego’s chatbot opens up the entire store chain and digital catalogue to consumers.
Detego says that it has decided to release a leaner version of its full product suite so that retailers can quickly experience the advantages of RFID-enabled merchandise management, which include reducing the number of markdowns and fewer gaps on shelves.
“The launch of Detego’s InStore Lean Edition provides a quick-start solution that’s productive within hours, not weeks or months, without the complexities typical of most IT implementations,” says Detego’s CTO, Michael Goller. “Fully hosted and managed in the cloud, it is being targeted at retail chains, pop-up stores, franchisees and brand store owners who want to benefit from modern in-store technologies without the need to invest in fully fledged, large-scale IT projects.”
The new software is highly modular and scalable, meaning that retailers can start with just a few stores and scale to hundreds or even thousands within a short period of time. Additional features can be added at later time, including retail analytics, omni-channel services such as “click&collect”, and other consumer engagement and supply chain applications.
The fully hosted and managed SaaS (software-as-a-service) offering that runs on SAP’s Cloud Platform enables retailers to seamlessly integrate systems across various applications. The combination of the SAP Cloud Platform and the analytics and merchandise software from Detego provides the basis for customer-centric processes and services, as well as real-time applications in omni-channel retailing. In the light of ongoing consolidations within retail chains, this gives fashion retailers a competitive advantage and differentiating element for their brick & mortar stores.
Detego’s new chatbot can be used at any time on a customer’s smartphone to help provide more pertinent product information or recommendations, based on real-time data on actual availability and customer preferences. The built-in machine-learning and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities adapt to the ever changing dynamics of fashion retail, which means that results get better and better over time.
Although we are not allowed to publish names of our retail customers who chose Detego InStore Lean Edition, the reasons that led many international fashion retailers to equip their stores with it, are summarised in the following:
- A solution that is productive within HOURS:
Not within weeks or months. No complex IT integration or complicated implementation.
- Advantages for the store are effective immediately:
Inventory accuracy and on-shelf availability > 98%.
- Intuitive and guided processes:
Sales personnel are guided through all the relevant store processes quickly via a smartphone and without any need for trainings. A lean and intuitive application actively supports and unburdens the sales personnel in their daily work.
- Unbeatable flexibility for fashion retailers:
Whether it is your own store, franchise store, wholesaler locations or shop-in-shop setups: Detego InStore Lean Edition fits all of them and delivers fast results/ROI.
- Scalability:
Start with a few stores and scale to hundreds or thousands. Starting with the features of Lean Edition to ensure inventory accuracy and on-shelf availability, additional features can be added later with Full Edition, e.g. retail analytics, efficient omnichannel services and consumer engagement applications. Fully integrated inventory management across the entire supply chain is also possible at any time.
If you also want to benefit from these aspects, we´ll be happy to discuss the introduction of the Detego InStore Lean Edition to your stores. We will show you how to get started quickly with one or more stores, what to do in terms of preparation, which results can be expected and for what budget. If you would like to see results, get in touch with us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Bildquellen: Fotolia, Copyright: Rawpixel
Did we spark your interest?
Due to lack of an overall stock view, retailers and in particular, their sales personnel are not able to provide customers with reliable information e.g. on article availability. This results in disappointed customers who eventually buy somewhere else, which in turn leads to an enormous loss of revenues for retailers.
Get new insights on how a single stock view significantly changes the fashion retail industry and what positive effects come with it.
Detego, a market leader in real-time business intelligence for the fashion industry, is launching a new mobile solution for retailers which will give faster and cheaper access to the benefits of digital connectivity. Thanks to imbedded radio-frequency identity (RFID) tags on every product, benefits include being able to painlessly carry out stock-takes on smartphones and near hundred percent inventory accuracy, so fewer gaps on the shelves and no lost sales from missing sizes.
“Most retailers are aware of the advantages of RFID and want to constantly monitor the movement of goods, but many are put off by the perceived high costs of system integration,” says Detego’s chief executive, Uwe Hennig. “With the cost of tags having fallen dramatically over the last few years, the time is right to launch a new, leaner version of our software so that retailers can quickly see for themselves the gains being made in smart tracking devices and the endless opportunities of joining the Internet of Things.”
Detego’s InStore Lean Edition provides a “quick-start” solution for retailers that want to start small and possibly scale over the entire store network later on. Available via the cloud, it is being targeted at retail chains, pop-ups, franchisees and brand store owners that don’t necessarily want to invest in large-scale IT projects, he says.
The new software allows retailers to constantly monitor inventory in real-time and automate the replenishment process, not to mention improve both the availability of products and customer service. A clear path of scaling makes it possible to roll-out the software and later add other Detego products or functions at any time, including additional applications for all in-store processes and omni-channel services such as “click&collect”, as well as managing inventory throughout the supply chain, and comprehensive analytical features.
“The fashion retail industry in particular requires a fast introduction to the digital age, but at the same time a future-proof solution that is scalable,” adds Hennig.
Specialist retail software provider, Detego, has successfully eliminated over three million stock shortages during various pilots and ongoing retailer projects after using merchandise management software powered by artificial intelligence to help combat perilous out-of-stock situations.
Thanks to tiny radio-frequency identity (RFID) tags attached to every item and the real-time monitoring of articles from warehouse to store using connected devices, Detego is trying to make sure that missing sizes and gaps on the shelves are no longer such an issue and headache for retailers. Projects have shown high article availability and near hundred percent inventory accuracy when using IoT technology and the AI powered Detego suite, compared to an industry average of around seventy percent in most fashion retailers’ businesses.
The AI software is also being used to analyse vast amounts of data and uses machine-learning to better understand the behaviour of several million consumers, deriving insights and actionable recommendations for retailers, it said.
Analysis shows that the vast majority of shoppers today still favour visiting a store. This trend is particularly strong in fashion, although a growing proportion are switching to other omni-channel options, including shopping online, via smartphones, or click-and-collect from nearby stores.
“Even with all the advances of the digital age, more than 80 percent of retail sales happen in bricks-and-mortar stores. In the fashion industry, customers still want to walk into shops to see, touch, and try on different outfits. While customer motivations for entering stores are largely the same as they were twenty years ago, their expectations are much higher. Customers who can find anything they want on their smartphones in seconds expect similar instant gratification in stores. They want the items they see online to be available in the store and in their preferred size, style and colour,” said Uwe Hennig, CEO at Detego.
Detego has seen significant growth in omni-channel services this last year, recording over 1.5 million omni-channel transactions through its software suite.
“Omni-channel services like click-and-collect are another important cornerstone for connecting the best of the online world with the benefits of bricks-and-mortar,” said Hennig. “Customers now expect a seamless, unified retail experience across multiple channels: for instance, being able to click on and reserve any items discovered online for trying on in a store the next day.”