In our latest webinar, we sat down with RetailNext’s Senior Retail Expert,  Jacobo Rey and Hadrien Beacco, Head of Solution Engineering from YOOBIC to talk about why retail automation is critical for store performance. We covered a lot of ground and touched on some fascinating topics, but this post will hone in on the 3 biggest pain points that retail teams are facing right now and why automation is imperative to solving them. Let’s start easy: What is retail automation? Retail automation is using tech to streamline the manual, repetitive processes that take up too much time and refocus e ..read more

Stores have once again become an important marketing vehicle and remain the best way to immerse shoppers in your brand vision. However, the number of shoppers visiting stores is still recovering and it could be a while until it reaches anywhere near pre-pandemic levels. In addition, brands are making tough decisions about their stores, from the right number to location to experience vs. assortment mix. In order to thrive during this period, more than ever the amount of intelligence we have about what goes on in stores needs to evolve beyond what sold, what was featured etc. and really understa ..read more

I was wrong – and here we are – navigating the first months of 2021 in a similar fashion as we did for most of 2020. And while there are signs of light at the end of the tunnel – a world of in-face meetings and in person team building activities still feels light years away. Which led us to our internal dilemmas around planning a productive and inspiring sales kick-off. How would we celebrate last year’s accomplishments and tremendous effort from our team and get everyone fired up for the new year. How would we power the win? As our CEO, sales leadership and I started talking about how we migh ..read more

This year’s holiday season is going to be a unique experience, as retailers look to provide a safe environment for shoppers and staff, while maximizing sales and delivering on shopper expectations. To make things more complicated, retailers are managing constantly evolving regulations for stores in each region. To ensure an in-store shopping experience delivered at the highest level while maintaining appropriate store capacity, it is key to understand store occupancy. In the infographic below, learn about how to apply data on store occupancy, and tips on managing capacities in store. RetailNe ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown much of what we thought we knew about consumers’ shopping habits into somewhat of a whirlwind. The high street is still suffering from the fallout of a three-month hiatus and now the hospitality industry has experienced a further blow in the past week following the Prime Minister’s announcement to implement a 10pm curfew for closing time. With fears of a second lockdown hanging in the balance, the big question on retailers’ lips is: “Does this mean Christmas is cancelled?” The UK has now officially been declared in a recession for the first time in 11 years, an ..read more

Conversion rate is extremely important in the retail industry, and is a metric that drives store sales, margin, and survival of the overall business. This is especially the case for specialty stores with high unit prices. Conversion is influenced by multiple factors, from location to product type, visuals, and your people.  So how do we optimize for conversion? The essence is to maximize efficiency while scheduling the employees with the right skills at the right time. In this blog, I cover the main aspects to consider, including optimizing schedules with data, customer service approaches ..read more

The MLB and NBA are back in action, PGA tournaments have resumed…. Finally, there are sports to watch on TV. Almost felt a little normal, right? Let’s be honest, not really.  With news of people having “Corona parties” where cases are now spiking across the nation, why couldn’t everyone follow directions, stay home and wear their masks? Now the reality of kitchens becoming classrooms and parents juggling the roles of their own jobs in addition to teachers and short order cooks are coming to life. Drink your Corona (at home), stop spreading the corona(virus)!   There has been a l ..read more

As we move forward into this new normal of continuing social distancing, wearing masks, and washing our hands, the million dollar question is, when will we return to life as we once knew it? Retailers are opening back up with important restrictions in place to keep their staff and consumers safe, but when will retail traffic trends go back to the way they were pre-COVID-19? Not any time soon is the short answer. TRAFFIC SLOW, SLOW, SLOWING DOWN When the shelter in place restrictions started to be lifted, we initially saw traffic improvements week over week, however, improvements have slowed do ..read more

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the world, we are seeing a new breed of services and new uses of technology emerge. A few weeks ago, the UK government announced a further reduction in social distancing measures enabling pubs, restaurants and hairdressers in England to reopen in early July. A positive step in the right direction, however,  this decision doesn’t come without its challenges because as more doors begin to reopen the risk of infection becomes greater. In a recent report conducted by RetailNext, figures showed a 14.9 percent increase in brick-and-mortar foot traffic for ..read more

For years retailers have been talking about the store of the future, how to compete with Amazon, and how to best serve today’s digitally driven customer. The pace has been maddeningly slow – both as an executive in retail technology and as a consumer. Yes, some of the lowest hanging fruit has been picked – you can now return online purchases in-store (remember when that was a thing, having to return online purchases through the mail?), and pricing disparities have largely been solved. Beyond the obvious, however, retailers have largely resisted, overanalyzed, and underinvested in the very tech ..read more