The Blog

In retail, employees come and go….A LOT!! There is a lot of turnover, a lot of part-time staff, a lot of temporary staff for busy periods,  and a lot of new hires for high growth retailers. Retailers have multiple systems where employee information is required . Whether employee is a sales associate, store manager, buyer, warehouse staff, or executive, each and every employee must be maintained in multiple systems. How is this all managed? From my experience, poorly!!

Typically, this is a very manual and laborious process that is highly error prone. Retailers may spend hours a day adding and maintaining employees across all systems. When a new employee is entered in HR, the same basic information must be entered and shared in other systems too – POS, Sales Audit, Loss Prevention, CRM, Merchandising, WMS, etc. A change to that employee’s information or status will require similar changes across multiple systems. Employees need access to the right systems with the right permissions at the right time. A new employee arriving at a store but not being able to log into POS or Inventory Control systems, can be a costly error and wasted time. When did entering an employee become so complicated?

At RIBA Retail, we often see this situation, and the retailer ends up with many laborious steps, incomplete information, or data integrity issues. Here are 3 approaches to consider, from least preferable to most preferred:

1. Manual - One internal system must “own” the Employee Master record and then share that with all other systems. Typically transmitted via paper or email, so that other system “owners” can update their systems, with the new or changed employee information. With a rigid process in place, this approach can work, but is obviously very laborious, untimely, and error-prone.
2. Automated - As above, one internal system must be the “owner”, typically HR, and other systems are then automatically updated through integration or publish/subscribe type mechanisms. This works well if all the validation, error-handling, and synchronization is well accounted for.  In some cases, additional employee information must be updated in the destination system, causing another set of manual steps that must occur in a timely fashion.
3. Master Data Management (MDM) - Centralize the ownership of ALL employee data in one repository. From here, using automated integration or a publish/subscribe method, all other internal systems will receive these updates in a timely and automated fashion. If properly designed, the centralized MDM repository will have ALL information needed for ALL systems, and therefore employee data need only ever be touched in one place, resulting in automatic updates to all other systems.

We have successfully helped retailers improve their integration and automation using such techniques. What would you recommend? What techniques have you used? I would love to hear from you based on your own experience.

I am a huge fan of LinkedIn. I refer to it multiple times a day. It is a great business tool that allows me to connect with my professional network, share industry news, keep in touch with others, and share my own expertise. As an active user, I find that many can use this tool in a somewhat annoying, irritating or just plain ineffective way. But the beauty of LinkedIn, as with any social network, you have the power to simply be turned off. People that use this tool in a negative, spam-abusive way, can simply be unfollowed.

Here is my personal list of pet peeves, the top 10 don’ts:

1. Don’t automatically post from Twitter – Twitter is not LinkedIn. Not everything you post on Twitter is necessarily relevant to your LinkedIn network. These 2 social mediums have different purposes, so try to use them differently. Also, you are unable to comment or ‘like’ posts in LinkedIn that originated from Twitter.
2. Don’t post a string of inspirational quotes – I like inspirational business books, blogs, and articles as much as the next person, but to read a continuous flow of random inspirational quotes loses its effectiveness.
3. Don’t use a family photo – This is a professional business network. I do not need to see a photo of you on a boat, at the beach, or on a family ski vacation. A simple head-shot will do.
4. Don’t use your high school photo – Also try to use a photo that is somewhat current. That full head hair can be misleading
5. Don’t be anonymous – As you share information and view others’ profiles, don’t remain anonymous. Be transparent.
6. Don’t publish all activity – On the other hand, there may be times to not share ALL activity. If you are suddenly updating your profile page, adding 63 skills, or adding many new links, it is OK to switch your settings temporarily to not show these continuous string of updates.
7. Don’t connect to people you don’t know – Keep your network relevant with people you know and trust. You don’t have to know each member personally, but having some professional or personal relationship is key.
8. Don’t have an out of date profile – Try to add a little more than your current position and a 2-line description. LinkedIn is your own professional web-site. Others look at LinkedIn to get a better feel for your professional career and background. Even if you are not looking for a new job or have worked at the same company for 30 years, keep your profile current and relevant. You never know when you will be needing to reach out to an active network.
9. Don’t request too many recommendations – Recommendations are best when unsolicited. Suddenly posting a series of recommendations can look contrived. Certainly there are times to request a recommendation, just as you would request a testimonial for your web-page.
10. Don’t be missing from LinkedIn – And lastly, make sure you use LinkedIn, especially if you are in IT. It amazes me that there are still professionals, IT or not, that do not have a LinkedIn account or have zero activity. It is the first place I go to get additional information. Don’t be missing!

Anything you would add to (or eliminate from) this list?

These terms are thrown around a lot and I think it is important that retailers understand the difference between SaaS (Software as a Service) and Hosted. While these 2 have similarities, they also have many differences. Many vendors claim to have a SaaS or cloud-based solution, but do they really? It is important to know the difference, so you know what you are getting. In both models; servers, databases, and software are hosted remotely (in the cloud), meaning it does not matter to the user whether the servers are around the block or in Wichita, Kansas. The difference really comes in how the application is designed and delivered.

SaaS, provides a single instance of the software to ALL customers. These applications are typically run on a standard browser or thin client. Many different companies (customers) run the same software, but can ‘personalize’ its use through system settings, profiles, or parameters. But there is only one instance of the software and database shared by all clients. Depending on how the application is designed, determines the amount of customization each client can make (e.g. adding their own company logo or altering the look & feel). All data is stored in the same database, but a single customer’s data is only available to themselves. When software is updated, all customers get the same updates at the same time. By definition, the actual software itself cannot be customized, since such changes would affect ALL customers.

Hosted, on the other hand, treats each customer separately and stores a separate instance of software and database on its servers. Sometimes called Managed Services, each customer may even have its own dedicated server(s) and database(s). This offering is really no different than maintaining your own set of systems in-house, except that all of the equipment and software is managed off-site. The hosting company takes care of all hardware/server maintenance, backups, performance tuning, system/software updates , etc. In this scenario, each company has their own instance of software and can take updates according to their own schedule and software can be customized without affecting any other customers.

This explains some of the key differences between these 2 models. What works best for you will depend on your requirements and goals. Don’t simply rely on the Vendor’s terminology. Make sure you are getting what you want!!

What do you see as other key differences in these 2 models? What is your experience with one vs the other?

Can a retailer have an effective Omni-channel retail strategy without a proper MDM approach? Let’s break this down further and see what conclusion we come to. First, let’s start off with some basic definitions, as per Wiki:

1. Omni-channel Retailing – is very similar to, and an evolution of, multi-channel retailing, but is concentrated more on a seamless approach to the consumer experience through all available shopping channels, i.e. mobile internet devices, computers, bricks-and-mortar, television, catalog, and so on.
2. Master Data Management (MDM) - comprises a set of processes and tools that consistently defines and manages the master data (i.e. non-transactional data entities) of an organization (which may include reference data).

Omni-channel retailing is looking at your retail business through different glasses. While the customer has always been an important focus of any retail strategy, omni-retailing is a holistic customer-centric view across the ever-growing number of retail channels. It is no longer about having multiple channels available to your customer, it is about having one all-encompassing view of the consumer that can shop through any channel the retailer provides. In fact, maybe a customer will shop in more than one channel on the same transaction? Here is what Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s, said about the omni-channel consumer – It makes no difference to us whether she buys something in our store or online … or whether she is shopping from her desktop computer or her Droid or her iPad.

The challenge facing the retailer is how to accomplish this seamless holistic approach? The quickest solution is to build more integration. How can all this data be shared and consistent across all of these channels? One day you open a Facebook store and the next day it may be a Pinterest store…who really knows? With each new channel the retailer does what the retailer knows, and builds another integration, resulting in an ever-growing web of data being pushed and replicated across multiple applications, databases, and platforms. This approach may result in a complex, error-prone, and high-maintenance environment where timeliness, consistency, and accuracy of data is virtually impossible to manage,

MDM offers an approach that is more suited to this holistic strategy. It’s purpose is to pull all this master data outside of these applications, databases, and channels, into one managed version of the truth. With all master data stemming from once centralized source, data can be cleansed, verified, and easily shared across all channels.

Remember, if it’s all about the consumer, you cannot have the customer data split into multiple arenas. Items, product information, vendors, prices, customers, loyalty programs, and promotions must appear as one entity to the consumer. While this can all be pulled together through integration and appear as one to the consumer, it leaves a lot of room for error. If the retailer can step back and take a more holistic view/approach of their data, and develop an MDM strategy, then data quality, consistency, and rapid deployment of new channels will be more easily accomplished.

What do you think? Do you see MDM as a better approach to omni-channel retailing? If so, how can a retailer move to an MDM-based architecture? We will touch on this in future posts.

There, I said it. With a majority of the world’s population in love with their Apple devices, it is a difficult statement to make publicly. OK, “hate” may be too strong a word, but it’s just enough already with Apple this and Apple that. It’s not the products or company I hate, it’s their closed superior mentality. Apple has great products and great software that serves a lot of people really well in the computing world, but with Android (Google’s open mobile operating system) they are no longer the only player in the mobile/tablet world.

Given that I work in the IT industry, people frequently ask my opinion on the Android vs Apple question, and why I chose an Android phone (Samsung) over a an iPhone and an Android tablet (Lenovo) over an iPad. I always try to respond in a politically correct manner, so as not to say anything offensive to the many friends and colleagues that are Apple owners. A typical response might go something like this, “Apple is great. Great visionary company that undeniably makes great products. Can’t argue that. But I decided on Android because it’s cheaper, more open, yada, yada”. I am no expert, but the truth is, I have had it with Apple and its over-priced ‘i’ products, it’s closed and controlling environment, and the materialistic status symbol it has become. While the i products were revolutionary, they are no longer the only thing available on the market. Does every kid really need an iPhone, iPod, iPad, and maybe soon an iCar? Spending $800+ on a tablet is not necessary. You can purchase an equally capable tablet for under $400. Just like the “Apple vs. Windows” debate over the desktop world, it is now “Apple vs Android” over the mobile world. Like Microsoft, Google provides the ultimate competitive environment, where any hardware vendor can build or adapt their products to the Android operating system. Software, media, and data from any source, are easily used across all Android devices. You don’t have to purchase every device, every piece of software, and all digital content from the Apple Empire.

I am sure this debate will go on for a long time, but for now, I will stick with my Android devices and see how the market further develops. What’s your preferred mobile device?