Top technology issues currently faced by retailers

Here are some of the most frequent issues affecting our retail customers

Queue busting

Queue busting is still a huge area of concern for many of our customers as shoppers tend to be busy and impatient. The average ‘goodwill’ time a retailer has when it comes to customers waiting is about 3-4 minutes and any longer could see customers abandoning their purchase and heading for the door.  This is driving retailers to review their IT hardware and software provision more closely, along with any associated IT support and maintenance services, to ensure that queues and downtime are kept to an absolute minimum.

Omnichannel retailing

Increasingly, we are seeing that retailers are demanding solutions which enable them to have more interaction with their customers. This is particularly the case for high-end luxury and technology retailers, as well as those offering ‘new concept’ stores which are based much more on the experience and less on displaying masses of product. Businesses are increasingly moving toward omnichannel retailing, giving the customer more ways to interact using their mobile devices in store. Bluetooth payment options via PayPal for example are also climbing up the technology agenda.

Digital signage

Digital signage is starting to be used over RF, allowing a customer to pick up an item and hold it by the screen to see more details including images of every colour variation.  It can also help retailers to track all items in store as the terminal will tell you in real-time exactly where the items are, such as in the window, on the middle display or in the stock room, giving an added security awareness.

Greater mobility

Management reporting on the go is growing in popularity, as managers increasingly use tablets and mobile devices to keep information updated. Cloud-based solutions which enable information to be entered remotely, but recorded on one central system will dramatically improve the access to critical sales information and will enable retailers to respond quicker and more accurately to market changes.

PCI Compliance and P2PE

PCI Compliance is still a huge issue for retailers, as is P2PE  (Point to Point encryption).  Whilst these are the standards that the bank asks all retailers to meet, they are expensive and some retailers are still choosing to take a risk of exposure over the cost of being compliant.  The good news for retailers is that there are lots of flexible solutions that enable them to be P2PE compliant whilst also fitting in with their existing procedures and processes.

Managed print services

Managed Print Service is an area which has seen particular growth in the first half of this year and is expected to continue into 2015. This is in part due to recent press coverage which suggested that some providers were being unscrupulous and ripping off their retail customers. Whether directly or indirectly, retailers are realising the importance of finding a managed print service which is flexible, cost effective, fit for purpose and can be maintained without long periods of downtime.

Do any of these issues sound familiar? If you are experiencing challenges with any of the topics mentioned above, why not get in touch and see if we can help?

Harry Mee

Head of Service Management, Barron McCann