18
HORIZONSSANDERSON
RETAILING IN 2010
David Mahoney, Sanderson Retail Business Solutions managing director, shares his
thoughts on the outlook for retailers during the coming year with Retail Technology
Outsource for effi ciency alternative suppliers are available should the
“Retaining customers in 2010 will be the worst happen.
key factor to success, and retailers should be “If 2009 was the year retail embraced
looking to their IT infrastructure for ways to multichannel, then 2010 must be the year it
support customer retention. With budgets recognises the importance of cross-channel.
being squeezed and costs tightened, many Consumers will be driving this need for
retailers will look at more effi cient ways of cross-channel integration, they expect to
supporting their IT infrastructures,” added be able to buy online and return in-store
Mahoney. “Outsourcing is now proving a and fi gures show that services such as ‘click
viable and cost-effective option for retailers and collect’ are increasing in consumer
whose business critical systems need to popularity. The businesses that got cross-
be available and supported 24 hours a day. channel integration right in 2009 have
Retailers need to remove the potential for survived and thrived, while those that have
non-functioning systems in order to not not have proved there is little room in this
only protect revenue, but also customer market for poor or half-hearted attempts at
“
M
any retailers started seeing the relationships. Sanderson has invested in its multichannel retailing.
green shoots of recovery during support and hosted services throughout the “The UK faces the prospect of a general
the latter part of 2009, and some past year, and is successfully supporting a election in the second quarter of the year,
of the bigger industry players have already number of leading UK retail operations. and a likely change of leadership,” he added.
announced tentatively pleasing Christmas “Retailers should also be looking to their “While a change of government is unlikely to
trading fi gures,” observed Mahoney, who is supply chain and warehousing practices to spell radical change for businesses, whichever
managing director of Sanderson RBS, a major make sure key products are available for key party takes power will most certainly be
UK supplier of IT solutions and services to events – such as the football World Cup this required to reduce the national defi cit. We
the retail industry. summer. Product availability will be vital in are therefore looking at a likely increase in
“While we all anxiously await further securing customers and boosting seasonal taxation, which will almost certainly affect the
signals of a recovering economy, the retailers sales, so a secure and effi cient supply chain, consumer’s ability to spend. Those primed
“set to be the success stories of 2010 are with an effective warehousing operation, is for change and supported by an effi cient
those already working behind the scenes imperative. Retailers should be vetting their infrastructure will be the ones best positioned
to improve their business operations, drive supply chains to ensure suppliers themselves for survival. We sincerely hope to see a return
effi ciency through the supply chain and are operating secure businesses and that to a thriving High Street this year.”
improve the in-store experience to promote
customer satisfaction and, therefore, retention.
“No one can predict what 2010 will bring
to the retail industry, but we can expect
that the ‘survival of the fi ttest’ scenario will
continue, which is why retailers must ensure
they’re running lean operations. The capacity
to react to changing market conditions
quickly will prove profi table, so retailers need
to ensure they have good systems, staff and
suppliers in place. Tough economic conditions
may force retailers to review staff levels, but
retaining knowledge and expertise within
the organisation is imperative and, for this,
retailers need to look to their IT systems.
When the time is right, the ability to train
new staff quickly and effectively will be
crucial,” he said.
RETAIL TECHNOLOGY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010
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