Find out why Lighthouse was formed. We vet new technologies on behalf of Asset Protection teams; introducing time-saving, money-saving, problem-solving solutions.
Navigating a New Year
I know the “only constant is change” but didn’t realize it was THIS constant. Feels like we have been in a tailspin lately; every industry has been disrupted from Crypto to Christmas trees! And, yes, even Retail.
What this means to us at Lighthouse is it is time to get back to basics— control what we can control. For thirty+ years, we have witnessed change in the retail space. Employee turnover is historically quite high (60% annual attrition) and, according to McKinsey, will be as high as 2/3 frontline employees and managers leaving their jobs in the next few months.
Whether this is because of Covid, Culture, or the rise of “Quiet Quitting” is irrelevant. What matters is it is happening. As leaders in the retail space have to fill vacancies, cover off-shifts, and really step up, Lighthouse is helping them find the next investments, develop future projects that will keep the business moving forward on a large scale while you battle each day to keep your store running.
Mobile Systems are Permanent Fixtures
The last decade saw enumerable mobile checkout systems hit the market. Everything from Square and PayPal to dozens we’ve never used (many of which are multi-million dollar companies.) The proliferation of the software, and the massive flow of data in both directions, has forced retailers’ hands in finding ways to manage it; no more ignoring it.
There was a recent webinar by some industry experts called “Optimizing Mobile Services to Power Next-Gen Omnichannel Stores“ (lengthy title, tons of info.) As stores rely on mobile shoppers, they must be able to experience the same type of service from their couch, office, or in the store. This has posed a problem with inventory, delivery, last-mile limitations, BOPIS, and up-selling. As mobile services continue to evolve and innovate, it is likely we will see some solutions for these dilemmas.
The deeper these services become interwoven in a store system, the less likely they are to do away with them. As far as we can tell, mobile shopping and in-store experiences are becoming more intertwined, making them a mainstay in our retail environment.
Preparing for the next wave of COVID
Not only is Covid spiking in the US, it is continuing to reach new heights. With around 130K new cases reported each day rates are 4 times greater than those experienced during the first wave, so what are the potential implications for retailers in the US?
The last few days have seen significant developments. Most notably, a Biden win in the presidential election along with a pledge to tackle the pandemic and the announcement of vaccine. However, most experts think the Covid vaccine will not be widely available until the middle of 2021. Between now and then we have winter and the need to maintain and regulate social distancing to prevent further spread during the interim, a point demonstrated by Europe as most of it has already entered into a second lockdown, which the Biden administration may also need to enforce. So how can retailers and businesses prepare now for the second wave?
Check out Occupi, an occupancy management solution developed by Ocucon. Occupi uses AI to deliver extremely accurate sensing and integrates with automatic doors to regulate customer numbers in line with government imposed restrictions. Through removing the need for costly door marshals, the system delivers an ROI within 30 days. It has also produced proven increases in both sales and productivity for adopters of it and recently featured on BBC Click.
A newly developed API also allows users to extract occupancy data in real time for the number of customers in store. By taking this data and integrating it within their website applications, retailers can easily display live occupancy levels on a store-by-store basis and clearly indicate whether stores are full or have capacity, and if so how much capacity they have available before becoming full.
Occupi provides a proven and elegant solution that helps to prevent unnecessary journeys, improves overall customer experience, particularly during the winter months, and raises the overall competitive positioning of those that adopt this technology.
Is retail the next subscription service frontier?
Subscriptions for our lives (Streaming, dating apps, cloud storage, financial management) average $640 a year. This is 7% up from 2017. While there is a lot to be said for the cable service prices being to high, and the convenience with which we can order household items on Amazon, we are wondering how high this will go?
it seems that a likely next step is that retailers lock in customers with annual subscriptions. This could lead to discounts at the store, partnerships with local businesses, all with the intention of making money from customers who will inevitably shop elsewhere sometimes.
Something to think about though with the numbers of online shoppers still hovering around 12% (of all retail shopping, excluding groceries.) As these numbers climb, retailers will be thinking creatively, finding partnerships, trying to get customers to commit to them, beyond just loyalty cards. How often are those left in the bottom of a purse, or associated with a password we can’t remember and we just pay the extra $0.35 we would be saving out of convenience? These paid subscriptions will hold us accountable, and potentially drive more business (more consolidated shopping) to these places.
Keep an eye out for the creative way these retailers will lock you in as a shopper, and how they’ll capitalize on these rising subscription trends.
Don’t Believe the Hype
Click! Bang! Whiz! Colors! Noises! How often are we advertised to? Think about commercials, online ads, brand logos that we see… According to Red Crow Marketing, most Americans will see between 4000 and 10000 ads per day! Along with these “faceless ads,” retailers are receiving upwards of 200 emails/week of sales professionals asking for time to pitch their product. Adding up the amount of time available per week, and the amount being asked for, we can quickly see the dilemma.
Many of us have had to sell something at some point, be it a product to a buyer, an idea to your boss, a trip with your friends to your significant other… whatever the case, we know it can be difficult. We have a plan, we have our pitch, and in order to sell this to the buyer, we need to make it feel like they will be benefitting from it, often because we benefit from selling it.
There are exceptions; products where a purchase is mutually beneficial. But for a buyer to sift through 200 e-mails/week to find the one that will be beneficial to them and their company can be daunting, if not impossible, and, frankly, not always worth their time.
It is too easy to “get in front” of the decision makers via e-mail, phone calls, and the age old “I’m in town, let’s get coffee.” With everything in life, be patient. Understand that these efforts take time. Because we treat someone well one time, that does not earn us their trust. It takes years of consistent efforts of doing the right thing, being authentic in every interaction, proving you are an expert in the industry, and never expecting anything from your interactions. That builds trust. You can have the best product, the best meeting, the best intentions, but it takes time. Be willing to put in the time, or consider a career of one-off, transactional relationships without any depth or merit.
We write this because we have been there. And now, thirty+ years later, we have connections from our early days in the industry. Reach out. Let’s talk. We would love to learn something from you, and glad to open up about what we learned in our careers.
Lighthouse Consultants
www.lighthouseconsultants.co
