10 fastest growing retail companies 2019
- 1. Technology Business FeaturesLeadership CIOs Interactive E-commerce Marketplace by the world’s influencers and stars. RELEVANT Robbie Antonio | CEO www.thesiliconreview.com Fastest Growing 1 Retail Companies SR 2019 U.S. Issue July 2019 The future ahead for retail: the latest tech trends in the industry / Pg No - 08
- 4. Best, Vishnu Vardhan Kulkarni Managing Editor, The Silicon Review [email protected] Copyright Silicon Review LLC. All rights reserved reproduction in any manner is prohibited. Silicon Review LLC. Does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscript and photographs. (CIN:-U72200KA2014PTC075778) (RNI REG. NO. KARENG/2017/75691) MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS To Subscribe with The Silicon Review and get 20% off on the Cover price Visit: www.thesiliconreview.com or Email us: [email protected] GET IN TOUCH The Silicon Review Silicon Review LLC, #3240 East State Street Ext Hamilton, NJ 08619 Sales: 510-400-4523 Corporate Office: The Silicon Review’s circulation is audited and certified by BPA International (Audit Pending) Editor-in-Chief G.Sai Pradeep S.Saipriyadarshini Shashi Kumar Vishwakarma Bodhaditya Mohanty Shashank Singh Subin Prakash.M Managing Editor VISUALISERS [email protected] Sreshtha Banerjee: QUERIES [email protected] Vishnu Vardhan Kulkarni: SALES & MARKETING Steven Rogers Brian Curry Jennifer Anderson Mark Jarman Joseph Girard Jeff Miller Eric Johnson Simon Richard Sarah Collins Rachael Martin Rakshitha Rai Avinash Nayak Javid Ali CORRESPONDENTS ADVERTISING BUSSINESS HEAD [email protected] EDITORIAL TEAM John Allen, Project Head [email protected] MANAGEMENT Pavan Kumar Kalla: Circulation Manager PUBLISHER Manish Pandey Printed & Published by Manish Pandey on behalf of Silicon Review LLC at Printo Document Services. #3240, East State Street, Ext Hamilton, NJ 08619 Michelle Williams: ART DIRECTOR Smriti Kumari Arjun Pandey, Project Coordinator [email protected] Co-Managing Editor Development Office: RELATIONSHIP MANAGER Kevin Martin Brendon Thompson Silicon Review LLC, 340 S Lemon AVE #7046 Walnut, CA 91789 PH: 510-400-4819 Editor’s Note Rohit Baruah Kushal Kumar Anirudh Prasad Anusha Retail is detail! Retail is one of the most volatile industries, and Information Technology continues to reshape retail in interesting and unexpected ways. With the increasing globalization of retailing, both in terms of their points-of-sale and their points- of-supply; the IT spend in the retail sector has increased significantly. IT plays an increasingly important role in the management of complex retail operations. Market knowledge, as well as control of data and information, is the key to obtaining a competitive advantage in the retail sector. Markets are continuing to grow and become more complex; the simple process of retailing has started to deploy more advanced retail information systems to cope with all the transactions involved. Retailers are beginning to notice that technology’s role is one of an enabler. Essentially, information technology can speed up processes and deliver cost saving benefits to the company. So how to extract more benefits from IT you ask? Ask the experts, The Silicon Review “10 Fastest Growing Retail Companies 2019.” Which are not only distinctly ahead among the peers, but are helping other companies to gain momentum along with them. The companies that are enlisted provide most innovative and customized solutions in retail, digital marketing, and e-commerce sectors, and these companies distinguish themselves from peers by their ability to forecast future retail trends. Success recognized to the fullest!
- 6. CONTENTS Let’s do good, Together: Kesko Mikko Helander President & CEO Digital Selling Solution Designed for Today’s Industry Grapevine6 Wayne Gomes, CEO Retail Tech, Inc. provides retailers, grocers, hospitality chains, and third- party maintenance companies their ideal Point of Sale solution Robert Spinner, CEO Synergizing the best of online shopping and in-store experience Brickwork David Munczinski CEO A Truly Nordic Shopping Centre Company: Citycon F. Scott ball, CEO Connecting people through fashion Farfetch Jose Neves Founder & CEO The digital-first online retail group: Findel plc P B Maudsley, CEO Helping retailers to resolve overpayments and revenue leakages through data analytics Discover Dollar Subrahmanya Rao Founder & CEO A one-stop shop for air conditioners and its components for consumers: Amber Enterprises India Ltd Jasbir Singh Chairman & CEO Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Visual Search and Object Recognition LexSet Leslie Oliver Karpas CEO & Co-founder 10 38 18 46 14 42 50 34 54 Vol - 1.3 | ISSUE - 1 | July 2019 (U.S. Issue) 30
- 7. FEATURE ARTICLES A Synergy of Brick & Mortar Stores and E-Commerce Could Be the Future of Retail Retail Industry needs A.I. to Transform and Merge with the Current Trends The future ahead for retail: the latest tech trends in the industry ‘Woke-Washing’: ‘An Unhealthy Attempt of Disseminating Purposeful Message’ Sustainable Living Brands: Unilever’s X-Factor for Growth 5 things to know about safety in Amazon warehouses Jeroen Wels: ‘FLEX Experiences Creates Radical Transparency in the Opportunities We Have’ Trends in shopping are being stimulated by growing competition in retail “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.” Cashier-Less stores: The future of Retail? Ways to Maximize Your Success by Minimizing Your Retail Space 8 28 44 16 36 52 12 32 48 20 40 56 22 COVER STORY Robbie Antonio, CEO Interactive E-commerce Marketplace by the world’s influencers and stars. RELEVANT Retail Therapy; How therapeutic it actually is
- 8. The future ahead for retail: the latest tech trends in the industry I n this digital era, everything is driven by technology and the Retail industry is no exception. With the boom of e-commerce, technology has drastically changed the face of shopping and has brought innovative ideas to the market which has caused major disruption in the Retail industry. An ever-changing landscape, retail has experienced something new every year and the retailers who are willing to change and adapt will survive! Let’s look at the tech trends which will change the retail world in the future. Augmented Shopping Gartner indicated in a report that around 100 million consumers are anticipated to use augmented reality in their shopping experience. While AR has been around for some time, its adaption on mobile platforms has lead to AR being used by retail consumers. Today well-known brands are using AR to increase customer engagement. Lacoste, American Apparel and Uniqlo have opened virtual showrooms and fitting rooms to allow customers to try products in virtual spaces. Zara also has joined the race and is using smart mirrors that read RFID tags on clothes that have been pulled from racks to provide suggestions in a fashion closer to what consumers see from online stores rather than brick-and-mortar locations. Ikea is using an ARKit-based app to encourage customers to visualize what new furniture will look like in a room while moving their phone cameras around in real time. Staff-free and cashier- less stores Freeing staff members up from menial and time-consuming tasks is an important part of re-imagining the retail landscape in the coming years. The tools that will allow this digital transformation include RFID tags, computer vision systems, machine learning, IoT devices, and facial recognition. One of the most promising concepts in this area is the cashier-less Amazon Go store chain. Despite being not completely staff-free, it still allows smartphone-wielding customers to shop quickly, without time-consuming lines and checkouts. Vendors in the merchant terminal industry are also getting onboard, with Mastercard showing off unmanned checkout technologies for use in convenience stores. Using smart shelves, sensors can be utilized to tie physical products to a customer’s virtual shopping cart. IoT-based systems can then identify when they and the items exit the store, at which point the sale is registered to their credit card. Voice-enabled shopping to reduce the sales cycle The boom in voice-activated systems has largely been driven by companies like Amazon and Google with their Alexa and Google Home products, respectively. A handful of competitors, especially Sonos and Apple, are also driving innovation. The ever-evolving IoT technologies will also help smaller competitors to enter the market. According to a survey by NPR and Edison Research, 53 million Americans now have at least a single smart speaker system at home. Integrating voice into any device is easy thanks to the advent of the Amazon Voice Service. You can expect to see many products that will bear the label “Alexa-enabled” in the near future. This idea found its way to the Internet of Things products like smart mirrors, which deliver varied content in an engaging manner. Societal adoption remains the strongest headwind against voice technologies. There are continuing security concerns, and access to systems is a worry, too. In particular, parental controls need to be dependable enough that families are
- 9. happy to leave speakers sitting around their houses. Omnichannel retail to deliver seamless shopping experiences The new age of omnichannel marketing means that customers expect a seamless experience across all channels. They see items on websites, visit stores, whip out their phones and start looking for help. They visit a store, see an item, save it to their phone, go home and want it delivered. They stay online, purchase and expect a pickup in the store. In other words, none of the channels are distinct or meaningful to them. Look at the role mobile-based visual search plays in customers making buying decisions. Pinterest Lens lets a user pull out their phone, snap a picture and find related pins on the platform in a matter of seconds. The platform has experienced 100% year-to-year growth, indicating interest in visual search is there when there’s an app that can do it well. This also means that other seamless omnichannel interactions are open for use. People are happy to click online and collect items in the store. According to a report from the National Retail Federation, 89 million customers use a combination of online and in-store shopping over the post-Thanksgiving runup for the holiday shopping season. Especially enticing for retailers is the report that omnichannel users spent $93 more than average customers. SR
- 10. Let’s do good, Together Kesko K esko is a Finnish trading sector pioneer. The firm operates in the grocery trade, the building, and technical trade and the car trade. Its divisions and chains act in close cooperation with retailer entrepreneurs and other partners. The firm’s chain operations comprise some 1,800 stores in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Poland. Combining online sales and digital services with its extensive store site network, Kesko enables a seamless customer experience in all channels. Together, Kesko and K-retailers form K Group, whose sales (pro forma) totaled approximately €13 billion in 2018. K Group is the biggest trading sector operator in Finland and one of the biggest Northern Europe. Kesko employs some 41,000 people. Kesko’s strategic business areas are grocery trade, building and technical trade, and car trade. They are areas where Kesko has strong expertise and market positions and they offer good potential for profitable growth in the long term. Corporate responsibility is a strategic choice for K Group and integrated into its daily activities. Responsible purchasing, product safety, the environment, and good corporate governance are key focus areas for its corporate responsibility work. Customer and quality – in everything we do Kesko was formed when four regional wholesaling companies that Our vision is to be the preferred choice of customers and the quality leader in the European trading sector. Mikko Helander, President & CEO 10 July - 2019
- 11. had been founded by retailers - Savo-Karjalan Tukkuliike, Keski-Suomen TukkukauppaOy, KauppiaittenOy, and MaakauppiaittenOy - were merged in October 1940. Establishment of Kesko The new Kesko company started operating at the beginning of 1941. The need to purchase goods for the shareholder-retailers and to support their business operations and start cooperation among them resulted in the forming of the K-retailer group. The active building of the K-store network was started and joint advertising was launched. The K-emblem was introduced as the new group’s symbol. Period of growth The rationing of goods and regulation of imports retarded the growth of trade during the first years of the 1950s. Towards the end of the 1950s, when restrictions were removed, the building of specialty store networks was started to complement the general stores. Kesko played a significant role in developing the store formats. At first, the main emphasis was on establishing a hardware store network and a warehousing system for the hardware products offered by Kesko. In addition, big efforts were made to develop trade in agricultural supplies and machinery. A new course The retail trade in foodstuffs underwent great changes during the 1960s. As Finnish people became less self-reliant in terms of their daily grocery needs, fresh foods were added to stores’ selections, and the trend was for general stores to evolve into food stores. Information technology spurs growth In the 1970s Kesko continued to grow steadily, in the foodstuffs trade in particular. A new store format - the supermarket - was successfully launched. Further steps were taken to strengthen the specialty store network. The responsibility for developing store formats was transferred to the commercial divisions. Kesko and the K-retailers entered the retail trade in the fields of home and specialty goods and hardware products. The Kesport chain was established. The first Citymarket hypermarket was opened in Lahti in 1971. New investments and new owners The 1980s represented a period of heavy investment for Kesko. Building projects included new business premises for the branch offices in Turku and Oulu, a new central warehouse and several large retail stores. The share capital was increased to finance these investments. The number of shareholders grew by 20,000. Chain operations start Kesko was changed significantly by the establishment of new grocery store formats and the transfer to chain operations. Centralization continued. The number of district units dropped to five, and they mainly engaged in the grocery trade. The forming of chain units and profit groups, and the incorporation of operations created a more customer-oriented, profit-targeted operating model. A time for internationalization Entry into the Swedish and Baltic markets that had started in the mid-1990s gained momentum at the turn of the millennium. Major spearheads in the internationalization process were the retailing of hardware and builders’ supplies and the K-rauta format. Kesko also expanded its agricultural business to all Baltic countries, becoming a market leader in the area in a very short time. “Our mission is to create welfare responsibly - for all our stakeholders and for all society.” SR 11July - 2019
- 12. Retail Industry needs A.I. to Transform C ustomer behavior is a major concern for all retailers today. Gone are those days where the retailers use traditional methods to connect to the customers. It was very simple and easy back then, but now everything has changed. People want more techs and more understanding of the situation, which brings us to their behavior. The lack of patience has made customers lazy and thus expects the retailers to understand their behavior. In simple words, a customer expects the retailers to understand what they need, what they want and what they might need in the future. This has been a major concern for many retailers in the world. The demands of customers have just increased drastically. Depending on the region the demands vary, but one this is common that is human behavior. This is where Artificial Intelligence can play its part. Retailers have to explore the artificial Intelligence vertical since it is evolving and companies that belong to other industries are coming up with better tech. Also, A.I. is said to aid other verticals in terms of growth and development of their existing tech. Retailers should consider A.I. for human behavior so that they can provide better services. Further, catching up with the recommendation engines is the current demand. It is important to keep in mind the fact that Recommendation Engines are currently redefining customer experience and it also shows the retail business value chain transformation, which is shaping up and is undergoing a transition. A.I. is further said to enhance the supply chain aspects of retailers’ business. It all leads to data-powered disruption of retails. Another key factor that is ruling today’s industry is Data. Firms owning the best and highest number of data often find themselves in a safe zone where one can implement the existing data collected. When you talk about retail it is evident that the retailers will have an extensive amount of data procured through regular business. But smarter retailers are completely aware of the interaction between the business and customers. That is the loyalty and additional customer revenue. It is said that by implementing A.I., retailers will have an operating margin of about 60 percent. But then again only data and building reports are not enough. One needs to go beyond summarizing customer behavior at an aggregate level. Although, many would say insights are important but retailers need systems that will take actionable decisions through data and that is more important. The insights on the behavior of the customers are way immense than we imagine. It has now become mandatory that the retailers handle customer queries with meaningful dialogues that are targeted for individual customers to honor the shoppers’ preferred level. Thus, improving the mode of engagement and also the retailers don’t end up losing the customer. Summarized reports are not enough for this move to happen. It needs technology to power it and A.I. seems to be the only option. Although there are many other options to choose from, the best option, for now, seems to be A.I. Not all techs today can understand customer individuality and actions in minutes. It is A.I.’s core and the main reason why A.I. was made in the first place. Our current situation clearly shows that we live in a data-driven generation where the decision making is extremely pervasive and useful if made right. As a result, the word’s traditional commerce and e-Commerce are currently merging, which is making many players in the current market to follow an omnichannel. Where data is playing its part by reconstructing retail and surely within a few years we will see a huge difference in how retail industry functions. Companies like Walmart, Amazon have already played their cards. Walmart procuring Flipkart and Amazon procuring Whole Foods seems evident that even the big players know what’s coming. They have an advantage in terms of money and brand value. Medium and small- sized firms along with big firms with low brand value need to understand that now is the right time to make the move and implement A.I. Retailers no matter how big or small should understand that growth comes with change. Implementing the current tech and merging with the right people will surely help you stay in the retail industry for a longer period. “What we need to do is always lean into the future; when the world changes around you and when it changes against you – what used to be a tail wind is now a headwind. You have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy,” says Jeff Bezos. SR 12 July - 2019
- 13. and Merge with the Current Trends “If you want to know how to sell more, then you better know why customers buy” – Steve Ferrante 13July - 2019
- 14. A Truly Nordic Shopping Centre Company Citycon Our shopping centers are located in urban cross points close to where customers live and work, and with a direct connection to public transport, health care, and municipal services. C itycon is a leading owner, manager, and developer of urban, grocery-anchored shopping centers in the Nordic region, managing assets that total almost EUR 4.5 billion. Citycon is No. 1 shopping center owner in Finland and among the market leaders in Norway, Sweden and Estonia. Citycon has also established a foothold in Denmark. Placed in the heart of communities, Citycon’s shopping centers cater to the everyday needs of customers. Citycon’s statutory bodies are the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Board of Directors and the CEO. In addition, the CEO is assisted by the Corporate Management Committee in the operative management of the company. Shareholders participate in the control and management of Citycon through resolutions approved at the General Meetings of Shareholders. The tasks and responsibilities of the different bodies are specified pursuant to the Finnish Companies Act and Citycon’s Corporate Governance Guidelines. Citycon in brief Citycon owns 40 shopping centers and 1 other retail property. Of the shopping centers, 14 are located in Finland & Estonia, 15 in Norway, 11 in Sweden & Denmark. In addition, Citycon leases and manages 10 shopping centers in Norway on behalf of other owners. Citycon’s shopping centers attract approximately 170 million visitors annually. Listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (CTY1S) since 1988, Citycon Oyj maintains investment-grade credit ratings from Moody’s (Baa2) and Standard & Poor’s (BBB-). Citycon is a member of the EPRA (European Public Real Estate Association). Citycon is recognized as a long-term player committed to sustainable shopping center management. Sustainability Citycon’s shopping centers are at the hearts of communities, where customers live and work. All of its shopping centers are connected to public transport. Citycon believes that operating sustainably is a key cornerstone in creating long-term value. The firm is committed to sustainable development, high ethical principles, and contributing to the community in everything it does. Citycon aims to take into account environmental aspects and well-being in the areas surrounding its properties. It will continuously look for opportunities to improve its environmental performance by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and waste in all its operations. Citycon is committed to promoting the health, safety, security, well-being, and prosperity of the communities where we operate. Environment Citycon can have an impact on the prevention and reduction of emissions through the management and development of its shopping centers. The best ways of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the sector are to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, to reduce energy consumption and to increase the use of renewable energy sources in the properties’ energy production and procurement. In (re) development projects Citycon carries out its projects according to international environmental certification processes in order to minimize construction-related environmental impacts. Fair Business Its stakeholders expect Citycon to act ethically and responsibly – do its business the right way. Citycon consistently complies with the applicable laws and regulations of its operating countries in the Nordic and Baltic region. Citycon’s Code of Conduct reinforces the company’s values and lays the foundation for its business operations, guiding its personnel to act both ethically 14 July - 2019
- 15. and responsibly. By playing fair, with high ethical standards, the firm preservesits reputation and increase its success. Citycon’s strategy and activities take into account and reflect the ethical principles described in its Code. Additionally, Citycon is committed to embracing high ethical principles and have a continuous desire for being a reliable partner in each community and in all of its business activities. The Leader F. Scott ball, CEO: “We aim to be the household name for Nordic shopping centers. The three focus areas of our strategy are right assets, retail experts and strong capital base.” Citycon’s mission is to offer the best retail space and everyday shopping experience in urban centers in the Nordics.” “ F. Scott ball, CEO SR 15July - 2019
- 16. Trends in shopping are being stimulated by growing competition in retail S hopping is a major source of revenue for the retail industry. With increasing revenues and burgeoning internet usage, large corporations involved in retail have been innovating newer and better ways of attracting customers and cultivating brand loyalty. Here are some of the cutting-edge innovations that are shaping the future of how people shop: Augmented Reality Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the hottest technologies shaping the entertainment industry. But its applications cannot be understated when it comes to retail. Simply put, AR is an interactive visual technology that can render realistic three-dimensional environments on a virtual platform. What it means is that customers can view a virtual simulation of how a particular piece of furniture will look like in which corner of their house. One of the difficulties in buying a new furniture is maintaining aesthetics. Most people have trouble selecting the right furniture to suit the décor in their house. Augmented Reality can alleviate that problem by enabling customers to generate a realistic visual rendering of furniture in their house and making informed decisions. The same tech can be applied to selecting apparel. Knowing how one looks in a particular article of clothing is one of the most common barriers that result in indecisiveness. AR can enable customers to see how they actually look in particular attire. This is most useful when picking a dress or a suit for important occasions like weddings. Visual Search Social media has enabled pictures to be shared and circulated like never before. This has given rise to a new type of advertising technique called influencer marketing. Certain people manage to cultivate a huge following on social media and they make an excellent medium for companies to promote new products or services. Such people need not be celebrities and could be normal people who have a certain charm and charisma. Manufacturers of apparel, accessories, etc. have been promoting their products through these influencers to have a more direct influence on their viewers. This would prompt more people to purchase that product. Another way of using social media for promotions is by embedding product information in the picture so that people can easily search for that item on e-commerce websites. This idea is rapidly gaining momentum as more and more brands continue to invest in it. When people view a picture of a celebrity, or their favorite models and actors, they can instantly know which piece of apparel or accessory is being worn in the picture. Moreover, fans can also browse for that exact item of clothing on websites. These are unique promotional techniques aimed at using visual media as a tool for harnessing greater visibility towards the desired product. It is also a convenient way for potential buyers to find what they like instantly. Moreover, it is an extremely cost effective way of advertising that can garner enormous customers, thus, presenting a win-win situation for both the manufacturers, customers as well as the influencers. Personal shoppers While everyone enjoys going on shopping runs, many are unsure of what to buy when they actually enter the store. Such uncertainty arises from body consciousness, unsure of how one would look, uncertainty about how something fits, and so on. Additionally, numerous people don’t even have the time it requires to go shopping for clothes due to busy work schedules. The answer to all these problems is personal shoppers. Personal shoppers are people who do your shopping for you. As outlandish as it may seem, hiring personal shoppers is, in fact, a growing trend not only amongst the rich and famous but also among ordinary people. Personal shoppers are individuals who, by the very nature of their profession, have a keen awareness 16 July - 2019
- 17. 17July - 2019 of fashion. They know who to dress well and look presentable no matter the occasion. Such individuals happen to know who would look good wearing what. Hiring a personal shopper could cost you extra money, but at times, it is well worth paying the extra bucks as it would save time and save you from making a fashion error. The retail industry is massive and global and rakes in several billion dollars each year. Since there is enormous competition all across the globe, retailers are constantly coming up with newer ways to attract customers. Some of those ideas go on to become popular trends in shopping. SR
- 18. Retail Tech, Inc. provides retailers, grocers, hospitality chains, and third-party maintenance companies their ideal Point of Sale solution We do anything from system integration and logistic services, configuration and testing, shipping and installation, to in-store field services and customer support. R etail Tech Inc. started with just two industry-focused entrepreneurs in a 1,800 sq. foot warehouse in 2000 with the goal to provide quality, low-cost hardware solutions with a rapid response. Now, that goal, customer commitment, and an incredible level of service have allowed Retail Tech to evolve into an industry leading, full-service POS hardware, and storage solution provider. That team of two has grown to include more than 50 dedicated employees, focused on delivering its promise to its valued customers around the world, and with the mindset that no project is too big. Having the most experienced team of Solution Specialists in the industry, each comprising more than 20 years of providing hardware and services to retail, grocery, and hospitality chains, has let the company defend its mission and trusted reputation. Retail Tech Inc. has built strong relationships with top manufacturers such as, Toshiba, Epson, Elo, HP, and Zebra, that allows it to sell superior products, services, and support, as well as purchase old parts and hardware to ensure the retailers’ needs are met. The firm’s objective is simple: to provide quality point-of-sale equipment and solutions to its customers. An objective every member of the Retail Tech team takes to heart. Services offered Hardware Solutions As an authorized Business Partner for many reputable manufacturers of POS Systems, Retail Tech, Inc. is able to provide your company with a customized POS hardware solution to fit your budget and your needs. As the IBM POS Consignment Vendor, Retail Tech, Inc. is responsible for liquidating all of IBM’s Off-Lease, End-of-Life, and excess POS systems. This relationship allows it to warehouse more IBM inventory than anybody else in the market, resulting in the optimal solution for the customer. New Hardware Solutions – Through its partnership with the leading POS companies such as Toshiba, Epson, HP, NCR, PAR, and Zebra Retail Tech, Inc. is able to provide the newest POS hardware directly to you. Whether you are in the hospitality industry, retail industry, or grocery industry Retail Tech, Inc. can supply the latest POS hardware to fulfill your needs. Refurbished Hardware Retail Tech, Inc. provides the highest quality of refurbished POS hardware on the market. Its unique business partner agreements allow the firm to create custom, low-cost solutions while meeting new technology demands just for you. Refurbished equipment is a viable, cost-effective solution for the budget conscious retailer, helping to avoid spending millions of dollars in new POS hardware, roll-outs, and training. Upgraded, older-generation units are capable of accommodating much of the market’s new software, and can be imaged prior to integration and arrive check-stand ready, further cutting overall POS expenses. “Our mission is to provide high-quality POS hardware solutions worldwide through exceptional standards in service, reliability, and cost effectiveness.”
- 19. In addition, Retail Tech, Inc. provides warranties on everything we sell, and the equipment can be added to a new or existing maintenance contract. POS Repair Service & Maintenance As you know, POS costs do not disappear after purchasing new equipment. Components fail, systems cease working, and eventually, the POS system gets old. If you are like most operators, rolling out entirely new POS equipment every other year is out of the question. Therefore, proper maintenance is the key ingredient to making your equipment last as long as possible. With Retail Tech, you are able to customize a maintenance solution to fit your unique needs. The company realizes that not every customer is similar, and it is able to accommodate any request, large or small. Integration and Staging Retail Tech, Inc. has the capability to integrate your POS systems to fit your needs. It un-boxes, assembles, cables, and integrates all your registers, into one check-stand ready box, saving you time and money. The firm’s custom made boxes accommodate the entire POS system for safe shipping and fast, easy unpacking at the destination. It also offers imaging and software loads for your POS hardware. Additional services include Gold Imaging, Configuration, Customization (Store Number, Terminal Number, IP Address, Bank Information), Logistical Services, and Installation of Peripheral Equipment. Retail Tech, Inc.’s project management team will stage your equipment in its warehouse and deploy when necessary in order to meet your rollout requirements. Retail Tech, Inc. uses high-quality air and ground freight services to minimize both cost and transit time. It has expanded its integration and staging facility and is now better able to custom load operating systems and software. It can also test your fully configured registers including peripherals so you can see your POS setup as it would be in the actual store environment. Greet the leader Robert Spinner, CEO: After attending the University of Minnesota, where he studied Business and Marketing, Bob sold restaurant equipment and supplies for PYA/Monarch and Johnson for 2 years. In 1989 he joined Amcom Corporation as a Sales and Marketing Account Manager offering restaurants new and refurbished POS equipment and parts. Accomplishments at AMcom include developing a new vertical market in restaurant POS and becoming a private shareholder in 1985. After Amcom merged with two other companies to become Expresspoint, Bob developed and marketed POS software and became the Director of POS Sales in 1998. During his 10 years at Amcom, he developed strategic relationships with retailers like Walgreen’s, Dillard’s Department Stores, Wal-Mart, Longs Drug, CVS, Menard’s and Dayton Hudson Corporation. In his spare time, Bob enjoys golfing, snowmobiling, and boating with his family. Robert Spinner, CEO SR 19July - 2019
- 20. ‘Woke-Washing’ ‘An Unhealthy Attempt of Disseminating Purposeful Message’ “Woke-washing is putting in peril the very thing which offers us the opportunity to help tackle many of the world’s issues.” — Alan Jope, Unilever CEO M arketing finds its way to reach new heights of creativity, which is a positive sign. Although the marketers have resorted to following a trend of hitching their wagons to popular causes, which again is a positive sign. Now the question arises do brands stick to purposeful messaging? To answer this question, let us analyse what Unilever chief executive t said at Cannes Lions, recently. Before analysing the trend, I would like to shed light on Colin Kaepernick-Nike partnership goals: It’s absolutely normal for a brand to take address social or political issues, provided the campaign run by the brand aims at driving a change. One could differentiate whether the campaign is merely a marketing stunt or to educate masses. From a business perspective, any brand would take any initiative, social or political, to advertise its products or services. At the same time, any well-established brand can focus only on the issue without intending to endorse its products or services. Colin Kaepernick-Nike partnership outcome: “It is abundantly clear that Nike’s controversial decision to feature Mr. Kaepernick in an ad campaign paid off handsomely—the company got a load of valuable free publicity, its online sales quickly saw a boost after the campaign launched, and its stock hit a record high last week,” Fortune reported it on the 20th of September last year. Mr. Kaepernick, known for his political activism, is a former American football quarterback. He stood up against systematic racism African-Americans witness. Keeping this inview, Nike saw an opportunity to promote its products featuring the footballer. “Although the initial ad might have caused a negative reaction among investors, Nike maintained its product pricing structure, offered less discounting and sold out of 61 percent more merchandise since the ad began running,” Fortune quoted Thomson Reutersre searchers as saying. Alan Jope, CEO 20 July - 2019
- 21. It’s unclear whether Nike wanted to address the issue or promote its products/ services but the campaign certainly batted for the company. Initially, Nike faced heat after it signed the footballer; however, the footwear manufacturing company reaped the benefits, eventually. Mr. Jope’s Cannes Lions address was focussed on such an aspect while he focussed on portraying his vision for the Unilever’s marketing department, and the products it sells. At the event, he downplayed the trend I mentioned above saying the brands pick and choose popular causes, but only in words—not action. Mr. Jope termed this “woke-washing”. “It’s polluting purpose,” he said. “It’s putting in peril the very thing which offers us the opportunity to help tackle many of the world’s issues. What’s more, it threatens to further destroy trust in our industry, when it’s already in short supply,” The Drum quoted him as saying. Now the question arises what’s the rationale behind Mr. Jope forcing his brands to align with a purpose and position? Unilever is working with Kantar Group to measure consumer perceptions around how the company’s brands are achieving their inspired goals. Mr. Jope asserts those not living up to Unilever’s high standards set are likely to be sold. The CEO adds brands will have time to adjust and determine where they should align their missions. This tracks with research showing that consumers want brands to take stands on issues and use their power to help change the world. WE Communications partnered with Quartz earlier this year on a study that showed just how important purpose is and will be in the future. “Purpose is not a short-term, feel-good effort,” WE Communications global CEO/founder Melissa Waggener Zorkin said in an article she wrote for PRNEWS. She noted that 73 percent of respondents think a long-term purpose strategy will become as important as an organization’s financial performance. And what’s more, 74 percent of the leaders surveyed believe customers will walk away from brands that don’t share their values. “That’s an industry- agnostic wakeup call,” Zorkin wrote. “If you’re not developing how to authentically put purpose into action, get cracking.” So are Mr. Jope’s strong public statements and threat to cull brands a shot across marketing’s bow? Will the rest of the industry follow suit, making sure they’re “walking the talk” when they take a controversial position? If so, it would be a significant shift. Many brands display their purpose on a pedestal. Some make promises that time demonstrates are empty. SR 21July - 2019
- 22. RELEVANT Interactive E-commerce Marketplace by the world’s influencers and stars. 22 July - 2019
- 23. O wning a home is an important milestone in life for most people. In addition to selecting a design, the joy of shopping for a new home and deciding upon the décor is one of the most memorable experiences for new homeowners. However, purchasing a new house is not without its own difficulties. Finding the right pricing, finalizing the ideal finance structure, waiting for the duration of the construction and the subsequent interior design, etc. constitute the more stressful aspects of home ownership. Additionally, building a designer home by hiring the right architect and decorator is also difficult. Revolution Precrafted is a construction company that aims to tackle all the problems usually associated with buying a new home with its revolutionary business model. The interesting part about Revolution Precrafted’s services are the pre-fabricated homes. As the name indicates, the construction of these homes does not follow the conventional method of laying bricks and mortar. The houses come in neat and attractive pre-fabricated designs that make their construction almost as simple as unpacking a large gift. It seems like something out of a sci-fi Hollywood blockbuster, but Revolution Precrafted has turned it into a reality. It now offers a wide variety of beautiful modular homes designed by some of the world’s leading architects. What’s more, is that the designs can be selected online and customers can choose to have the house transported and assembled at the place of their choosing. In conversation with the brains behind Revolution Precrafted, Robbie Antonio What was the motivation to start the company and how did it all come together? The idea behind Revolution Precrafted came about after observing a lot of the current tech giants like Airbnb and Grab. I’ve always wanted to create an asset-light company that can expand to more geographic locations without the usual problems of funding and manpower. But then again, I am heavily exposed to the field of real estate and this is an industry that I was passionate about. So I tried to create an asset-light company in the field of real estate. I was thinking of new possibilities in real estate then I came up with the idea of creating branded prefab structures, believing that there is great potential there. It’s true that even before we launched, there were a lot of prefab companies already but no one is doing units designed by celebrities, designers and artists. So that was a niche segment that I thought can be explored. People have a lot of misconceptions and wrong ideas about prefab structures. They feel that anything prefabricated is substandard and unreliable and that it cannot be beautiful and impressive. I wanted to challenge that notion. I wanted to prove that by partnering with great artists and designers, we can create a new line of prefab structures that we can all be proud of. On top of that, we also COVER STORY 23July - 2019
- 24. 24 July - 2019 wanted to challenge the industry. We wanted to democratize design by making it more affordable and accessible to people. How did you decide upon the market? There is definitely a global demand for homes as the global population continues to increase. This is true even among different regions and socioeconomic brackets. Specifically in our target SEA market, millions of people have no access to decent homes. We believe that as a global real estate marketplace, we will be able to address the increasing demand for homes, regardless if they are traditional or prefabricated homes. We have the speed and technology to be able to respond to this concern and the fact that we can deliver homes anywhere on the planet, puts us in a position to be able to help. How is your company positioned in the current market scenario? While our original model focused on celebrity-designed structures that cater to the middle class and to the more affluent clientele, we have expanded our product portfolio to include affordable homes in order to be more accessible and responsive to a wider market. We have also created F&B and retail pop-up designers to complement our residential developments. We are also continuously signing new designer partners whom we refer to as revolutionaries, in order to create a more dynamic cache of home designs. Our goal is to be able to evolve and continue to grow so that we will always have something new to offer to our customers. On top of that, we are exploring the possibility of expanding to vertical projects. At the moment, we are building a lot of horizontal residential projects but we also want to build low to mid-rise apartments to be able to increase the land efficiency on certain projects like those located in modern suburban centers. What are the specific problems in the industry that your company addresses? Prospective homeowners complain about the exorbitant cost of homebuilding. They also lament the slow process and the generic designs of homes. Revolution Precrafted specifically responds to the demand of the market by offering prefabricated homes that can be built in as fast as 60-90 days and at a fraction of the cost. The company also partners with the world’s best architects, designers, and artists to create beautiful designs regardless if they specialize in traditional homes or prefab homes. We give customers more options in terms of how they want their homes
- 25. 25July - 2019 to look like. By addressing the common pain points of most customers, we are able to encourage more people to finally have their own homes. We also make it convenient for homeowners who do not have the budget to finance lengthy construction periods. What sets Revolution Precrafted apart from its competitors? While there are other traditional and prefab companies out there, Revolution Precrafted is the only company that leverages on celebrity branding. We have worked with the likes of Pritzker winners ZahaHadid, Jean Nouvel, and Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie architects among others. We have also worked with celebrities such as Lenny Kravitz, Manny Pacquiao, OzwaldBoateng, Daphne Guiness and Helena Christensen and Camilla Staerk among others. By partnering with some of the most creative people on the planet, we create design-driven homes and structures that certainly be considered as works of art. Branding a home or any structure, not only elevates the aesthetics of a home, but it also increases the market value, and by having more than 80- designers and artists from all over the world, we have a wealth of designs our customers can choose from. Unlike most of our competitors, our products are not limited to just homes; we also offer transportable pavilions, furniture, museums, glamping accommodations, retail pop-ups, as well as low to mid-rise apartments. Could you give a brief overview of your company’s offerings? Revolution supplies prefabricated homes, pavilions, museums, pop-ups, and other related verticals. It also acts as a global marketplace that connects developers, fabricators, suppliers, and customers. Our goal is to create design-driven homes, and communities. We operate on a B2B2C and asset-light business model. So what we do is partner with developers, to create residential concepts. We then tap designers, fabricators, suppliers to execute projects according to the vision and preference of our customers. We build both traditional and prefab structures, as well as quasi-prefab homes. Can you talk about the journey of your company, right from its inception? Launched in December 2015, Revolution Precrafted has received global interest because of its unique business model. It also gained popularity due to its partnership with some of the world’s biggest names in design and architecture. By October 2017, it has become a unicorn company (a startup, valued at over
- 26. Revolution Precrafted homes seamlessly unite the conveniences of a prefabricated home and the captivating visual delight that only true masters of design can create. “ ”SR 26 July - 2019 $1billion). Since then, it has expanded its footprint to 31 markets in Asia, Europe, Africa, North, Central, and South America. Some of its key projects are the $1.1 billion BatulaoArtscapes which is envisioned to be the World’s First Livable Art Park and the $750 million RevolutiomnFlavorscapes Project in the Philippines. From a measly team of 5 in 2015, the company has grown to over 100 office- based employees and some 800 sales agents. Since 2015, we have also created related companies such as RenegadeBranding Concepts, one- stop shop marketplace and destination for franchising and licensing concepts and offers an unparalleled list of possible retail and business opportunities, in partnership with some of the biggest celebrities and influencers. It is a gateway to unique, out of the ordinary, licensing ideas on shopping, beauty, fitness and wellness, fashion and home design with the main goal of offering prospective entrepreneurs and customers alike with a convenient and worry-free experience. Through careful curation, Renegade Branding Concepts identifies the brands that appeal to customers across different socio-economic classes, preferences and passions. The company elevates products and services to a whole new level of style, elegance and value, appealing to the global marketplace. We are incubating our interior design marketplace called Renaissance Touch. It is a first-of-its-kind online marketplace for furnishing and decorating interior spaces with the inspiration from celebrities, top interior designers, artists and fashion designers. It offers a one-stop shop services to help customers to create and attain their dream interiors on time, within their budget and with guaranteed quality. Customers can browse the company’s portfolio of interior designs curated by celebrities, use its interactive platform to customize interiors to their preferences and budgets, and pick and choose furnishings and home décor items. We also have our social media influencer platform called Relevant Medium. It is Southeast Asia’s first ever integrated marketplace designed to connect modern day influencers with their fans in a one-stop-shop for Ecommerce, curated brands, and virtual-in-life channel engagement. Connection via brand representation is our game. Customer experience and addictiveness is our DNA. With a current reach of over 35m followers from different walks of life, Relevant medium provides stars a platform to connect not only with their existing followers but also other Relevant Stars’ followers. We also give each star an opportunity to shine by expanding their market reach and converting this reach to a stable revenue stream. Who are some of your biggest clients? Which sections of the industry do you think could see the maximum growth? We are an agnostic company which technically allows us to partner with any company around the world. But since we operate on a B2B2C model, we mostly deal with developers who want to monetize their land. We enter into a supply agreement which requires them to take care of land and site development while we take care of supplying the homes and creating the overall concept of residential development. Since becoming a marketplace, we have expanded our operations and we also deal with fabricators, suppliers, and brokers who want to connect to the rest of the world. At the moment, our projects are mostly horizontal developments, where we build a mixture of both curated homes and basic homes. We have been very successful at this particular niche but we have started to offer low-rise apartments and condominiums to respond to the overwhelming demand for homes.
- 27. COVER STORY Robbie Antonio, CEO About the founder of Revolution Precrafted, Robbie Antonio Robbie Antonio serves as the CEO of Revolutions Precrafted. He has personally conceptualized, negotiated, sourced and launched projects in Manila with lifestyle game-changers including Donald Trump for Trump Tower Manila, the tallest building in the Philippines, and Paris Hilton for the Paris Beach Club at Azure Urban Resort Residences, the American celebrity and businesswoman’s first real estate venture. Robbie is responsible for a number of unique fashion- branded real estate developments which includes The Milano Residences in partnership with Versace, the fastest-selling Versace Home interior-designed condominium project in the world and the first in Southeast Asia, in collaboration with MISSONIHOME for the brand’s first residential development in the world.
- 28. BIZ-O S eth encourages people around the world to level up through his inspirational talks, strategies, and ideas. Seth has been in the industry for thirty years and he reaches out through his blogs every day. He says – “One day if we meet, I hope you’ll share with me your favorite posts. Even better, I’d like to hear about how a book or course helped you interact with the world differently and make a difference.” This statement of his from his blog clearly shows how down to earth and an open-minded person he is. He has spent most of his professional life as a writer and that is why he could publish around 19 bestselling books. Many books do stand the test of time and according to him, these books are a great way to obtain in-depth knowledge on the vertical he has focused on in these books. He knows for a fact that everyone and anyone who reads his books are those who work or own a business. Hence he always intends to be part of or start a new project so that he can not only inspire his readers but entertain them as well. Although he did have countless detours and speed bumps, the only thing he did was overcome all of that and now he stands as one of the most inspirational personalities on the Internet today. His book on marketing called “THIS IS MARKETING” (a bestseller) was one such book which everyone loved and understood. As readers we often find an author’s writing interesting if we understand what is he or she is trying to convey. Very disturbing content is something all readers stay away from and keeping this in mind he always works in books. THIS IS MARKETING by Seth Godin The book is said to project marketing wisdom and a timeless package of Godin’s ideas and views. “Great marketers don’t use consumers to solve their company’s problem; they use marketing to solve other people’s problems. They don’t just make noise; they make the world better. Truly powerful marketing is grounded in empathy, generosity, and emotional labor,” says Godin. In the past, Godin did teach many marketers, leaders, entrepreneurs and even fans, a lot of things. Giving out countless ideas, including phrases has aided many to understand the business language. Godin’s intention is to teach you how to identify your smallest viable audience and he has brilliantly portrayed it in this book. He says drawing the right signals and signs to position one’s offering is the true key to business success. Also, building trust is important where status, dominance, and affiliation play their role. People will have their goals; all they need is the tools and an opportunity. Here the book written by Seth Godin clearly shows everything one needs to know. He further tells marketers to stop feeling guilty about lying, spamming, and miss leading others. Also, he says not to mix up social media metrics with the actual connection. Stolen attention will never replace direct marketing and also stolen connections will just waste both your money and time. Thus, he gathered enough information to give a better approach that will target many customers in the long run. He focused mainly on the future and not just considering the present trends. As the market evolves, it is important that the people part of the market evolves as well. “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.” -Seth Godin | Teacher, Writer, Entrepreneur BIZ-O 28 July - 2019
- 29. O-WIZ Other Books that Seth Godin Wrote which is related to Marketing Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers In this book, Godin says that ‘traditional marketing’ is dead and now is the era of permission marketing. He clearly explains the pros and cons of both traditional marketing and permission marketing. People who belong to digital marketing or other such marketing can refer to this book. Also, it is a great book for senior executives to update themselves with the changing trends. Tribes: We need you to lead us This book shows how everyone is a leader but fails to grasp the right path. He further explains how to do it and how to grab hold of the people you want in your team. When you compare this with marketing it is essential to maintain a team of people who share the same idea as you. Also, this book shows how people think and that is again a plus in marketing. The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly? There is a certain safe-zone where you need to be. As marketers, it is essential to stay perfect so that the prospect will turn into a qualified customer. Here he takes the example of Icarus who flew closer to the sun and burnt his wax wings. He also says flying too low is also a problem, which means there is a certain sweet spot for everyone to analyze and stay. That is where you can achieve your marketing goals. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable As the title suggests, it is important to be different. You will have to innovate and think differently to stand out. Everyone in the market provides the same service and products. But how are you different? The answer to this question is in the book. All of these books along with many others have shown how important it is for us to be different and understand the surroundings. Seth Godin is truly an amazing writer and he surely has inspired many. We all know he is not stopping and hopefully, we see more books and lectures from him in the future. O-WIZ Seth Godin Teacher, Writer EntrepreneurSR
- 30. The digital-first online retail group Findel plc F indel plc is a dynamic multi- channel retailer operating across the business-to- consumer and business-to-business marketplaces. The company trades across two divisions, Studio Retail and Education. Findel plc is a group containing two digital-first value retailers, Studio and Findel Education. Studio offers a broad range of products to consumers, from clothing to homewares to our traditional Christmas ranges, all supported by our flexible credit offer. Findel Education is a market-leading supplier of educational resources to schools and nurseries. Deep Dive into Findel Findel plc is a leading general merchandise supplier to the home and education sectors. Studio Retail offers a diverse range of products to the consumer. Findel Education supplies a majority of schools in the UK with their educational resources and commodity products through its regional and national catalog brands. Findel plc has one of the largest personalization plants supplying direct to the consumer in the UK where products from cutlery to greetings cards and football kits to children’s nightwear are personalized to the customer’s requirements: Over 3.2m pieces in total each year. A significant and increasing percentage of products are now being sold online in home shopping. Online purchasing is also becoming more important in the education sector where Findel is pioneering the technology with local authorities. The Studio Retail consumer business is also supported by a strong financial services arm. Studio One of the largest online value retailers in the UK. Whilst historically catalog based, over 75% of customers now shop for our broad range of fashion, home and leisure items, toys and gifts online. Studio provides a personal shopping service to around 1.9 million customers each year through a combination of direct marketing and online via the studio.co.uk and ace.co.uk websites. Shoppers may choose to pay for their purchase within 28 days or take advantage of our flexible credit offer. The range of products is diverse covering leisurewear, electrical, household, textile, bedding, furniture, nursery products, gifts, and greeting cards. Many of these can be personalized in the division’s in-house facilities which are unmatched in UK retail. All large products are handled at a 500,000 sq.ft. distribution center in Manchester, whilst an automated collation warehouse at Accrington is capable of handling over half a million items per day. The majority of customers open a flexible account that allows them to choose whether to pay for their purchases immediately or spread the cost over a number of months. Interest is charged on outstanding balances each month. The Strengths • State of the art distribution facilities with a unique ability to handle low ticket items profitably “Our unique offering means that our customers can find everything they need from one complete supplier; for the school, for the classroom, and for the specialist.” P B Maudsley, CEO
- 31. • Highly developed credit operations offering payment flexibility to our customers • A unique and broad product range supported by our overseas sourcing operations • The most sophisticated product personalization facility in UK mail order • Multichannel operations - catalog, internet and face to face • Significant online presence with over 75% of orders processed online Findel Education Findel Education is one of the UK’s leading educational resources supplier. Through its established and well-loved brands, the company has been providing resources to nurseries, schools and a large number of other types of educational establishments since 1817. The firm is one-stop-shop for educational supplies; it provides all of the products schools and nurseries need, delivered when they want them, at highly competitive prices. The company’s extensive choice of over 25,000 resources caters for early years through to higher education and beyond. Its unique offering means that our customers can find everything they need from one complete supplier; for the school, for the classroom, and for the specialist. Findel Education Resources are the choice for educational resources. The Strengths • An exceptionally strong portfolio of brands • The only educational resources supplier offering true nationwide coverage across a broad product spectrum • A high proportion of our own developed and exclusive products • Substantial experience in managing major projects • Exports to over 150 countries worldwide Greet the Leader P B Maudsley, CEO: Phil Maudsley joined the Group in 1987 as general manager of a manufacturing subsidiary. He became managing director of the Home Shopping Division in 1994 and was appointed to the Board on 5 April 2004. He was appointed Managing Director of Studio Retail in 2010 before being appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in April 2017. SR 31July - 2019
- 32. 32 July - 2019 I n a bid to democratise learning, Unilever is launching an online talent marketplace dubbed FLEX Experiences for its employees that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help them identify new career opportunities where they can upskill, Marketing Week reported. According to the report, the marketplace uses technology from InnerMobility by Gloat, a startup. FLEX Experiences operates by asking employees to build a profile of their current skills and expertise they are looking to improve. The AI platform then helps staff to identify opportunities across the business that fit with those goals. “What we are trying to do is to create radical transparency in the opportunities we have. If you build an internal marketplace with AI you do this and you democratise the opportunities in the company so employees can see what kind of projects are available to develop their skills, interests and to gain experiences,” said Jeroen Wels. He was quoted as saying by Marketing Week. Mr. Wels works as an executive vice-president of HR at Unilever. “It creates a frictionless environment so there is no middle man. There is no line manager that doesn’t see all the opportunities or a broker in the middle but instead it is happening on the platform in real time,” Mr. Wels added. Jeroen Wels ‘FLEX Experiences Creates Radical Transparency in the Opportunities We Have’ “It creates a frictionless environment so there is no middle man. There is no line manager that doesn’t see all the opportunities or a broker in the middle but instead it is happening on the platform in real time.” — Jeroen Wels, Executive vice- president of HR at Unilever
- 33. 33July - 2019 The consumer goods behemoth claims that over 30,000 employees have been engaged in this initiative and are reaping the benefits. While interacting with Marketing Week, Mr. Wels cited an example of one of the US-based employees who is now working on an innovation project in Europe after using the AI platform. “He is now gaining international experience without leaving New York and can find out if it is right for him,” said Mr. Wels. It’s learnt that Unilever is planning to gradually scale-up the project with the full roll-out and is expected to be completed by 2020. Currently, it’s operational across the supply chain, marketing, IT, R&D, and finance. “We’re not rolling it out as a big bang technological system because if we do that, for sure it would fail,” he added. Apart from the platform proving beneficial for thousands of its employees, Unilever confirmed that the system has other unexpected benefits. “When we launched the platform, a very senior leader said ‘this will be really interesting because what you will see is which projects and skills are highest in demand’. It was an insightful point because if you have a project that nobody is interested in or where the skills are not available that is very telling,” explained Mr. Wells.SR
- 34. A one-stop shop for air conditioners and its components for consumers: Amber Enterprises India Ltd A mber Enterprises India Ltd is a prominent solution provider for Air conditioner OEM/ODM Industry in India. It has a dominant presence in RACs complete unit and deals in major RAC components with 10 manufacturing facilities across India focusing in on different product segments. With expertise in components like heat exchangers, sheet metal components, injection molding components, and system tubing and motors, Amber is strongly positioned with its backward integration to derive the core deliverable’s in terms of quality, cost, and delivery. Amber offers higher energy efficiency and expertise in indoor, outdoor, split and window AC units. It deals in AC components as well as non-AC components. The company was incorporated as Amber Enterprises India Private Limited, as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. From a single factory in Rajpura, Punjab, which commenced operations in 1994, Amber has now grown to 10 manufacturing facilities across seven locations in India. A Diversified Product Portfolio RACs: Amber designs and manufactures complete RACs including Window Air Conditioners (“WACs”) and Indoor Units (“IDUS”) and Outdoor Units (“ODUS”) of Split Air Conditioners (“SAC”s) with specifications ranging from 0.75 ton to 2 tons, across energy ratings and types of refrigerant. It designs and manufactures inverter RACs too. RAC Components: Amber manufactures reliable functional components of RACs that includes heat exchangers, motors and multi-flow condensers with other components such as sheet metal components, copper tubing and including plastic extrusion, vacuum forming, and injection molding processes too. Non AC Components: Amber manufactures components other durables and automobiles such as case liners for refrigerator, plastic extrusion sheets, sheet metal components for microwave, washing machine tub assemblies with other sheet metal and plastic injection molding and extrusion components for automobiles and metal ceiling industries. Products Description in Details Room Air Conditioners: Window Room Air Conditioners • High-efficiency window ac in both rotary and reciprocating • Options available in wireless with remote and manual controller • Wide features integrated: on/ off timer, sleep mode, energy “Amber is dedicated to providing the best Quality and Value to meet the customers’ needs.” Jasbir Singh, Chairman & CEO
- 35. saving mode, auto swing, auto restart Split Air Conditioners • High efficiency split ac in fixed speed series • Modern and attractive designs with a hidden display • LCD remote controllers • High-performance fan and heat exchangers • Low-noise operation • Refrigerant (r22/r410a/r32) Inverter Split Air Conditioners • High efficiency split AC in inverter series • Modern and attractive designs • LCD remote controllers • High-performance fan and heat exchangers AC Components: • Heat Exchanger: Heat exchangers are essential elements in the air conditioning system. Amber manufactures coils for air conditioners. It is used to transfer heat from refrigerant to ambient thus providing the cooling needed. Amber prides itself on the economy of manufacture – lowering raw material costs, producing micro channel heat exchangers with higher precision, optimizing production time and lowering labor costs leading to an overall reduction of its manufacturing costs • Sheet Metal Component Non Ac Components: Amber has a very sophisticated sheet metal production facility with the latest automated design capabilities for tooling, a press shop with the latest technology and a trained, committed workforce. It has about 200 presses ranging from 50 tons to 500 tons that are capable of producing an infinite range and number of components • Electric Motors: In Amber’s PICL, Faridabad Unit, it is making Residential and Commercial Electrical motors used for different products. Its motors are being used in residential and commercial air conditioners, washing machines, coolers, and many other appliances • Copper Tubing: The company has an in-house modern facility for manufacturing various copper connecting pipes, varying from headers, distributors, connecting tubes and installation kits. All the parts are then leak tested and cleaned ultrasonically ensuring high-quality copper parts are delivered to Assembly line Non AC Components: • Plastic Extrusion: Amber has the technical skill and expertise to produce upto 5 layer co-extruded sheets using a range of plastic material. It regularly extrudes ABS, HIPS, HDPE, LDPE and PP Sheets for its clients for a wide variety of applications • Vacuum Forming: Amber uses vacuum forming to make a number of components commonly used in the making of refrigerators, automobiles, and consumer durable items including plastic containers, trays, buckets, bathtubs, helmets, etc. Vacuum forming is a much more economical process than other forming processes and offers several processing advantages SR 35July - 2019 Meet the Leader Mr. Jasbir Singh, Chairman, and CEO: Jasbir is serving the Board of Amber Enterprises India Limited (“Amber”) since 1 October 2004 and appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company with effect from 25 August 2017. He is having more than 15 years of experience in the RAC manufacturing sector. He has successfully established over seven factories in the past ten years and established relationships with various large brands. Under his guidance, Amber has initiated the concept of additive manufacturing solutions. He has played an instrumental role in the successful acquisition of PICL (India) Private Limited in 2012, the wholly owned subsidiary and two PCB Board manufacturers i.e. IL JIN Electronics (India) Private Limited and Ever Electronics Private Limited, the subsidiaries. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (industrial production) from Karnataka University and Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Hull, United Kingdom.
- 36. 5 things to know about safety in Amazon warehouses A mazon is one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world, and it deserves its share of glory and winning. Amazon has always been dedicated to safety and it is not just known for its faster and efficient deliveries and supply chain management but for its efforts to promote sustainable development. “When we think about being the most customer-centric company, we also want to be the most safety-centric company in the world,” says Marla Corson, Director at Amazon’s North American Fulfillment Centers (FCs). Corson takes care of the healthand safetyissues at over 40 Amazon robotic FCs in America and seven in Canada. These warehouses use pathbreaking technology to pick, pack, and ship orders placed by Amazon customers. In such a fast-paced and success-driven environment, safety is each and everyone’s responsibility and must be encouraged amongst theteam in order to achieve its efficiency. Safety at the workplace is extremely essential and must not be taken for granted at any cost. Following are some of the innovative steps taken by Amazon to support the employees to make the workplaces safer: Safety Saves: Safety Saves initiatives allowthe associate to identify hazards and fix them in real-time so that any miss-occurring, accidents, or injuries can be avoided. Instead of writing down issues which are observed on a piece of paper and later storing it in a file to be addressed by the team, these are recorded in a handheld device used to log the hazard, and rest of the floor can be made aware in the real-time before any mishaps take place. Robotic Tech Vest: Amazon has recently rolled out a new worker safety wearable for more than 25 of its warehouses around the world. Named as “Robotic Tech Vest”, this alerts robots about the location of the workers in order to prevent any accidents which might take place due to the collision. It uses advanced scientific tech to draw an access path around the worker which makes the robots understand that there is someone standing in their proximity and hence slow down or update their route to avoid any workplace mishaps. Trailer Docking and Releasing (TDR): There is a high chance of fatal accidents and injuries if there is an unwanted separation between the trailer or truck being loaded and the loading dock. Forklift operators often fall prey to such accidents when their vehicles fall into the resultant gaps or are driven out of open trailers. In such a case, Trailer Docking and Releasing (TDR) helps those associates working in the trailer yard. The TDR app for Fire Tablets helps to improve safety in such condition. However, these jobs are performed by specialized associates who have gone through the training. They use the Fire tablet to perform a number of checks before they allow the trailer to depart from the dock door. 36 July - 2019
- 37. Safety Campus: It is an augmented reality program used for training purpose. It allows new associates to do hazard hunts in a virtual fulfillment center. This way, they can learn about all the possible hazards or accidents that might take place and how to deal with them. For example, there could be tripping hazards if items are not stored properly in the warehouses. PIT Checklist: Some of the FCs has digital touchscreens for login purpose. It enables the company to verify Powered-Industrial Truck (PIT) operators and the tech also check if the operators are properly trained on the equipment. It basically takes them through a pre-operational checklist. Amazon is a company which obsesses over customer satisfaction and believes in staying on time always. It might appear that any company, who is so focused about customer experience, is ought to miss these safety details at its workplace. However, Amazon never lets its success get in the way of creating a quality workplace for thousands of its employees working to achieve its ambition. Corson says that one can have both going on simultaneously in an organization. “There are many things that we’ve actually changed in our operations through the use of technology that actually speeds things up and makes it safer for our associates, too,” further adds Corson, to sum up, the importance of safety in a workplace. 37July - 2019 SR
- 38. Digital Selling Solution Designed for Today’s Industry: Grapevine6 I n the era of cut-throat competition, companies need powerful, personalized content that allows their sales force to start valuable conversations and build trusted relationships with the right buyers. Grapevine6 is an enterprise social and digital sales engagement platform which works to find and filter the most timely, relevant information from around the world and makes it personalized, trusted, and shareable. Grapevine6 gives its clients what they need to connect with their audiences, start conversations, and thrive in the social world. How Grapevine6 works Grapevine6 analyzes the interests and posts on their personal digital profile and then picks the best content on the web based on that profile. The salespeople choose which of the selected articles to share. Grapevine6 automatically schedules the content to post on their social accounts and digital channels or they can share it one-to-one. Servicing sales professionals across multiple industries, Grapevine6’s AI engine searches thousands of articles from thousands of sources – around the clock and around the world – so that the sales force has the most relevant and reliable content ready to use. A digital selling solution fit for every industry Banking: Bank customers today find it difficult to differentiate one bank from another. Grapevine6 provides bank advisors with personalized, meaningful, relevant, value-add content that can be used to build and deepen client relationships. Wealth Management: With five million high-net-worth investors in North America actively using social media to make financial decisions, digital selling is no longer an option – it’s essential. Grapevine6 gives companies’ advisors access to timely information that showcases their intellectual capital, promotes their brand, and supports their recommendations. With Grapevine6, advisors can do all that while ensuring the content they share is compliant. Insurance: Grapevine6 understands that agents don’t have time to search through reams of information to source articles of importance to their prospects. So, it does that for them. With minimal effort, clients’ agents can use Grapevine6 to build their credibility as valued experts to their customers and prospects. Technology and Software: The brightest talent and the savviest customers want to work with cutting-edge thought leaders in their field. Proving leadership through digital selling is a competitive advantage for any team. That’s where Grapevine6 comes in. Professional Services: Client expectations are higher than ever and consultants and professionals need to stand out as thought leaders in order to build trusted relationships. Give them the tools to deliver meaningful advice with compelling, risk-free content. Grapevine6 creates opportunities Wayne Gomes, CEO 38 July - 2019
- 39. for companies to build and maintain client relationships with information and insights that help solve their clients’ problems. With Grapevine6, the sales force can target prospects, generate leads, and watch their book of business grow. Digital Selling Solutions Grapevine6 is a game changer for anyone looking to make new contacts, create a unique and authentic voice, and build deeper and richer relationships. With Grapevine6’s personalized digital content platform, clients’ sales force can connect with their audience in new and powerful ways – online, on mobile, or in person. Posting: Grapevine6’s convenient mobile app is a time saver for busy professionals who can post whenever they want, wherever they are. • No set-up required: With Grapevine6’s SaaS delivery model, the company hosts the software so there’s no set-up required • Simple scheduling: The representatives choose what content they want to schedule for the week and Grapevine6 does the rest. Grapevine6’s system’s sophisticated intelligence determines the optimal time and date to publish to get maximum reader impact Personalization: Advisors can become a trusted source of need-to- know information by engaging their audience and personalizing their posts in line with their authentic, personal brand. • Social selling playbook: Grapevine6 uses artificial intelligence to match the most relevant content to the needs of its intended audience, no matter the topic • Talk their language: Clients’ salespeople can make their connections even more personal by sharing content in their audience’s own language. Grapevine6 curates content in six different languages, so clients’ team can break down barriers and build trust every time they share • Demonstrate value: Grapevine6’s customized feature lets its clients and their teams add context, insights and call-to-action messages to customize posts for different networks and increase shares Thought leadership: Sharing curated, compliant content allows the sales force to create client advocacy as a trusted advisor and enables organizations to deliver consistent, on-brand messaging. • Capitalize on content: Clients can position their organization as an industry thought leader by adding expert content from their leadership to the mix • Peer-to-peer networking: With Grapevine6’s access to crucial peer-to-peer networks, salespeople will get their content out to the right circles at the right time and their friends will pass it on Meet the Leader Wayne Gomes, Chief Executive Officer: Wayne leads the company’s client relationship management. A seasoned veteran in building those relationships, Wayne is always a steward of the user. Prior to co-founding Grapevine6, Wayne founded the Rich Internet Group, where he was the CTO and Managing Director. “From Fortune 500 tech giants to global financial institutions, Grapevine6 powers the social selling programs for some of the largest enterprises in the world.” SR 39July - 2019
- 40. “The fantastic work done by brands such as Dove, Vaseline, Seventh Generation, Ben & Jerry’s and Brooke Bond shows the huge impact that brands can have in addressing an environmental or social issue.” – Alan Jope, Unilever CEO U nilever, a British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company, announced recently that its purpose-led, Sustainable Living Brands are delivering 75 percent of the company’s growth. It turns out that these brands are growing 69 percent faster than the rest of the business. In a press release issued by the consumer goods company, it revealed the figures supporting the above data. The company’s CEO Alan Jope had already spoken about the figures at an event in Paris, last month. In 2018, Unilever’s Sustainable Living Brands grew 69 percent faster than the rest of the business, compared to 46 percent in 2017; Unilever now has 28 Sustainable Living Brands – the four new entrants are Close Up (toothpaste), Wheel (laundry), Calve and Bango (dressings); Seven of Unilever’s top 10 brands – Dove, Knorr, Omo/Persil, Rexona/Sure, Lipton, Hellmann’s and Wall’s ice cream – are all Sustainable Living Brands. The press release added that the company’s Sustainable Living Brands are those that communicate a strong environmental or social purpose, with products that contribute to achieving the company’s ambition of halving its environmental footprint and increasing its positive social impact. While all of Unilever’s brands are on a journey towards sustainability, its Sustainable Living Brands are those that are furthest ahead. Mr. Jope said: “Two-thirds of consumers around the world say they choose brands because of their stand on social issues, and over 90 percent of millennials say they would switch brands for one which champions a cause.” “We believe the evidence is clear and compelling that brands with purpose grow. Purpose creates relevance for a brand; it drives talkability, builds penetration and reduces price elasticity. In fact, we believe this so strongly that we are prepared to commit that in the future, every Unilever brand will be a brand with purpose,” the CEO said. “The fantastic work done by brands such as Dove, Vaseline, Seventh Generation, Ben & Jerry’s and Brooke Bond shows the huge impact that brands can have in addressing an environmental or social issue. But talking is not enough, it is critical that brands take action and demonstrate their commitment to making a difference.” The press release further added that the consumer goods company’s Sustainable Living Brands include Dove, which has helped over 35 million young people around the world with self-esteem education since 2005; Lifebuoy, which has reached one billion people with its handwashing campaigns; Vaseline, which has reached three million people living on the frontline of poverty and disaster with skin healing programmes; Ben & Jerry’s, which campaigns for social justice and climate change, and Rin whose Career Academy works with women across rural India, through mentoring and careers fairs. SR Sustainable Living Brands: Unilever’s X-Factor for Growth
- 42. E -commerce has given people the luxury of shopping for a wide range of products from the comfort of their homes. The e-commerce industry has given a massive platform for manufacturers as well as retailers to showcase their goods to a larger audience. Designers and makers of apparel have especially seen their wares being viewed and shipped across the globe, garnering a huge base of loyal customers. It is for this reason that e-commerce platforms for apparel and fashion attract numerous budding designers and brands who want to expand their presence. Farfetch is one of the world’s leading fashion retail platforms that has its operations in more than 15 countries. Founded by a pioneering entrepreneur, Farfetch was born out of a deep love of fashion and a profound belief that fashion is an essential expression of individuality and what makes each of us unique. The Farfetch Platform The company operates a modular end-to-end technology platform purpose-built to connect the luxury fashion ecosystem worldwide. Farfetch’s vision was to create a single operating system that could address the complex demands of consumers and luxury sellers alike. Its platform is built on an API-enabled proprietary technology stack, which provides the foundation for the three main components: applications, services, and data. As of December 31, 2018, over 3,000 different brands were available on the company’s marketplace, ranging from heritage brands to emerging designers. Farfetch’s consumers can shop across categories including Womenswear, Menswear, Kidswear, Vintage, Fine Watches, and Fine Jewelry, and can ship to over 190 countries around the world. The company offers a range of services for consumers to make shopping on Farfetch a great experience. Customers can enjoy localized websites in 15 local languages, multilingual customer support and great delivery options including same-day delivery in 19 major global cities and F90 store to door in 90 minutes. The company’s platform also features inspirational, unique content and other services to help customers navigate the breadth of product available on Farfetch. Black & White Solutions Farfetch Black & White is Farfetch’s suite of white-label solutions for luxury fashion brands and retailers. The bundle of solutions delivers a global, multi-channel e-commerce offering that enables retailers and brands to seamlessly interact with their consumers, while also allowing them to focus on the creative aspects of their businesses. These solutions are built on the Farfetch platform, providing the same capabilities and scale as the company’s marketplace, and benefitting from the improvements to and the innovation of the platform. Farfetch helps it’s brand partners to achieve their goals by creating a modular package of solutions from which they can choose from specific bundles of products and services or full end-to- end e-commerce experience. By building on the fully API-enabled platform, Farfetch Black & White “Encouraging collaboration and leading by example.” Jose Neves, Founder & CEO 42 July - 2019 Connecting people through fashion: Farfetch Connecting people through fashion: Farfetch
- 43. allows for a flexible front-end suite of products, comprised of global websites, apps or WeChat stores. The back-end infrastructure allows retailers and brands to synchronize their websites with in-store and warehouse inventory, both from mono-brand stores and other suppliers in their distribution network, and facilitate the in-store pick-up and consumer returns. In July 2018, Farfetch acquired CuriosityChina, a digital and technology business that focuses on amplifying premium and luxury brands across digital platforms in China. The acquisition extends the Black & White offering for the region, and the team is now able to provide plug-and-play access for luxury brands to expand rapidly in China via an integrated platform servicing Chinese consumers via Web, App, WeChat Store, and Mini-Programs. Browns In May 2015, Farfetch acquired Browns, an iconic British fashion and luxury goods boutique. Browns operates two retail stores in London, on South Molton Street and Browns East in Shoreditch, and also leverages applications on the platform. Ownership of Browns enables the company to understand the luxury fashion ecosystem through the lens of a boutique. In addition to enhancing credibility in fashion, Browns also serves the critical mission of pioneering innovations developed under the Augmented Retail strategy, including providing a luxury fashion boutique environment to test the Farfetch Store of the Future technology. Store of the Future Farfetch’s Augmented Retail vision begins with the consumer in mind. Consumers enjoy the experience of being in the store, building a relationship with the sales associate and experiencing merchandise in the luxury store setting, yet technology has meant that consumers now expect ultra-personalized experiences, both in their real and digital lives and expects those worlds to be seamlessly connected. The company’s Augmented Retail vision reflects the retail experience of the future by giving retailers the visibility of their consumers’ preferences, both in-store and online, enabling them to enhance the services they can offer. With this in mind, Farfetch has developed a range of services and technologies to progress innovation in the luxury industry. Meet the enterprising founder and CEO of Farfetch, Jose Neves In 2008 José Neves launched Farfetch, bringing together his interests in fashion and technology, as well as his experience in design, wholesale and retail, to create a business that would celebrate and support the diversity of the global fashion industry. His vision was to create a single portal, offering independent boutiques the opportunity to compete with the leaders of fashion e-commerce. José has been involved in the fashion start-up world since the mid-1990s when he launched a footwear business SWEAR. José later founded SIX London, a fashion licensing and wholesale company selling to 600 retailers worldwide. In 2001 José opened the renowned boutique store, which won the British Fashion Award for Retailer of the Year in 2006. José and Farfetch have received numerous accolades, including: Visionary Award at Decoded Fashion Futures Awards (2017), Financial Times and ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Smaller Company Award (2016), Fast Company 2016 list of the world’s 50 most innovative companies, Business of Fashion’s 500 People Shaping the Fashion Industry (2017, 2016 & 2015), Ernst & Young’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year and Vogue’s DirectorsOf.COM Top Entrepreneur in 2011. SR 43July - 2019
- 44. Ways to Maximize Your Success by Minimizing Your Retail Space I t was the elite retailer that every suburb chased after. They would provide specific zones for the residents so that they have shopping amenities. Keep in mind that these shopping amenities include – fashion boutiques, DIY shops, grocery stores, and big-box outlets. By the birth of e-Commerce, it changed the scene completely where shoppers’ trips to these stores reduced. Also, the impulse to buy when you are at a store or just window shopping drastically came down. Since it is easier to view and go through the products online. This had caused many retailers to adapt to this new environment while keeping in mind that they won’t be competing with their brand in the online market in terms of sales. A study did show that when the online retail rises by 25% from the current 16% of the market share a major downsizing is said to occur in the retail space by the year 2026. This is where it becomes important to minimize the retail space and maximize your success. In other words, it is better to have a smaller store than own a big one that costs you more. It is important that retailers understand this fact and make a move as soon as possible to avoid further problems or loss. Thus downsizing is the best option for future stores. It is important to place such branches in a location where it is overpopulated, Have other businesses to collaborate with and is a shopping hub for people to gather. Big players have already realized this factor and are making their move. This is the reason why we see many small stores around a location that is crowded. Many companies prefer scaling stores that are small in locations like college campuses, marts, and shopping streets while having one or two big stores to maintain brand value. It also depends on how urbanized the location is. This will surely reduce the real estate expenses and eventually save to invest in a different location. It will lead to a fluid shopping that will further affect the online and in-store market. A physical footprint will be created while featuring the most successful item. Further allowing customers to obtain the same item online with a price variation became possible. Here are ways to maximize retail space. The Ways We as humans feel the bigger the store, the better the offering and more products to choose from. But keep in mind every person will check the online price and see if what you are offering in the store is a better option. Both the products are the same; there is no difference in the brand or the product. We live in a generation where everyone wants offers and the way to solve is mentioned below. Focus on Existing Stores It is important to realize that customers prefer stores that they have been seeing for quite some time. It is important to build your customers’ trust. This is how you will be obtaining more and more customers. Always Keep in Mind that less is more It is important that you understand how to increase your product assortment based on what is in demand. But keep in mind that you will be reducing your selection in a few areas and that will make the customers have enough choices for those products that are bought more. This will make the overall strategy seem more optimized that reduced. Always Go for the Click- and-Collect Shopping The best way to mix both in-store and online experience is through ‘buy online, pick up in-store’ option. There are several ways in which this is possible, one such way is to ask the customer to purchase the item online then pick that from the designated locker or any space in a designated store. This will make it easy for customers to avoid long checkout and make retailers benefit from the foot traffic. Almost 20% to 30% of click-and-collect shoppers face additional purchases when they arrive at the store. But the plus is that both customers and companies save on shipping costs. Improve your Services through Latest Tech It is evident that tech will take over everything in the future. Keeping that in mind, you need to be one step ahead of your competitors and the tech itself. This takes you to the next level and eventually makes the future of your company stable. 44 July - 2019 SR
- 46. R etail has always been about customers going to the store to buy whatever they need. E-commerce changed that experience by enabling people to order just about anything from the comfort of their homes. However, even with nearly everything from groceries to apparel and appliances available to be shopped online, a significantly high number of people still opts for shopping in brick and mortar stores. But retail will never be the same again. Numerous retailers have seen their business go from bad to worse and some have even gone bankrupt, all thanks to e-commerce. But what if customers can leverage all benefits of browsing for goods online and then head over to a store to physically to check it out for themselves? That is exactly what Brickwork is planning for retail. Brickwork identified that the experience in-store can never be felt while browsing online. But why would people physically go a store if they could have everything delivered to their doorstep? The solution to this dilemma was to deliver the convenience of shopping online as well as the in-store experience on a single platform that would also benefit the store owners. A Holistic Approach The Brickwork platform moves beyond the uncertain hype of “omnichannel” to help you optimize the digital presence of your retail stores to drive qualified online traffic to unique in-store experiences via geo-location features, online appointment booking, event RSVPs, and local content and marketing. In turn, Brickwork provides consumer insights in a comprehensive data map of digital-to-store customer journeys. Digital has transformed the way today’s customers shop. Now it’s time to transform the way retailers think about the path to purchase. Platform A Retail CMS to Manage a Store’s Most Valuable Data To leverage your brick-and-mortar stores as your greatest asset, 46 July - 2019 David Munczinski, CEO Synergizing the best of online shopping and in-store experience Brickwork
- 47. you must be able to showcase important store information online to stimulate customer interest. Customers need access to location and hours, departments, inventory, services and associated profiles for every local store. Keeping all this information accurate and updated is no easy task. With Brickwork, you can easily organize and bring your store data online. Its platform maintains your store data system of record and supports over 50 data fields to help you manage every detail about your stores. The robust RESTful API enables you to coordinate data from multiple sources and distribute it across all channels. Help Online Customers Find Offline Stores Your customers are starting their search online. To help them find your brick-and-mortar stores, you need to publish and syndicate the right content to magnify your local store and drive product, service and event discovery. Brickwork provides industry- leading store pages and store locators to bring your store experience online. Configure each store page to represent the unique services, events, categories and features of each store, and customize your page design to accentuate your brand. Brickwork’s listings management solution publishes location data and stores content across Google and Facebook properties and across a network of long tail local marketing sites and publishers. Moz Local serves as the company’s listings management and local SEO partner of record, offering detailed analytics and unique insights for all customers. Brickwork’s embeddable widgets allow you to leverage rich store content to enhance on-site experiences like “My Nearest Store,” “Buy Online Pick Up in Store” and geo-targeted marketing emails. Activate Online Customers to Visit Your Store Your best customers have found your store pages, explored your content, and demonstrated intent to purchase offline — but why aren’t they converting? They expect a more personal, engaging experience, and you need the right applications to activate them to visit your store. Brickwork provides appointment management software to capitalize on customers who want to complete their online shopping journey by visiting your store. Moreover, the platform provides configurable, UX-tested templates that help customers book an appointment directly with an associate of choice. Brickwork’s unique associate-facing mobile web application allows your team to manage check-ins, schedules, and associated profiles, as well as access insights they need to provide excellent customer service. Create Incentives with Exciting In-Store Experiences Your brick-and-mortar stores are your highest conversion channel. Customers who start their journey online and purchase offline have a 30 percent higher lifetime value. To maximize the power of the in-store experience, you need to create incentives for online shoppers to enter your local stores. With Brickwork’s retail event management software, you can activate customers to visit your stores by advertising unique experiences they can’t get online. Market exciting events and promotions, empower shoppers to RSVP, and craft a retail experience that drives customers to your stores. Customer-centricity is no longer optional — it’s essential to retail success. But to be truly customer- centric, you need insight into your customers’ behavior and preferences before they ever enter your store. Brickwork equips you with omnichannel customer intelligence, so you can create a better customer experience, increase store sales and drive greater customer lifetime value. “The in-store experience is your greatest asset.” SR 47July - 2019
- 48. Cashier-Less stores The future of Retail ? Cashier-Less stores The future of Retail ? 48 July - 2019
- 49. S hops and stores have been the face of the retail industry for centuries, having existed in one form or the other all across the globe. It saw very little to no change for a very long time. The first innovation of sorts came in the early part of the twentieth century when John Walton had the idea to start the first store that would sell a wide range of goods. He can be credited with having launched the first supermarket. As the Walmart chain of supermarkets grew in size and number, the idea for a large supermarket that sold numerous types of goods also spread across the globe. This was perhaps the very first major change witnessed in the retail industry. It would remain so until the near end of the twentieth century when Amazon introduced the concept of e-commerce. The retail industry once again underwent a major change. E-commerce has enabled people to shop for household goods, furniture, staples, groceries, apparel, appliances, electronics, accessories, and other items from the comfort of their homes and have them delivered to their doorstep. A significant percentage of all shopping in developed countries happens online. But now Amazon might be kick-starting what could yet be another change in retail. And it has everything to do with supermarkets themselves. Amazon just rolled out its one-of- kind cashier-less departmental store, called Amazon Go in Chicago. This store, in addition to three others in Seattle, is equipped with numerous cameras and sensors that track whatever is in the shelves and whenever a person picks up something, the store’s automated systems account for it. Furthermore, customers don’t have to stand in queue for checkout. They can just pick whatever they want and walk out of the store. The goods get charged directly to their Amazon accounts. Amazon is looking to open its Amazon Go stores to more cities in the coming years. What’s interesting is that the United States isn’t the only country with cashier-less stores. Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Tencent and JD are also planning similar stores across China. JD plans to roll out several stores in the country and even beyond. Alibaba unveiled a cashier-less store within its headquarters in Hangzhou. Unlike their American counterparts, the Chinese stores use facial recognition and QR codes to enable customers to checkout with their purchase. Facial recognition is widely implemented in China at numerous locations for rapid identification and payment. While such futuristic technology might enable the retail industry to grow at an increased pace, it is not without its drawbacks. For one, retail employs millions of people worldwide in blue collar jobs and thousands in white-collar ones. As the world moves towards artificial intelligence and industries continue their push for automation, we could have a future where machines replace millions of workers, thereby increasing unemployment. Large corporations such as Walmart and Amazon have already made major moves towards automating their warehouses to bolster efficiency and productivity. While they have achieved their goals of ramping up efficiency, it comes at a steep cost to the community. Several working class individuals depend on jobs provided by warehouses, supermarkets as well as departmental stores to pay their rents, send their children to school, purchase groceries and other essentials. While automated stores would make shopping vastly more convenient for people belonging to the middle class and above, the same cannot be said of people on the lower end of the economic spectrum. As several developed and developing countries continue to face widening gaps in income and tackle growing unemployment, it is up to governments to step in and implement various types of regulatory measures to curb the growing trend of unchecked automation. While entirely prohibiting it may stifle innovation, there are numerous steps regulators can take to save countless jobs. One of the most important measures is none other than taxes. It is extremely common for the uber rich to avoid paying taxes; taxation on automation would go a long way in generating increased revenues which in turn can enable governments to enact welfare schemes and subsidies for the poor. Another helpful measure is regulating automation itself so that corporations can only partially implement smart robots. Regulating industrial practice does carry the potential to improve productivity without replacing the human workforce. There is no doubt that technology improves lives, however, if left unchecked, it would only be a means to further empower and enrich the privileged few and leave others miserable. The transformation, for better or worse, could start with supermarkets and warehouses. SR 49July - 2019
- 50. Helping retailers to resolve overpayments and revenue leakages through data analytics Discover Dollar D iscover Dollar’s services are, Recovery Analytics: recovering overpaid amount to vendors due to various reasons like system error, process error, human error, policy change and more. Merchandise Analytics: helping retailers with its valuable insights into their merchandise procurement, profitability and margin analysis, vendor performance and many more custom reports. This will essentially help Discover Dollar’s customers to make better negotiations and deals with the vendors. The company was awarded as Top 5 Most innovative solution by SAP in Orlando and also won awards from IIM Bangalore -TIE Bangalore, IMT Nagpur, Amrita TBI etc. CIO Review featured among Top 20 upcoming retail software companies in India - Feb 2015 Issue. Its mentors include Mr. Shibulal (Co-Founder Infosys) and Mr. Lalit Ahuja (ex-CEO Target India). Solutions portfolio Recovery Audit Services Companies are losing upto 1% of their revenue in form of revenue leakages and overpayments. Large corporations lose up to $5 for every $1000 while making payments. For example when a new price drop is communicated over email and this new price list is not update in ERP, you may end up paying old price which is higher. Discover Dollar’s recovery audit services can help you ensure all these are fixed and drive upto 12% increase in profitability. Its expert auditors can analyze more than 100 overpayment scenarios and can help you recover them to directly impact your bottom-line. Revenue Leakages: Significant part of retailers’ profit is earned in the form of promotional funding from suppliers for seasonal promotions like “Buy One Get One Free” or “Temporary Price Cut”. Up to 5% of promotional funding is lost by retailers especially when promotional deal discussed over email doesn’t’ get captured. Discover Dollar has more than 200+ scenarios where the retailers are losing and its auditors backed with AI enabled recovery capability will be able to identify potential revenue leakages in near real-time to help retails collect all the promotional Funding. Discover Dollar Resolve The firm can help internal teams achieve upto 90% increase in productivity by automating clerical work such as preparing claim calculation sheets, vendor follow- ups and collection. Welcome to next generation claim management system. Comprehensive Claim Management System - Retailers have huge number of debit notes raised as claims from supplier ranging from promotional funding, overcharges and compliance fees. Significant amount of money and time is wasted by retailers in • Preparing Manual Claim Sheets (85% Time Is Spent Creating Manual Claims By Collection Teams) • Vendor Communication (70% Vendors Do Not Respond To First Email For Claim Approvals) • Claim Collection Process After Approval • Claim Disputes By Vendors Due To Lack Of Information Next-generation Claim Management system – Discover Dollar Resolve helps retailers with • Automatic Claim Creation Over Click Of A Button • Automate Vendor Follow-Ups And Escalations To Buyers “We help retailers with our valuable insights into their merchandise procurement, profitability and margin analysis, vendor performance and many more custom reports.”
- 51. When Needed • One-Click Integration With ERP For Collection • Reduce Claim Disputes By Providing Maximum Information First Hand To Vendors Promotion Management: Promotions are vital part of retail industry. Ensuring right promotion management and collection can help retailers to increase promotional revenue by 20%. Though huge investment is made on promotion optimization and promotional efficiency from customer standpoint, there is huge gap in the promotion collection management post promotional deal is made with suppliers. Discover Dollar’s PMS can help retailers to ensure every penny negotiated is collected on-time and ensure they get better COGS • 80% Faster Collection • 15% Increase In Accuracy • 10X ROI • 20% More Promotional Funding From Smart Prediction Discover Dollar Search More than 50% of intelligent information of the companies are in the form of unstructured data like emails, negotiations and contracts etc. With Discover Dollar Search retailers can drive huge value by using for it’s advantage. Retailers have huge amount of intelligence hidden in the form of unstructured data like: • Email Conversations Between Vendors And Buyers • Annual Vendor Agreements • Special Agreements • Buyer Files And Documents • Promotion Plans With Funding Information It is important to be able to search these documents easily and get relevant information which can be of business value to retailers. Assume your buyer negotiated a deal with Samsung for a $100-dollar promotional funding during Christmas for every TV sold. You have reduced the retail price for the Christmas Promotion and sold 1200 units, but this funding was never captured in your promotion systems leading to a direct loss of $120,000 to your company. Discover Dollar’s powerful search algorithms can help you such emails very quickly by intelligent semantic understanding of vendor information, promotion description, product id and more. Discover Dollar Search can drive 5X ROI to your company. Founder’s Desk Subrahmanya Rao, Founder and CEO: A serial entrepreneur since 19, he has started and run multiple successful businesses. Subu is well known in the startup circles of Bangalore and has been a special invitee at multiple events including the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017. SR 51July - 2019 Subrahmanya Rao, Founder & CEO
- 52. D igital technologies can be extremely transformative. From shopping online to paying utility bills, booking a doctor’s appointment to changing your television subscription, digitization has transformed our lives for greater convenience. But when it comes to shopping for apparel, it seems that even the allure of e-commerce is not sufficient to satiate the inherent propensity for an actual, physical shopping experience. The result is an unforeseen, but an entirely unsurprising trend of syncretism of the brick and mortar store and the one online. In spite of the popularity and ubiquity of some of the largest e-commerce sites like Amazon, a very large percentage of the shoppers look up a piece of apparel online and then head out to the store to purchase it. Marketing experts have taken to calling this phenomenon as webrooming. What numerous studies, surveys as well as associated market research has revealed is that shoppers go online for better information on catalog, reviews, competitive pricing, offers & discounts, etc. Such customer behaviors could be a blessing in disguise for apparel retailers since it provides a vast amount of information that reflects people’s purchasing decisions. Conversely, there is also a very large group of shoppers who visit a store, browse the goods and later visit an online store to make their purchase. Such shopping behavior has been termed as showrooming. The purchase made online may or may not be from the same retailer. Shoppers across the globe have been either webrooming or showrooming with increasing frequency. What we may have here is a unique blend of e-commerce and in-store shopping. There are a few startups that are already leveraging this growing trend among customers shopping for apparel as well as accessories. Simply put, their ambition is not to compete with the likes of Amazon, but to offer a platform that enables easy webrooming and showrooming. This is a whole new buying process taking shape and could affect the apparel & accessories niche of the retail industry. And unsurprisingly, social media has led to the mushrooming of both trends. This phenomenon could be an excellent opportunity for retailers to connect with their customers in a better way better and maximize A Synergy of Brick & Mortar Stores Future of Retail 52 July - 2019
- 53. and E-Commerce Could Be the their profits while containing the overhead. The first step for brick and mortar stores is to get their own website up and running and establish a dedicated team to update and maintain an exact online catalog of all their wares available in- store. However, it would also require the store owners to upgrade and optimize ties to their distributor network in order to match everything they have available with everything they have showcased online. It is clearly evident that no matter how expansive the influence of e-commerce gets when it comes to apparel, numerous people would still prefer to do things the old fashioned way. Nothing can replace the look and feel of trying out a brand new dress or a suit at the changing rooms in a physical store. Numerous people have had the dissatisfaction of ordering a nice looking piece of clothing, only to realize that what they got delivered is not at all what they ordered online. The comfort and satisfaction of knowing exactly what you buy is still something that is beyond the reach of online retail. It is for this reason that more and more retailers are choosing to amalgamate their brick and mortar store with their very own website to sell on the internet. While having a dedicated app might prove to be too expensive, chains of luxury stores can tap into the growing market by helping shoppers get the best of both worlds. While the trend of showrooming and webrooming began for apparel, it should not come as a surprise if the same spilled over to other types of goods. While the number of shoppers in-store is still quite high, numerous stores that have been well established are regularly seen to be failing to meet the required monthly sales targets. This has resulted in several brick and mortar stores closing up and shifting their operations online, where they incur a fraction of the overhead. While that may seem prudent from a business perspective, it may not bode well for the large group of customers who want the in-store experience. Marrying the best of both worlds is perhaps the only solution for retailers to maintain the allure and feel of a physical store, while still catering for a larger market. In any which way, it is the customers who could continue to enjoy the experience of looking, touching and feeling what they would buy, while still retaining the convenience of e-commerce. SR 53July - 2019
- 54. A rtificial Intelligence has become the core technology of many tech firms throughout the world because of its ability to solve problems. It is excessively being used by innovators to analyze data and surroundings. When it comes to synthetic data generation, many companies trust the expertise and thorough knowledge of Artificial Intelligence applications that LexSet has. Specialized in synthetic data generation, LexSet is a visual AI solution for object recognition and visual search. Its clients range from furniture retailers to industrial and robotics companies. In short, LexSet is good at recognizing and describing objects in images and real-time space, and if there’s no good data to train with, LexSet is there to create it. Pioneering the Retail Business LexSet’s first offerings are in retail where the most common use for its API is for retailers to enable their shoppers to search with photos using “LexSet Visual Search,” LVS allows shoppers to search for “We excel in spatial understanding that is powered by synthetic data.” Meet the Leader Leslie Oliver Karpas, CEO, and Co-founder Leslie Oliver Karpas is a serial entrepreneur in 3D technology. He invented manufacturing processes for Turner Award-winning artist Anish Kapoor, as well as methods for 3D-printing medical grade silicone, as the founder of a medical devices company Metamason. 54 July - 2019 Leslie Oliver Karpas, CEO & Co-founder Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Visual Search and Object Recognition: LexSet
- 55. items that look similar to what’s in any scene. LexSet also offers retailers related applications including “Similar Product Search” and “Shoppable Galleries.” Today, LexSet uses synthetic data to build and improve systems for companies ranging from retailers to industrial part manufacturers and robotics companies. For customers who have trouble finding or producing the data needed to power computer vision systems, LexSet has pioneered a technique to create ‘synthetic data’ from 3D models of objects. It uses models of objects and renders them thousands of times in all possible lighting conditions, backgrounds, and camera angles that provide near-infinite data used for analysis purposes. Flagship Solution Offerings Visual Search Tools: LexSet’s flagship offering is the world’s only B2B visual search tool purpose-built for e-commerce furniture retailers and contract furniture sellers. LVS give furniture sellers and their customers a major advantage in the discovery process, unlocking more sales and driving revenue. Customers and designers simply feed in any image they love, LVS identifies the existing objects in the scene and instantly returns products to make the look they want. Similar Product Search: Variation on LexSet’s visual search technology, Similar Product Search creates product recommendations when a customer views a product’s details. Recommendations are driven both by the product’s type/ category as well as visual similarity. This tool is especially useful for contract furniture sellers who engage in competitive bidding. Heretofore this process has been painfully time consuming; but with LexSet, the process of finding equivalent products is near instantaneous. Shoppable Galleries: LexSet’s technology is also applied to the inspiration images of retail e-commerce sites to make them directly shoppable, automating the creation of ‘shop-the-look’ experiences with its “Shoppable Galleries” tool. Many companies have these experiences, but they have to pay web developers to manually build them, limiting how many they can have, and requiring them to be rebuilt every season. With LexSet, retailers can have as many shoppable images as they want, and change them whenever they want with ease. Synthetic Data Generation: LexSet Synthetic Data utilizes its rendering engine built from 3D visualization and simulation technologies to generate robust training sets that can complement existing training sets or serve as the foundation for a customer’s machine learning models. The company takes 3D CAD files and 3D scans of objects to generate thousands of images of each object, in all possible lighting states, occlusions, and camera angles for an ideal training set, for almost any object recognition application. LexSet has already generated over half a billion synthetic images. The custom synthetic training datasets developed by LexSet allow real-time attribution and SKU-level object recognition. XR - Real-time Search: LexSet’s mobile cross-platform SDK is a RESTful API that can be utilized by mobile applications on any platform. The SDK enables real-time recognition, 3D tracking, and contents listing. The tool can also be used to help create digital twins for virtual room planning / virtual scene creation.SR 55July - 2019
- 56. T he ultra-modern world of today has given birth to some totally bizarre trends and one of them is retail therapy. So what exactly is a retail therapy? It is basically cheering oneself up after a bad day or mood by indulging into impulsive buy. Sounds fascinating? But, does retail therapy has any actual benefits or just a fancy excuse of loosening the purse strings. Turns out, science has finally broken its silence on why do people say, “I need some retail therapy.” As science defines it, “retail therapy is effective though potentially expensive coping mechanism.” According to the study published in the journal Psychology and Marketing, shopping does help to lighten a bad mood and make someone instantaneously happy. Impulsive shopping behavior and the mood pattern of people are found to have a correlation. Someone in a bad mood might end up spending lavishly on “self- treats” or purchases that make him happy. However, in most cases, a large proportion of shopaholics who indulge in mood-shopping later regret the purchase they made when they were sad about something. Researchers also took a survey to look at how buyers are tapped using emotional grounds. Science now validates that people who are upset tend to become more impulsive and are unable to think logically. Shopping not only helps to kill boredom or stress but also fights lingering sadness, as explained in the study from the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Many people who are going through negative emotions don’t have control over their feelings or the surrounding. It may sound weird but these researches explain that the idea of spending money while going through the therapy experience gives them a sense of control over the situation. Hence, people turn to shopping to exercise ownership when they can’t own what is happening around. Obviously, this psychological trait of humans gives retail firms the opportunity to lure them into making unplanned “burning a hole in the pocket” kind of purchases. Retail therapy is being used as an effective marketing strategy by almost all retail businesses around the world. As per the statistics, 96% of adults engage in retail therapy. The Retail Therapy; How therapeutic it actually is 56 July - 2019
- 57. question is whether retail therapy an advisable coping mechanism? Well, it depends on how one likes to indulge in it. While something as impulsive as retail therapy sounds really fascinating, one must preferably seek other therapy rather than making purchases to uplift one’s mood. The addictive retail therapy has put many into debts and no matter how alluring the idea sounds; it often leads to purchases that are generally not practical or not needed. However, it does have some emotional benefits. Hence, it isn’t such a bad idea to indulge in self- treats, unless one is very impulsive and doesn’t know where to stop. Some of the things can be kept in mind while you are going on a shopping spree to de-stress yourself. For example: Shopping for items that are already in your buying list Once you find yourself getting attracted towards the idea of retail therapy, at least try to refrain from buying things you already have or will never use. Instead of that, buy something that has already been planned to be purchased. That way, one wouldn’t end up spending unnecessarily and later regretting it. Go for“Window Shopping” Yes, hypothetical shopping is as good as the real one. At least, it won’t cost monetary loss as one gets the therapy for free! If you are a shopaholic, you would know the excitement that window shopping brings. Window Shopping will still heal your wounds without the pain of paying credit card bills. And to prevent yourself from actually buying them, try not to carry much cash or cards with you the next time you allow yourself to take the therapy. Postpone shopping and engage in other less expensive habits One can always opt for other ways to deal with mood swings, bad days, heartbreaks, and so on. Indulging in sports activities, swimming, dancing, or other physical activities can work better in the long run and also, won’t cost much. Remember, your insurance doesn’t cover retail therapy! SR 57July - 2019
- 58. 10 Fastest Growing Retail Companies 201910 Fastest Growing Retail Companies 2019 Company Management Description Mikko Helander President & CEO Kesko is the leading Finnish listed trading sector company. Kesko’s operations include the grocery trade, the building and technical trade and the car trade. Its divisions and chains act in close cooperation with retailer entrepreneurs and other partners. Kesko www.kesko.fi Jasbir Singh Chairman & CEO Amber Enterprises India Ltd is a prominent solution provider for Air conditioner OEM/ODM Industry in India. It has a dominant presence in RACs complete unit and deals in major RAC components with 10 manufacturing facilities across India focusing in on different product segments. Amber Enterprises India Ltd www.ambergroupindia.com Robert Spinner, CEO Retail Tech, Inc. provides retailers, grocers, hospitality chains, and third party maintenance companies their ideal Point of Sale solution. RTI has been around for over 15 years as a company selling a low-cost alternative to new and refurbished POS equipment. Retail Tech, Inc. www.retailtechinc.com Jose Neves Founder & CEO Farfetch exists for the love of fashion. It believes in empowering individuality. Its mission is to be the global technology platform for luxury fashion, connecting creators, curators and consumers. Farfetch www.aboutfarfetch.com F. Scott ball, CEO Citycon is a leading owner, manager and developer of urban, grocery-anchored shopping centres in the Nordic and Baltic region, managing assets that total almost EUR 4.5 billion. Its shopping centres are located in urban crosspoints close to where customers live and work, and with a direct connection to public transport, health care and municipal services. Citycon www.citycon.com Wayne Gomes, CEO The Grapevine6 app automatically streams the best stories for your personal brand you can publish to social in just one touch. With Grapevine6, your team can share timely, reputable, risk-free content, custom-fit to their audience in any industry. Grapevine6 www.grapevine6.com P B Maudsley, CEO Findel plc is a group containing two digital-first value retailers, Studio and Findel Education. Studio offers a broad range of products to consumers, from clothing to homewares to our traditional Christmas ranges, all supported by our flexible credit offer. Findel plc www.findel.co.uk David Munczinski CEO The Brickwork platform moves beyond the uncertain hype of “omnichannel” to help you optimize the digital presence of your retail stores to drive qualified online traffic to unique in-store experiences via geo-location features, online appointment booking, event RSVPs, and local content and marketing. Brickwork www.brickworksoftware.com Subrahmanya Rao Founder & CEO Discover Dollor says promotions are most important revenue stream for retail organizations. Ensuring right promotion management and collection can help retailers to increase promotional revenue by 20%. Discover Dollar www.discoverdollar.com Leslie Oliver Karpas CEO & Co-founder LexSet’s first offerings are in retail where the most common use for its API is for retailers to enable their shoppers to search with photos using “LexSet Visual Search,” LVS allows shoppers to search for items that look similar to what’s in any scene. LexSet www.lexset.ai SR