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Operating Seamlessly:Integrating Operationsto Deliver the Non-StopCustomer Experience



Introduction 1

Toward seamless retail 2

Evolving to the future 3

The customer experience 4

is everythingTraditional channel boundaries 8among teams are over

New roles for store associates 10and stores

The evolution of the elastic supply chain 12Metrics for a new reality 14

Getting started 15

Looking ahead 16

Get in touch 17

References 17

Contents



Operating Seamlessly

To keep up, retailers must evolve. Its a future where

they transform into integrated retail organizations thatdeliver seamless experiences for non-stop customers.

Todays non-stop customers are online, on the

go, in stores and in touch with social networks

from Facebook and Twitter to Pinterest and

Instagram. These customers have more tools

than ever to learn about products, compare

prices and gather insightsthe options are

always evolving. And these customers want

a relevant experience while paying less.

In fact, Accentures survey of 6,000 consumers

in eight countries reveals that the majority of

respondents believe that integrating in-store,

online and mobile is the number one thing

that retailers can do to improve the shopping

experience.1Survey data shows that when it

comes to in-store shopping, consumers want

the basicsthe right products, the right prices

and an easy shopping experience.

To attract these customers and succeedin a complex, fast moving and hyper-

competitive environment, retailers must

change their game to remain relevant.

They must become seamless retailers

(see Toward seamless retail overleaf).2

As part of Accentures series on seamless

retailing, this point of view addresses

the seamless operations aspect of this

transformation. This is a future in which the

retail organization becomes as connected as

customers are. The focus is on reinventing the

status quo across marketing, merchandising,

supply chain and channel teams, talent andmetricsconnecting isolated functions and

roles in new ways.

How can retailers organize to meet

consumers evolving needs without adding

cost and complexity? While there is no one-

size-fits-all guide to becoming a seamless

retail organization, the potential rewards are

significantso are the risks of inaction.

Retail will changemore in the nextfive years than ithas in the past 50.

COMEIN

OPENWERE



2 Operating Seamlessly

Toward seamless retailDelivering a consistently personalized, on-brand experience for every

customerevery time, across every channel is the holy grail of seamlessretailing. Its essential for retailers to remain relevant, build loyalty and

boost sales in a turn-on-a-dime market.

Seamlessness requires a new breed of customer experience, operations,

platforms and partnerships. Retailers must evolve to:

CustomizeUnderstanding individual shoppersin context and across channels

ConnectIntegrating operations to sustain

a single customer conversation

ConvergeBuilding standardized IT platformsthat unify divergent data sources

CollaborateForging partnerships to strengthenthe customer value proposition



Do we have the right

people, the right

skillsand the right

accountabilities?

How can we address the

political realities when

trying to transform

our organization?

How should we

prioritize short

and long-term

strategies?

Evolving to the futureFrom empowered customers and channel complexity to warp-speed innovation and the

competitive threat of online pure plays, the new face of retail is not for the meek.

In fact, Accentures evaluation of 60 global retailers reveals a significant gap between realityand customer expectations.3Yet forward-thinking retailers are realistic and pragmatic enoughto understand the need for change.

What is clear is that there is no single

cure-all for every retailer in transforming

the organization. Each will take a distinct

and nuanced journey to seamlessness,

some faster than others, some more

streamlined than others, and some more

boldly than others.

No retailer has yet to realize every aspect of

seamless retailing. However, we are seeing

companies exploring seamless options more

and more. For example, Macys and Saks are

among retailers that have created new

senior level positions to drive integration

and seamlessness around the

customer experience.

While there will be changes in IT, human

resources and other enabling functions, this

discussion focuses on customer-facing area

where retailers must change in five key area

These include actions that retailers can take i

marketing, merchandising, supply chain and

channel teams, and talent and metrics and ar

explored in detail on the following pages.

Even with thiseyes-open approach,becoming seamless

raises more questions thananswers as retailers take a

hard look at what theirfuture organizationmight look like:


Where do we start?

How should we organize

and operatewhat specifi

changes must be made?




It is not enough for retailersto simply agree thatcustomers are empoweredlike never before. They mustmake substantive operationalchanges where awareness

of and attention to thepersonalized, relevant anddistinct customer experienceis a primary focus.

Leading the way, traditionally independent

merchandising and marketing organizations

must converge under a customer experience

umbrella. The emphasis must be on the

customer experience as much asif not more

thanproducts and pricing. Having the right

products and pricing is a given for success.

But the real source of differentiation will be

the customer experience.

Trumpet the brandvoice loudlyAs part of this focus on the customer

experience, marketing and merchandising

must present a cohesive brand to the non-

stop customer. This requires a laser focus on

developing consistent brand campaigns across

existing and new channelsalways with an

eye to the horizon. The pace of change is

simply that swift.

Yet marketing cannot stop here. The brand

presence must be bold, clear and consistent

to connect with customers and to rise above

the noise of consumers always-on lives.

The execution of such campaigns is of

singular importance.

While print and circular were once retailers

marketing vehicles of choice, todays focus

is on ever-evolving online, mobile and social

vehicles. These channels are here to stay, and

their impact is increasing at a rapid pace.

Forrester Research estimates that the social

media, email and mobile marketing market

a $6 billion market opportunity todaywill

skyrocket to $16 billion in just three years.4

Having ongoing brand interactions with

consumers across all channels requires new

competencies including deep fluency in

cutting-edge interactive technologies and

an ability to sense, evaluate and respond at

speedand at scaleto customer interaction

Whats more, success will require increased

collaboration with operationsboth

online and in storeand approaches that

synchronize consistent, non-stop customerexperiences across all customer-facing teams

There are retailers making inroads in this

area. Consider Williams-Sonoma, a home

furnishings retailer in the United States and

Canada with a number of niche brands. The

company has evolved its legacy marketing

approaches to an omnichannel one with a

strong social media focus while maintaining

the integrity of its brand family.5

The customer experienceis everything

1

$6bnsocial media,

email and mobilemarketing market

opportunitytoday

willskyrocket to

$16bnin just

three years




Infuse merchandisingwith customeradvocacyThe future of merchandising must be about

leading customers to their desired purchases

with a personalized, end-to-end experience

that has no seams from either retailers or

customers perspectives.

This means trading product centricity for

customer advocacy and offering customers

the right price, assortment, promotionand

now customer experienceconsistently

across channels. Moreover, the customer and

product agendas must be in lock step and

inform merchandising tactics at every turn.

This strategic combination of customer

experience insight and merchandising

acumen must become a core competency

for retailers. Customer insight data is the

glue that holds this customer experience

function together. Without data-driven views

of customerswho they are, what they want,

how they behaveretailers cannot offer

authentic and effective customer experiences

even to their most brand-loyal shoppers.

To truly understand and deliver the right

customer experiences, the customer insight

group must become more embedded

with merchandisingeither physically or

operationally. This integration eliminates

insight islands, making it easier to incorporate

insights at the point and place of decision.

Such changes will certainly impact

existing leadership and cross-functional

organizational structures. More and more,

retailers will need to consider creating

customer experience organizations.

These can take on many forms. For one,

customer experience teams could be located

within marketing and influence merchants

from there. In another scenario, the customerexperience team could be fully embedded

in merchandising with an equal voice at

the table. Or separate customer experience

function with individual team members

matrixed into each merchant buying team.

Customer experience organizations can take on different models.

Customer experience teamscould be located withinmarketing and influencemerchants from there.

The customer experienceteam could be fully embeddedin merchandising with anequal voice at the table.

Separate customer experiencefunction with individual teammembers matrixed into eachmerchant buying team.

Matrixed

$ $

MerchandisingMarketing

$




Get up close and personal with customers

Meeting customers demands for a superior

customer experience will ultimately mean a

decline in mass marketing vehicles in favor

of highly-targeted micro-promotions. Thisis because non-stop customers preferand

are more responsive totargeted one-to-one

interactions and personal dialogues

with retailers.

Accentures recent consumer survey supports

this concept. Results reveal that 88 percent of

customers are willing to or would definitely

use personalized, real-time promotions sent

to their mobile phones. Of those customers,

38 percent say they would definitely use

such promotions and cannot wait until theirfavorite retailers offer them. Whats more,

nearly all consumers surveyed want the same

promotions in-store and online.6

As retailers become more seamless in how

they operate, strategic, real-time personalized

services and offeringsin line with the right

productsmust become the norm.

With the influx of consumer data, advanced

analytics capabilities and the right technology

platforms, retailers can do what once seemed

contradictory if not impossibleconnect with

individual consumers at scale.

The chief marketing officer of Macys explains

just how personal micro-promotions executed

at scale can be. There are times well send out

18 million unique emailsdown to the point

of emailing a shopper with a message like:we saw you last night on the womens shoes

part of the website, and then send that

shopper a targeted show promotion.7

Rethink support functions andfuel the innovation engine

To enable these new capabilities and teams

of the future, something has to give.

To reinvent operations, retail organizations

require specialized support functions and

new capabilities to free up capacity and

infuse innovation into the business. Without

this, retailers are working against the tide of

increased market complexity, the big data

onslaught and the sheer pace of innovation.

Affecting change can begin by taking an

objective look at roles and responsibilitieswithin these functional areas, redefining and

prioritizing to optimally support both tactical

and strategic needs. Specialized execution

teams must take on tactical activities. One

of the worlds largest retailers has done just

that. The company relies on the commercial

division of its India-based global service center

to handle marketing and merchandising

functions including sourcing, forecasting,

supplier management and analytics.

Several tactical areas must take on a new

importance and evolve in the seamless

organization. Retail data management,

including master data management and

content management, is essential to enable

clean and common data across functions. And

strong analytics capabilities are essential to

produce actionable insight for faster, better

decision making.

With their rate of innovation typically

underperforming the online pure plays,

traditional retailers can use this opportunityto redirect freed up resources to support a

strategic innovation agenda. One way is to

consolidate and redirect execution functions

in-house or externally and develop innovation

labs to launch horizon programs and products.

Outsourcing commodity functions can free up

funding to invest in innovation.




Many retailers today haveindependent marketing,merchandising and supplychain teams that focus on asingle channel. But in the eraof the non-stop customer,

this model is out of synchwith the times.

As retailers prepare for a seamless future,

they must work to eliminate these channel

boundaries on their own timetable. The key

will be to strike the right balance between

bringing functions together and the need

to incubate newer online businesses by

determining the right threshold for change

against the retailers business strategy.

But in the end, these teams must be

connected to serve the entire enterprise. Its

about working more effectively and cost-

efficiently as a seamless retail organization,

smashing antiquated internal silos to function

just as cross channel as customers shop.

Without a doubt, this is a significant and

transformational change. It will mean holistic

ownership of product categoriesand,ultimatelyholistic customer and product

P&L responsibility across all channels.

Governance, guidelines, skills and capabilities

must be initiated or updated to enable

a consistent cross-channel experience.

Leadership and organizational changes will

also be in playfrom the executive suite to

the showroom floor.

The good news is that such changes are

possibleand profitable. In fact, some retail

pioneers have already made strides in this

area. Macys, for example, recently named a

chief omnichannel officer with responsibility

for integrating store, online and mobilea

move that demonstrates the retailers desire

to align operations with how customers

shop.8Staples is poised to bring its U.S. retail

business and staples.com under unifiedleadership. Whats more, Apple already

operates with a single P&L.9

In the United Kingdom, the John Lewis

department store has strengthened its ability

to offer customers cross-delivery options and

click-and-collect services by unifying online

and store businesses under a single reporting

function. The initiative has generated

outstanding results. Between 2011 and 2012

John Lewis reported an 8.7 percent lift in

gross sales, to 4.4 billion.

2 Traditional channel boundariesamong teams are over

Customer placesorder online

Customer notifiedof order status

Customers orderdelivered to store

Customer collectsorder from store

John Lewis, in the United Kingdom, reported an8.7%liftin gross sales, to 4.4 billion from click-and-collect services.



Traditional retail teams will need to explore different organizational approaches to be ableto give customers the seamless experiences they want. While there is not a single right

answer, possibilities include:

Chief seamlesschannelsofficer model

Several retailers have

recently created a chief

omnichannel officer

position, which is anexcellent step toward

eliminating traditional

channel boundaries and

delivering one customer

experience in-store, online,

through mobile, etc.

The authoritychief customerofficer model

A chief customer officer

oversees a consolidated

marketing and

merchandising function,with a dramatically

higher level of integration

across product, offer

and customer experience

decision making. This can

be a new position or a role

filled by the current chief

merchant, chief marketing

officer or channel leader.

The facilitatorchief customerofficer model

A chief customer officer

position is created to work

closely with the chief

marketing officer, the chiefmerchant, CIO and other

leaders to drive customer

experience orientation

throughout organization.

The collaborationmodel

If structural changes

are not possible initially

or even in the long

term, leadership must

support an environment

where cross-functional

collaboration is a priority.

Strong governance

with a clear decision

approach and adherence

to customer-focused

processes is required.

Ultimately, the chief

merchant, chief marketing

officer, chief channelofficer, chief customer

officer and CIO must

work as equals to deliver

the desired seamless

customer experience.

Changing the leadership structure





Retail customers move backand forth across channelswith intention to completetheir shopping missions.Yet even in a multichannelenvironment, physical stores

still matter. In fact, 89 percentof respondents to AccenturesSeamless Retail Survey ratein-store as the easiest retailchannel in which to completea purchase.

Moving forward, realizing seamless retail

operations requires two distinct roles for

store associates. Retailers need the right mix

of customer facing and fulfillment focusedassociates. And each type plays a specific

role in connecting online and in-store

environments in new ways.

Keep people comingback with highlyskilled talentTo drive seamless operations, customer-facing

store associates must evolve to become

the frontline stewards of an increasingly

sophisticated customer experience. These

new store associates must understandcustomers, products, prices and promotions,

using technology tools to gather and share

information to meet customers needsand

connect with their aspirations.

Aligning technology, mobility, customer and

product knowledgewithin and outside

the physical boundaries of the storeis a

core competency for this store associate.

Associates essentially become cross-channel

customer ambassadors. This shift helps

retailers capture the highest share of walletfrom customersin-store shoppers become

online shoppers, and when online shoppers

visit the store, they want to come back.

To create a compelling in-store experience

that resonated with cross-channel shoppers,

John Lewis piloted a virtual fashion mirror

over six weeks in 2012. This innovative tool

allowed customers to try-on outfits and

get recommendations for coordinated pieces

without browsing the racks. Store associates

helped guide the experience, and customers

could make purchases in-store or online

via an in-store kiosk. Sixty-seven percent ofparticipating customers reported that they

enjoyed this experience.10

Wal-Marts Scan & Go program is another

example of how retailers are using technolog

tools to offer customers new control over

their shopping experiences. Using their

iPhones, customers scan and bag groceries

while shopping and then pay quickly and

conveniently using self-checkout. As retailers

provide options like this, sales associates will

have to be far more sophisticated in helpingcustomers use their own devices than they

are today.

3 New roles for store associatesand stores

Add item

Scan & Go!



Operating Seamlessly 1

To provide experiences like this, retailers will

have to re-skill and appropriately incent

their sales workforce to support them. New

and continuous training programs will be

essential. Not only will associates have to

understand products and promotions across

channels, they will have to be trained on

enhanced customer experience tools.

Training in a seamless retail organizationmust be real-time and at the point of

experience with customers, using the latest

mobile tools. To accomplish this, retailers will

need training approaches that are dynamic

and also cost effective and efficient.

According to Motorolas most recent Holiday

Shopping Study, 47 percent of shoppers

reported better experiences when store

associates consulted technology tools for

product information.11And better shopping

experiences usually translate to betterbuying experiences.

Enable stores asfulfillment centersJust as store associates need to deliver

a more sophisticated in-store customer

experience, these associates must meet

the needs of customers who never even

enter the store. More than an important

operational shiftthis is a cultural shift

in which stores and associates treat every

online order as if it came from the brands

most loyal customer.

An important part of making this happen

is a shift where stores become fulfillment

centers. Its about increasing real-time

order fulfillment with store associates who

provide non-stop customers with what they

want faster. Rethinking stores as fulfillment

centers provides customers with the highly-

coveted immediacy that shipping fromdistant distribution centers rarely achieves as

easily and inexpensively. This translates into

better, more customer-centeredand more

profitablefulfillment.

To drive this shift, retailers must identify

another type of store associate, apart

from the customer experience ambassador

mentioned earlier. These associates do not

necessary sell. Instead, they pick, pack

and ship orders just as distribution center

associates do today. This is similar to apparel

retailer Zaras approach where sales associate

have traditionally spent time focused on

logistics related activities.12This transitionwill mean that retailers must rethink store

processes, reconsider talent and manage

labor differently. Store leadership at all levels

and across functions will also change to

effectively manage these new specializations

But this shift can work. Consider that Macys

and Nordstrom are using stores to support

online order fulfillment today.

47%of shoppers reported betterexperiences when store associatesconsulted technology tools forproduct information.




The retail supply chain is thelifeline of the retail enterprise,getting the right products tothe right stores, distributioncenters and customers at theright time. Changes to the

supply chain and inventorymanagement are key tofulfilling the promise ofseamless retailing.

Make visibility anddynamic fulfillmentmandatoryJust as single-channel teams create blind

spots in serving cross-channel customers, so

does a supply chain focused only to a single

area of the business. Instead, inventory must

be managed at the enterprise level. All nodesof the supply chainstores, suppliers and

other partners includedmust work together

to increase product visibility, availability,

profitability and speed to customer.

This integration is also important for retailers

because it is essential to helping them

meet non-stop customers expectations for

inventory visibility. When asked to name the

most important information to have prior

to visiting a physical store, 66 percent of

respondents to the Accenture Seamless RetailConsumer Survey selected product availability

information. Simply put, when customers

want something, retailers must make sure

they get it.

Achieving a single view of inventory

availability will mean that accountability

must shift from location inventory

ownership to enterprise inventory

ownership. Existing supply chain

organizations must transform into a single

supply chain team that includes digital

fulfillment centers, digital fulfillment from

stores and enterprise forecasting capabilities

It is about replacing fragmentation withcommon teams and processes.

Perhaps not surprisingly, data indicates that

retailers recognize the need for a new kind

of inventory management. Eighty percent of

mega retailers recently surveyed by the Retai

Systems Research identified shared inventory

for in-store and online fulfillment as a top

priority, though many are still not there.13

Getting there, and making profitable decision

with a streamlined supply chain, will requirespecialized teams and capabilities to analyze

and optimize inventory data and practices

across channels.

4 The evolution of theelastic supply chain

The retail supply chain is the

lifelineof the retail enterprise.




Emphasize returnsmanagementIt is increasingly common for customers to

purchase a product in one channel and to

expect to return it in another. The non-stop

customers path to return is just as fluid

as the path to purchase. In fact, Accenture

survey data reveal that the majority of

consumers will seek out the least expensive

return option even if it is not as convenient

as other options.

As such, retail organizations must

manage returns more holistically.

Returns management must become a

core competency for all customer-facing

employees at stores, distribution centers and

call centers. Retailers must focus equally on

moving product through the forward and

backward supply chain.

This focus is about aligning returns with

customer behaviorskeeping customers

happy while maintaining profitability.

However, it can be quite challenging because

managing returns is highly complex today.

Retailers must now solve for disposition,

fraudulent and multichannel returns with

more risk of getting taken advantage of than

ever. In 2012 alone, retailers lost an estimated

$8.9 billion to return fraud.14

Moving through this complexity, retailers

must consider how to standardize, streamline

and monitor return processes, so returns are

painless and profitable.

It will be essential to train store associates

in this area. While doing so, leadership must

account for labor management implications

around the measurement/incentives of

multichannel returns. They must also get

better about scheduling and capacity asreturns will continue to play a growing role

in retailers business. But with updated core

processes, technology and skills, returns

management can be a source of customer

loyalty and added value.

Nordstrom is one retailer that has historically

gotten returns right. The Seattle-based

fashion retailer has a sterling reputation

for returns.

Retailers must consider how to standardize,streamline and monitor return processes, soreturns are painlessand profitable.

REFUND

Online purchase

Return to store

Receive refund




As retail organizationsevolve to become seamless,traditional metrics mustevolve too. This includesboth the way that retailerstrack their performance

holistically and how they areviewed externally, as well ashow companies internallymeasureand, ultimatelychange behavior. Changingmetrics at both of theselevels is essential for retailersto become truly seamless.In essence, incentives must

influence behavior change todrive sales across all channels,powering the dissolution ofexisting seams.

Looking at the macro level, existing metrics

like comp store sales are not going away any

time soon, but they must reflect what the

reality of the business is. The comp store sales

need to reflect total sales growth for in-store

and online purchases holistically. Retailers

must introduce comp customer sales to

work in tandem with traditional comp store

sales. Its about measuring total category

performance online and offline.

This is a necessary shift because customers

shop across all channels, and retailers must

be measured, rewarded and incented on

enterprise customer sales.

Changing measures and metrics at a micro

level is also essential to eliminate potentially

dysfunctional behavior that can block

seamlessness. Retailers must incent different

departments and functions to operate with

a seamless mindsetaligning incentives with

metrics and measurement. For example, if

stores and associates are not credited for

online purchases, they have little incentive to

make online order fulfillment a priorityandthe customer experience suffers.

Some retailers are making changes to alleviat

challenges like this. As part of its commitmen

to integrate in-store and online channels,

Nordstrom recognized the importance of

aligning teams across channels around

customer sales over fostering an environmen

where teams fight over credit.15

This issue of giving stores credit for sales

initiated in other channels will continue tobe significant. If retailers want to continue

to rely on stores to alleviate out-of-stocks

for online orders, they must look at customer

value and related incentives with much more

of an omnichannel eye.

Customers shop across all channels,

and retailers must be measured,

rewarded and incented on

enterprise customer sales.

In storeVsonline

5 Metrics for a new reality



Getting startedRetailers can create momentum towards becoming a seamless retail

organization by considering the following steps:

Acknowledge the burning platformWhether you have explicitly acknowledged it or not, the

retail industry is dramatically changing, and no company

will survive without transforming over the next five years.

Determine how proactively and quickly your business

will migrate categories to online customer purchase and

understand the radical implications of those transitions

across store size and overall count, assortment, space,

pricing, inventory and store labor.

Identify target customer experiencesWhile we may not be able to predict exactly how customer

experiences will change, we do know they will change

significantly as technology transforms how customers

shop. As inventory visibility, scan & go and other

technologies rapidly gain adoption, are you organized to

rapidly deliver those customer experiences? Determine the

seamless product-specific customer experiences that will

define how your customer will want to shop.

Put the right leadership in placeRegardless of which organizational model is right for you,

some level of new leadership is critical to be a catalyst

to help others throughout the company think differently

and drive the change. Consider whether establishing a

new chief customer officer to define the overall customer

experiences, or a chief channel officer to unite all customer

touchpoints, is right for your business.

Involve the right people from

the beginningBecause the need to become seamless will touch on

customer-facing and enabling functionsfrom IT to

merchandising, to marketing, to channels to supply chain

representatives from all areas must actively participate from

the outset to ensure that the left hand knows what the

right hand is doing. Establish the right governance model to

ensure the collaboration takes place.

Know that making the business

case will be challengingWhile we know that customers demand seamless

experiences across all channels, defining a business case

as is historically done for traditional initiativescan be

challenging. It is easy for companies to estimate sales lift,

cost take-out and other potential benefits. But the reality is

that it is as much a defensive play to maintain your current

customer base, your current share of wallet and preventdefection to online pure plays and other competitors as it

is about driving an upside. Realize that becoming seamless

is about survivaland then establish operating metrics to

monitor progress to ensure your business is moving ahead.

1 4

52

3





By building a seamless retail organizationone

step at a time and at their own paceretailers can

deliver non-stop customer experiences that defy

the limitations of a single channel. Only throughthis type of transformation will retailers be able to

surviveand thrivethrough the dramatic changes

driving a reinvention of retail as we know it.

Merchandisingand Marketingconvergewith a unifiedposition withthe customerexperiencebecomingequally

importantas productand price.

Sales associatesmust providesophisticatedcustomerexperienceswhile fulfillmentassociatesenable complexdelivery options.

Single-channelteamsmarketing,merchandisingand supplychainmustconsolidateto servecustomers

across theenterprise.

The supplychain mustevolve tomanageinventoryholisticallyforward,backward andsideways.

Metrics andincentivesmust expand toinclude holisticcustomervaluecompcustomer salesare as importantas comp store

sales.

Looking aheadIn the coming years, customers demands will change, evolving in ways that we cannot yet

imagine today. Engaged and delighted by shopping missions suited to their needs, non-stopcustomers want the ideal experience from retailers. And if they dont get it, they simply changecourseexploring other channels and competitors.

To deliver seamless experiences, retailers must operate seamlessly themselves. Navigating allof the decisions that must be made can be overwhelming, but retailers can focus on these keycustomer-facing areas:




Get in touchAccenture has a dedicated team focused

on the issues retailers face competing

in the online economy for more

information please contact:

GlobalChris Donnelly

[email protected]

Asia PacificTakaaki Haraguchi

[email protected]

EuropeAdrian Bertschinger

[email protected]

North AmericaDave Richards

[email protected]

1 Accenture Seamless Retail Consumer Survey, November 2012.

2 See Accentures Seamless Retail: Customize. Connect. Converge.

Collaborate. for more detail.

3 Accenture Seamless Retail Consumer Survey,November 2012

4 Forrester Research Inc., US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2011 To 2016,

September 2011.

5 Fiorletta, Alicia. (October 30, 2012). Social Advocacy Summit: Retail and Facebook

Execs Discuss Shift to Converged Marketing. In Retail Touchpoints Web site.

Retrieved March 5, 2013.

6 Accenture Seamless Retail Consumer Survey,November 2012.

7 Kalakota, Ravi. (January 19, 2012). Multi-channel to Omni-channel Retail

Analytics: Big Data Use Case. In Practical Analytics Word Press Web site.Retrieved

on March 5, 2013 from http://practicalanalytics.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/omni-

channel-retail-analytics-a-big-data-use-case/

8 Demery, Paul. (January 29, 2013). Macys Names a Chief Omnichannel Executive.In Internet RetailerWeb site. Retrieved on March 5, 2013 from http://www.

internetretailer.com/2013/01/29/macys-names-chief-omnichannel-executive

9 Eisenberg, Bryan. The Steve Jobs Way to Marketing Integration. In State of Search

Web site.Retrieved on March 5, 2013 from http://www.stateofsearch.com/the-

steve-jobs-way-to-marketing-integration-by-bryan-eisenberg-thegrok/

10 Cisco. Leading U.K. Retailer, John Lewis, Pilots Unique Cisco StyleMe Fashion

Mirror to Help Capture More Cross-Channel Shoppers.http://www.cisco.com/web

about/ac79/docs/retail/John-Lewis-and-Cisco-Virtual-fashion-mirror-case-

study.pdf

11 (January 2, 2013). Nearly 50% of Consumers Believe They are More Informed

than Store Associates. In Retail TouchPoints Web site.Retrieved on March 5, 201

from http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/in-store-insights/2162-nearly-50-of-

consumers-believe-they-are-more-informed-than-store-associates-

12 (April 18, 2011) Why Logistics Personnel Should Work in Stores? In StoreLogisti

Web site.Retrieved on March 5, 2013 from http://instorelogistics.wordpress.com

13 http://www.epicor.com/host/retail/RSR2012StoreReport.pdf

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Unhappy Returns. In Bloomberg Businessweek Web site.Retrieved on March 5,

2013 from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-30/when-christmas-

brings-retailers-many-unhappy-returns

15 Taylor, Heather. (September 20, 2012). Nordstrom VP Warns RetailersPut Customers in Drivers Seat, or be Dead by 2020. In EConsultancy Web site.

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References



About Accenture

Accenture is a global management

consulting, technology services and

outsourcing company, with approximately

261,000 people serving clients in more than

120 countries. Combining unparalleled

experience, comprehensive capabilities

across all industries and business functions,

and extensive research on the worlds

most successful companies, Accenturecollaborates with clients to help them

become high-performance businesses and

governments. The company generated net

revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal

year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is

www.accenture.com.

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Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Deliveredare trademarks of Accenture.

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