Omni-channel: Taking Time, Money, Commitment, And Technology

T he digital and physical selling environments are converging. Whether this phenomenon is called “cross-channel,” “omni-channel,” or given

some other label, consumers now routinely use their Internet-enabled (and frequently mobile) devices to find information about potential purchases. The selling channels have converged as far as consumers are concerned, and retailers are forced to catch up. Striving To Gain An UnderstandingWhen we asked retailers to identify the top three business challenges that are driving them towards selling channel convergence, there is surprising unanimity between Win-ners and others on most fronts.

Overall, the top challenge for retailers is that “a good customer experience in one channel is not enough to maintain customer loyalty.” That response has increased since we asked the same question in 2014 (from 39 percent to 49 percent), further highlight-ing that consumer expectations for a seam-less experience across the digital/physical divide are not leveling off. But there is one striking difference between over-perform-ers and all others when it comes to business challenges. As we have seen many times, Winners maintain a relentless focus on the customer. In this case, Winners identify their number-one business challenge to be that the way consumers use different channels to make their purchase decision is unpredict-

moving forward and their merchandising continues to be too store-oriented, or in oth-er words, they are stubbornly adhering to the “push” mass merchandising model. It all boils down to risk. Retailers don’t like unmanage-able risk. But Winners see their greatest risk in not meeting the expectations of consum-ers, while non-Winners see risk in the spend-ing needed to modernize their technology portfolio and the internal cultural resistance to change.

Technology enablersBringing Technology To BearAcross the board, there are huge gaps between the importance retailers assign to enabling technologies and their actual implementation status. It’s particularly troubling that the top-valued technology-enabled capability, “enterprisewide customer visibility,” has so far to go towards being solved. Technologies to support that capability have consistently been rated the #1 most-valuable enabler in RSR’s cross-channel studies since 2011. The problem for retailers is that the notion of customer visibility is a moving target that has changed tremendously in the last several years, from merely understanding past purchases to understanding customers’ nontransactional behavioral patterns in the digital space. And it is poised to expand yet again, as retailers experiment with geo-location sensing

able, but important to understand. Other retailers are watching consumers’ digitally enabled shopping behaviors too, but they have a very different take; their top business challenge is that consumer expectations outpace our ability to deliver cross-channel experiences. Winners are working to under-stand consumers’ new shopping behaviors, while average and under-performers are merely being buffeted by them.

Organizational inhibitorsWinners: “Let’s Get Pragmatic”Because the challenges and opportunities associated with cross-channel convergence involve both business processes and technol-ogy enablement, it follows that the inhibitors to progress are the same, and that indeed is the case.

Of the things that stand in the way, most are pragmatic (if potentially very costly) con-cerns, related to existing technology. Retail Winners are much more keenly aware that the IT portfolio in general was not designed with the customer dimension in mind (most legacy retail software is overtly product-ori-ented), and that store systems in particular will be too difficult to adapt to an omni-chan-nel mode of operation. Average and under-performers’ top inhibitor is also very tech-oriented; inventory and order management are not integrated across channels. But their concerns quickly turn to nontechnical issues: Specifically the budget prevents them from

by Brian Kilcourse and Paula Rosenblum, managing partners, RSR

Omni-ChannelSupplement16

INNOVATIVE RETAILT E C H N O L O G I E S

technologies to track consumers’ paths through the physical store. Nevertheless, there’s a Winners’ story here, too. While the overall response group reports a 20 percent implemented/satisfied status for those enabling technologies, that number is driven by the adoption rate by over-performers (26 percent compared to 17 percent for average and under-performers).

What is even more interesting is that 35 percent of our respondents report that they have implemented enterprisewide custom-er visibility capabilities, but plan to replace them (34 percent Winners, and 35 percent of others). As we’ll see in a moment, this finding is driven by Apparel retailers, but it underlines the rapidly expanding notion of what customer visibility entails.

Meanwhile…While gaining visibility into customers’

total shopping experience remains a daunting challenge, customers still expect to be able to create an order in any channel and get it fulfilled when and where it is most convenient for them.

What Does The Future look like?The days of a seven-to-ten year useful life for technology investments are over. This new reality, in turn, may change the way that technology capabilities are delivered (for example, commercial cloud-based solutions may be more desirable as opposed to on-premise licensed solutions). There is no one-size-fits-all solution for all of retail, but instead of talking about whether or not a converged selling environment technology capability should be embraced, the discussion ought to be about how best to deliver it. Consumers are the early adopters — retailers must catch up or they will find themselves to be irrelevant.

Digital channels are aboutmore Than making The SaleMost respondents recognize that a seamless customer experience is imperative, but

they haven’t quite internalized that digital channels are more than just “making the sale.” The percentage of sales influenced by digital channels only continues to grow. This becomes clear when thinking about enterprisewide customer visibility. Two years ago, this was all about understanding purchase history. Now it has morphed into a more forward-looking path-to-purchase preference and is likely to soon also incorporate data gleaned from in-store tracking technologies. This will allow retailers a more complete picture of shoppers, from occasional purchasers to avid advocates. The opportunity is enormous for those who take it.

never Forget The importance Of consumer PrivacyThe subject of in-store tracking reminds us immediately of a true imperative: the acknowledgement and honoring of consumer privacy. Our enthusiasm over the possibilities of understanding customers’ paths to purchase and the opportunities to serve up personalized offers is tempered by consumers’ concerns over lost privacy. In a world where citizens receive tickets for running red lights because cameras have been posted at many intersections, and where the media is filled with information on the sheer volume of data collected by governments on citizens, including their movements, phone calls, and social media postings — clear and easily visible opt-in policies are imperative. Assume nothing, and be clear about everything.

“not Knowing” is no longer an excuseWe were somewhat shocked to find more than a quarter of respondents still don’t know if their cross-channel shopper is more profitable or not. On some level, it doesn’t matter if you know or not — the imperative remains the same. But the only way for a retailer to evolve to meet today’s shopper is to curate both offers and assortments. This can only be done when you know what

compels a shopping decision. It’s time to learn who cherry-picks loss leaders vs. who are truly your best customers. Analytics are required, and if necessary, consider getting outside help to get up to speed quickly.

Build extensible applications, But expect changeOn the one hand, we can only encourage purchasing the type of technology that allows for change and growth — in today’s world those technologies are called “API-driven.” What that means is there are Application Program Interfaces (APIs) that allow external technologies to call those applications and make use of them. The simplest examples are those websites that allow a user to log in using Facebook. It’s Facebook’s API that makes this process simpler for the site user. Still, APIs are not a bulletproof guarantee of investment protection. The world is just changing too quickly. While retailers have historically limited their IT expense as a percentage of sales, it’s time to consider earlier obsolescence. This will impact everything from lease vs. buy decisions to depreciation and amortization schedules. Cycles have irrevocably compressed. “Retail-hardened” used to guarantee a longer life. Now its meaning has shifted to “Easy to use, easy to change.”

Rethink The notion Of RiskRetail has historically been a very risk-averse industry. While companies often made daring product decisions, they were far more cautious about being early adopters of technology. Today, the use of analytics can help reduce the element of risk. The larger risk comes from doing nothing. The industry is moving faster than it used to, and those who don’t take an educated risk run the true risk of falling into irrelevancy. Today’s retail channels are truly blurring. The customers are the channel, and technologies and products must meet them wherever they want to be. This is the true future of cross-channel retailing.

17Omni-Channel

Supplement

INNOVATIVE RETAILT E C H N O L O G I E S

T here has never been a shortage of external challenges pushing retailers as they seek to get the right product to the right customer at the right time.

The retail world has been complicated enough for decades. But for Retail Winners, the new consumer’s behavior patterns are only adding force to those existing pressures.

Forecast Better, React BetterOne of the main challenges for retailers going forward is that the new supply chain has to con-sider stores not only as destinations for invento-ry, but also as potential sources to accommodate surging customer demand for cross-channel order fulfillment. The legacy one-way “one-to-many” relationship between the supply chain and selling locations has given way to a more complex two-way “many-to-many” design. The result so far has been chaotic, and many retailers don’t know whether new fulfillment processes

are profit-creating or profit-destroying. But while the supply chain was not intended to sup-port more complex many-to-many activities, retailers have been engaging in cross-channel fulfillment anyway because customers want it. The overarching opportunity is to figure out how to offer new order and fulfillment options to consumers and still be profitable.

Top Three Business Opportunities From improving Supply chain executionOther retailers generally have come to agree with Winners: They need systems to be updated.The goal is to forecast better by considering con-sumer behavioral patterns gleaned from pre-transactional activities in the digital realm like browsing, social media, etc. But they also agree that they need to react better when the unex-pected still happens, thus creating the desire for more real-time monitoring. While Winners also remain focused on improved forecasting,

they have moved on to think about operational excellence in the context of consumers’ buy-anywhere/get-anywhere shopping. They rate re-optimizing “warehouse flow between cases and eaches,” and optimizing “fulfillment based on the most profitable inventory opportunity,” as their top opportunities. Over-performers don’t want to merely cope with cross-channel activity, they also make money at it.

Getting it DoneAside from agreeing with Winners that “online visibility into in-store inventory” is important, average and lagging retailers seem particu-larly enamored with direct delivery options to consumers. But while Winners also give those options priority, they give far more priority to options that will get consumers into the store. That helps explain why Winners have also gone further in implementing them.

Regardless of the performance level, how-

If you’re looking to connect with omni-channel shoppers, you need to understand who they are. This means knowing the basics: demographic, location, online habits, and the like. But to truly connect in a meaningful way, you need to go beyond that.

Top retailers understand their customer in even greater detail; they take into ac-count each moment in a customer’s journey before making a purchase, whether it’s online, offline, or across multiple channels and devices. They also understand exactly how their most valuable customers prefer to make purchases.

Keeping interactions consistent across multiple channels and ensuring a seam-less experience for consumers is key. This is where the right digital advertising solution comes in — one that is highly targeted, allows you to segment your audiences based on any criteria, keeps your message consistent across multiple channels, and accu-

rately tracks cross-device attribution. Additionally, you should be able to customize your message to a consumer based on where they are in the conversion funnel — escalating offers and sending out different campaigns until your customer converts.

With true cross-channel attribution, marketers would be able to focus on aligning cross-channel promotions and optimizing their ad spend. For example, if you know someone purchases on mobile, first reaching them there instead of paying for ads on social media is a better use of your budget.

The right digital marketing solution should provide a deep understanding into complex user journeys. You want people to finally feel like their experience is being considered, which is what they expect — wherever they are and whatever device they are using.

Mark Douglas, founder & CEO, Steelhouse

IntegratIng a Cross-DevICe DIgItal aDvertIsIng solutIon Into Your omnI-Channel strategY

Omni-ChannelSupplement18

INNOVATIVE RETAILT E C H N O L O G I E S

ReTail SuPPly chain execuTiOn: New Requirements To Meet New Demand

by Brian Kilcourse and Steve Rowen, managing partners, RSR

19Omni-Channel

Supplement

INNOVATIVE RETAILT E C H N O L O G I E S

ever, it’s clear there’s still a lot of work to be done. So beyond figuring out how to offer new order and fulfillment options to consumers in ways that bolster profitability, retailers’ next greatest opportunity is to close the gap between the im-portance they assign to various processes and putting them in place.

Summing up The OpportunitiesWhile retailers generally agree that they need to forecast better, react better, and execute better, there’s some disagreement when it comes to the details. Winners put more priority on optimizing activities within their supply chains to better accommodate flow from the DC to the stores and direct fulfillment centers, and on optimizing cross-channel order fulfillment to maximize the profitability of each order. But they also put a lot more emphasis on fulfillment options designed to encourage customers to go to the store. These retailers know that once a customer is inside the store, some of the most tried-and-true practices to satisfy that customer — and increase the value of the transaction — can be employed.

What it all meansTo absorb new costs and maintain or even improve profitability, retailers have to find new efficiencies. That’s where technology can help. Most of all, retailers must keep up with consumers, who expect both the products and accurate information about those products to be available to them on demand, anytime and anywhere. That can only be achieved with the help of an infusion of a new generation of

technology. Modernizing core legacy systems such as supply chain is a risky undertaking, but in order to meet the demands of the new generation selling environment, it’s one that must be addressed. The good news for retailers is that modern commercially available solutions are far more “production-ready” than the software of old, whether they are delivered on-premises or on-demand.

inventory Visibility is a mustAccurate inventory visibility across the entire enterprise in “near real time” remains the single most important technology enabler in the new model. This means on-hand, on-order, and in-transit inventory. This change could mean modification or even replacement of source transaction systems such as the in-store POS, but without accurate and timely inventory information, retailers will not be able to move forward and serve customers profitably.

move Beyond The Obvious in FulfillmentFulfilling from the location nearest the consumer might not always be the best option. Avoiding a markdown in a distant inventory location might be a better decision than just going for the lowest possible shipping cost. When optimizing fulfillment, several things have to be considered: First, where is the inventory? Second, where can the order be fulfilled that doesn’t jeopardize a higher profit in-store sale? Third, does the fulfillment location have the labor available to perform the task? Fourth, how soon does the customer want the product? Some retailers are considering varying

the shipping costs charged to consumers based on how soon they want their purchases delivered — is that an option?

Returns and Reverse logistics loom largeReturns volumes are going to go up, not down. Stores accepting returns need a systematic way to easily determine whether a returned item should be returned to stock, discounted in-store or sent to the DC for allocation to an “overstock” outlet or auction site, or written off. Without a system to help make that determination, return-item handling will likely be chaotic and add tremendously to cost. Look to best practices from traditional direct-to-consumer retailers like catalog operations.

collaboration With Partners is KeyWhile most of retailers’ focus is “inside the four walls” of the enterprise, the supply chain extends to manufacturers and suppliers as well. Retailers in the past have (at best) shared aggregated demand with trading partners, but in a perfect world, they would share granular disaggregated demand, so that manufacturers’ forecasts would more closely align with the retailers’.

active leadership mattersThe balance between high service and optimized supply is difficult — too much emphasis on one could destroy sales, too much on the other could destroy profits. “Agility” adds cost. How agile does your supply chain need to be? That will be entirely driven by your customer experience design.

Jerry Koch, director, corporate marketing & product management,

intelligrated

relIable, effICIent automatIon keY to long-term omnIChannel suCCess In 2016The omnichannel imperative has firmly entrenched itself as a lasting force in the retail industry that affects nearly every part of an operation, from customer interac-tion to distribution and fulfillment. Competing in this highly competitive retail field requires reconciling customer service level expectations, inventory availability and fulfillment costs.

With a great deal of options available to customers at the click of a mouse or tap of a touch screen, finding and retaining business often depends on the strength of a company’s logistics operation to minimize turnaround time, accommodate rush orders and handle demand spikes while maintaining consistent, controllable cost to serve.

Automated systems deliver the accuracy and throughput rates retailers require to efficiently manage high-volume, high-complexity omnichannel fulfillment opera-

tions. Speed and accuracy remain critical components for any equipment in a success-ful automated fulfillment system, but equally important are reliability and flexibility.

To keep automated systems geared to meet evolving needs, assessments, upgrades and modifications enable new capabilities and higher performance necessary for peak ef-ficiency. A strong preventive maintenance program and emergency service resources can keep systems running smoothly and minimize the risk of unplanned downtime.

The demand for interconnected, data-driven logistics processes offers new chal-lenges, but with those challenges come opportunities to maximize the positive return from material handling systems. Depending on how well distribution operations work within the four walls, the nature of omnichannel initiatives can enable auto-mated systems to set up the rest of the supply chain for success.

The retail industry is struggling to balance the ever-increasing demands of the end consumer with the pressure to control costs and streamline supply chain op-

erations. To overcome these challenges, retail-ers and merchandise suppliers must knock down internal and external data silos, replace manual processes for updating and sharing data with automation, and use advanced ana-lytics to convert data into measurable business value. While the vast majority of supply chain stakeholders rated collaboration and commu-nication as “important” or “very important” in a survey conducted by the RVCF in the summer of 2014, most retail organizations lack the tools and processes required to collaborate and com-municate effectively.

What is The TradingPartner interface Of The Future?In response to this glaring need, RVCF intro-duced the concept of the “Trading Partner In-

terface of the Future,” a neutral, cloud-based platform that would enable the seamless inte-gration and automatic sharing of information among trading partners. Product setup, sup-plier onboarding, planning and forecasting, order management, replenishment, payment and reconciliation, returns, and end-of-product lifecycle would be automated. Trading partners would have visibility into data that is current, complete and accurate — a single version of the truth that could be accessed and analyzed to improve decision making, guide business strategies, increase profits, and strengthen the retailer-supplier relationship.

Phase Two focuses on the first four com-ponents of the Functionality Cycle, a general framework that illustrates the relationships between key retail activities and the back-and-forth flow of data. These four components are strategic planning, category management, merchandising, and finance and accounts pay-able. The final three components — operations,

the inbound supply chain portion of scorecard-ing, and the second portion of finance and ac-counts payable — will be covered in the next phase of the “Trading Partner Interface of the Future” project.

The Business Value Of Predictive analyticsHistorically, when business problems were iden-tified, they would be addressed and fixed in the days and weeks that followed. Today, technol-ogy is driving a shift from reactive to proactive problem solving. Retailers and suppliers can remain competitive only by taking advantage of predictive capabilities to detect a potential problem, prevent the problem from happen-ing, and better understand the root cause of the problem so it can be permanently corrected.

In most business environments, value is de-rived by using existing data in new and innova-tive ways as opposed to creating new types of data. Decision makers in the retail industry can use predictive analytics to mine these large data

Each retailer has a different take on the essentials of omni-channel, depending on their brand and the expectations of their customers. However, we tend to see three elements common to today’s successful omni-channel retailers. First, they want to make the shopping experience boundless and allow customers to start shopping in any channel, purchase in any other, and fulfill an order from any location to any location. Second, they want to provide an informed shopping experience across channels. This means providing complete, in-depth information on products and making that information available to shoppers and associates across all channels. Finally, successful omni-channel retailers are able to personalize the online and in-store experience, which means that when customers visit a store, their online

profiles, purchase histories, and wish lists are easily accessible. All of these elements are critical because of shoppers’ changing expectations for a seamless, consistent, and information-rich experience across all of the retailer’s channels.

The next big step is breaking down the barriers between the retail enterprise and the rest of the shopper’s world. In today’s environment, the shopper has to find you. That will change. Retail brands will discover ways to become part of the shopper’s everyday experience. Instead of being omni-channel, they’ll strive to be omnipresent. In the future, retail won’t be bounded by a fixed idea of where and how people can or should shop. It will be more fluid and a natural extension of the customer’s existing environment.

Jerry Rightmer, EVP and chief product & strategy officer,

Starmount

omnI-Channel retaIl: the Current realItY anD the emergIng trenDs

Omni-ChannelSupplement20

INNOVATIVE RETAILT E C H N O L O G I E S

The eVOluTiOn OF The TRaDinG PaRTneR INTERFACE OF THE FuTuRE: Phase 2

by Kim Zablocky, founder, Retail Value Chain Federation (RVCF), Jennifer Beasley, VP, retailer programs, Retail Solutions, Inc. (RSi),

Kevin Harris, director of freight data and marketing, Compliance Networks

sets and deliver insights in near real time. Cus-tom reports and applications can be optimized to produce actionable data that supports both sales and supply chain organizations by allow-ing a more accurate, collaborative forecast, im-proving supply chain workflows, and boosting key performance metrics.

Best-in-class retailers and suppliers have begun using predictive analytics and business intelligence tools technology to be more col-laborative, support primary business functions, and solve problems on a day-to-day basis. A number of use cases are already predictive in many ways and are becoming even more so-phisticated, while others have tools that will soon become available and allow those use cases to become predictive.

Optimizing use cases With Data and Predictive analyticsRetail organizations are supplementing their existing systems with predictive analytics to boost performance. Again, having too much or too little inventory can have a significant im-pact on both the customer experience and the bottom lines of the retailer and supplier. More and more retailers are finding the right balance between too much and too little inventory by supplementing their existing systems, such as SAP, computer-aided ordering (CAO), and computer-generated ordering (CGO) systems. Those systems are good at identifying baseline needs for stores and distribution centers, as well as promotional needs.

However, the bulk of sales increases comes from hot add items and items that have a coefficient of higher basket sales than other items. Retailers are increasingly work-ing with supplier partners to identify where there might be exceptions to their existing CAO and CGO systems. For these items, there may be store item combinations that require the retailer to make adjustments to what the system is telling them to do. Predictive ana-lytics enable the retailer to make data-driven decisions that maximize sales and deliver the best possible customer experience.

Scorecarding PerformanceThe 2014 study that kick-started the “Trad-ing Partner Interface of the Future” initiative revealed the critical nature of scoring per-formance. Similarly, all of these predictive analytics tools and supplements to existing tools require measurement. As good as your products and processes may be, you need to understand ROI and performance to ensure that your time and energy are focused on right things. Therefore, it is important to address vendor scorecarding as it relates to supply chain and merchandising, as well as inbound shipping and order fulfillment.

Key stakeholders across the retail land-scape need scorecards. On the supplier side, that includes executives, sales, supply chain, and brokers. On the retailer side, in addition to executives and supply chain, this also includes category management, merchandising, mar-keting, finance, and even the stores. When all of these are working from the same data — a single version of the truth — performance is im-proved across all areas.

creating a culture Of measurementRetail organizations need to create a culture of measurement, both on the use case level and a macro level. While it is critical to standardize how each use case should be measured, it is also important to standardize macro reporting and set goals across the entire organization. How are you doing as a company by period or quarter, or compared to last year? How are you doing by category compared to other categories? How is each of your suppliers doing? Do you need to spend more time working with suppliers to make sure things like service levels or onboard-ing are improved?

Of course, everything boils down to the stores. It is essential to measure performance by store, region, or distribution center. Having all stakeholders tied into the same reports and one version of data that is current, complete, and accurate enables trading partners to col-laborate more effectively. The key is to pull all of this measurement, all of these scorecards,

and all of this data together for the purpose of joint business planning. When retailers and suppliers meet and strategize, this will ensure that the right goals are being set and progress is being measured using the proper metrics.

conclusionEver since the first retail business transaction occurred, there has been pressure to produce more with less. Wall Street, the board of direc-tors, the customer, and the changing dynamic of the retail landscape all create this pressure to drive more sales with less cost while delight-ing the end consumer. To accomplish this goal, there must be a more predictive approach to operational and strategic planning, more ef-fective performance measurement, and better supplier onboarding tools and processes. These techniques and technologies have been the fo-cus of Phase Two of the “Trading Partner Inter-face of the Future” initiative.

It is important to reinforce the fact that many of the solutions discussed in this white paper, such as predictive analytics and on-boarding portals, already exist and are in use today. Others could be developed in the near future to improve performance and business operations. In an ideal world, all of these technologies would be available as a single, integrated platform through which complete, accurate data would be automati-cally shared among trading partners. In an ideal world, machines would do what they do best — comparing numbers and performing calculations based on an algorithm, and au-tomatically performing tasks such as sending email alerts and creating. This would enable humans to do what they do best — conduct-ing and leveraging data analysis and building stronger relationships.

This ideal world doesn’t exist right now, but it is not as far away as you might think. Through collaboration among retail industry stakeholders, the concept of the “Trading Partner Interface of the Future,” the next gen-eration of retailer-supplier communication, can become a reality.

21Omni-Channel

Supplement

INNOVATIVE RETAILT E C H N O L O G I E S

In almost every industry, buyers are becoming more fickle and more demanding. For logistics executives, effectively meeting buyer needs has become a relentless quest for speed and agility. Traditional supply chain solutions —siloed, complex and hard-to-implement — no longer suffice, as competitors find ways to deliver goods faster and more profitably.

In today’s “now” economy, HighJump helps you stay agile, with adaptable, connected solutions that harness the power of your trading

partner community. From the warehouse to the storefront, from the desktop to the driver’s cab, we can help you achieve new levels of supply chain responsiveness, performance and profitability.

HighJump’s suite of warehouse management, business integration, transportation management and retail/DSD solutions form a complete, powerful and adaptable platform that allow you to drive growth, customer satisfaction and revenue. HighJump: supply chain accelerated. www.highjump.com  

SteelHouse is a data-driven advertising software company delivering innovative, performance-based advertising solutions to brands, agencies, and direct marketers. SteelHouse works with premium brands world-wide using the SteelHouse Advertising Suite, a cloud-based advertising platform,

to create the ultimate personalized brand-customer experience for marketers. The SteelHouse team is comprised of veteran marketers and engineers from eHarmony, E*TRADE, Oracle, Yahoo!, and the Rubicon Project. www.steelhouse.com

Omni-ChannelSupplement22

INNOVATIVE RETAILT E C H N O L O G I E S

Intelligrated is a leading North American-based, single-source provider of intelligent automated material handling solutions that drive fulfillment productivity for retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers around the world. 

Intelligrated designs, manufactures, integrates and installs complete material handling automation solutions including conveyor, IntelliSort® sortation, Alvey® palletizers and robotics, and automated storage and retrieval systems — all managed by advanced machine controls and software. Intelligrated Software offers warehouse execution systems, a scalable suite of

software that manages the entire fulfillment process, including equipment, labor and business intelligence, integrated with voice- and light-directed picking and putting technologies.

From concept to integration to lifecycle support services, Intelligrated delivers dependable, sustained distribution and fulfillment success, and maximum return on investment. Intelligrated backs every project with 24/7 multilingual technical support and access to lifecycle service through a network of national, regional and local service centers. www.intelligrated.com   

Starmount solutions power the store as the center of the omni-channel retail experience, creating a data-rich commerce platform to engage shoppers, streamline operations, and support seamless and consistent cross-channel customer interactions. Our solutions combine the best of in-store, online, and mobile shopping to empower associates to personalize

the store visit, drive more sales anywhere in the store with robust product information, and access and fulfill inventory from any location. We’re the partner of choice for innovative brands who are redefining the role their stores play in today’s new era of retail. www.starmount.com 

Conquer the omni-channel challenge with a supply chain that delivers excel-lent merchandising plan execution:

Deploy best-in-class hosted solutions for continuous extended supply chain improvement:

Complimentary opportunity assessment to identify strengths and areas for improvement, and compare your performance with retail community benchmarks.

Compliance Networks is a leading provider of proven, private-cloud vendor performance software solutions for retail supply chain excellence. Since 2000, our suite of solutions has enabled enterprises to improve profitability through continuous improvements in supply chain execution. Compliance Networks is proud to serve leading organizations such as Kohl’s, Burlington Stores, Pep Boys, Stein Mart, Sports Authority, Bon-Ton Stores, Pacific Sunwear, Tractor Supply Company and others.www.compliancenetworks.com/?irtsup

• Reduced Trouble Shipments • Proven record of Optimizing Vendor Performance

• On-time Orders • Highest PO Fill Rates • Highest ASN Accuracy

• Supply Chain Intelligence, Analyt-ics, and Reporting • Automated Violation Detection • Automated Accounts Payable

Interface • Vendor Portals •Vendor Scorecards •Vendor Classification

Prem

ier S

pons

ors

ShopperTrak is the leading global provider of location-based analytics for the retail industry. ShopperTrak’s innovative solutions deliver insights into consumer behavior, enabling its clients to better understand their customers and enhance the shopping experience to increase traffic, conversion, and transaction size. With customers that include more than 1,200 of the world’s leading retailers,

malls and entertainment venues, ShopperTrak deploys more than 80,000 devices across 97 countries and territories. The Chicago-based company has more than 200 employees, with offices in San Francisco; High Wycombe, England; Dubai, united Arab Emirates; Shenzhen, China; Mexico City, Mexico; and Helsinki, Finland. Find out more at www.shoppertrak.com.

Feat

ure

Spon

sors