Authors:
Satya Krishna
Sriram Anantharaman
Hari Krishnamurthy
Chinmay Sohoni
Shobha Gujjari
FEBRUARY 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
Excerpts
4
4
5
Impact of Mobility
Impact on Consumer
Impact on Retail Industry & Processes
Impact on Technology
5
6
6
7
10
12
13
14
Conclusion
15
16
About HCL
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Abstract
Retailers are in the process of building mobile applications, seeing an opportunity
to enable one-to-one marketing and improve customer experience. Retail supply
chains have become increasingly global and complex, presenting greater challenges
in managing supply and demand. New customers and distribution channels have
developed, enhanced by technological innovations and geographical expansion.
Existing channels are under pressure and require constant change to retain
market position. Retailers have long used mobile devices for inventory purposes,
but now they are racing to catch up with their customers broad use of mobility.
There is a strong demand for customer-facing mobility solutions and solutions
for mobilizing store associates to enable better customer service. In countless
ways, mobility is boosting business productivity, speed and responsiveness. Tools
like notebook computers, PDAs, cell phones, Wi-Fi networks and Virtual Private
Networks (VPNs) have turned business on the move into business as usual.
At the same time, a number of organizations have also implemented mobility in
a tactical and piecemeal manner, not realizing the gains possible from adopting a
true strategic approach to mobility.
The potential benefits of becoming a mobile enterprise are utilizing new ways
of streamlining operations, reducing costs, increasing workforce productivity and
cash-on the power of real-time response. We believe mobility will let companies
transcend distance and connectivity issues, create a virtual, personalized space for
collaboration and empower front-line workers to make better, faster decisions.
This whitepaper elaborates the vision to show how mobility will impact/ influence
the consumer shopping experience and improve retail value chain processes, by
enhancing workflow, increasing the speed of business transactions with near realtime communication between enterprise systems and personnel and providing
better modes of reporting and management for a variety of stakeholders across
the retail value chain.
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Excerpts
Retailers and consumer packaged goods manufacturers around the globe invest
significantly more than $100 bn in programs designed to achieve an agreed rate
of sell-through, whether online or in-stores. Most of the investments go dead
because organizations fail to empower the execution of their sell-through plan
in stores and fail to provide consumer experience continuity between online and
offline shopping experiences.
Retailers are constantly attempting to achieve a balance between improving daily
operations and enhancing customer experience. To improve and continuously
deliver value to all stakeholders in the current business scenario, it is important
for the retailer to continuously deliver higher levels of customer service and
simultaneously bring down the costs of their business operations.
At HCL, we believe that any solution engineered, should be in line with the
retailers growth and expansion strategy conceived for the next five years.
Therefore, we align our thoughts to address the various business challenges in
the retail ecosystem, by offering you Retail Connect -- an integrated solution
suite for the retail industry.
Our solution aims to overcome the present day challenges in line with the
current technology trends in mobile space, enabling real-time performance
improvement at store and opportunities to enhance customer experience and
increase profitability.
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Trends in Retail
Consumers tendency to rely on mobile devices to seek real-time purchase
input - The ability to quickly share photos and compare prices through a growing
number of applications is having an immediate impact on the consumers
purchase decision. Mobile has been an effective medium to access peer opinion
and customer advocacy which is an integral part of buying behavior.
Retailers will extend their traditional CRM strategies through the mobile
channel - Immediate opportunities exist for retailers to leverage the convenience
of the mobile channel to alert customers of new/ seasonal sales, update customer
order status and distribute personalized coupons. Another likely extension is the
use of Near Field Communication (NFC) at stores for recognizing personalized
mobile coupons sent to the customer. Using NFC-enabled mobile payment
gateways at Point of Sale (POS) terminal reduces the overall billing transaction
time. The investment required for these enabling technologies is quite minimal.
In fact, it should be viewed as an extension of existing CRM initiatives.
Leverage mobile communications for efficient inventory management
and gaining traction - The retailers need to tailor messages for the mobile
channel. Text limitations, mobile site capabilities and handset variations are the
parameters defining mobile communication strategies. Mobile is an efficient way
to alert loyal consumers about specific item sales or a particular promotion and
many more strategic ways to move excess inventory and manage them efficiently.
By extending eCommerce strategies into the mobile environment, retailers are
taking advantage of their web experiences to develop an integrated strategy that
has the potential to create a unique mobile retail channel.
Impact of Mobility
Mobility has affected not only consumer experience and purchase decisions
but also the way retailers manage their internal process flows and their alliance
relationships. This has changed the nature of business processes and has opened
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the door for new, transformational business models. Mobile technology will also
call for changes in the systems and infrastructure that support the business, with
implications for networks, devices, databases and applications.
Impact on Consumer
The impact of mobility on the consumer has been in a number of ways. Mobile
offers an immediate opportunity for retailers to connect with their customers in
a meaningful way. Mobile communications have led to even more power in the
hands of individuals taking us to an era of the hyper-connected consumer.
Enhanced shopping experience - Mobile services integrated into the
shopping experience, such as self-scanning and mobile payments, are helping
consumers to get what they want more quickly. Even simple services such as
mobile shopping lists can help consumers manage their lives better. The hyperconnected consumer will increasingly demand right information and tools at the
right time to make good choices. Mobile services like extended packaging, allow
consumers to choose products that are aligned with values such as health and
well-being, respect for the environment and ethical choices.
Mobility provides enlightenment of consumers to know more than ever about
their choices. The consumers can now make comparisons and shop for the
best price with ease. They get what they want, when they want it and influence
the opinion, in positive or negative, of thousands or even millions of other
consumers.
This has also created challenges for businesses with a highly networked
environment. How do they best find out what consumers want, offer them
differentiated products and services and create and maintain a powerfully positive
brand image?
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Improving internal & supply chain processes - This mobilized approach has
changed the way businesses manage their internal and supply chain relationships,
primarily in terms of information flow. Work task context awareness has brought
improvements in the way tasks are assigned and performed as status information
is dynamically monitored by performance alerting support systems. Mobile data
capture and viewing provides real-time visibility for live information streams,
while optimized data delivery supports many kinds of end devices.
Innovations in the business ecosystem - Beyond the changes in internal
operations, mobilization has changed the way companies are working with their
business partners, leading to the development of business ecosystems. The
free flow of information means greater innovation as partners collaborate under
a shared vision supported by an integrated infrastructure. The synchronization
of mobile workforces and central information systems is a value-add for all
participants, providing new and better ways to orchestrate the development of
global markets.
Impact on Technology
The impact of mobility on technology has been manifold, offering more choices,
ease to consumer and creating efficiency and productivity for retailers.
Functionality-driven benefits to consumers - Retailers have begun taking
advantage of technologies such as RFID to enable mobile consumers to browse
circulars on the handset, find additional information about products and make
purchases with the snap of a camera phone.
Customers can now use their smartphones as a mobile shopping cart. Once a
customer gets near his favorite store (which can now be detected in present day
smartphones with integrated GPS) he can be alerted about ongoing seasonal
promotions and clearances in no time. Integrating this application with social
networks can allow the customer to experience first-hand reviews from his
closest friends about the chosen merchandize and ongoing best deals. Once
the customer expresses his wish to pay, the smartphone can be programmed to
connect to a mobile gateway for the store by taking the customers most preferred
credit card details and generate an e-bill and an invoice for the store pickup or a
direct store delivery.
Processes-driven changes for employees - Mobile technology has emerged as
a necessity and is no longer seen as a luxury anymore. The continuing spread of
mobile technology will have a dramatic impact on the way retailers do business
in the years to come. The latest mobile technologies have also improved the
way employees interact with core business systems. The personalization lets
employees set application and device preferences to customize their interaction,
in terms of work flow, content, formatting, accessories and features. Storelevel merchandizers and field agents enabled with advanced mobile technology,
will bring more efficiency in store-level execution of category assortments,
promotions and delivery operations. Companies that embrace mobile technology
will witness improvements in productivity and operational efficiency that were
unimaginable a few years ago.
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Consumers are also increasingly using mobile devices to access other popular
websites to gain benefits of collective purchasing.
At HCL, we believe that any solution engineered, should be in line with the
retailers growth and expansion strategy conceived for the next five years.
Therefore, we align our thoughts to address the various business challenges in
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2012, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.
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Retail Store
Mobile applications in the hands of a store manager or store colleague is
perceived to enhance the overall store performance with the real-time insight
into daily store operations saving shop floor personnels valuable time. Peerto-peer messages like simple status message on receiving or cycle counting
operations, ad-hoc replenishment requests, labor allocation/ completion statuses
and real-time feeds that promise visibility into inventory availability across brick
& mortar and online stores with a single swipe of a finger. A dashboard for the
store manager is looked as a single source of real-time information for sales,
customer footfall trends, sell-through performance, category performance, labor
availability, etc.
Customer experience functions like alternate styles check, information on next
in-date, consultative selling and in-store shop floor enhancements improve and
strengthen the image of the store and store personnel within the customers
mind. Mobility in the hands of customer can also enable him to quickly shop
yet pick the best-selling items in the retail store as per his personalized wish list
via a built-in store navigation application in his very own smartphone. Fashion
merchandize can be given a 360-degree view and an augmented reality experience,
to make the customer feel the experience of owning the wished merchandize in
a matter of seconds.
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Retail Enterprise
Mobile applications are constantly finding their way into smartphones of senior
and middle management corporate executives who increasing use their mobile
phones as a smarter medium to know their business operations. Smartphones
can also be programmed to present a list of reasons or root causes pointing out
to a dip in sales or margin or merchandize out-of-stock scenarios during times of
seasonal rush. Buyers and merchandizers would then walk into a supplier review
meeting with just their iPad where they can discuss the supplier performance
in comparison to other best in class suppliers for the same category. CRM and
marketing teams find mobiles as the fastest channel to reach a customer and
get his attention in the minimum possible time span to pass on personalized
promotions/ mobile coupons to sustain customer loyalty.
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Workflow
Management
Sales Force
Automation
Dashboards
(Store/Corp.)
Mobile Portals
(Enterprise)
Product
Guide
Customer
Experience
Mobile
Websites
Virtual
Reality
Customer Order
Capture
Planogram
Store
Navigator
Mobile
Coupons
Trackn
Trace
Store
Locator
Packaged
Enterprise
Apps
Mobile
Payments
Corporate
Supply Chain
Store
Consumer
Mobility Centre
of Excellence
Key Solution
Features
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and complete the sale on floor. It also provides the ability to modify the list
of merchandize in an unbilled sale transaction.
In-store Navigator - This will enable the store colleague to help the customer
in visualizing the location of the preferred merchandize and provide the
ability to identify the merchandize as per a customers wish list. This has an
integrated Alerts functionality which would enhance the customer experience
at the store.
Corporate Dashboards - This would provide corporate performance onthe-go in one swipe, the capability to drill down to region/ district/ state/
store and also have role-based performance for corporate users and provide
a comparison with the last year data.
Vendor Performance - A key benefit would be performance view of the
multiple measurements related to partners and effective periodic vendor
reviews. Compare the vendor performance to other vendors, giving a
consolidated view across partners and specific vendor performance across
the timeline.
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and have gathered deep expertise in building solutions in the retail mobile
space, including mobile applications for pricing and availability, order status
and product search management, mobile POS applications, cross-platform
migration of mobile applications and developing mobile-enabled websites.
HCL Alliances & Domain Skill-sets - HCL has strategic partnerships
with all key players in the mobility ecosystem -- Mobile Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEMs), Telecom Service Providers, Mobile Platforms and
Software Vendors and Enterprises. With 3000+ person years of experience
and 150+ projects under the belt, HCLs experience is extendable to
customers seeking de-risked and reliable outcomes in their mobile solution
implementations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Mobility has emerged as a key channel impacting consumers,
employees and processes in the retail industry. Mobility is radically changing the
buying behavior of consumers and is reshaping the retail workplace itself.
Mobility, in the hands of customer, has enabled him to quickly shop yet pick the
best selling items in the retail store as per his personalized wish-list via a built-in
store navigation application in his very own smartphone. Fashion merchandize
can be given 360-degree view and an augmented reality experience, to make the
customer feel the experience of owning the wished merchandize in a matter
of seconds. Such is the possibility to enhance customer experience by bringing
the store to the customer. Leading retailers are already reaching consumers with
mobile services that make them more productive in the store and engage them in
unique ways that transform the shopping experience.
Leading retailers have excelled in significantly improving the customer experience
and streamlining their warehouse operations and inventory processes. Mobility
devices like wireless handheld devices or handheld computers have been utilized
to enable customer service, personalized shopping, retail payments at the
point-of-sale, real-time data and statistics in the field as well as other inventory
management processes, including those with distribution centers.
With the emergence of new and powerful mobility tools, employees can now
work productively from virtually anywhere. Its growing potential to strengthen
organizational performance has moved mobility from the sidelines to the
mainstream of Information Technology. Organizations aiming at maximizing
corporate performance must incorporate mobility as a fundamental component
of their strategic plans.
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Chinmay Sohoni
Shobha Gujjari
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CUSTOM APPLICATION
SERVICES
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R&D SERVICES
ENTERPRISE APPLICATION
SERVICES
ENTERPRISE
TRANSFORMATION SERVICES
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS PROCESS
OUTSOURCING
ABOUT HCL
About HCL Technologies
HCL Technologies is a leading global IT services company, working with
clients in the areas that impact and redefine the core of their businesses. Since
its inception into the global landscape after its IPO in 1999, HCL focuses on
transformational outsourcing, underlined by innovation and value creation, and
offers an integrated portfolio of services including software led IT solutions,
remote infrastructure management, engineering and R&D services and BPO.
HCL leverages its extensive global offshore infrastructure and network of
offices in 26 countries to provide holistic, multi-service delivery in key industry
verticals including Financial Services, Manufacturing, Consumer Services, Public
Services and Healthcare. HCL takes pride in its philosophy of Employees First
which empowers our 83,076 transformers to create real value for customers.
HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had consolidated revenues
of US$ 3.9 billion (18,334 crores), as on 31 December 2011 (on LTM basis).
For more information, please visit www.hcltech.com