Inside Outdoor Winter 2015

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Editor’s Le tte r
Martin Vilaboy
Editor-in-Chief
Percy Zamora
Art Director
Ernest Shiwanov
Editor at Large
Berge Kaprelian
Group Publisher
Rene Galan
Account Executive
Jennifer Vilaboy
Production Director
Ryan Gurr
Ilissa Miller
Advertising Creative Director
Beka Publishing
Berge Kaprelian
President and CEO
Neil Ende
General Counsel
Jim Bankes
Business Accounting
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Technology is Your Business
Way back in 1995, if someone would have predicted that e-commerce sales
would account for less than 10 percent of total retail sales by 2015, that person
likely would have been disregarded by industry commentators and analysts as out
of touch or simply “not getting it.” Yet, here now in that very future, that is pre-
cisely where we stand, with online sales, according to the latest data from the U.S.
Department of Commerce, representing about 7 percent of total retail sales.
Perhaps we should have known this all along, as retail executives seem to be
coming to an understanding of why that might be.
If we look at various surveys designed to dissect retail executives’ greatest chal-
lenges, concerns and opportunities, as well as where technology expenditures are be-
ing directed, we can see a decided shift in retailers’ mindsets. For most of the 2000s,
there was an emphasis on catching up and keeping pace with the explosion in online
shopping and the larger, outside competitive threats that appeared destined to gobble
up market share. More recently, attention has turned from finding and following cus-
tomers to enhancing each customer’s “experience” once inside a store or location.
Indeed, the slower-than-expected growth of online sales, as a percentage of the
overall, seems to suggest that in today’s culture, shopping for many Americans is
more than just a search and a transaction; it’s more than the simple acquisition of a
good or service. If someone, after all, simply wants a good price and great selection,
all while expending the least amount of time and effort, shopping from your couch
57%
57%
53%
60%
53%
50%
50%
50%
48%
43%
48%
48%
46%
50%
45%
45%
44%
43%
41%
41%
39%
39%
38%
40%
33%
33%
27%
27%
In-store fulfillment
In-Store Wifi for store functions
Software that schedules the right mix of labor
so employees can complete all activities
selling, restocking, receiving
Endless aisle selling capabilities
Mobile solutions enabled by
customer smartphones
Modern POS hardware & software
In-store personalized rewards and/or coupons
Clienteling/CRM solutions for store employees
Software to assign actions for specific
stores/departments in response to
store performance
Digital displays and interactive kiosks
to enhance the shopping experience
Store-provided mobile
hardware for employees
KPI’s and alerts to store managers
on mobile devices and tablets
Self checkout
Store-provided mobile
hardware for customeras
Technologies in Stores Right Now
Source: RSR, June 2014
A Lot of Value Implemented
(Continued on page 74)
Inside Outdoor | Winter 2015 6