Winter 2019 - Inside Outdoor Magazine

Inside Outdoor | WINTER 2019 38 Centric Software has announced new additions to the Centric Visual In- novation Platform (Centric VIP): Digital Concept Boards and Digital Buying Boards. Centric VIP is a collection of digital collaborative boards for touch- based devices and is fully connected with Centric Product Lifecycle Manage- ment (PLM) software. Centric VIP’s interface aggregates live data from mul- tiple sources across an organization. Teams across multiple departments including design, merchandising and production/sourcing can use the Digital Concept Board as a sandbox for brain- storming. Teams can drag and drop images from sources such as mood boards, websites and existing PLM product libraries to capture creative concepts, discuss design intent and create product briefs. Merchandis- ing and production/sourcing teams can contribute additional knowledge and, as concepts mature, they can be quickly pushed to the PLM solution for further development, samples, sourc- ing and market launch. All information is digital, enabling full visibility into col- lection status with zero data loss. Buyers can also choose products from global, core or special collections and build assortments by channel (re- tailer and/or e-commerce), store type or even by individual store, with roll-ups of buy commitments for multiple channels and other analytics calculated auto- matically. Roll-ups are used to forecast aggregate quantities for production planning and minimum order quantity (MOQ) checks. Analytics validate buying choices by giving insights such as quan- tities by color, material, style, price point, delivery date, region, channel and more. Tech Savvy Centric Software Reveals Digital Touch-Screen Boards Shoppers Look to the Future New Shopping Option/Technologies U.S. Shoppers Would Like to Use Would like to use Using now or have used No interest in using Grad-and-go stores with self-checkout from your phone 59% 9% 32% Interactive, shoppable screens 56% 6 38 Home delivery 45% 8 47 Order-only stores (product shipped to home) 44% 23 33 Virtual try-on for glasses, clothing, beauty, etc. 43% 4 53 Augmented reality in store 40% 3 58 Remote services (using interactive screens/displays) 38% 9 53 In-home product order button 38% 5 57 Drone delivery 38% 2 60 Subscription orders of shopper-selected product delivered 36% 15 49 Robot services in stores 28% 2 70 Virtual reality in store 36% 2 72 Source: RIS Smartphone-based self-checkout is the top new technology that consumers are looking for today, according to a recent survey from RIS News, with 59 percent of re- spondents claiming they would like to use it. Just 9 percent, however, have actually tried it. Interactive shoppable screens are also generating strong interest among consumers, with 56 percent of respondents wanting to use the technology. Sixty-six percent of consumers who have used voice- activated technology to make a pur- chase, it should be noted, claimed they would do it again.