Intelligent Retail helps retailers meet best practice guidelines
Retail productivity has been slipping in comparison with the US, there are ways that retail technology can help turn this around
The BERR’s "Productivity in the Retail Sector" Report describes how best practice in retail is about increasing productivity. Productivity is the measure of making more profit from the same resources. The bottom line is that improvements in productivity will improve your profitability. And there appears to be room for improvement as recent figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies showing that retail productivity in the UK has reduced significantly against the US since the 1990’s. The BERR’s report outlines three main functions to improve productivity:
1. Measuring how well your business is performing.
2. Seeing where you need to improve and doing something about it.
3. Learning from how others have done it.
But how do you actually carry out these three activities? Well, technology can help enormously, providing it is fit for purpose. The report states; “The potential of technology to cut costs and increase sales and productivity is extraordinary.”Intelligent Retail produce computer systems focussed on helping independent retailers become more productive, but also to help them access new customer segments. David Mackley, Managing Director said: “Implementing our Connect EPoS software system has three development phases. Firstly we can dramatically improve much of the day to day process such as stock replenishment. This saves time for more productive activities. Secondly our Flight Deck is used for instant management information to save money on stock or track how well sales assistants are doing. Thirdly we help retailers access new customers through total integration with the internet, eBay and mail order facilities.”
“Successful companies don’t stand still, they’re always looking for ways to improve.”
(BERR, Productivity in the Retail Sector).
“In developing the product we found it vital to achieve ultimate simplicity. Retailers do not want to learn about computers, nor should they, they want to use a tool that makes them more money and enjoy their business. So not only did we make the POS Software screens appealing, we used the latest smart-client EPoS technology to build it, creating a feature rich product that is very robust. “
