IT solutions can help retailers improve worker productivity in the brick-and-mortar store, leading to better service and higher customer satisfaction levels.
Victoria Kickham started her career as a newspaper reporter in the Boston area before moving into B2B journalism. She has covered manufacturing, distribution and supply chain issues for a variety of publications in the industrial and electronics sectors, and now writes about everything from forklift batteries to omnichannel business trends for DC Velocity.
Omnichannel business trends are driving retail organizations to increase their IT (information technology) investments as they seek to meet customer demand for faster delivery, better online services, and a more diverse shopping experience. Alongside the need for better technology to handle customer ordering, shipping, and inventory processes, organizations are finding that they can use technology to better manage the human side of the equation as well—especially in the brick-and-mortar store.
"[Employers] are asking their [in-store] associates to wear more and more hats," explains Steve Simmerman, senior director of sales for supply chain software developer JDA Software Group, describing the retail store as a "warehouse with a cash register" in which associates must perform distribution center-like tasks in addition to their traditional customer service-oriented responsibilities. Without the right technology in place, balancing those responsibilities is extremely difficult, he says.
The result is a growing focus on managing the "people" side of the retail store with technology solutions that improve productivity, make it easier for associates to do their jobs, and raise customer service levels.
"There are big investments going on at the retail store-level to better manage the store and its employees. I've not seen this kind of activity on the retail side from a technology perspective," adds Simmerman, pointing to store operations solutions, workforce management tools, and analytics as areas of growing interest. "Those retailers that are investing in [technology] solutions are way ahead of the curve, and they are using [them] to drive better operations and [promote] greater employee engagement and satisfaction."
SEIZING STORE OPERATIONS SOLUTIONS
Simmerman and others say retailers are showing increased interest in store operations solutions that utilize hardware and software to better manage the changing demands of the in-store associate—especially the ability to prioritize tasks and improve productivity. JDA's StoreOptimizer is one example. Built on the Google Cloud Platform, the software-as-a-service task engine continuously evaluates competing priorities and directs employees to finish the most important tasks at any given time.
Stock replenishment is a case in point. Having the right products on the shelves to meet shopper demand is becoming increasingly complex in an omnichannel environment, where retailers must accommodate "buy online, return in store" (BORIS), "buy online, pick up in store" (BOPIS), and ship-from-store preferences, for example. Solutions such as StoreOptimizer combine handheld hardware and a smartphone-like interface with software that connects to a company's inventory management system, alerting associates to in-demand items that need to be replenished on the floor. Associates receive an alert on their handheld device directing them to a precise location in the stockroom to retrieve a specific number of items, and then directing them to the location on the floor where those items must be replenished—all in real time. The process streamlines associates' work while improving on-shelf availability of products and reducing stockouts, driving increased customer satisfaction, Simmerman says.
Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions offers a similar store operations tool in its Connected Retail Solution, which combines software and hardware to deliver real-time information to in-store associates for inventory management, stock replenishment, click-and-collect ordering, and so forth. Beyond the benefits of greater productivity and improved service levels, such tools also boost employee engagement, helping associates feel more confident in their ability to serve customers, says Karen Bomber, the company's director of retail industry marketing.
"[With these technologies], you are empowering associates to know that without scanning a bar code or looking something up, they have the technology in their hands that will tell them where something is," which allows them to more easily—and more confidently—interact with customers, she explains.
EMBRACING WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT TOOLS
External factors are coming into play as well. Record unemployment levels are helping to raise interest in labor-related technology solutions as employers seek to "do more with less" and find candidates to fill open positions. Simmerman points to growing interest in workforce management solutions (WFM) that cater to the demands of the changing work force as one example. Such tools allow employers to create more accurate schedules and minimize staffing shortages or over-coverage, and they also put more power in the hands of associates. For instance, JDA's WFM for retailers includes mobile capabilities that allow associates to adjust their schedules, swap shifts, and request time off—all from their smartphones.
"More and more customers are moving to this type of capability to provide more flexible work schedules, making themselves more attractive to their current and future work force," Simmerman explains. "[In addition], these capabilities help off-load the tedium of these tasks for supervisors and managers—freeing them up to concentrate on running the business [and] coaching employees."
EMBRACING ANALYTICS
Retailers are also turning to analytics to address labor-related concerns, says Toby Brzoznowski, co-founder and chief strategy officer for supply chain technology developer Llamasoft, which provides software that allows companies to create digital models of their supply chains to test "what if?" scenarios for all aspects of business planning. Digital modeling can be a crucial tool in managing seasonal labor demands as well as for determining how new policies or processes may affect hiring, training, and other staffing concerns, he says. Using supply chain modeling software, companies can test scenarios based on increased throughput to determine how much additional staffing may be required, for instance. The software can help determine when to add a second or third shift, for example, or indicate how implementing next-day delivery might affect the need for labor across the entire retail organization.
"A lot of these things are interesting data and analytics problems," Brzoznowski says of the changing retail environment. "[Retailers] are using our software to find the balance—to find the right mix of labor and automation, for instance. They are testing different hypotheses."
As with other aspects of the evolving retail environment, much of what is changing can be traced back to e-commerce and omnichannel business trends. Brzoznowski and others argue that implementing the right technology solutions can go a long way toward making better decisions about how to react and respond to those trends.
"The changing dynamic of [adopting] more of an omnichannel or e-commerce strategy [is driving retailers] to offer more aggressive services to their customers. As a result, they have to leverage their physical operations—not just their warehouses, but also their retail stores and the people who are running them," he says, pointing to data, digital decision-making, and technology in general as an important piece of the puzzle. "[Organizations are] taking a step back and taking a data-driven approach to figuring out exactly what they can offer and what kind of services they can, sustainably, provide to customers."
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.