For CIOs

Inquiry Spotlight: Retail Point-Of-Sale Systems, Q3 2009

by George Lawrie, November 19, 2009

Retail line-of-business executives know that technology plays a central role in helping to deliver improved customer service with increased margin. They look to CIOs to push what were once purely tactical point-of-sale (POS) systems to become solutions . . .

For CIOs

The State Of Point-Of-Sale Systems

Retail CIOs Around The World Expect POS To Become More Strategic

by George Lawrie, November 18, 2009

Retail IT is challenged to support new cross-channel offerings and the ability to sell services and merchandise not provided in the store itself. It also needs to support rapid innovation in point-of-sale (POS) peripherals and the promise of more direct-to-consumer . . .

For CIOs

IT To BT Transformation: Threats And Opportunities For CIO Reporting Lines

by George Lawrie, October 26, 2009

CIOs face many threats and opportunities as they grapple with the IT to BT transformation — including the risk of being sidelined by their line-of-business peers. Forrester surveyed 47 enterprise IT decision-makers to understand CIOs' level of confidence . . .

For CIOs

CIOs: Plan Effectiveness Review To Squeeze More Value From ERP Investments

by George Lawrie, August 11, 2009

Most CIOs have inherited mature enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations. As the years pass, the original implementation team disbands, retires, or dies, and the old use cases and best practices start to brown and curl at the edges like the . . .

For CIOs

Retail CIOs: Prepare For Retail 2020

Well-Conceived Options For Game-Changing Technologies Will Catapult Your Perceived Value

by George Lawrie, August 10, 2009

Retail in Europe and North America is in the eye of a storm. Battered first by the fragmentation of traditional mass markets, then by the challenge of cross-channel interaction, and finally by a global recession and transfer of economic power to Asia, . . .

For CIOs

Distributed Enterprise 2.0

CIOs In Consumer-Facing, Distributed Firms Can Capitalize On Cloud Computing

by George Lawrie, July 23, 2009

In a desperate effort to maintain the connection with fickle consumers, line-of-business executives and their allies in IT are conspiring to lower the IT drawbridge in order to deliver personalized customer experiences wherever and whenever consumers . . .

For CIOs

Retail Technology Self-Assessment Workbook  (150 KB XLS)

by George Lawrie, July 22, 2009

The Retail Technology Self-Assessment workbook can be used to evaluate retailers' strengths and weaknesses across a set of retail-centric technologies, processes, and capabilities. Retail IT executives should use this workbook to identify how well technology . . .

For CIOs

CIOs: Suggest Pricing And Promotions Technology To Drive Value

by George Lawrie, May 21, 2009

Firms — like banks or retailers — that provide services or merchandise in different locations are struggling to respond to consumers that are now much more price-conscious thanks to the economy. Smart CIOs will see this as an opportunity to showcase their . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Filling The Store Labor Productivity Gap

How Can Retailers Deploy Technologies That Boost Store Labor Productivity?

by George Lawrie, April 23, 2009

Labor costs run at between 10% and 13.5% of retailers' revenues, but store labor workload is soaring to accommodate more product introductions and promotions. At the same time, store associates must cope with much better informed consumers, shorter product . . .

For CIOs

Retail Technology Investment Priorities

Which Technologies Should CIOs Drive To Generate Quick Returns For Shareholders?

by George Lawrie, April 1, 2009

With the global economy amid financial meltdown, retail CIOs face complex IT choices. Should they continue process improvement initiatives, upgrade their best-of-breed portfolio, or implement a standardized suite? All of these involve significant demands . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Planning Your Merchandising Makeover

Merchandising Planning Initiatives Put Consumer Service At The Center Of Retail Planning Processes

by George Lawrie, February 3, 2009

Retailers face an uncertain future with merchandising processes, the key factor in their differentiation, in some disarray. Over the next three years, a minority already plans a massive overhaul — but in a cruelly competitive market, many more should . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Use Master Scheduling To Drive Service Levels

How Consumer Goods Value Chains Can Retain Customers Through A Recession

by George Lawrie, January 28, 2009

Empty shelves are a significant threat to brands and retailers as the economy sinks into a recession, and consumers may be tempted to buy cheaper merchandise or shop elsewhere. Yet, service levels on retailers' shelves have obstinately remained at the . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: C&S Wholesale Adopts Collaborative Demand Forecasting

by George Lawrie, January 21, 2009

C&S Wholesale Grocers, the second-largest food wholesaler in North America, faced serious problems in servicing supermarket demand in more than 2 million item location combinations. Drowning in a rising tide of promotions and new product introductions, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Franchise Network Apps Portfolio

Which Apps Should Be Standardized In A Retail Franchise?

by George Lawrie, December 17, 2008

Retailers that face recession in home markets and lack cash to expand look to franchising as a source of growth. To ensure brand consistency, they need to provide some apps support to franchisees, without assuming unreasonable apps support costs and without . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Consumer Centricity IT Road Map

Plan For Process Overhaul And Data Management Redesign

by George Lawrie, October 31, 2008

Consumer-facing firms like retailers and banks agree that they must offer merchandise and services that are much more in tune with their customers' needs. To do this, they must pay rigorous attention to the quantity and quality of location, product, and . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Retail Foundation Data

How To Maintain And Exploit Quality Merchandise And Location Data

by George Lawrie, October 31, 2008

Given the vastly expanded choice and market transparency, retailers are becoming increasingly dependent on merchandise data to add value to their unique selling proposition. Retailers need to hone their ability to move full truckloads and to exploit new . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Optimizing Your Store Architecture

How To Determine When To Distribute Or Centralized Data And Processes

by George Lawrie, October 31, 2008

Retail process and applications professionals face bewildering choices about how best to distribute or centralize data and functionality, given the changing relative costs and complexity of infrastructure and network components. While many high-volume . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Industry Essential: Global Retail Industry

eCommerce Revitalization And "Legacy Lifelines" Dominate Retailers' IT Plans Around The Globe

by George Lawrie, August 13, 2008

IT spending and interest in new initiatives follows the sun, with optimism waning from Asia Pacific to Europe and then to North America. But retailers across the globe share many priorities — notably, common interest in prolonging the life of legacy apps . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Retail Multichannel IT Road Map

How Can Retail IT Support Multichannel Trading Without Ripping And Replacing Everything?

by George Lawrie, July 7, 2008

While many retailers still trade via isolated channels, sometimes even referring to the online channel as "store 999," consumers demand a complete shopping experience across channels that includes interactions such as researching or reserving merchandise . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Retail Enterprise Apps Evolution

Should Retailers Prolong Their Best-Of-Breed Strategy Or Adopt An Enterprise Suite?

by George Lawrie, May 16, 2008

Retailer process and applications professionals face mounting costs for adapting their portfolios of legacy point solutions to support interactions with consumers across channels and manage more sophisticated data about merchandise with shorter life cycles. . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Improving Retail Promotion Execution

by George Lawrie, December 19, 2007

Retailers continue to struggle with promotion execution and face hefty financial consequences, including skyrocketing administrative costs, misspent funds, and sales cannibalization. To help, an increasing number are investing in RFID, business intelligence . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Miquel Masters Demand Management Implementation

by George Lawrie, December 12, 2007

To implement demand management effectively, firms must not only forecast demand but also fine-tune and shape demand across hundreds of interrelated items with appropriate pricing, markdowns, and promotions. Forrester spoke with the leadership team at . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: A North American Grocery Chain Adopts Transparent Allocation And Replenishment

by George Lawrie, October 16, 2007

A leading grocery chain used physical reorganization, reassignment of responsibility for inventory, and a deeper understanding of the relationship between service levels and inventory to tackle vendor reliability, overtime costs, and stock-out issues. . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Just Group Implements Transparent Allocation And Replenishment

by George Lawrie, October 16, 2007

Retailers can use demand management to maintain a lead even in fragmented markets with limited barriers to entry. We spoke with Just Group leaders to find out how judicious use of demand profiling, multispeed supply chain, and alignment of decision-making . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Topic Overview: Supply Chain Management

by Patrick M. Connaughton, George Lawrie, Roy C. Wildeman, September 20, 2007

Supply chain management (SCM) is the business process of managing the complex interaction of products, materials, equipment, labor, and cash as they flow through the supply chain and fulfill customer demand. Forrester's SCM research helps firms navigate . . .