From the Retail Systems Research (RSR) report: Precision Inventory Management in the Age of Localization

This RSR report shows that the most successful retailers today have been lead by CEO’s that acknowledge the need to change the way they have previously approached retail. The quickest returns on investment for retailers are the addition of smart technology, solutions that optimize their supply chains, SKUs, store level assortments, products, pricing and markdowns.

Leading retailers embrace strategic changes to their business as a competitive advantage, while laggards wait to make changes until they become mainstream, losing valuable shoppers and shareholders in the process.

The most important decision makers

Organizational Inhibitors

The report states:

“While existing technology infrastructure is the primary internal obstacle, according to survey respondents, the most important tool for overcoming obstacles rests on the shoulders of the executive team. But key differences emerge between winning retailers and their Lagging peers ‐ Winners have rested inventory responsibility squarely on the executives with the most organizational pull, mainly the CEO and CFO, while laggards rely much more on the lead supply chain executive, without the all‐important support from merchandising.“

Looking to Progressive Retailers as merit

First and foremost for progressive executive teams is the realization that CEO’s need to be responsible for a strategy to get their business processes up to the pace of today’s retail environment. RIS news predicts that retail sales will only bounce back by 2.5% in 2010. If executive leaders want to catch up with the few innovative and successful retailers that are gaining speed, despite the tumultuous economy, they need to accept that changes in their business processes are necessary.

Listen to Guitar Center discuss how they adapted to their business challenges HERE »

Top challenges now and moving forward

Consumer buying patterns today have become more unpredictable than ever, making past retail data and current forecasts irrelevant. This means that retailers need to have an intelligent way to understand shopper demand at a store, category and product level.

Some retailers seem to have given up with the belief that there is no better way than how they have been steering their business for the past 20 years, but those that acknowledge the challenges brought up by RSR will seek out the right solutions to create new business strategies and adopt better technologies.

Top Business Challenges and the most relevant technology to face them

Be a leader, not a laggard. Compete for your shoppers, shareholders and employees and catch up to the pace of today’s top retailers.

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Download the Retail Systems Research Report HERE »

Get resources on how to adapt to the challenges of today’s retail market HERE »