The retail models of the past are dying rapidly and your customers will move on if you don’t revitalize the customer experience now. It is time to be a leader — not a follower — in this retail revolution. Your livelihood depends on it. In this thought leadership article, Wayne Usie, SVP of Retail for JDA Software shares his insight on the new generation of retail solutions and how they enable retailers to sense challenges or opportunities up front and implement plan changes iteratively mid-cycle. This model makes optimal use of retail systems that automate processes and offer recommended actions based on data calculations without requiring users to know and select appropriate algorithms or other necessary criteria.

1. Th ought Lea de rship
Consumer-Connected Retail
Attracting, winning and keeping profitable customers
B Y Way n e U s i e , s e n i o r v i c e p r e s i d e n t, R e ta i l
C onnected, “always-on” consumers are the driving force in retail today.
The information they need to make a buying decision can be found in mere
seconds. Blogs, websites, online reviews, video rants — and raves — all provide
instant insight that shapes what they buy, when and where they buy it, and at
what price. Empowered and emboldened, these connected consumers expect
personalized relationships and offerings delivered through flexible options. They
are driving the next generation of retail, prompting retailers to examine all facets
of their businesses as a means of survival.
Retailers need to meet the demands of this new consumer while
ensuring a positive, consistent shopping experience across
multiple channels. In order to remain competitive, companies
must adapt and center their organizations around consumer-
centric processes and organizational alignment.
Today’s retailers must be able to operate in real
time to avoid being left behind.
Then and Now
Traditional retail processes have been
product focused, based on
consumer behavior largely driven
by an in-store experience, the
opinions of a few friends or family
members, and possibly a mass
market advertising campaign. As
such, retailers made strategic business
decisions using the answers to these
sequential key questions:
• What should I sell?
• Who is my competition?
• What are my constraints?
• Where should I sell this?
• Who is my customer?
A focus on supply chain efficiencies through the years has helped some retailers
keep pace. They have adopted some level of sophistication that allows for better
demand forecasting, enabling new efficiencies in planning, promotion, pricing,
inventory management and transportation. Integrating processes, technology
and organizational structures has enabled another level of efficiency, yielding
lower costs and quicker cycle times. Yet these traditional, linear processes focus
on product — not the consumer — making it harder and harder for retailers to
stay relevant.

2. Th ought Lea de rship
Today, retail change is being driven by the consumer who This requires a new approach — one that allows retailers
expects instant information, a multitude of choices, and to attract, win and keep profitable customers. It requires
flexible, real-time purchase and delivery options. This Consumer-Connected Retail.
new, empowered consumer is driven by six moments
of influence that present retailers with opportunities for
success — and failure. They are:
The Next Generation:
Consumer-Connected Retail
Awareness — Consumer awareness happens in
Success in a consumer-connected environment requires
both traditional and non-traditional ways, including
decisions based on insight into data, instead of decisions
advertising, store displays, promotional emails, web
based on a combination of art, intuition and system-
banners, lifestyle blogs, etc.
provided data. While retail systems were originally built
to support activities that planners engage in, they now
Exploration — With access to instant product and need to provide the intelligence to do those activities
service information from hundreds of sources via their themselves. Automation is a key component in this move
home computers or mobile devices, consumers can from person-specific decision making to process-centric
search for products like never before. and system-enabled decisions. Retailers still want to “set
the dials,” but will rely on their systems to do the heavy
Comparison — Consumers can comparison shop lifting and provide recommendations — or better still,
online without ever leaving their homes, or instantly execute those recommendations to completion.
check out competitor pricing at the store shelf using
their smartphones, making product and pricing Retailers must also shift from sequential to iterative
transparency an expectation. processes, allowing for faster adjustments to market
changes and supply chain disruptions in real time.
Socialization — The rapid rise of social media such as Sequential processes can slow things down, often
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. means that consumers requiring that retailers wait until a cycle is complete before
have access to thousands of user opinions — both they can make plan changes. For example, a company
positive and negative — prior to making a purchase executes on an assortment in the beginning of a season
decision. but then finds it is unable to source a percentage of the
assortment, and has to re-plan that portion of the offer.
Selection — Multi-channel shopping offers consumers
with many options for where and when a product can Thus, it is critical to evolve to the next level in continuous
be purchased and delivered. integrated planning and execution. The new generation
of retail solutions enables retailers to sense challenges
Communication — After completing a purchase, or opportunities up front and implement plan changes
customers can return to the social media sites that iteratively mid-cycle. This model makes optimal use
assisted their search to share their experience and of retail systems that automate processes and offer
opinions with others, promoting awareness and further recommended actions based on data calculations without
influencing the buying decisions of other consumers. requiring users to know and select appropriate algorithms
or other necessary criteria. These systems also gradually
With the customer firmly in the driver’s seat, how can a “learn” and apply these lessons to help effectively manage
retailer adapt and succeed? They must: the retail enterprise more dynamically and with reduced
cycle times.
• Manage their business with a consumer — versus a
product — focus
Building a Foundation on Customer
• Adapt their culture to support a seamless, consistent
cross-channel experience
Experience, Product Lifecycle and
Channel Synchronization
• Gain a multi-dimensional view of the customer
Success in a consumer-connected retail environment
• Eliminate ineffective and disjointed planning processes starts with a strong foundation built on the simultaneous
management of customer experiences, product lifecycles
• Quickly respond to consumer demand with an agile and and channel synchronizations. These three inter-related
optimized supply chain pillars support a company’s integrated planning and

3. Th ought Lea de rship
execution processes. Strategy and plan information can Product Lifecycle
then be leveraged in a retailer’s systems to map to each
strategic area and process in an iterative — instead of In managing the product lifecycle, companies create and
sequential — design that supports automation. The ability introduce a new product; leverage their channels to move
to manage the strategic customer, product and channel it into the marketplace; promote, manage and grow it —
cycles in a continuous fashion that fosters the natural and at some point, exit with clearance markdowns. The
connection points between these pillars is critical to empowered consumer drives the process, ensuring that
achieving success in consumer-connected retail. this cycle consists of much more than simply determining
what assortment to carry each season. Offering the right
Customer Experience products to the right consumer with the price, channel and
delivery options they desire requires a true understanding
Customer experience is the most dynamic of the three of consumer demand and a personalized strategy across
strategic pillars and drives activity in the product and consumer insights, planning, analysis, promotions and
channel cycles. In managing the customer experience, distribution.
companies must identify the consumers interested in their
offers, market to those consumers and work to convert Channel Synchronization
them into buying customers. They subsequently manage
and nurture those customers to maximize retention and Channel synchronization consists of seamlessly managing
loyalty by catering to them on an ongoing basis with their the details in delivering product to the customer. Channels
brand and an offer that is of continuous value to them. evolve, ebb and flow — and sometimes retailers need
to restructure channels and rearrange product flow.
Engaging today’s consumer is increasingly centered on a Managing this cycle involves the synchronization of two
personalized approach and direct relationship. Shoppers subcomponents:
want to know that a retailer is listening to their input, is • Sales channel: Includes stores, mobile, Web, wholesale
aware of their needs and is taking action to customize and catalog
offerings accordingly. With customer insight and a deep
understanding of consumer behavior, retailers can tailor • Delivery channel: Represents the process of moving
promotions and sales tools to specific shopper preferences product from the vendor or manufacturer through
based on what motivates particular customers. the distribution network to the store or directly to the
customer as appropriate

4. Th ought Lea de rship
While much effort has been made to capture customer
transactions within business intelligence tools, retailers still
struggle to deliver that knowledge in real time to those
interacting with customers. JDA® Customer Engagement,
delivered by JDA® Cloud Services, is designed to deliver
a customer experience that not only builds loyalty, but
is profitable too. A single solution that addresses omni-
channel commerce and optimization logic in real time,
it helps manage not only how retailers deliver goods to
customers, but also the supply chain alignment required to
effectively supply those goods.
Customers Won’t Wait. Why Should You?
Traditional retail processes and systems to support those
processes are built around putting the right product on
the right shelf at the right time and at the right price. The
only problem with this “push” model is that it is built on
the premise that if you get your offer right, customers will
come to you and buy from you.
Today’s consumers — hyper-connected and seeking
Optimal management of this strategic pillar results in instant gratification — don’t have the time or patience
the ability to consistently — and profitably — offer for this old way of retailing. They comparison shop using
customers the products they want across all channels and their mobile devices. Armed with information, they
with seamless delivery, whether it be buying online with feel empowered to negotiate with your in-store sales
in-store delivery, expedited one-day delivery or other associates. They expect you to give them what they want,
possible scenarios. where and when they want it. They expect to be able to
shop seamlessly at home, in-store, in fact everywhere! They
expect you to engage with them, not just put products in
The Anchor: Customer Engagement front of them.
Retailers seeking customer-centricity in every interaction
have much to consider, including: Don’t become a victim of the rapidly changing world of
customer engagement. The retail models of the past are
• The increasing frequency and scope of demand shifts dying rapidly and your customers will move on if you don’t
within planning cycles, which commands intelligence revitalize the customer experience now. It is time to be
during execution to ensure customer satisfaction and a leader — not a follower — in this retail revolution. Your
profitability livelihood depends on it.
• How to deliver endless aisles — sourcing and delivering
from the broadest network in real time to offer greater
assortment flexibility and to cement loyalty
Wayne Usie is senior vice president,
retail, JDA Software. In this role,
• The need to empower store associates with customer, he is responsible for strengthening
product and availability information that is equal or executive-level relationships with
superior to that accessible to consumers, allowing for JDA’s retail customers and key
increased customer satisfaction prospects.
• Inventory allocation flexibility and utilization control to
meet growing demands
www.jda.com | info@jda.com | +1 800 479 7382