Retail

Challenges

Retail has always been a competitive industry. With the advent of huge, global retail companies running economies of scale small and mid-size retailers are under assault.

Geographic disparity is can no longer be relied upon in urban centers where big-box retailers saturate an entire region with retail outlets. Using their market leverage they are able to work out exclusive deals with wholesalers which are unavailable to most other retailers.

Today’s small and mid-size retailer faces many challenges, including:

• Reducing costs in the supply chain. Maintaining some stock is unavoidable in most retail business models. Storage overhead can bleed profits very quickly. Efficiently managing the supply-chain and its associated costs can greatly improve a retailer’s competitiveness.
• Increasing inventory turnover. Increased inventory turnover allows small and mid-size businesses to efficiently manage cash-flow. It provides flexibility and typically translates into savings on storage overhead. Maximizing inventory turnover is especially crucial for small to mid-size retailers where cash flow can be an on-going issue.
• Understanding the market. Every retailer faces an on-going challenge in predicting and understanding consumer trends.
• Improving customer service. Customer service can become a key differential for a small and mid-size retailer when compared to a big-box retailer. Avoiding shortages of product, full visibility of the supply chain for products out of stock or no longer being carried are services that today’s consumer have come to expect.
• Introduce and discontinue products faster. The ability to bring new retail products into play while discontinuing poorly performing products is crucial in a dynamic market. Keeping purchasing, sales and inventory control teams on the same page is critical to quickly manage inventory changes.
• Increased sales and marketing effectiveness. Effective marketing at a low cost is crucial to a retail business.
• Being competitive with low-cost, big-box retailers. Differential product offerings and superior customer service can close price point and convenience gaps with large retailers. Low-cost marketing campaigns can lure customers in at a fraction of the expense. To remain competitive with large retailers, small and mid-size retailers need to remain competitive in all facets of the business from the supply chain to the retail store front.

Solutions

See some of the business issues that a business management solution can help detail companies address.

Real-time Inventory Management

To do real-time, physical inventory counts by portable devices such as Pocket PC. No more store shutdowns for inventory counting. This saves time and money in the long run because it makes the inventory more accurate. The businesses are not wasting a bunch of employee hours, which is a problem that many small retailers face today.

Using a real-time purchase order module, store personnel can quickly see which items are selling and those lagging behind. From there, the system provides a fast, efficient network to fill inventory holes.

Point of sale and ERP integration

Retailers, especially those with multiple stores, not only need to know which items and stores have met sales goals over the last week or month, and average daily revenue per store—they need to have this information in time to make a difference. To complicate matters, different stores often use different item numbers for the same product, making it tough to get an accurate national sales report without weeks of data crunching.

Case Studies

Take a look at some of our clients and hear their story. You'll read their challenges and the solution that Youngland built with the client's business goals at the heart of the service.

A leading retailer in specialty, imported foods, this company was left with an unresponsive partner after implementation. The partner also provided an insufficient integration with their point of sale software. Read more...

At Youngland, customer satisfaction is highly prioritized because we firmly believe that taking care of customers takes care of business. Our staff is dedicated to bring you exceptional care and support. With this as our business model, we are dedicated in providing our customers with the best services because their satisfaction is our reward.

If you are interested in knowing more, please take a look at our SWITCH! Program that offers the product with FREE assessment and discount.

Youngland provides Microsoft Dynamics GP in Canada and USA including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle. Local service is available in Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Richmond, Surrey, Delta, Langley, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Victoria and Nanaimo. With reasonable travel we serve Kamloops, Kelowna, Red Deer, Prince George, Bellingham, Believue, Olympia, Tacoma and Portland.

Last Updated: Wednesday, January 11, 2012; at 12:17:43 AM

Related Links

• Financial Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Customer Relationship Management