As we commemorate International Women’s Day 2024, a day dedicated to honoring the achievements of women and advocating for gender equality, we reflect on the progress made and the work that lies ahead. This year’s theme, “Invest in women: Accelerate progress,” highlights the importance of empowering women and recognizing their contributions in all facets of life.

In this blog post, we sat down with Amber Hovious, our VP of Marketing and Partnerships, to discuss her insights on women’s empowerment and her leadership role in the tech industry.

Why do you think investing in women and celebrating their achievements is crucial?

Investing in women is crucial because it not only benefits women themselves but also society as a whole. When women are empowered and given equal opportunities, they can contribute to economic growth, innovation, and social progress. By celebrating women’s achievements, we inspire others and break down stereotypes and barriers that hold women back.

What changes are needed to ensure equal representation of women in the tech industry?

To ensure equal representation of women in the tech industry, we need to address several key areas. First, we must encourage more girls to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education from a young age. This can be achieved through educational programs, many of which already exist, but can sometimes lack awareness and the mentorship needed to help them thrive.

Next, we need to create a more inclusive and supportive work environment where women feel valued and respected. This includes addressing unconscious bias, promoting work-life balance, and offering equal opportunities for advancement. It is tragic to have these young girls excel in STEM areas, only to lose them to a different field because of the barriers they face once they reach the workforce.

Finally, we need to ensure that women have access to leadership positions and are represented in decision-making roles. Studies have shown that diverse teams lead to better decision-making and improved business outcomes.

How can we break down barriers that hold women back in the workplace?

Breaking down barriers requires a multi-faceted approach. We need to address structural barriers such as unequal pay, lack of access to childcare, and inflexible working hours. Companies need to implement policies that promote gender equality, such as pay transparency and flexible working arrangements.

Too often, well-intentioned men aren’t even aware that they are guilty of sexism in the workplace. We need to challenge cultural and societal norms that perpetuate gender stereotypes and discrimination. This includes promoting positive role models, challenging unconscious bias, and educating people about gender equality.

Most importantly, we need to empower women to speak up and advocate for themselves. This includes providing them with the skills and confidence to negotiate for better pay and opportunities.

Who are your female role models that inspire you?

I have been inspired by many women throughout my career, but two that stand out are Jennifer Morgan and Brandi VanLoon. Jennifer Morgan’s journey from a business development role to CEO at SAP is truly inspiring. She has shown that with hard work, determination, and resilience, women can break through the glass ceiling.

Brandi VanLoon our VP of Corporate Affairs within Teamwork Commerce. She embodies the values of hard work, integrity, and kindness, and has been a source of inspiration and guidance for my own personal and professional growth.

What percentage of the Teamwork Commerce workforce is female?

Currently, our female workforce is 37%, which is higher than the industry average. I believe our female workforce percentage would be even higher if we had an equal distribution of male and female applicants. However, as we have discussed, the majority of applicants are male.

Despite this, we are proud of our commitment to gender diversity and inclusion and remain dedicated to increasing the representation of women in our organization. We also strive to encourage young girls to explore STEM fields, paving the way for future generations of women in tech.

Let’s Make a Difference

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. By investing in women, celebrating their achievements, and breaking down barriers, we can create a more inclusive and equitable world for all.

Let us continue to advocate for policies that promote gender equality, support initiatives that empower women, and challenge stereotypes and biases that hold women back.

Retail shrink – and theft in particular – has continued to prove to be one of the most damaging factors in retail losses over the past year. According to NRF’s 2023 National Retail Security Survey, the average retail shrink rate last year increased to 1.6%, up from 1.4% in 2022.

With shrink rising in 2023, retailers across the sector are determined to overcome the issue in 2024. If they can improve their loss prevention practices – both across supply chains and in-store – retailers can minimize the financial impact of shrink, improve customer experiences, and drive overall business growth. In order to achieve this, many are turning to technology investment.

The Impact of Shrink on Retailers 

Occurring when companies lose inventory from causes other than sales, shrink will never completely disappear. A challenge that has remained prominent for decades within the sector, the current economic climate has only emphasized the negative impact shrink has on a retailer’s bottom line. 

A major contributor to rising shrink challenges is the shoplifting epidemic plaguing the retail sector, which accounts for 65% of total retail shrink. Whilst retailers are implementing measures to combat the issue of theft, they also need to take a holistic view of all factors affecting inventory loss, such as administrative errors, damaged goods and vendor fraud, and execute a strategy that works to protect the bottom line from all variables. 

New technologies and predictive analytic tools are assisting retailers in pinpointing individual causes of shrink on both the shop floor and within the supply chain. Armed with the ability to view stock information from across the organization in real-time, retailers can understand the root causes of their shrink issues and take steps to prevent them. 

Inventory Management Technology

Establishing dynamic inventory control systems allows retailers to access real-time data of the store’s inventory, enabling them to have full visibility and control of items across all retail channels. With the reduction of manual handling of stock levels, retailers can minimize the risk of human error within inventory management, further benefiting overall accuracy and reducing the opportunity for shrink.

Providing full control across retail channels, inventory can be tracked and the use of predictive analytics allows retailers to leverage a range of historical trend data to gain a full understanding of factors impacting shrink levels. With inventory levels accounted for with an efficient management solution, stores are able to streamline operations while gaining crucial insight into stock levels.

Having access to the right inventory management software and solutions is essential for retailers to maintain an accurate and clear view of inventory across their supply chain. This enables them to consistently manage operations across all channels and reduce the impact of rising shrink challenges.

Introducing RFID to Reduce Shrink 

One technology that is also playing a key role in improving loss prevention is item-level RFID. The technology is giving retailers the ability to streamline operations, while also providing further visibility to the factors contributing to loss. By empowering retailers with clear visibility of all products, tagged at item-level from the manufacturing stage through to sale, items can be tracked in real-time with high-quality accuracy. 

Deploying RFID solutions provides retailers with the ability to identify specific missing items, and track their history of movements across the retail chain. This allows them to gain a clear indication of where stock is lost, enabling retailers to take appropriate action in mitigating shrink.

Shrink Prevention in 2024

As retailers continue to face the challenges of remaining profitable in a highly competitive industry, they must ensure that they are deploying the right technological solutions to prevent inventory shrinkage tackle the shrink crisis.

Interested in hearing how Teamwork Commerce can help your retail business minimize shrink? Please get in touch.

According to NRF, consumers planned to spend a collective $24 billion on Easter in 2023, up from $20.8 billion in 2022 and the previous record high of $21.7 billion in 2020. As part of this spend, 65% of consumers expected to purchase gifts during Easter, with 53% planning to purchase clothing.

While Easter’s position within retail might typically be associated with quick purchases of chocolate eggs and flowers, NRF’s findings from last year clearly show a growing consumer appetite for wider shopping during the spring holiday. With the Easter period growing in popularity, more retailers are turning to promotions to cash in on holiday excitement.

In order to succeed during the Easter shopping peak, retailers must be able to appeal to in-store shoppers. Brick-and-mortar retail is once again on the rise as consumers search for high-quality, in-person interactions as part of their overall shopping experience. Retailers who succeed during Easter will be the ones who can leave customers feeling satisfied, valued and excited to return.

Our latest blog explores exactly how retailers can deliver eggcellent customer experiences during the Easter period…

Convenience Reigns Supreme

In a fast-paced environment, waiting in checkout queues can be a significant pain point for customers. Busy stores during peak periods introduce the potential for slow processes and long queues. To streamline in-store processes during Easter, retailers should look to implement omnichannel fulfilment that allows in-store visitors to shop in ways that suit them best. Whether buying online and picking up – or returning items – in-store, arranging specific pickup times or simply browsing online before heading in-store to try on different sizes, shoppers have their own unique preferences to how they purchase.

The right order management system (OMS) can enable retailers to fulfil sales from any channel to create seamless purchase workflows. Teamwork Commerce’s OMS solution connects directly to a retailer’s eCommerce platform, automatically generating shipments and fulfilling orders from anywhere. Fitting their Easter purchases around their busy schedules ensures that customers can complete their transactions in convenient ways that ensure they optimize their shopping time. A seamless customer journey plays an integral role in delivering high-quality customer experiences.

Creating Bespoke Experiences

Convenience goes a long way to creating exceptional customer service. However, consumers still want to feel special and a seamless transaction on its own doesn’t necessarily deliver that. If retailers can combine these two factors, they can deliver a streamlined, bespoke experience that is rivalled by few others.

The key lies in personalization, where retailers recognize the needs of their customers and the trends in their shopping patterns to select recommendations that create unique interactions. Ahead of Easter, retailers can draw on last year’s holiday sales data, combine it with the patterns shown by individual customers, and predict the type of items that store visitors are looking for.

Not only are shoppers greeted in-store by a welcoming smile, but all their needs can be met in one place through Teamwork Commerce’s Secure CRM. Whether picking up items, returning purchases, or simply searching for inspiration, in-store associates can assist immediately – offering recommendations for products, colors and sizes based on previous transaction history, or processing a range of fulfilment requests. A unique human touch creates a bespoke experience that promotes a virtuous cycle, where returning customers only provide the brand with more information to use and deliver increasingly accurate recommendations with every interaction.

Cost-Effective Purchases

Once retailers can deliver convenience and a personal touch, much of the leg work for an eggcellent Easter experience has been completed. However, at a time of year when people wouldn’t be too shocked to hear that someone has a ‘chocolate budget’, few would turn down the opportunity to save a few bucks.

Making transactions cheaper for customers is not rocket science. If the same product is available in two competing stores, the consumer is likely to pick the cheaper option – especially if they know they can acquire these items conveniently, while receiving a personalized experience.

Loyalty programmes do exactly as they say: reward customers for their loyalty, and who doesn’t want to be rewarded? Convenience and personalization can quickly reel in new customers, but a rewards programme that promotes longevity is the final piece in the customer experience puzzle, and allows retailers to turn first-time buyers into loyal customers.

Springing into Action

Easter is one of many holidays throughout the year that create opportunity for retailers to increase sales. Enhanced appetite for sales can be a breeding ground for retailers in their hunt for new, long-term customers. In today’s environment, where consumers have high expectations in their shopping experiences, deploying the right technology can be the difference maker between failure and sustainable business success.

Interested in hearing more about how Teamwork Commerce can help your retail business deliver eggcellent customer experiences this Easter? Book a demo with the team today.

Originally posted on: Retail Sector

As 2024 unfolds, the retail industry is facing a spectrum of formidable challenges: a myriad of technologies, the complexities of omnichannel retailing, and the imperative of sustainability are all reshaping the landscape. Retailers are now focusing beyond just identifying trends; they are committed to providing analytics that demonstrate the tangible value added by their technology. Here is a list of the top retail tech trends that will shape the year ahead.

AI-Powered Solutions to make strides

In 2023, AI made huge waves in the retail sector, with retailers looking to use it to drive efficiency across several areas of their business. As per Statista, 73% of retailers are already using AI. Over the next 12 months, a further 15% of retailers plan to implement the technology. Amber Hovious, VP marketing and partnerships at Teamwork CommerceFrom marketing and financial forecasting to customer service and market analysis states that retail leaders will lean on AI to achieve more operational efficiency and deliver high-quality customer experiences in 2024.

Jessica Grisolia, industry solutions director (Retail) at Scandit also reveals that retailers across sectors are taking a deliberate approach to integrate generative AI into shopping – from redefining search, creating personalised, context-specific promotions to optimising internal processes to improve efficiency and drive out costs. Different sectors are likely to prioritise different opportunities for generative AI. For example, apparel retailers are experimenting with conversational shopping, breaking out of the linear Search and Browse experience. General merchandise retailers are seeing increased efficiencies from using generative AI in customer service, especially with returns optimisation. For speciality retailers, AI-powered virtual assistants will be used to elevate high-margin, specialty services across sectors, from home design consultations to makeup appointments to jewellery fittings. Whereas, department stores should look into generative AI’s ability to improve real-time price comparison and deal alerts, as well as overall online search results.

Generative AI plug-ins being implemented into platforms like ChatGPT, Google Bard, Amazon, or Apple could take shoppers all the way to checkout through a live link within the chat interface. Grocers, on the other hand, have a unique opportunity with shopping assistants, as customers can be directed to new brands, products, and ingredients that fit into their diet, budget, and lifestyle—with this channel boosting the power of their retail media networks. We will see more grocers experimenting with generative AI bots that would allow shoppers to create grocery lists based on their budget, dietary preferences, history, and tastes through knowing their preferences and purchase history.

Augmented Reality

Another technology becoming increasingly prevalent across multiple enterprises and in frontline environments such as the supply chain is augmented reality (AR), according to Grisolia. She states that for the store associate managing stock in-store, AR overlays can provide invaluable guidance as to inventory levels (whether in the same or another store, back of house or elsewhere), identification of products in similar-looking boxes and insights into stock expiry dates. As well as optimising inventory for the retailer, it can also significantly increase the efficiency of workers in their daily tasks and enable them to focus on higher-value tasks such as engaging with customers.

Leveraging AR aligns more closely with the needs of the large mainstream retail landscape, which often prioritises proven, reliable, and cost-effective solutions over ‘cool toys.’ In essence, while riding the AI wave might seem tempting, it’s the more incremental innovations like AR that could offer a more practical and immediately beneficial path for retailers, especially when considering the balance between innovation and proven reliability in business operations.

Nisa managed to capitalise on this kind of tech as a result of their desire to use technology to build an instant digital relationship with its customers. The solution implemented? A mobile app-based vouchering system called Scan and Save, integrated with a smart data capture platform presented customers with promotions they could redeem directly from their mobile device using AR overlay.

Martin Johansson, managing director of online florist Serenata Flowers also believes that as an online retailer, AR has the potential to revolutionise the consumer purchase journey by allowing customers to view products in their own homes before making a purchase. We anticipate this technology will become more prevalent in retail apps and websites to provide immersive and interactive experiences for shoppers.

Seamless Omnichannel Experience

In order to retain consumers on their e-commerce platforms and attract shoppers to their stores retailers have to work hard. However, an omnichannel strategy helps them unite these two fronts. When in-store and online experiences are integrated shoppers have more options. Brick-and-mortar retailers are keeping up with the times by offering customers more online pick up in store (BOPIS) alternatives. This blends the speed and customer service of in-store buying with the ease of shopping online.

Additionally, to enhance the experience of using smart shopping carts, retailers will start integrating “Omnichannel Customer Profiles”. The consumer and sales representatives can access these profiles at every touchpoint, and they are updated with each new encounter. Clients are able to create a “smart shopping basket” that they can use to make purchases at any time and from any channel of their choosing. For instance, a customer can save an outfit they like on their app and one week later they can go in-store to try on the outfit. They can finally check out their basket from your online shop a couple of days later.

Data utilisation and analytics

According to Stuart Higgins, partner at BearingPoint, advances in technology and cloud computing mean that it is now far easier to collect, store and analyse large volumes of data, bringing previously impossible analytics capability into the heart of retail decision making. He says that there has been an explosion of data generating devices, such as smartphones and wearable technology and each of us now leaves a digital fingerprint whenever we interact with technology. Retailers can use that data to better understand who we are, what our likes and dislikes are and ultimately, how better to service us in order to enhance our brand loyalty and secure our share of wallet.

He added that retailers can now leverage big data to understand their business and their customers in ways that were not thought possible only a few years ago. They can tailor store ranges and product assortments using local customer demographic data to enhance understanding of who is shopping in which stores and what they are likely to buy. They can use previous purchasing history to curate online ranges so the customer only sees products they are likely to buy based upon previous learning. They can use big data to train AI chatbots to be able to cater for the needs of any customer calling a customer service department. They can generate augmented reality images to allow customers to ‘try on’ clothes before they buy online to reduce the risk of returns. Or they can simply use more granular data to better understand the true cost drivers within the business in order to improve cost and efficiency like never before.

There is a consistent theme here around using the vast volume of data now available to improve business insight. However, one old adage remains; “garbage in / garbage out.” For retailers to truly leverage data and analytics to drive business performance, they need to ensure that the data they are using is clean, consistent, relevant, and accurate – and that requires the development of new data governance and data management strategies which, unfortunately, few retailers currently possess.

Chatbots and virtual shopping assistants

Over the past several years, consumer-focused chatbots in retail settings have helped streamline customer service interactions. With GPT-based models, consumers can receive 24/7 customer support, resolve issues with no waiting, track shipments and receive updates on order status. For instance, eBay introduced a chatbot for Facebook Messenger in Canada that makes it simple for users to buy, sell, and get other service requests fulfilled. Personalised recommendations, purchase tracking updates, and more are all available from the chatbot. Sephora, however, uses chatbots on a number of platforms that offer customised beauty advice and recommendations to its customers.