Success or surrender: 5 critical moves for rescuing a failing retail software project, plus when to cut your losses

Has your retail software project hit rock bottom?

In my last blog, I talked about why many retailers fail to achieve the expected ROI from their retail management software investments and shared five tests a new purchase must pass.

In this blog, we’ll look at what to do when a software project goes wrong.

Enterprise software failure rates are remarkably high, though naturally rarely discussed in public! For some companies, their investments become a black hole, sucking up funds and resources to rescue the project. Others lead to serious business disruptions when the software goes live and the loss of innovations that deliver a competitive edge.

So how do you resurrect a failed software project and, more significantly, what are the important signs it’s time to cut your losses and walk away?

There are five steps to take to salvage a failing software project, or rebuild after a failure:

Step 1: Rethink your game plan and goals

Take another look at the original project plan and strategic objectives. Adjust them to fit the new reality and the challenges you've faced. Then set realistic expectations and lay out clear objectives for moving forward. Maybe you need to tweak the timeline, shuffle resources or reconsider the budget? A fresh plan gives you a chance to gain momentum and start over.

Step 2: Take a good hard look at what went wrong

Figure out the specific issues and challenges that caused the project to falter. Was it poor planning, bad program management, miscommunication or technical shortcomings? Communicate openly with all the stakeholders involved and listen to their take on the situation. Working together and sharing ideas will foster trust, encourage problem-solving and ensure everyone is on the same page regarding the path forward.

Step 3: Take stock of your team

Are the people and team dynamics that got you to this point capable of turning the project around? Check that the individuals have got the right skills for the job and are aligned with the revised project goals. Examine the team dynamics and make sure your leaders are up to the task. A great team can often turn things around.

Step 4: Call in the experts

If the project is in a critical state, it’s probably time to bring in outside help. Get on board external consultants and software vendors with real-world experience in the current disrupted retail environment. Ask them to provide guidance, identify areas to improve and suggest potential solutions. They'll have managed complex, large-scale deployments and can provide new perspectives and bridge skills gaps to get things back on track.

Step 5: Take action and keep tabs on progress

Take actions to remedy the identified issues and implement corrective measures. Whether it's changing team members, improving communication, adjusting workflows or adopting new project management methodologies, implement the fixes needed to address the issues. Keep a close eye on the progress, track the key performance indicators (KPIs), and have regular status updates to make sure things are heading in the right direction.

But what do you do when you’ve completed all these moves and the project is still floundering?

If the project is still not delivering real value after taking these steps, it can mean the wrong product was selected. Any software purchase that doesn’t meet its target ROI is a failure. And at a time when consumer confidence is low and customer expectations are rising, new technology investments are being held to an even higher standard.

Sometimes making the uncomfortable decision to cut your losses and start the process of finding a new software provider is the right thing to do.

While it may first register as a loss, it could end up being the best thing that ever happened to your retail business.

Here are the indicators that mean it's time to pull the plug and start over:

• Misalignment with business KPIs: If the project no longer aligns with your strategic goals or the original business objectives have significantly shifted, it's a fundamental mismatch.  When the deviation is substantial and irreconcilable, it's best to cut ties and focus on initiatives that do.

• Unrecoverable delays: If the project keeps getting delayed without any end in sight, it's a red flag. When the delays are significant and impact the project's viability or business objectives, it’s time to assess whether the proposed solution is even feasible.

• Escalating costs: If the project costs are skyrocketing and return on investment isn't looking promising, it may be financially unsustainable to continue. When cost overruns outweigh the expected gains, it’s better to cut your losses and move on.

• Susceptibility to the sunk cost fallacy:  This is our tendency to follow through on a project if we have already invested time, effort, emotion or money into it, whether or not the current costs outweigh the benefits. Any unrecoverable costs sunk in the past are irrelevant when deciding what to do next.

• Insurmountable technical challenges: If the project faces technical obstacles or limitations that can’t be overcome within a reasonable timeframe, it’s an indication that the solution is not suitable or feasible. When the problems are too big to fix or would require a complete overhaul, the software is not the right fit.

• Stakeholders withdraw support: When important stakeholders lose confidence in the solution or no longer provide support, it's a clear message. If the solution cannot realistically recover to meet their expectations, it’s time to consider ending it.

Making the call to exit a failing software project is tough, but often necessary.

It’s an opportunity to find a solution that best meets your particular needs, allowing you to create real, sustainable value for your retail business.

Want help to assess the viability of your software project?

If your project is not delivering the returns you expected, we can help you navigate the complex issues and find the right path forward. Just contact me at kelly.brown@triquestra.com or get in touch.

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For insights into how a unified commerce approach gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

Your four stages to unifying customer experiences

Can you deliver to changing customer needs? Here’s how to simplify and streamline interactions with your brand and fulfil the promise of omnichannel retail.

1

Get tight control of your inventory

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Extend your brand experience across all channels

3

Create delightful, personalised shopping experiences

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Innovate, innovate, innovate

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Omnichannel retail promised to make things better for customers by delivering unified shopping experiences, but the execution has left gaps in the user experience.  

Shoppers today have numerous selling channels available to them, but silos mean that customers can’t just hop between channels in one seamless interaction and must deal with inconsistencies that lead to disappointment and frustration. 

Omnichannel has also made it much tougher for retailers. Today it’s not just about providing multiple options – it’s about delivering a frictionless experience no matter where or when customers shop. This variety is overwhelming retailers, with 47% saying there are too many channels for them to effectively deliver the best experience.  

And many omnichannel set-ups neglect to take full take advantage of stores, which provide unparalleled opportunities to provide excellent service and personalised recommendations to retain loyal customers, as well as take on activities such as returns, fulfilment, endless aisle orders, in-store wishlists and more. 

That’s why retailers are moving from omnichannel to an integrated unified commerce platform strategy.  

Unified commerce makes it easy to meet and even exceed customer expectations by creating a ‘one brand’ experience everywhere your customers shop while solving the problems and restrictions of omnichannel retail.  

It’s gaining momentum, with 20% of retailers heavily investing in unified commerce, 32% beginning to invest and 36% considering doing so. Retailers who used unified commerce in 2022 saw an impressive 7% revenue boost over those who did not.  

And the transition to unified commerce is simpler than many think.  

Retailers can quickly reap the benefits by following these four stages:

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Stage 1: Get tight control of your inventory

Ensure you can accurately manage your inventory levels across all your locations and customer touchpoints by centralising your inventory information in near real time.  

With a unified inventory management system in place, you can guarantee you’ve got the right inventory available in each location, without carrying the cost of overstocking or “buffers”. You can optimise your product range by matching stock to each store’s location, community and demographics while still giving access to your complete range via endless aisle. You can also react to trends quickly, and forecast demand based on historical data, sales forecasts and seasonal variations.

See how Night ‘n Day started with inventory to create great customer experiences and increase net profit by around $12,000 a year for each store.

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Stage 2: Extend your brand experience across all channels

Once your inventory is under control, you’re free to increase your purchasing, ordering and fulfilment options. To do that, you’ll need to move from multichannel silos to a unified commerce platform that provides a strong order management capability.  

Exposing, rather than replicating, inventory and customer data from your platform to each channel means everything stays in sync. Your staff and customers will have consistent product visibility and can expect fluid and accurate interactions, whether in-store, on mobile or online.  

And with real-time data on stock levels, you’ll be able to see where inventory is located, find the lowest cost or fastest fulfilment route, and provide better promotions. 

Here’s how Cue Clothing is using unified commerce to combine physical and digital channels into a ‘one-brand’ experience.

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Stage 3: Create delightful, personalised shopping experiences

Now you can build genuinely meaningful customer experiences. With a single view of customer, order and inventory data, you can treat each customer as an individual, all the time – one person with one account, interacting with one unified brand. 

Make your loyalty programme your cornerstone for innovation, delivering the unified and personalised experiences customers expect. Use AI and data from online and offline channels to deliver timely and personalised communications, recommendations, offers and rewards across in-store and digital touchpoints, including desktop web, mobile web, mobile apps, email and social. 

By delivering each customer a powerful, tailored, one-of-a-kind experience across all channels and touchpoints, you’ll create rich emotional connections, drive up conversions and send transaction values soaring.

Here’s how Z fuels more sales and repeat visits with its Pumped loyalty programme.

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Stage 4: Innovate

Your unified commerce platform is now your hub for innovation - a springboard for adding new channels and services to take advantage of new capabilities and deliver results at a speed and scale that would be unachievable within a traditional omnichannel model. 

By using agile methodologies and APIs to expose data and functions, and easily plug in and deploy new services, channels and devices, you’ll reduce integration and maintenance overheads, increase real-time accuracy and enjoy virtually limitless scalability and agility. And by seamlessly embedding purchasing opportunities into everyday activities, you’ll make the shopping experience seamless for the consumer. 

The end result is the ability to create extraordinary customer experiences that help to capture market opportunities, generate additional revenue and build brand advocacy. 

See how APIs can help you innovate at pace and build powerful ecosystems to give customers extraordinary experiences.

This post was originally published May 2019 and updated on 28 August 2023.

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If you’re urgently revamping your omnichannel capabilities and want advice on which projects to tackle first, our checklist could help. It will let you assess where you are at against retail leaders and decide what you need to improve. Download it here.

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Show me the ROI: 5 tests to justify your retail software purchase

Are traditional ROI measures good enough in today's environment?  

Everyone’s focused on ROI for their enterprise technology purchases nowadays. ROI has always been important, but at a time when consumer confidence is low and customer expectations continue to rise, new technology investments are being held to an even higher standard.  

But making the shift to a new retail management system can be difficult.  

Research has shown enterprise software failure rates range from 30-70%, and some observers say that fewer than 10% of major software purchases fully meet expectations. Stories  about  outright software failures do appear in the media, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg - people don’t talk publicly about failures because they do not want to be associated with them.  

For some companies, their investments become a black hole, sucking up funds to salvage the situation. They pour money and resources into further development, implementation and maintenance, only to find after a few years that they’ve fallen by the wayside.   

And many projects may not be outright failures but lead to serious business disruption when the software goes live. Chaotic stores frustrate customers, supply chains go haywire, data integrity and security can be compromised, employee frustration kills productivity and integration challenges hinder efficient operations.  

Plus there’s the loss of innovations that can give you a competitive edge. A successful solution will be implemented faster than expected and meet or exceed the expected ROI, letting you create frictionless and differentiated omnichannel customer experiences that drive loyalty and grow revenue.  

You don’t want a project that fails to deliver the desired returns because the wrong product was selected.  

So how do you justify your technology investment?  

There are five tests technology purchases need to pass, and the first is the most important by far: 

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Test 1: Does it deliver your strategy and help drive forward your KPI's?

Evaluate how the software will help to achieve the strategic goals and objectives of your organisation.   

It should be a solution to the challenges you face or help you take advantage of new opportunities. It needs to offer clear benefits like boosting productivity, cutting costs, improving customer satisfaction or increasing revenue. If it doesn't directly address your needs, it's probably not the right fit. 

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Test 2: Does it deliver REAL value?

The ‘shiny object’ syndrome is prevalent in retail. People can get fixated on the latest trends and fail to assess how the investment helps to deliver a return on investment.   

How much will the system cost in terms of licenses, implementation, training and maintenance? Compare those costs to the benefits you expect to see. Consider both the tangible and intangible returns, such as increased revenue, reduced operational costs, improved decision-making, enhanced scalability or competitive advantage. A positive ROI should be evident over a reasonable timeframe.  

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Test 3: Does it deliver operational savings?

People are your most important resource. If your investment saves them time, that frees them up to work on higher value activities.   

The system should be user-friendly with intuitive workflows and features that align with users' needs and preferences. You want a solution that your store and head office staff can easily adopt and start using right away. No one wants to deal with complicated interfaces or spend hours in training sessions. And a solution that provides a positive user experience will yield higher productivity gains and better overall results. 

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Test 4: Can it grow with you and adapt to change?

Assess whether the system can scale and adapt to your organisation's changing needs. It should be able to handle more data, channels and touchpoints, easily integrate with other systems, be flexible enough to adapt to new technologies and scale to provide long-term value.  

You don't want to be stuck with an outdated or narrow point solution that won’t let you evolve to meet changing customer needs.  

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Test 5: Can you rely on the vendor for new functionality and ongoing support?

Biggest isn’t always best. A mid-sized company will have fewer layers of bureaucracy, giving them more agility and responsiveness. It also means that you’ll be an important customer of influence to your partner - they will value your business and work hard for it.  

Assess the reputation and support provided by the vendor. Do they have a good track record of successful implementations in the current, disrupted omnichannel retail climate, with customer reviews and references?  

Are they known for their customer service? You’ll want a partner that will be there for you when you need it, ensuring you can easily add new functionality and connect to third party systems (via APIs) to cultivate your retail ecosystem. 

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By putting your potential software investment through these five tests, you’ll find a solution that meets your needs and is cost-effective, adaptable, user-friendly and supported by a trusted and reliable partner.  

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Want help to ensure your software investment pays off? 

We can help you define your goals, develop a business case and create your roadmap to create the unified experiences that are best for customers and most profitable for you. Get in touch. 

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For insights into how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our new ebook:

New in Infinity – August 2023

Here’s new functionality across the Infinity platform that will help you unify your physical and digital channels and deliver to changing customer needs. 

Infinity is a modular platform and you may need additional components or licencing to access some functionality. 

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PRODUCT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Streamline stock sorting by setting preferred sort criteria 

It’s now easier to sort and find stock items in Infinity using the criteria that makes the most sense to your business. When you browse for items in the inventory, your previous sort selection will be retained for the next session. So, for example, if you prefer to sort items by description, they will automatically be sorted in that order the next time you open Infinity.   

Empower store staff to control stock at new stores 

We’ve streamlined the effort involved in creating a new branch by providing a choice of which stock items will be sent to the store. When inventory items are copied from a source branch to the new branch, you can choose to only send the active items, or decide to set them all active and send them all. This empowers store staff to decide which items they want to keep, giving them more control over their stock. It also means your Head Office staff no longer have to be involved in setting up the inventory for a new store.  

Manage financial risks by setting store-specific cash limits 

Keeping cash in the cash drawer can be one of the most important financial and security risks your stores face on a day-to-day basis, and those risks can differ across branches. You can now empower stores to handle those risks in the way that meets their needs by allowing them to set their own cash drawer limits.   

Keep promotions running smoothly during franchise ownership changes 

Changing franchise ownership in the middle of a promotional cycle can be disruptive and potentially cost your stores valuable revenue. You can now minimise that disruption by easily transferring existing pricing and promotions when a store moves from one cluster in your organisation to another. This saves you having to recreate the promotions and means offers keep running without missing a beat. 

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INVENTORY

Make supplier searches easy with non-case sensitive name check 

We’ve improved the user experience when creating purchase orders and receipts by making the supplier name check non-case sensitive. This means that you will find the supplier without any trouble when there’s a difference in the capitalisation of their name on the item record and the supplier record.   

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CUSTOMERS & LOYALTY

Speed up loyalty prepay enquiries with full transaction info 

Your Loyalty support staff can answer Loyalty prepay customer transaction enquiries more quickly now that they can see more details about those transactions, including the date, the receipt number and the external transaction code.    

Improve efficiency during cents-per-litre rule searches 

Searching for specific cents-per-litre rules has been made more seamless and less time-consuming now that fuel administrators can easily filter and sort them.   

Customise error messages when external fuel balances unavailable 

Your Loyalty program administrator can now be warned that a customer’s external partner cents-per-litre fuel balance is currently unavailable using an error message that meets your customised business needs.  

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POINT OF SALE

Boost sales by providing customers with estimated arrival dates 

Securing a sale can sometimes come down to being able to tell the customer that the item they really want to buy will soon be available. Infinity now allows your store staff to see more details about the estimated arrival date of goods on purchase orders, as well as quantities on draft orders, allowing them to drive sales by giving customers the information they need to make purchasing decisions.  

Seamlessly switch POS stations for faster transactions via auto-logout 

At busy times, your sales staff may need to switch between POS stations to process a high volume of transactions quickly, while also allowing you to keep track of who processed the sales. To meet these simultaneous needs, Infinity can now log users out after a set amount of time, rather than locking the entire station. This keeps the sales process moving while not compromising on the audit trail. This feature is also useful between shifts if a user forgets to log out and means the next user can log in without having to involve a manager in unlocking the station.  

Customise age-check policies store-by-store 

If your business sells items that have an age restriction and you use Infinity’s advanced age check module, age policies can now be set on a store-by-store basis. This is especially useful if your stores operate as franchises and franchisees want to apply different policies. So, for example, one store can decide to age-check everyone who looks under 30, while another store decides to check everyone who looks younger than 25.  

Enhance fuel transaction monitoring by identifying legitimate test deliveries 

Monitoring fuel transactions using Digifort DVR is easier now that the video footage identifies the pumps used for test deliveries to ensure they were legitimate. 

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INTEGRATIONS

Republish cloud event sales invoice transactions effortlessly 

Cloud event sales invoice transactions can now be republished to either RabbitMQ or Azure should they need to be resent to the system that consumes them, ensuring that all transactions are sent and accounted for.  

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TECHNOLOGY

Support for latest Microsoft technologies 

Infinity now supports SQL Server 2022, the latest SQL Server version available from Microsoft. Note that SQL Server 2016 and higher require a 64-bit operating system.  

Faster POS setup with accelerated data replication 

Infinity Point of Sale will be ready to use much sooner following improvements to the setup process. Accelerated data replication can reduce the time it takes to perform the initial setup data synchronisation down to just a few minutes, depending on network speeds and the amount of data involved.  

Reduce costs with enhanced Wishlist integration 

Infinity’s integration with the Wishlist company now supports a multi-tenanted back-end.  

Effortless safety sheet distribution with API integration 

If you sell dangerous goods, distributing material safety sheets across your business can now be done via an API back-end, optimising the management of these documents and saving you the trouble of having to make them available on a site-by-site basis. 

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To find out more about any of these enhancements and add them to your Infinity platform, contact us. 

If you’d like to get our regular ‘New in Infinity’ updates in your inbox, sign up to our newsletter.

Modernising liquor retail: 8 essential capabilities for a unified CX

In a recent blog, I talked about why liquor retailers are overhauling their business models to provide convenience, speed and value throughout the end-to-end shopping journey. That is driving a massive shift in how they plan, build and deliver their omnichannel customer experience.   

In this blog, we’ll look at how to create the omnichannel experiences that are best for customers and most profitable for you. 

Many liquor retailers aren’t equipped to create the shopping journeys now expected by digitally savvy consumers. They have siloed backend systems that are inefficient and costly to maintain and have bolted on digital solutions that don’t easily integrate.  

They struggle to meet customer demands for a joined-up retail experience that doesn’t stop when they enter a store.   

And they face powerful new competition from delivery and online retailers working hard to prevent people from going into stores in the first place!  

If you’re looking for new ways to extend your online experience into stores for unified retail, here are the eight pivotal capabilities you need for a modern customer experience: 

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1. Digital convenience in stores 

The POS used to be the epicentre of the store technology experience. But today consumers expect unlimited access to information and functionality to inform their purchasing decisions, and demand digital experiences inside the store.  

Retailers are putting customers in charge of their in-store experience by integrating digital services, such as the ability to look up loyalty points, explore product information and add items to digital wishlists in stores. Shoppable screens provide ‘endless aisle’ capabilities that let customers browse and order from the entire inventory. 

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2. Stores that amplify the digital experience 

Retailers are using the unparalleled knowledge of their store staff to boost digital sales and service by giving in-store teams the tools to connect with shoppers digitally.  Live chat enables customer service or in-store teams to solve user queries, and store teams are using social media to share educational content.  

Some retailers are going one step further and making use of live chat and virtual appointments to offer ecommerce customers the ability to speak with a store team member in real time. By giving customers product recommendations and helping them build personalised baskets, retailers are achieving high levels of conversions while increasing customer loyalty. 

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 3. Localised pricing and promotions 

Retailers are making better decisions about store product assortments, by matching breadth and depth to demand, trends and local demographics. A unified view of inventory gives them total control over their stock to improve efficiency, reduce overall stock, create more satisfied customers and boost the bottom line. 

 And by customising products, prices and promotions nationally, regionally and even by individual sites, retailers are increasing conversions and maximising profits.  

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4. Endless aisle for anywhere, anytime orders 

With a ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ strategy and centralised unified commerce platform, retailers can give customers and staff real-time visibility of inventory, order and customer data across the business. That means customers can see the availability of products in their local stores, order via mobile apps or online for click-and-collect and, where regulations permit, order any product and get it delivered to their preferred address.  

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5. Flexible omnichannel fulfilment 

Consumers now make purchasing decisions based on shipping costs and timings. And they want the right level of visibility, communication and tracking, no matter the fulfilment solution.  

Retailers are prioritising capabilities that help them to launch and scale omnichannel experiences faster by improving store fulfilment efficiency and enhancing the store pick-up experience. They’ve created hybrid stores that support the rise in online sales while meeting customers’ expectations for fast pick-up and delivery. They’re introducing ship-from-store capabilities that not only enable ecommerce orders to be shipped from stores, but stores can also ship orders placed in other stores. And with a unified view of inventory for endless aisle across all stores and DCs, they can quickly see where inventory is located and the fastest route to fulfil orders.  

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6. Unified employee experiences 

A great customer experience hinges on a great employee experience. After years of underinvestment and continuing worker shortages, many retailers are playing catch-up by making employee efficiency and enablement a top priority. They’re giving their in-store teams access to relevant customer intelligence - such as loyalty rewards, wishlists and sales histories – to equip them to add more value to their customer interactions.  

Some are using AI technology to provide personalised upselling recommendations during click-and-collect pickups. And localised pricing gives their teams up-to-date, competitive pricing and empowers them to make better, on-the-spot decisions.  

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7. Self-service to fuel growth 

In tandem with the new digital experiences inside stores, retailers are modernising their checkout experience so that customers can transact on their terms. They’re putting customers in control with fast and flexible self-guided assistance, mobile point of sale and contactless payments wherever the customer is in the store, and at events, trade shows and pop-up stores.   

While self-serve kiosks are practical solutions for large stores and supermarkets, liquor and convenience retailers are taking advantage of new self-service apps that can be deployed on any touchscreen terminal, making it simple to create fast and memorable experiences. Positioned on store counters next to POS terminals, these solutions remove the risk of theft or sales to underage customers by ensuring that store staff can quickly and easily verify IDs, audit to avoid losses and assist when required.  

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8. Unified channels strengthen personalisation 

With more buying journeys beginning online, and store visits become more predetermined, customer expectations for a frictionless ‘one brand’ experience are rising. However, many retailers have channel silos that mean any interaction or activity that the customer had with them online is not available to the customer or staff within the store.  

Retailers are delivering personalised experiences by using AI and intelligence across online and offline channels to deliver timely and relevant communications, recommendations, offers and loyalty rewards across in-store and digital touchpoints, including the point of sale, mobile app, web, email and social. Some are extending these personalised recommendations into other communications with customers, such as e-receipts and shipping notifications. 

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If you’d like help to create distinctive and frictionless customer experiences across all physical and digital channels, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop a unified customer journey. 

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Want to deliver every customer a personalised, fast and seamless experience? 

Get our ebook to find out how to revamp the liquor retail CX. 

How a unified commerce platform solves retail inventory problems

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From endless aisle and click-and-collect to self-serve and returns anywhere, customers expect a seamless and unified experience. But if you can only access rudimentary sales and inventory positions, you’re prevented from offering the ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ services that are best for customers and most profitable for you.

Managing inventory is one of the most challenging processes for retailers – no matter their size. It’s also the largest cost. It’s a balancing act to strike the right stock levels and adjust those levels as your business changes. Understocks lead to missed sales and dissatisfied customers, and overstocks tie up your capital and result in markdowns that can hurt your margins.

Some retailers struggle with the fundamentals of inventory control, such as stock taking, demand forecasting, planning and receipting.

And in a world where online and offline channels are blending into a single brand experience, customers expect access to products wherever and whenever they want.

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Unify your inventory

To provide the purchasing and fulfilment options you need for frictionless experiences that delight customers and reduce costs, you first need to get tight control of your inventory.   

A unified commerce platform gives you a single, accurate and up-to-date view of inventory so you can be sure that you have the right product at the right place at the right time. 

With unified inventory management across all locations, you can make better decisions about what stock to order and how to make it available in your physical, mobile, online stores and call centres.  

You can react to trends quickly, and forecast demand based on historical data, sales forecasts and seasonal variations. And with the platform’s open architecture and APIs, you’re free to add new features, channels, apps and services that will increase customer satisfaction and benefit your business in many ways: 

• Increase sales with ‘endless aisle’ capabilities that let you sell products stocked in any location and have them delivered direct or collected by the customer

• Reduce inventory costs by moving stock to the right location when it’s needed and cutting your overall stock requirements

• Lower fulfilment costs by delivering direct to the customer using store-to-door, warehouse-to-door, click-and-collect, kerbside pickup or optimised sourcing

• Reduce overselling or underselling with real-time inventory updates that remove the issues of selling unavailable stock or having more stock than listed online

• Turn locations on and off for endless aisle fulfilment based on the stock mix and quantities or surges in online shopping

• Offer more purchasing and fulfilment options to customers so they can locate items in-store, buy online, collect in-store, reserve online, receive the same day or at a time and location of their choice

• Optimise your product range by matching stock to each store’s location, community and demographics while still giving access to your complete range via endless aisle

• Extend your range across more sales channels such as marketplaces, in-store kiosks, shoppable screens, pop-up stores, concessions and mobile devices.

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Retailers reaping inventory benefits with the Infinity unified commerce platform:

GAS optimises inventory for improved profitability

GAS completed a lightning-fast nationwide Infinity point of sale implementation. Site owners now have the tools to manage inventory and run more profitable businesses.

Night ‘n Day gets tight control of inventory

By simplifying inventory management with Infinity, convenience grocery retailer Night ‘n Day cut costs, freed up time and increased net profit to around $12,000 per store each year.

This post was orginally published January 2020 and updated on 18 July 2023

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If you’re struggling with inventory accuracy and are looking at how to build a foundation for frictionless customer experiences, talk to us about how to start with a single view of inventory.

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For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our new ebook. 

From fuel stations to destination hubs: Klaas Mantel on the EV charging opportunity

“New mobility retail will be good for most [fuel retailers] . . . but the skill set for success will change and if you are going to play the EV game you need to get serious and invest for the future.” A leading McKinsey advisor challenges fuel retailers to shift from a ‘glass half empty’ to ‘glass half full’ mindset when crafting their electric vehicle (EV) strategy. 

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I recently had the pleasure of attending a keynote presentation by Klaas Mantel from McKinsey during the ReFuel Forum APAC event in Bangkok. Klaas spoke about the future of mobility retail, and how to successfully play in the charging infrastructure business. 

It was a thought-provoking talk during an excellent event which boasted many stellar speakers and attendees. So what made Klaas’ views stand out? Here are the three things that most resonated with delegates and what they could mean for your fuel retail business: 

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Does your fuel retail business have a ‘glass half empty’ or ‘glass half full’ mindset? 

Klaas suggested that many fuel retailers take a ‘glass half empty’ view of the emerging opportunity in EV charging. It’s not surprising. 

Only 15% of EV charging is currently done ‘on the go’, and EV penetration is driving down footfall at retail stations. It’s an immense undertaking to transform the standard business model, and there’s formidable competition from new operators, including home delivery platforms like Uber Eats and Doordash who are redefining our perception of convenience. 

However, Klaas firmly takes a ‘glass half full’ view, emphasising the opportunity to drive growth with expanded grocery offers combined with the potential value of EV charging. 

He shared that today only 2% of grocery sales are via forecourts – giving our industry a massive opportunity to capture share from other retail channels, such as traditional (62%), modern (31%) and convenience (5%) grocery retail. 

While traditional fuel sales are declining, this will be offset by gains in EVs and non-fuel retail (eg convenience, car wash, hospo, etc.). McKinsey predicts that the non-fuel retail value pool will grow 3% pa to US$40 billion, up from US$24 billion in 2019. The EV charging pool is estimated to rise from negligible to US$15 billion by 2030.  

And forecourts are uniquely positioned to develop new business models to become home delivery hubs. 

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There are three key areas for ensuring success  

Klaas explained that ‘new mobility retailers’ with both recharge and non-fuel destination offerings will have the best chance of future success.   

The successful new mobility retailers will be characterised by three things: 

• Multiple non-fuel retail destination offers synergistic with EV to provide an exceptional customer experience during longer stays 

• Superior cash generation per location enabled by a real estate management mindset  

• No longer reliant on liquid fuel income ensures resilience to future decline of the fuel value pool. 

That means developing a compelling CX and investing in the right locations with the right offering, with Klaas adding: “That may mean acknowledging that EV won’t work on some sites, it will mean investing in convenience retail, charger access and building a customer experience that is safe, welcoming and appropriate.” 

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3

How will you successfully play in the charging infrastructure business? 

Klaas acknowledged that this new world of mobility retail is not for everyone. Convenience players are actively acquiring fuel retail assets, and the integrated majors have concentrated their footprints while focusing on organic growth in priority markets.  

And unlike ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles, EVs have multiple options to ‘refuel’ and won’t be primarily recharging at public stations. 

However, forecourt retailers are well positioned to win Klaas says, and here’s why: 

• Knowledge of the mobility customer across B2C, B2B and B2B2C 

• Already know and run a network business 

• Able to drive energy transition, including hybrid offers (fuel, bio, EV, H2) 

• Benefit from EV charging being an incremental business (and thus incremental investment) to existing network 

• Access to capital.

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Klaas closed by urging delegates to take the glass half full approach and act now to capture a fair share of ‘electron sales’ and remain competitive.  

Here are three questions he encouraged fuel retailers to consider as you evolve your business model to meet changing usage patterns: 

• Can you capture share of grocery sales from other retail channels? 

• What is the value pool outlook in your region, and what share can you capture? 

• Can you develop new business models? 

Is EV charging a priority for your retail business? Or do you have other priorities? I’d love to hear. Please send your thoughts to kelly.brown@triquestra.com. 

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Want help to build your EV charging experience? 

If you’re looking for help to develop a differentiating experience for your EV charging customers, get in touch. We’d love to help you create a winning offering that will leapfrog your business and create new value.  

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For more on how to deliver every c-store customer a personalised, fast and seamless experience, download our new ebook:  

Delivering a unified CX: liquor retail's new priority

The ecommerce boom and ever-increasing consumer demands for more digital and personalised services are rapidly changing the business of liquor retail. Kelly Brown explains why liquor retailers are overhauling how they plan, build and deliver their CX, and shares three steps to take to remain relevant.

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Customers now expect retailers to offer convenience, speed and value throughout the end-to-end shopping journey. They are more discerning and impatient, and don’t care that it can be hard to deliver – they only care about a great experience.  

That is driving a massive shift in how liquor retailers plan, build and deliver their customer experience.   

The retailers making the first move know that a compelling bricks-and-mortar presence blended with an improved digital offering can be leveraged for competitive advantage.  

And that means seamlessly integrating all backend systems and channels to deliver experiences that align with customer expectations.  

However, it’s complicated. 

While liquor retail has always been challenging – fast service is non-negotiable, staff require specialised knowledge and transaction volumes are highly variable – this requires a fundamental transformation of the standard business model. 

Liquor retail has been a laggard in creating new digital experiences and investing in technology to improve front- and back-end operations. Many liquor retailers have legacy solutions that are no longer fit for purpose and have bolted on solutions for the digital space that don’t easily integrate.  

And they struggle to support their customers’ current omnichannel demands, let alone the personalised ‘phygital’ shopping journeys now expected by post-pandemic, digitally savvy consumers.  

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So what steps can you take to differentiate your liquor retail business? 

Here’s a three-pronged strategy that will help create the distinctive omnichannel experiences customers now expect: 

1. Pivot into retail media services 

To remain relevant and competitive in the future, you’ll need to venture beyond traditional retailing and enter new service categories with a higher level of profitability. 

Retail media networks are emerging as one example in retail. Liquor retailers are monetising their existing data and channels by introducing state-of-the-art digital screens closer to the point of purchase, creating a raft of opportunities for alcohol brands to advertise. 

With the demise of revenue from third-party cookies, retail media helps alcohol brands reach the right audience - people who want to purchase alcohol and are legally entitled to do so - and drive higher conversions that increase sales. And as online alcohol sales grow – 15.2% growth is expected between 2022 to 2030 - so will advertising revenues for retailers. 

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2. Deliver a unified customer experience 

Focus on the end-to-end needs of your customers and revamp the customer journey to expand your relationship beyond quick visits to stock up on beverages. 

That means making purchasing online and in stores seamless and convenient through endless aisle, digital payments and ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ services coupled with fast and flexible delivery options. 

Take advantage of the shift in preference for neighbourhood shopping, with local product ranges tailored to each location and community, supported by bespoke promotional programmes. 

And you’ll need to create true omnichannel experiences that seamlessly integrate physical and digital channels to create personalised customer communications, offers, experiences and rewards across in-store and digital touchpoints. 

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3. Embrace complexity to build new capabilities 

To revamp your business and aggressively embrace innovation and new technologies, you’ll need to develop new expertise and capabilities. That will introduce more complexity into your organisation, with sales channels becoming less physical and more digital.  

You’ll want a retail platform that connects your physical and digital channels to let you deliver customer experiences that provide the convenience, speed and variety customers demand. Embrace agile working to innovate and get products to market faster. And by using APIs, you can create an ecosystem of partnerships to deploy new apps, services, channels and devices.  

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Want help to differentiate your liquor business? 

If you want to create distinctive and frictionless customer experiences across all physical and digital channels, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop a unified customer journey. 

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For more on how to deliver every customer a personalised, fast and seamless experience, download our new ebook:  

New in Infinity – May 2023

Here’s new functionality across the Infinity platform that will help you unify your physical and digital channels to create the seamless and personalised buying journeys your customers crave. 

Infinity is a modular platform and you may need additional components or licencing to access some functionality. 

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APIS

Faster performance to reduce resources 

The performance of transactional APIs has been improved under high loads so that the resources required to run the APIs can be reduced and the API processes are faster, improving the overall user experience.  

Enforce domain separation between fuel inventory and sales data 

Businesses that apply domain-driven design and wish to send fuel inventory events to a separate endpoint from the sales data can now configure the Cloud Events Service with alternate API details for the fuel data. This helps to maintain domain separation between the fuel inventory and sales data domains. 

Simpler maintenance of debtor records 

Customers who update debtor records using the Accounts Receivable API no longer have to provide the financial details as part of the update, reducing the complexity and effort involved in maintaining these records. 

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INVENTORY

Let store staff use mobiles for stock transfers 

Stock transfers can now be created in Infinity Cloud while in mobile mode, making creation of transfers more efficient for staff on the shop floor. The ability to scan by pack size has also been added to the stock transfer process to speed up the scanning of products that are being transferred. 

Easier management of purchase orders 

Customers who have their own purchase order references can now use those references when creating, viewing and searching for orders in Infinity, making it easier to find and maintain POs across your business.  

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PRICING & PROMOTIONS

Launch quantity promotions for increased sales 

Infinity Rules Based Pricing now allows you to maintain quantity-based volume price breaks for items. For example, you can set up rules that allow you to sell a single item at $10 each, between 2 and 10 items at $8 each, and between 11 and 15 items for $6 each. Store staff can see thresholds that apply to the sale and then let the customer know about the available discounting, allowing you to drive higher-volume sales through lower pricing.

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CUSTOMERS & LOYALTY

Better visibility of loyalty members within prepay accounts 

Your Head Office staff can now more clearly see which Loyalty member has been selected on the list of prepay account members, helping to reduce confusion when checking the names attached to a prepay account. 

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REPORTS & ANALYTICS

Expand your reporting of customer types 

Customers who use Infinity’s Open Accounts feature can now see sales to open accounts in the Customer Performance Report, allowing for reporting on all customer types used in Infinity.

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POINT OF SALE

Support sustainability goals by eliminating Vault EFTPOS printed receipts 

Businesses using Verifone Vault EFTPOS devices can now decide whether they want to stop printing a customer copy of thermal receipts by default. This can save you the cost that comes from automatically printing receipt copies if your customers rarely ask for them.  

Give store staff more visibility of fuel prepay transactions for easier refunds  

Store staff can now see more transaction information when refunding fuel prepay transactions, thereby helping them choose the correct transaction to refund, improving the speed and accuracy of the refund and providing an improved customer experience. 

Improve staff adherence to daily cash management process 

Several enhancements have been made to Cash Management functionality. You can now configure the system to perform end-of-days only, rather than end-of-shifts. This can help avoid confusion in businesses that do not operate on a shift basis. An extra prompt has also been added to the end-of-day and end-of-shift processes so that store staff are made aware if they create very short shifts by mistake, which increase administrative effort.  

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INTEGRATIONS

Better inventory management and improved operations with enhancements to Xero integrations 

The Infinity Xero integration has been enhanced to push stock receipt, transfer, stocktake and adjustment transactions to reduce manual data entry into Xero when tracking inventory. 

Customers who use Xero to receive payments and accounts receivable statements can now post debtor transactions as individual invoices and credit notes, while Infinity remains the master of the debtor record for all transactions and pricing. Note: customers with a high volume of debtor transactions should ensure their transaction counts fall within Xero monthly transaction volume limitations. 

Supplier invoices that are posted to Xero have been enhanced to accommodate foreign currency suppliers so that offshore suppliers can be paid in their local currency. Freight that has been added to supplier invoices and disbursed across the items, such as landed costs, is now posted as inventory and goods received not invoiced, instead of as a separate inventory line, to provide better accuracy of full inventory valuations and cost of goods sold. 

Cash sales posting to Xero which use duty free mode, or debtors with tax exemption rules in Infinity, now correctly create tax-free and tax-inclusive lines for the various sales lines where appropriate so the tax from sales is accurately recorded in Xero. 

Help stores accepting eWIC cards serve customers faster 

Maintenance of the US WIC (Women, Infant and Children) products has been made more efficient now that the eWic APL file import correctly recognises the UPC PLU flag, thereby removing the need for manual updates of the item master. 

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TECHNOLOGY

Commitment to modern .NET infrastructure 

All Infinity releases now require .NET 4.8 Framework to be present. This is part of Triquestra’s ongoing commitment to using enhancements from vendors and to maintaining technical support. When you receive a new Infinity release from now on, please ensure that .NET 4.8 is deployed to all workstations and servers that operate Infinity. 

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To find out more about any of these enhancements and add them to your Infinity platform, contact us. 

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