The Kind of Tech Store Leaders Really Want. Hint, it's Not AI.
Kit Campoy
I write for world-class SaaS Retail Tech Companies. Retail Leadership Expert & Author | Retail, Leadership, Business.
Retail has a tech revolution happening.
From self-checkout kiosks to AI-powered inventory management, the industry is embracing innovation like never before and is poised for disruption.
After 24 years on sales floors, I've seen the incredible potential this tech holds. But here's the thing – many stores are contending with broken equipment.
I'm a proponent of progress. New tech can streamline operations, enhance the customer experience, and boost profitability. But before we get swept away in the tech wave, let's take a critical look at the current state of retail stores and check out areas that need serious improvement.
The Broken Printer Problem: A Universal Agony
We've all dealt with fussy or delicate printers. This frustration is felt in every industry, sometimes leading to full-out rage.
"Not again! Why does it say 'paper jam' when there is no paper jam?" - Samir Nagheenanajar, in the movie Office Space.
But what a lot of corporate offices may not realize is that printers in stores are often broken. Fixes are slow.
So, when talking to stores about generative AI or streamlining operations, know that all they want is for their printer to work.
When our printer was down, it almost halted daily operations. We couldn't print markdowns. We could print shipping labels. It was a disaster.
Let's begin with the basics and work from there. You can put the breaks on that fancy tech upgrade until all the basic stuff is working.
RF Guns - Battling with Bad Batteries and Lost Signals
Inventory accuracy is crucial, and RF guns are supposed to be our trusty sidekicks in this battle. Unfortunately, they often feel more like wrist weights. Dead batteries at the worst possible moment, signal drops in crucial stockrooms, and clunky interfaces contribute to wasted time and frustration.
My last RF gun had to connect to Internet Explorer. I'm not kidding—Internet Explorer. Every time the gun went to sleep, the connection was lost. We spent about five minutes logging in every time. Ugh.
RF guns deserve a refresh—better battery life, more robust signal transmission, and a more user-friendly design would be game-changers.
Software Blues
The problems aren't limited to physical devices: Counterintuitive interfaces, clunky workflows, and a general lack of user-friendliness plague many software solutions.
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Training employees on these complex systems becomes a chore, and errors and inefficiencies creep in even then.
Do you know what color code you need for black? Oh, go chase it down, then. Yeah, make your customer wait for eight minutes, no biggie.
Software developers need to prioritize user experience. Intuitive design, clear navigation, and context-sensitive help features would be a great place to start.
The Integration Illusion: When Systems Don't Talk to Each Other
The dream is a seamless ecosystem where all our retail tech tools work harmoniously. Reality? A frustrating game of data silos and clunky integrations. Random solutions taped together with blue painter's tape.
Inventory management systems don't sync with CRM platforms, and point-of-sale solutions struggle to communicate with marketing automation tools.
This lack of integration creates a considerable data headache, limiting our ability to gain valuable insights. The answer is to prioritize open APIs and standardized data formats to create a truly connected ecosystem.
Retailers and Tech Developers, Let's Work Together
The future of retail is undoubtedly tech-driven. But to truly unlock its potential, retailers and tech developers need to collaborate. Retailer leaders must be vocal about their challenges -even if it's about a broken printer.
We need to provide real-world feedback on existing solutions and actively participate in developing new tools.
Tech developers need to listen to retailers' needs. They should prioritize user experience, reliability, and seamless integration. They should also conduct on-site testing with retail staff and gather user feedback.
Retail technology holds immense promise.
By working together, retailers and tech developers can iron out the wrinkles, creating a future where technology empowers, not hinders, the retail experience. Imagine a world where printers print flawlessly, RF guns scan effortlessly, and software is a joy to use.
Imagine a world where all our systems work together seamlessly, providing us with the data and insights we need to thrive. I'm looking forward to being a part of that future!
Hey there, I'm Kit! For two decades, I thrived leading retail teams, building connections with customers, and inspiring sales teams. Now, I channel that people-first approach into powerful content as your ghostwriter.
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Industrial Engineering Leader | Retail Productivity Optimization | Lean Transformation | Continuous Improvement | Operations and Process Efficiency | I help companies be more successful by eliminating process constraints
5 个月As someone who lived retail technology and processes from an optimization engineering perspective for almost a decade (and supply-chain/industrial engineering before that) everything you wrote hit me in the feels. Very interesting, and sadly, very relatable stuff. I look forward to reading more. And if I can vanquish my current procrastination gremlins I'll be publishing my first-hand account of store tech with a focus on service to the associate (you know, the stuff that actually makes their lives easier), as well as the pot-of-gold known as Visibility to Unmet Demand (and how to find it).
Store Director, J.Crew Factory Jefferson Commons
5 个月The printers. ?? It took six months and the involvement of my Regional VP to get an ancient printer replaced.
"There is no paper jam" is a mood. Appreciate this glimpse into the intersection of retail+tech — it's a testament to retail workers that they shield these problems from customers relatively well (though I know I've seen them wrestle with issues at the register!). One of the reasons I don't think these issues get addressed is that it can be easier to "throw bodies" at the problem (1), (2) the problems have no way to be reported so they'll be addressed, and (3) it's a death by a thousand cuts — the efficiency gains of a minute here, five minutes there, etc. add up HUGE over a workforce of thousands or tens of thousands ... but taken one at a time they're dealt with and dismissed.
Business Buyer & Business Coach For Retailers
5 个月yup! lets get the basics sorted first :)
Hi Kit, loved the content. I totally agree that in order for any tech introduced into stores to have a legitimacy at all, you have to first make sure that the tech that's already there is working, useful, valuable. It's amazing how much stuff gets thrown into stores, leaving them to their own devices to struggle through it. The other frustrating thing I see is tech designed to go around the store associate - kiosks, or consumer apps - where the store associate ends up being L1 Help Desk (when they often weren't even aware it was being deployed). Walk a mile in a store associate's shoes - it's a must.