Unwrapping Winning Holiday Strategies

holiday guide
R E T A I L T O U C H P O I N T S

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table of contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................3
Omnichannel: The Gift Of Omnichannel...............................................................................................................................5
Mobile Commerce: Celebrating The Mobile Commerce Opportunity..................................................................................8
Mobile Apps, Marketing And Integration: 5 Best Practices For Holiday Success.......................................................9
Social Channels: Keeping It Social During The Holidays....................................................................................................11
Pricing: Unwrapping A Winning Pricing Strategy..................................................................................................................14
Inventory: Shipping Options Top Shopping Priorities During The Holidays........................................................................18
Personalization: Shifts From Welcomed To Expected.......................................................................................................21
Outbound Marketing: Spreading The Cheer About Holiday Deals....................................................................................26
Showrooming: Innovative Strategies Will Draw Holiday Shoppers Into Stores..............................................................28
Workforce Management: Efficient Workforce Management Converts Holiday Shopping Into Profits........................31
Payment: Mobile Payment May Be A Gift Of The Future.........................................................................................................35
About Retail TouchPoints.................................................................................................................................................37

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INTRODUCTION
As predicted, consumers continue to make purchase decisions with a
new, more frugal outlook, following the recession. This trend becomes
painfully obvious as we move into the winter holiday season. In 2012,
more than one third of consumers spent less money than budgeted
on holiday gifts, according to TrendSource in its Holiday Shopping
Outcomes report. Additionally, the majority of shoppers purchased
more than half of their gifts on sale.
Some industry experts are expressing a more positive outlook about
the 2013 season: Larry Freed, CEO, ForeSee Results, noted: “Tax
breaks last year took money out of consumers’ pockets, but there has
been little talk of the impact that will have on holiday spending this year;
however, I think spending will hold steady or will increase slightly this
holiday season for the following reasons: The dip in paychecks due to
the January 1st tax implications didn’t seem to have a negative impact
on spending so far this year. Additionally, the economy has somewhat
stabilized and consumers’ concern about the next financial pothole don’t
seem to be top of mind.”
Additionally, Greg Buzek, President, IHL Group stated: “Our
economy remains one of the haves and have-nots. Unfortunately,
unemployment and lack of a blockbuster item will keep growth modest.
We are predicting about 3% growth, which reflects population changes
and some modest increase in customer sentiment. Those that have jobs
are a lot less concerned with losing them this year, however, uncertainty
in health care costs going forward in 2014 has many concerned.”
Retailers need to keep these economic factors in mind as they plan
2013 holiday strategies. A two-sided focus on improving both
business efficiency and customer experience will be the drivers
of success this year.
With those goals in mind, merchants are drilling down to define plans
for holiday marketing, merchandising, inventory optimization and staffing.
Mobile technology and social media will play increasingly important roles
in holiday strategies as they cement their importance year-round.

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Several leading industry analysts and executives have
shared their perspectives on holiday 2013:
Al Ferrara, Partner and National Director, Retail and
Consumer Products practice at BDO USA:
“Last year’s holiday season saw continued growth in online business
with smaller overall growth in traditional retail. Retailers have made
significant capital investments in mobile strategy to capture consumers,
and we believe that a significant amount of advertising dollars will be
directed at mobile and social media sites. In addition, the cumulative
data generated from past sales, including the ability to analyze customer
purchases and trends, will enable retailers to better target customers and
identify their purchasing habits.”
Nilam Ganenthiran, Manager in the retail practice at
A.T. Kearney:
“We noticed three main areas retailers are focusing on:”
1. Understanding the customer - by employing a suite of tactics
around the integration of POS, social media, employees, contact
center, and loyalty.
2. Developing a formal seasonal plan - that encompasses
hiring, training, labor deployment (staff up and down) to optimize
cost and maximize profitability.
3. Channel integration - to seamlessly provide differentiated but
consistent experiences across all touch points.
“We’re also considering how call center can help stores, especially
during peak times,” Ganenthiran added. “We’re recommending to retail
clients that customer care is not a separate entity; it’s a corporate
culture and mindset.”
This year’s Retail TouchPoints Holiday Guide covers 11 different topic
areas including:
Omnichannel
Mobile Commerce
Mobile Apps & Sites
Social Channels
Pricing
Inventory
Personalization
Outbound Marketing
Showrooming
Workforce Management
Payment

5
Omnichannel:
Omnichannel
Consumer
Analyzing The
Fe
at
ure
Sp
on
so
red by
The Gift Of Omnichannel
When consumers feel confident that they will be receiving the brand
experience they expect, no matter which channel they use to access the
brand, then they will feel more loyal to that brand and will be more likely
to buy today and in the future.
That omnichannel promise is the ultimate goal for most (should be
all) retailers today, particularly as they head into the busiest and most
competitive season of the year.
Industry experts confirm this premise and encourage retailers to
continue to work toward the goal. “Delivering consistent brand messages
across channels is one of the most critical strategies for achieving a
superior customer experience,” said Larry Freed, CEO, ForeSee Results.
“Consumers don’t separate channels — they don’t differentiate mobile
from Web or in-store experiences. To them, it’s one brand, regardless of
channel. Many retailers forgot this last year and still struggle, because of
their efforts to ‘optimize’ each channel independently.”
Freed cited recent ForeSee research results: “From our research on
the top 100 brands, we know that the multichannel shopper is now the
norm, and those shoppers are troubled by inconsistent pricing, product
information and inventory information across channels. When they find
something online, but it’s not in the store, it’s breaking that consistent
brand message they expect. Consumers find it frustrating if they’re
having totally different brand experiences across channels.”
Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali, VP/Principal Analyst at Forrester, noted
that mobile will be the differentiator in 2013: “Most retailers want a
consistent brand experience and strive to deliver that. The difference
this year is to make sure all your promotions and pricing are available
on mobile devices. If a retailer can pull off real-time inventory visibility in
stores for instance on Black Friday during the doorbusters promotions,
that could be an interesting development. But it would also be a bear to
put that in place.”
Al Ferrara, Partner and National Director, Retail and Consumer Products
practice at BDO USA, added: “Since retailers are competing in the same
space, all selling similar merchandise, the brand — and the consumers’
experience with the brand, which encompasses service — means that
the shopping experience is the one thing that separates them from their
competitors.”
In a recent feature report, titled: Analyzing The Omnichannel Consumer,
Retail TouchPoints cited several retailers that have found success with
unique omnichannel strategies, including Loehmann’s and Aeropostale.
Consumers are increasingly using their smartphones to check prices
in the aisles and tablets to make purchases at home. As the holidays
approach, industry observers expect that behavior to escalate.

6
Initial online efforts at Christmas Central rapidly exceeded
expectations, proving that this was a profitable move for the
company. However, keeping up with online demand and expanding
operations soon proved to be major hurdles for the retailer. Though
inventory was selling quickly, processing orders and meeting
fulfillment requirements called for a significant number of man hours.
Christmas Central was unable to focus on expanding its online
presence while preoccupied with tedious day-to-day tasks.
Christmas Central is a family-owned and operated business that was
founded in 1977, selling close-out items out of its flagship store,
Dave’s Christmas Wonderland. In an effort to expand sales, the
company took select products online in 2001, selling on eBay. Now
offering nearly 50,000 unique products, the company has grown
into a leading online retailer of Christmas decorations
and accessories.
“We had our uncertainties about selling online, but it was an instant
success,” said Christmas Central CIO Nathan Gordon. “As we listed
more products online, we realized how hard it was to manually
manage inventory levels and further expand to new channels. At that
point, we knew we needed help.”
Christmas Central partnered with ChannelAdvisor, employing the
e-Commerce company’s Marketplaces solution designed to improve
efficiencies and become a more competitive online retail business.
The ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces solution offered Christmas
Central the technology and tools needed to properly process online
orders and scale its e-Commerce business across multiple online
marketplaces and channels.
“With ChannelAdvisor, we gained inventory control,” continued
Gordon. “All we had to do was enter our SKUs into the platform and
ChannelAdvisor took care of everything from start to finish.”
With gained efficiencies, Christmas Central also was able to focus on
the development of its overall online business. Marketplaces offered
access to new sources of demand through one integration that
made it simple for Christmas Central to begin selling on additional
marketplaces without a hefty financial or time commitment.
Christmas Central Expands Across
Multiple Online Marketplaces
CASE
STUDY
Sponsored by

E-book Title • 6
“Our next step was to get in front of as many new shoppers as
possible, and ChannelAdvisor provided the opportunity to expand
beyond eBay to Amazon, Newegg, Sears and most recently SHOP.
COM,” said Gordon. “It only took us a few hours to get set up on
SHOP.COM, allowing us to quickly increase our online exposure
and potential.”
The dynamic Marketplaces solution helped Christmas Central
synchronize inventory across several marketplaces and expanded
the retailer’s online reach to new and varied demographics that shop
on these various sites.
RESULTS
Christmas Central’s channel expansion across these marketplaces
has generated continued sales growth. In Q4, Christmas Central
processed more than 200,000 orders and increased sales by more
than 25% year-over-year.
“We could not have scaled our business to this level without
ChannelAdvisor,” said Gordon. “We continue to see our sales
increase each month thanks to the new online exposure we’ve
gained on a variety of marketplaces. We are now connected to as
many buyers as possible.”
CASE
STUDY

8
Mobile Commerce:
Celebrating The Mobile Commerce Opportunity
“The rise of mobile extends the reach of retailers because consumers
will be using their free time and devices to conduct research,” said Larry
Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results. “Whether they’re sitting on their couch,
or waiting somewhere, or on their commute on the train, the ability to
make productive use of their time during the holiday season will have a
big impact.”
Research from Google confirmed that consumers’ desire for multiscreen
experiences came to the forefront during the 2012 holiday season:
63% of shoppers said they used multiple devices to help with
their holiday purchases. Consumers also said they relied on their
smartphones (65%) and tablets (66%) more frequently to shop during
the holidays.
As a result, mobile commerce experienced significant growth during the
2012 holiday season, and is expected to surge through 2013. Sales via
smartphones and tablets will top the $1.5 trillion mark by the end of this
year, according to predictions from Juniper Research. By 2017, mobile
sales are expected to reach $3.2 trillion.
“Any retailer that does not embrace mobile commerce will have a
tough time maintaining long-term profitability,” said Al Ferrara, Partner
and National Director of the Retail and Consumer Products Practice
at BDO USA. “Over the last two years, retailers have made significant
investments in mobile commerce, and retailers will continue to see
increasing volumes in this channel.”
It is important to note, though, that overall mobile commerce sales “vary
wildly by the specific retailer,” reported Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali, VP and
Principal Analyst at Forrester. “Some organizations already are seeing
more than 50% of sales coming from mobile. But for most, that figure is
no more than 10% to 20% — and that includes tablets.”
“Any retailer that does not embrace mobile commerce
will have a tough time maintaining long-term
profitability.”
-Al Ferrara,
BDO USA.

9
Mobile Apps, Marketing And Integration:
5 Best Practices For Holiday Success
Retailers can successfully connect with consumers through their mobile
devices in a variety of ways. Industry analysts and experts shared the
following best 5 practices to help organizations ensure successful
initiatives this holiday season:
1. Create An Optimized Experience: Research from Adobe has
found that only 27% of organizations worldwide have a mobile-
optimized web site. To keep customers happy during a hectic
holiday season, Mulpuru-Kodali noted that retailers should “make
sure all content is accessible across a variety of mobile devices,
even tablets.”
2. Recognize The Value Of Apps: When it comes to conversions,
it is evident that apps make an impact: The 2013 Digital Publishing
Report from Adobe indicated that 56% of smartphone shoppers
and 60% of tablet shoppers are likely to complete a transaction
using a mobile app during 2013.
These detailed app experiences enable retailers to integrate a
variety of tools and resources into a single experience, such as a
store locator and QR/2D barcode scanner. Resourceful tools that
help make the shopping process easier also empower retailers to
create great interactions “for their best customers and in turn,
drive engagement,” according to Julie Ask, VP and Principal Analyst
at Forrester.
“More consumers will have smartphones this holiday season, so we
can expect to see more investment in richer media technologies
such as applications,” Ask said. “Fingers crossed, companies will
shift their focus from squeezed PC experiences such as display ads
to more differentiated experiences.”
3. Extend Mobile Across Touch Points: To create a compelling
mobile experience, retailers should not create strategies that are
geared towards marketing and commerce only, according to Chris
Cunnane, Senior Research Analyst for the Retail and Consumer
Markets branch at Aberdeen Group.
Because the mobile channel is “rapidly emerging as an everyday
touch point for many consumers,” the mobile channel needs
to focus on customer engagement,” Cunnane said. “Retailers
need to build out a deeper and richer mobile app or platform for
a dynamic customer experience. This should include elements
such as customer loyalty programs, digital coupons, social
integration, mobile marketing, mobile web for product look-up,
a recommendations engine, and real-time mobile chat. A mobile
strategy that is geared towards complete customer engagement,
rather than simply marketing or commerce, is what makes
an impact.”

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Furthermore, Ask indicated that organizations also should
consider how to integrate these mobile tools and resources
with brick-and-mortar strategies. “Think about how mobile can
enhance the in-store experience,” Ask said. “Don’t just think of
mobile as another channel.”
4. Integrate All Mobile Experiences: In addition to creating
a seamless transition between mobile devices and the brick-
and-mortar store, retailers also must strive to connect tablet and
smartphone experiences.
“Tablet couch commerce provides an immersive experience
while smartphone commerce is more impulse-driven,” said Gary
Schwartz, CEO of Impact Mobile and author of The Impulse
Economy and Fast Shopper, Slow Store. “The two work together to
drive purchases.”
Smartphones and tablets “are a one-two punch,” Schwartz
added. “There is a path-to-purchase journey across these
separate screens that needs to be connected. Going into 2014,
more retailers will understand that mobile has now expanded its
definition to include all screens: Any screen that touches a tablet or
smartphone is part of the mobile journey. TV screens, PCs, digital
out-of-home all are part of the new multi-screen journey.”
5. Develop “Digital Velcro”: In order to keep customers
connected to messages, campaigns and offers, retailers must
create “digital Velcro,” and initiate ongoing communication
throughout the browsing, consideration and buying process,
according to Schwartz.
“Connecting your consumer screens seamlessly throughout their
day is the most prominent challenge retailers face,” Schwartz said.
But retailers can address this task by “muscling up their mobile
CRM, affinity programs and intimately understanding the shopper
journey — from waking up with their phone under their pillow to
the point of checkout. The key is understanding the journey and
ending in conversion.”

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Social Channels:
Retailers can harness the power of social networks to drive ongoing
engagement, conversations and sales during the competitive
holiday season.
This year, a consistent best practice for retailers across all verticals is
to offer personalized and exclusive content across social networks,
according to Adam Pressman, a Principal in the retail practice
at A.T. Kearney.
“During the holiday season, there’s always an influx of messages out
there, so being able to tailor interactions to specific consumers in the
social space will be very important,” Pressman said. “Retailers have
to provide extra value to consumers for interacting with the brand via
social. For example, promoting and sharing exclusive offers and in-store
events makes the experience special.”
Executives from A.T. Kearney and Aberdeen Group shared a variety of
best practices to help retailers get consumers into the holiday spirit via
social media:
• Promote timely events on Facebook and Twitter:
These social networks are valuable channels to share news and
announcements with followers instantly. Daily deals and short-term
sales are common during the holiday season, so these social
networks will help retailers distribute “one-to-many” messages
effectively. For example, Gilt Groupe consistently promotes
upcoming sales on the Facebook page.
“Overall, retailers will use Facebook and Twitter feeds more
aggressively in promoting hourly and flash deals,” said Nilam
Ganenthiran, Manager in the retail practice of A.T. Kearney. “It will
be key for retailers to efficiently capitalize on the frenzy which is
created with deal hungry consumers.”
Ganenthiran also advised that retailers use social networks for
specific store locations to share inventory updates regarding high-
demand products. By communicating product levels in real time,
retailers can “help save consumers a trip if the product they want is
out of stock. Think of the positive sentiment that can generate!”
• Drive store visits with Instagram: The image-focused social
network provides retailers with a multitude of opportunities to pique
consumer interest during the holiday season. Team members can
take photos of in-store displays, new merchandise and special
events. Publishing these images in conjunction with store hours can
help drive store traffic and encourage customers to make last-
minute visits to stores.
Keeping It Social During The Holidays

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• Use Pinterest to promote gift ideas: By dedicating pin
boards to must-have gifts for friends and family members, retailers
can provide consumers with a reason to visit branded Pinterest
accounts. This strategy also encourages consumers to re-pin
items onto their own accounts, which will help boost social
word-of-mouth.
However, retailers must ensure that all images are connected to
product pages, so there is a more seamless connection to the
e-Commerce site if consumers want to learn more about — or
purchase — a specific product. The Grommet successfully
leverages Pinterest to categorize products based on their attributes.
As a result, consumers can easily navigate the site and browse
products based on their unique wants and needs.
• Listen to and analyze social feedback: Although being
present and communicating with consumers across social networks
is important, that is only half the battle, according to Deena Amato-
McCoy, who is a Research Analyst with the retail and consumer
practice at Aberdeen Group.
“The most important thing that retailers need to add to their
social media strategies is social media monitoring, or social
analytics,” Amato-McCoy said. “While more retailers are investing
in social media as a key piece of their marketing strategies, 56%
of companies told Aberdeen that they were unable to quantify
the effect of their social media initiatives. Retailers that want the
‘biggest bang for their marketing bucks’ need to deploy social
media monitoring.”
To create winning social strategies, retailers should think of how they
can make consumers’ lives easier during the hectic holiday season,
Pressman explained. “Retailers should think of where they want to
differentiate and excel, while still keeping the customer in mind. It’s
critical for retailers to understand the customer journey and key drivers
in the moment of truth and then determine how to meet them on social
channels. One thing is for sure, we definitely won’t see generic strategies
this holiday season.”

Guess? Sets Sights On Holiday Success
With SoLoMo
Guess? is a great example of a retailer leveraging the power of social,
and is primed to exploit it for the upcoming holiday season, according
to Deena Amato-McCoy, who is a Research Analyst with the retail and
consumer practice at Aberdeen Group. For the apparel specialty retailer,
a social, local, mobile (SoLoMo) strategy is key. Shoppers download
the Guess? mobile app, which includes a loyalty program that tracks
points from previous purchases. In addition, the app features a store
locator and a QR code scanner, which empowers shoppers to scan
merchandise and receive geo-location-based promotions.
Shoppers also can link their Facebook accounts to the app, which aligns
with the retailer’s CRM database. With these capabilities, Guess? has a
conduit to analyze and understand customer preferences and trends.
The app also has a gift-giving guide, which will be an especially helpful
resource for holiday shoppers. While I do not know specific plans,
I would anticipate these all these features would play a big role for
Guess? during the upcoming holiday season.
13

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Pricing:
The holiday season sets off a flurry of pricing activity as retailers
scramble to satisfy consumers who can compare prices on their
smartphones and head to the least expensive retailer for those must-
have gifts. While price-conscious consumers are an everyday challenge
for retailers, the competitive pricing game heats up around the holidays.
Many are predicting that holiday spending will increase slightly or hold
steady compared to 2012, so smart pricing strategies will play a large
role in winning over consumers.
“If holiday spending mirrors the back-to-school season — the second
most anticipated shopping season — shoppers are definitely being
cautious with their discretionary income and as such, waiting for sales,
comparing and doing due diligence online through retailers’ web sites
and customer reviews before actually making purchases,” said Deena
M. Amato-McCoy, Research Analyst, Retail and Consumer Markets, for
Aberdeen Group. “I see this trend continuing once the 2013 holiday
season starts.”
Competitive holiday pricing will continue to put pressure on margins,
added Al Ferrara, Partner and National Director of the Retail and
Consumer Products Practice at BDO USA. “Increases in revenues do
not always find their way to the bottom line,” he noted. “Nevertheless, we
expect growth to be relatively consistent with previous years’ numbers
Consumers are more informed than ever when it comes to price, which
means that retailers need to take steps to ensure a level playing field.
Although the holidays become a dangerous game of markdown for
retailers, some categories, such as consumer electronics, must be
marked down in order to remain competitive.
This year, retail technology will become more sophisticated and pricing
intelligence will be part of this growing technology movement. While
some industry executives saw this as a trend starting in 2012, it has
become an imperative for 2013 and beyond.
A retailer’s ability to quickly react to a competitor’s pricing strategy will
determine success this holiday season. This can be particularly important
for market-model SKUs, where differentiation through a product
offering is hard. Access to timely and accurate competitive pricing
data is becoming increasingly important and should be adopted by
retailers. Those retailers who have real-time access to historical pricing
information and trends will be the ones who come out on top.
ALCO Stores, for one, implemented pricing solutions from Revionics
earlier this year, in order to gain more granular and localized pricing
strategies in 217 locations across 23 states, said ”Rich Wilson,
President and CEO of ALCO, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints.
Detailed analytics regarding in-store shopping behaviors, as well
Unwrapping A Winning Pricing Strategy

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as overall sentiments on product rates, markdowns and deals, are
empowering ALCO executives to design and roll out regional and
localized initiatives based on the unique preferences of customers in
specific geographic areas. These insights also will help the retailer better
predict and respond to shopper demand and behavior, and determine if
and when to price-match, which can be particularly relevant during the
competitive holiday season.
The widespread price-matching trend from 2012 will continue,
according to Alison Paul, Vice Chairman and Retail Sector Leader for
Deloitte LLP. She noted: “Retailers have empowered their associates
to make on-the-spot pricing decisions to keep a sale from going out
the door, which can also help encourage shoppers to do more of their
holiday shopping while in the store, and goes a long way to build loyalty.”
Efficiency is important in price matching to ease shopper frustration.
Many of today’s retailers still go through tedious manual processes of
obtaining competitive prices. During the holiday season, time is money,
and merchandising, pricing and marketing teams need as much time as
they can get to execute on their plans and react to any obstacles.

Sponsored by
Data-Driven Pricing Stars
In Holiday Strategies
A leading retailer that sells pet, garden and pool supplies has
experienced rapid market growth in 2012 and plans to open 10
more stores in the next several months. The company’s leadership
strongly believed that adopting effective pricing strategies and
executing them consistently should be one of the highest priorities,
which would support their growth and improve sales and profits
throughout the year including the holidays.
The holidays heighten price awareness, sensitivity and deal seeking
as time-strapped shoppers strive to maximize the value of every
dollar spent. Strategically and methodically identifying which items
must be competitively priced, which are the best to promote
because they incentivize shoppers to buy more and more often, and
fine tuning those product lists and prices to resonate with various
shopper segments, store clusters and channels is critical to driving
loyalty and having a profitable and successful holiday season.
This retailer focused on finding a solution which would help offer
the right price, at the right time, to the right customer,
then drive deep customer value and loyalty while
increasing profits.
After an in-depth review of the company’s pricing strategy, the
leadership team came to the conclusion that pricing decisions were
being made based on a series of assumptions, traditions and pure
gut instinct and that the company’s methodology in this area had to
change. Knowing that pricing done right is a complex endeavor, the
team set out to find a data-driven, science-based approach to their
pricing and promotion strategies and tactics that had a proven track
record of driving ROI.
After an industry search, the company chose Revionics® Life Cycle
Price Optimization solutions, which are offered as a Software-as-
a-Service (SaaS) and provide 24/7 online access, an easy user
interface and data analysis at the item/store level, as well as make
pricing and promotion recommendations. Another strong benefit
is that the demand models are automatically updated weekly for
optimal accuracy and results and what-if simulations of different
strategies can be completed in real-time.
CASE
STUDY
www.revionics.com

CASE
STUDY
Price and value leadership
is one of the most important
determinants of consumer
choice in retail—it should be a
top priority for every retail CEO.
The company was also extremely impressed that the solution
offered accurate reporting, in-depth data analysis and best practices
for pricing strategies. In addition, company executives stated that
Revionics’ platform is a ‘dynamic learner’ and is essentially the
brains of the operation — the more data you throw at it, the smarter
it becomes.
Results: The retailer started implementing Revionics
pricing recommendations quickly and has reported
positive results both in-store and online. The benefits
achieved include:
Data-driven Pricing: The retailer now has complete visibility
to price elasticity at the item/store level. The solution helped
scientifically determine that out of the 400 products they originally
thought were their KVIs, only 89 products were truly KVIs. This has
improved their price image while significantly increasing
sales and gross margin.
Pricing Consistency: Revionics’ solution integrates the voice of
the shopper with the retailer’s business rules, operational constraints
and strategies to ensure that all products are consistently
priced right and align with the retailer’s price image. For
example, pet food flavor and variant families, good-better-best gaps,
price per unit and ending numbers are now managed automatically.
The solution prioritizes price changes by performance impact to
ensure that the most impactful ones are executed first in support of
in-store price change limits.
Increased Gross Profits: Since the implementation of Revionics’
solution, the retailer’s gross profits have increased by
several percentage points.
Revionics helps retailers of all sizes transform big data into optimized
product, price, promotion and space allocation recommendations
that are tailored to their shoppers’ touch points and channels
including online, in-store, social and mobile. More than 31,000
retail locations across general merchandise, specialty, drug, grocery,
building materials, convenience, discount, sporting goods stores
and eCommerce sites use Revionics’ solutions and are on average
reporting a ten-fold ROI.

18
Shipping Options Top Shopping Priorities
During The Holidays
Inventory management can make or break a holiday season for retailers.
Getting the right product to the customer at the right time must be a
strategic priority. In response, many retailers are implementing a variety
of order/pick-up/delivery options for their customers.
“If ship from store is a real strategy in your future, begin the testing if not
implementation of RFID technology for individual items,” recommended
Greg Buzek, President, IHL Group. “This is the technology that allows for
ship-from-store to be profitable and a good experience for customers as
the inventory is far more accurate than traditional approaches.”
Buzek added: “Retailers, because they have to plan so far in advance
must make sure as much as possible their inventory management
is in an omnichannel state, meaning that due to delays in getting
replenishment inventory that retailers need to be able to fulfill orders
from the warehouse and even other stores if they do not have in the
store. “
Also, eliminating costs associated with shipping appeals to the majority
of shoppers. During the 2012 holiday season, more than half (55%) of
consumer expected free shipping, according to Google in the Post-
Holiday Shopping Study.
To that end, 51% of shoppers took advantage of free shipping and
more than 50% of transactions involved free shipping.
Other inventory tactics that will lure shoppers include “the use of mobile
devices for sales associates for ‘save the sale’ opportunities,” Buzek
added. “This is a great opportunity if those inventories are synchronized
and accurate. That is going to be one of the big differences, particularly
for the mall-based stores.”

Expected Big-Sellers In 2013
To date, according to Buzek, “this holiday season is somewhat tricky
in that there does not appear to be that huge ‘gotta have’ item like
we have seen in the past. Before there were large electronic items
like iPads, LCD TV’s that were big drivers. We have some new game
consoles but for many consumers they are dealing with the concept of
‘How good is good enough’? Staying with electronics, consumers have
voted that HD was good enough and 3D or next levels are not mature
enough to make a decision forward. There are certain categories that
continue to do well like appliances and autos where there remains pent-
up demand.”

Inventory:

The Footwear Fashion
Experience At Saks
15,000 square feet; 3,000 high fashion women’s shoes on display;
a full service restaurant; it’s very own zip code (10022-SHOE). This
is the Saks Fifth Avenue eighth floor shoe department in the flagship
New York City store.
Over the years Saks Incorporated has established itself as a
world-renowned retail icon, known for its unwavering dedication to
providing customers with an extraordinary product selection and
exceptional service. Now more than ever, the company is focused
on delivering customers the ultimate fashion discovery experience.
Saks is not just a place to shop; rather it is a place to inspire
customer confidence and style with every shopping experience. As
their tagline says, “Saks: Style. Assured.”
For shoe lovers and fashion stars the eighth floor shoe department
is nirvana. Between 5,000 and 15,000 pairs of shoes arrive each
and every week. Here, those with a passion for fashion can view the
3,000 pairs of women’s footwear options on display, shop privately
in the VIP room and even have shoes repaired on site. In addition,
another 1,000 pairs of men’s and children’s shoes are available and
on display in their respective departments.
With 4,000 shoes on display throughout the store and luxury price
points that can reach $4,000 per pair, Saks believes it is imperative
that every shoe be represented on the selling floor at all times.
Shoes cannot be discovered or sold if they are tucked away in the
stockroom or missing from display.
To ensure the best possible footwear discovery experience for their
customers, Saks wanted to maximize the number and availability
of display shoes, but found their existing manual process was too
time intensive to do so. It also hindered their ability to provide the
extraordinary high level of service customers have come to expect.
The velocity and volume of shoes flowing into the store was simply
making it nearly impossible to meet display compliance goals. Saks
needed a better way to inventory the shoe display and validate
compliance to back stock shoes.
IF THE SHOE FITS
By working with Tyco Retail Solutions, in late 2012 Saks launched
an innovative RFID project to address their inventory management
and merchandising challenges. The goal was to move from a 65%
compliance rate to nearly 100%. With Tyco’s TrueVUE Inventory
CASE
STUDY
Sponsored by

20
CASE
STUDYVisibility solution, Saks was able to tag every display shoe with an
RFID label, and easily inventory the shoes on display each day. The
application then generates a replenishment report for all back stock
shoes missing a display style on the selling floor. As a result, Saks
has been able to dramatically reduce the number of missing shoe
display styles and can now represent a larger percentage of the
available shoe assortment on the selling floor. This gives customers
more shoes to discover and explore.
RFID: NOT A FLEETING TREND
The RFID initiative to improve inventory visibility and merchandising
has drawn rave reviews and generated an overall increase in sales,
improved display compliance rates, reduced labor costs, and fully
optimize the customer experience. In short, it has proven that
RFID works.
Previously, the process to inventory the shoe department and
validate display shoes took one week and multiple store associates
to complete. Following the project, Saks associates can now
complete this critical task in just 20 minutes and do so daily to
keep up with the pace of new shipments. This has lead to improved
customer service as associates are no longer tied up with inventory
tasks and are able to spend more time showing customers the
latest in footwear fashion. In addition to reducing labor costs, display
compliance rates reached nearly 100%. As a result, Saks has seen
an increase in sales given all shoe styles and colors are accurately
represented on the selling floor and ready for purchase. Shoppers
aren’t just passionate about fashion, they are passionate about Saks.
“At Saks Fifth Avenue our mission is to inspire customer confidence
and style with every Saks shopping experience, one that makes
people look and feel their best. Our flagship women’s footwear
department in New York City exemplifies this commitment. With
Tyco Retail Solutions we have proved the value of RFID technology
for inventory management and merchandising and will continue to
leverage the technology to improve sales, optimize merchandise and
deliver on our mission.”
-Ed Stagman,
SVP Store Operations, Saks

21Personalization:
Personalization Shifts From Welcomed
To Expected
As more brands and eTailers leverage personalization to attract and
engage site visitors, many consumers have come to expect offers
tailored to individual preferences. Personalization has become a matter-
of-fact element for today’s connected consumer.
“We have been tracking personalization for 10 years now: Customers
have clearly told retailers that they value personalization in its ability to
deliver a more convenient and tailored shopping experience,” stated
Lauren Freedman, President of the e-tailing group. “Today, customers
expect that all channels will be in sync and that purchase behavior
will be accessible and that browse and buy activity will be part of an
overarching experience. This becomes especially important as mobile
becomes part of more shopping experiences, as is expected in Holiday
2013. Customers want to be able to access everything from their order
history to wish lists to expedite the shopping experience.”
Some retailers will seize the moment with holiday offerings that
provide “more tailored suggestive shopping lists developed based
on customers’ shopping patterns,” added Thomas Quinn, Principal at
Deloitte Consulting LLP. “The more innovative retailers will go a step
further and recommend gifts based on inputted factors for the intended
recipients. To build loyalty, retailers also will be incenting their customers
to buy more during the holiday season through additional discounts,
awards or prizes.”
Leading Retailers Embrace Personalization
REVOLVE Clothing harnesses e-Commerce personalization as a key
way to drive education and engagement, as well as promote thought
leadership. Touting more than 600 designers, 20,000 products and
60,000 SKUs, the fashion eTailer partnered with Monetate to provide
millions of unique visitors with relevant products and offers more
seamlessly. Using product badging, personalized banner ads and
targeted product campaigns, REVOLVE has increased conversions by up
to 70%.
Design Within Reach associates provide more relevant customer
interactions with product suggestions based on past browsing and
buying history.

22
“During this holiday season, we will maintain this same focus and
strategy of personalization techniques, with brand and customer
experience being top priority,” said Grace Hong, Director of Product
Development for REVOLVE Clothing. “Our aim is to deliver a seamless,
fun and easy holiday shopping experience across all our channels and
devices. Personalized messaging will play an important role throughout
the site during this holiday, along with the core merchandising tools such
as product badging and product recommendations.
Like fashion, interior decorating includes extensive browsing as well as
product comparisons. As a result, Design Within Reach (DWR),
a multichannel furniture retailer, is focused on providing cutting-edge
tools and resources that will help guide shoppers seamlessly across the
browsing and buying journey.
“The most important gift you can give your customers during the
holidays is something we all need more of: Time,” stated Mark Simmons,
VP of e-Commerce and Digital at Design Within Reach. The DWR
holiday strategy is focusing on four specific areas:
1. Associate-Shopper Connection: “First, we’re making sure
everyone knows we have the smartest form of personalization by
allowing them to speak with an experienced design professional in
our Studios,” said Simmons, “online via chat and social media, and
over the phone. We’re increasing hours and availability over the
holidays so we can answer any and all questions quickly.”
2. Gifts: “We’re introducing intelligent and relevant gift
recommendations via email based on visitors’ past behaviors.”
3. Recommendations: “We’re testing recommendations to
prospects and return visitors with algorithmic personalization
technology on our e-Commerce platform, MarketLive.”
4. Advertising: “We’ll be extending recommendations via dynamic
advertising to help us find the next modern design fan.”
Personalization efforts are executed with a goal of creating “high-touch,
wonderful experiences for consumers no matter where they are,”
Simmons stated. “When we think of personalization it’s often not just
about technology. Rather, technology is being stitched together to deliver
upon our company objective.”

23
Tips For Improving Holiday
Personalization Strategies
üü Always put yourself in your customers’ shoes
üü Focus on your customers’ needs and wants first:
Technology is an enabler not a decider
üü Monitor all channels
üü Ensure wish lists are available across all channels
üü Provide consistent messaging across all touch points
üü Take advantage of abandonment and retargeting,
especially as the end of the season nears
üü Stay true to your strengths as a company and maximize
what you do well
üü Invest and test. Find a partner that offers you what you
need now and start testing

CASE
STUDY
Consumers today are technologically savvy when it comes to
shopping — especially when it comes to holiday shopping. In
order to ﬁnd the best deal, many move between online, mobile and
in-store channels. And that comes as no surprise, as a recent SDL
survey indicated that 69% of respondents expect online, mobile,
and physical locations to offer the same pricing, discounts and sales.
While brands may be on the right track for engaging with customers
during the busy holiday season, they must recognize that the
expectation has shifted. Today’s customers demand more personal
interaction with brands.
Customers want brands to improve the dynamic between online,
mobile and in-store to meet their expectations. Successful
companies need to know more than just who their customers
are. It’s essential that they understand where they are, what to say
and how to say it to create valuable and compelling customer
experiences….even more so during a competitive holiday season.
So, what are smart brands doing during the holidays when faced
with this empowered customer? They are focusing on how to
optimize all interactions with customers to increase engagement,
revenues and loyalty.
In order for retailers to create a personal and meaningful holiday
shopping season for their customers, they must:
1. Understand customers’ interests and motivations;
2. Organize across channels, markets, languages and
teams; and
3. Create relevant messages for customers regardless
of channel.
1. Understand Customers’ Interests And Motivations
During The Holiday Season — Create Meaning
Through Insights
Through robust customer analytics and the ability to know how
customers are behaving — either by analyzing data from previous
holiday seasons or recent interactions, retailers are better prepared
to continue the relationship. It’s certainly not for a lack of data. It’s
the ability to identify relevant data and analyze it in ways that create
meaning and insight. For example, knowing which customers are
likely to respond to a pre-holiday sales event as opposed to those
looking for the season’s hottest new gift items — regardless of
price — will help brands interact with customers in the way each
individual prefers.
Three Ways To Create A Personal And
Meaningful Holiday Shopping Season
Three Ways To Create A Personal And
Meaningful Holiday Shopping Season
Sponsored by

E-book Title • 4
CASE
STUDY2. Organize Across Channels — Orchestrate And Align
A retailer’s ability to align the organization across channels, markets,
languages and teams is critical to providing a personalized holiday
shopping experience for customers. The purpose of orchestration
is to achieve a single view of the customer experience across
interactions. So this holiday season, make sure that internal teams
are well aligned — from in-store, social media and email — so
that you can better understand how customers interact with you
across various channels. By listening to customers, retailers
better understand their expectations, and can orchestrate the right
message, across the right channel, to the right touch point.
3. Create Relevant Messages For Customers — Deliver
Contextual Experiences
There is no “one-size-ﬁts-all” strategy. Every customer wants to be
treated as an individual. Therefore, retailers must create relevant
experiences for customers regardless of how or where customers
engage. And by providing rich and contextually aware experiences
across channels and to different audiences, retailers offer a more
personal journey for individual customers. The holiday season is
a time of year where people are looking to purchase personal,
meaningful gifts for family and friends. Shouldn’t your interaction
with them be just as personal and meaningful?
While managing customer experience isn’t just a one-off, holiday
season initiative, it certainly is a critical time of year to reach
customers in a personalized way using relevant messages. It’s about
using customer insights to create meaningful experiences that span
the entire customer journey. With customers spending more money
during the holidays than most other seasons combined, retailers
need to ensure that they are offering customers what they want and
getting the results that they need.

26
Outbound Marketing:
During the time-sensitive holiday period, communicating with customers
in real time is pivotal to success. Retailers need to convey information
quickly and efficiently, not only about holiday deals but store hours,
product availability, special events, cut-off times for shipping, and other
holiday-related information. Some of the challenges in this area include
deliverability, integration with social and other channels, and relevancy
of offers.
While some data released during the 2012 holiday season suggested
that shoppers were somewhat fatigued by the volume of promotions,
retailers continue to find them effective, explained Sucharita Mulpuru-
Kodali, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. “I suspect it will
be much of the same this year. Mobile tends to be a significant traffic
source in Q4, and the categories that face price comparisons need to
be conscious of that, but I don’t see any huge changes this year.”
Many retailers are planning to kick off their outbound holiday messaging
earlier than they did last year, but they need to navigate this area
carefully, warned Jim Davidson, Manager of Marketing Research for
Bronto Software. “In a study we conducted with RSR Research, we
found 28% of brands plan to start holiday marketing efforts on or before
Oct. 1, although the data shows many brands will begin even earlier.
Early bird shoppers will be thrilled, but those who wait to shop for gifts
may become overwhelmed if snowflakes show up in their inboxes too
close to Labor Day.”
Additionally, merchants need to have their customer data updated in
real time to avoid mishaps such as emailing a customer about a deal
for an item they already purchased. “If a customer comes in to the
store or another shopping channel and buys a product, that information
needs to be captured so they will not receive a competing promotional
offer,” explained Deena M. Amato-McCoy Research Analyst, Retail
and Consumer Markets, for Aberdeen Group. “Managing the customer
database is a key component to keeping the customer happy.”
The Gift Of Tablets
Device optimization also is garnering more attention this year as tablets
and smartphones grow in popularity.
“The fact that your customer will use multiple devices to research,
shop and buy holiday gifts can no longer be ignored,” said Davidson,
adding that many retailers are tailoring the design and content of their
messages for viewing on mobile devices.
Spreading The Cheer About Holiday Deals

27
“Retailers are enhancing their email creative to be mobile friendly and
responsive to the device screen size, to maximize effectiveness and
increase engagement,” added Mike Hotz, Director of Strategic Services
at Responsys.
Post-Cyber Monday strategies also will be more concentrated this year,
Davidson predicted, as there will be six fewer days between Cyber
Monday and Christmas this year compared to 2012. “For the first time
since 2008, Cyber Monday will fall in December. ‘Days of Deals’ and
countdown promotions will need to be planned carefully.”
Savvy digital marketers will focus on building long-term relationships
through a carefully planned contact strategy, rather than trying to get
as many email campaigns out as possible before Christmas Day, Hotz
said. “They will be focused on ensuring that holiday email recipients
receive highly relevant merchandising and promotional offers. They will
also implement triggered campaigns based on customer behavior and
purchase activity.”
Holt explained that sender reputation is becoming increasingly important.
“Make sure you use good circulation practices, don’t over mail to non-
responders, leverage all digital channels [email, mobile, social, display,
web], provide highly relevant content to your responders and keep your
brand message consistent across all channels.”

28Showrooming:
Innovative Strategies Will Draw Holiday
Shoppers Into Stores
While showrooming is not a new challenge for retailers, the proliferation
of smartphones in recent years has drawn some worrisome holiday
forecasts for brick-and-mortar stores.
Much has been said about using an omnichannel approach to engage
customers on mobile devices while they’re in stores, but the holiday
shopping season presents some new challenges. Regardless of whether
retailers offer an integrated experience between brick-and-mortar stores
and mobile devices, shoppers will be tempted to complete purchases
using digital channels, which often offer less expensive prices, faster
shipping, swift browsing and the ability to skip the trip to the store.
“Retailers must understand how consumers are are using their devices
and how they can best engage with them as opposed to singularly
concerned they’re shopping somewhere else,” explained Adam
Pressman, Principal, A.T. Kearney retail practice. “Showrooming impacts
potential messaging on mobile devices and in sites, feeds into training
and coaching for employees and how they help customers and also
plays into the views of tools and information employees need to engage
the customer.”
“Multichannel retailers will be getting aggressive to combat showrooming
this holiday season,” said Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results. “They’ll
change their pricing strategies, but what they should focus on is
delivering a better in-store customer experience.”
Last year, Best Buy battled showrooming by matching its prices against
the listings of rival online retailers. Jim Dion, President and Founder of
Dionco, referred to this as a “dangerous strategy” and highlighted it as a
major factor behind the big box retailer’s losses last quarter.

29
Dion said that many retailers are working with manufacturers to secure
products that cannot be showroomed with minimum advertised pricing.
When searching, consumers will find the same advertised prices for
products online as in a store, making the prospect of ordering it online
and waiting for the delivery less attractive.
However, the true “Holy Grail” of retail is unilateral pricing, Dion noted.
“What’s causing showrooming? The many manufacturers that are
looking for growth and expansion for their products. Brick-and-mortar
stores have a higher overhead and constraints that online vendors don’t
have to worry about.”
Offer Exclusive Items In-Store
Another way to lure shoppers into stores is by offering exclusive items.
“Brick-and-mortar retailers that provide excellent customer service and
also provide some sort of exclusive product, whether it’s merchandise
or a service, will draw in customers looking to buy special items, such
as limited-edition gifts, said Deena M. Amato-McCoy, Research Analyst,
Retail and Consumer Markets, Aberdeen Group. “Holidays can make
or break a retailer’s whole year, so they need to capitalize upon any
opportunity that will make them stand out among the clutter and noise in
the marketplace.”
Smaller retailers might believe that securing an exclusive product with
large vendors is something only international chains can achieve, but
Dion highlighted the Naperville Running Company as an example of
an independent retailer that was able to gain the ear of multinational
footwear vendor New Balance.
Kris Hartner, Owner and Founder of Naperville Running Company,
contacted New Balance and told the vendor that online stores were
driving independent running stores into decline.
“Kris and his associates approached New Balance about their problem
and told New Balance that they needed help,” explained Dion. “New
Balance created a shoe exclusively for independent retailers that cannot
be offered online, period. It was specifically for independent brick-and-
mortar stores. That was one man that was able to negotiate with a very
large manufacturer in the business. Independent stores have more
power than they think.”
In the midst of rising markets and new channels of communication like
social and mobile, brick-and-mortar retailers should not be quick to
discard traditional methods of salesmanship. Offering exclusive products,
providing high-quality customer service and working closely with
vendors are tried and true business practices that will still see brick-and-
mortar retailers through may more holiday seasons to come.

Focus On Customer Engagement
Brick-and-mortar retailers that ramp up their store-level customer
engagement could gain potential long-term customers who are
accustomed to the landscape of digital shopping, noted Deena M.
Amato-McCoy, Research Analyst, Retail and Consumer Markets,
Aberdeen Group.
“Shoppers are so conditioned to getting a complete shopping
experience online, from researching a product, getting answers to
questions via live chat, customer reviews, streamlined shopping and
payment options,” said Amato-McCoy. “They expect those same
experiences at the store level.”
The store staff must be prepared not only with expert knowledge of the
product line but also to sell the advantages of a brick-and-mortar vendor
over a digital one.
“If you have any problem with the product you buy, you can come back
immediately,” Jim Dion, President and Founder of Dionco said. “If you
buy it from an online store, you have to bring it to UPS and mail it back.
Buying in-store might cost more but is that extra $10 of UPS shipping
really worth it? The store staff needs to teach customers what they’re
getting when they buy in the store and know what the store really offers
the customer.”
30

31Workforce Management:
Efficient Workforce Management Converts
Holiday Shopping Into Profits
Accessible and knowledgeable in-store associates are the frontline of
customer service excellence, and a primary defense against the brutal
competition continually pressuring brick-and-mortar retailers. During the
holiday season, as customer traffic steadily multiplies, maintaining and
delivering stellar, consistent customer service is imperative to holiday
sales and lasting reputations. But achieving this service goal can be
more costly and complicated than during other time periods.
Even with the recent and incredible growth of online shopping, most
(51.1%) of U.S. consumers still prefer to shop for holiday purchases
in a physical store, according to an SDL survey, titled: Preferences On
Holiday Shopping Experiences. The study found that U.S. shoppers favor
in-store over online holiday shopping primarily because they want to: 1)
examine a product prior to purchase; 2) avoid shipping costs; and 3)
take advantage of in-store discounts.
Efficient workforce management tools and strategies, important every
day of the year, will be essential to converting the flood of in-store
shoppers into waves of profits during the 2013 holiday period.
“As consumers become more confident with shopping online for holiday
purchases, give them a reason to visit your store,” advised Chris Salles,
Director of Store Labor for Guitar Center. “That reason should be more
than a showroom — it should be the people. Friendly, knowledgeable
and approachable associates are the key to any successful retailer. But
during the holiday season, when you’re inundated with first-time visitors,
you’re only going to get one shot at delivering a great experience. Make
it count!”
Most retailers must increase staffing to provide great holiday shopping
experiences, but often wait too long to do so. As a result, “they are
never sure if they have the right number on staff, with the right availability
and the right skills needed to support a successful holiday period,”
said Vince Jackson, Director of Retail WFM Consulting for Workforce
Insight, a provider of strategic workforce management consulting and
implementation services. “Additionally, the delay in employing holiday
help usually means retailers have missed out on the best candidates,
who are already hired elsewhere. The time to plan appropriately is
right now.”
The holiday staffing model should include skill and availability needs,
said Jackson. Rather than just hiring a certain number of new people,
it is important to hire the correct roles and mix of associates. “By
understanding and differentiating sales versus non-sales activities,
retailers can best protect the customer experience and take advantage
of holiday sales opportunities. Proper workforce management tools

32
make this process relatively simple. For example, with a budgeting or
forecasting tool that provides the proper configuration, retailers can plan
out their labor needs months in advance.”
As Guitar Center approaches the holiday season, the retailer will
adjust period planning algorithms and labor deployment rules for
holiday seasonality and anticipated changes based on historical data,
Salles explained. “Shifting from traditional non-holiday labor scheduling
to focused, holiday traffic-based scheduling during the 2013 holiday
season will ensure the right people are there at the right time to assist
our customers. Many of our holiday customers are first-time buyers
and buying for others. This customer group requires focused attention
from our associates; we try to limit the increase of the customer-
to-associate ratio that is normal for the holiday season, while also
minimizing labor cost increases.”
Knowing when traffic/transaction spikes occur, down to 15-minute
segments, “allows us to tactically schedule our temporary associates
to best serve our customers,” said Salles. Guitar Center uses a WFM
solution from Ceridian Dayforce to combine historical sales analytics
by department, including basket size, items per transaction, margin
rates and more. The tool also combines traffic patterns and employee
analytics to generate department-specific demand curves, and “layers
our associates’ performance with our scheduling choices. Placing our
very best associates at peak traffic times helps increase conversion
due to the nature of our department-based POS terminals. Our
best associates know how to serve many customers simultaneously
without a service decline.”
While customer traffic and customer-to-associate levels increase during
the holidays, the practices used to address these changes, and lessons
learned, can be useful throughout the year.
“You’ll learn which associates thrive in a jam-packed environment,
when overtime pays for itself, and if your forecast adjustments held true,”
noted Salles. “Other promotional and sale events during 2014, or even
a normal Saturday in retail, can benefit from the WFM insights gleaned

33
7 Critical Questions To Ask When Planning
Holiday Staffing
As retailers prepare for appropriate holiday staffing levels they must
address several key questions. Vince Jackson, Director of Retail
WFM Consulting at Workforce Insights (WFI), offered 7 topics for
consideration:
1. What changes occur as you lead into the holiday
season? It is critical to identify the sales and non-sales activities
that demand labor. For example:
• Shipments of inventory increase early-on then diminish at some
point during holiday.
• Tasks, including price changes and floor moves/sets increase
dramatically leading into the holiday season.
• Customer traffic increases substantially, necessitating additional
sales floor coverage.
2. When will these activities (including sales) take place?
You need to determine your availability needs for new staff
members.
3. What will the hours of operations be throughout the
holiday season and how will that impact labor needs?
4. Are there any special events planned during the holiday
season and how will that impact labor needs?
5. What skills are needed to support these activities?
6. How much training time is needed to prepare staff
members that take on the additional workload?
7. What is the flexibility of your current staffing, such
as availability and ability absorb more hours and
workload?

34
5 Tips For Creating A Great Holiday Staff
Chris Salles, Director of Store Labor for Guitar Center,
offered the following 5 tips:
1. Hire early: You’ll want to fill open full-time, part-time and seasonal
positions before holiday inventory arrives.
2. Train: Retail typically has high turnover. Focus on associates that
have never retailed during a holiday season.
3. Trust: Trust your holiday forecast and plan around it.
4. Tweak: Don’t be afraid to tweak the forecast as holiday selling
begins. Slow reaction during this time period can be detrimental to
sales.
5. Leverage time windows: Don’t overestimate the traffic during
the first two weeks of December. “This lull in retail traffic can be a
very useful time to replenish from Black Friday weekend,” noted
Salles, “de-brief the wins/losses from Black Friday weekend, which
acts as a concentrated primer for rest of the holiday season, and
focus training where needed before the real rush hits mid-month.”

35
Payment:
Mobile Payment May Be A Gift Of The Future
While a number of leading retailers have implemented some forms
of mobile payment, it is a long way from saturation in the U.S. retail
marketplace. “It is the perennial case of being over optimistic in the
short-term and too pessimistic in the long-term,” noted Gary Schwartz,
CEO of Impact Mobile. He predicted: “The consumer will move to one-
click mobile check out but in the next few years it will be not at POS.”
Greg Buzek, President, IHL Group, concurred: “Payment remains sort
of the Wild-Wild West. There is a great deal of chatter about mobile
payment and NFC but there are two issues that no one has solved:
1. Lowering the cost of the discount rate the retailers
pay; and
2. Improving the speed of the transaction for the retailer
(or at least not delaying it).

NFC and mobile payment is a vendor driven initiative not a customer
driven one. These two items must come to the table or it is a
non-starter.”
“Let’s start with the noise,” said Schwartz. “The past few year have been
unnaturally focused on the mobile wallet. This is an in house skirmish
with between the incumbent financial ecosystem. But ISIS, Google Wallet
have underwhelmed.”
Schwartz continued: “Amazon one-click, iTunes, and Paypal Mobile
Internet check out will dominate commerce activity and capture the
immersive tablet (couch) commerce as well as the impulse check out
between home and the store.”
“I think the biggest thing we are going to see is a beginning of a
maturing of the use of mobile devices,” Buzek continued. “Yes, there will
be a higher proportion of stores that can finalize a transaction, however,
we will see more thought put into traffic flow, heat mapping, and how to
handle the complete customer experience. Simply adding an iPad is not
customer experience. Retailers are learning that.”

36
Retailers Beware: Monitor Seasonal Card Rates
The card brands make adjustments to interchange rates every April and
October in conjunction with enhancements to card product offerings,
changes in industry rules and regulations, and other considerations.
These adjustments can either be fee increases or fee decreases
depending on the update. Since card brands charge interchange to
payments processors, who then charge merchants, the interchange fees
you pay are ultimately determined by your processor.
David Hogan, Executive Director of Major Accounts at Heartland
Payment Systems, suggested that retailers beware of the costs
associated with changing interchange fees.
When interchange fees change, processors can do one of
three things:
1. Do nothing by charging the same rates as before;
2. Pass the changes — increases or decreases — on to
their clients; or
3. Charge additional processing fees.
In fact, many processors take advantage of seasonal interchange rate
adjustments to discreetly increase their own fees without full disclosure,
leading operators to often mistakenly assume the increases are coming
from the card brands. For example, if Visa charges an interchange rate
of 1.75%, your processor may mark that up and charge you 2.6%.
Yet, disproportionately, when Visa increases its rate to 1.76%, you may
see an increased rate of 2.65% from your processor. This is one of
the prime culprits of cost creep that can add significant expense to your
processing costs every year.

37
Retail TouchPoints is an online publishing network for retail executives, with
content focused on optimizing the customer experience across all channels.
The Retail TouchPoints network is comprised of a weekly newsletter, category-
specific blogs, special reports, web seminars, exclusive benchmark research, and
a content-rich web site featuring daily news updates and multi-media interviews
at www.retailtouchpoints.com. The Retail TouchPoints team also interacts with
social media communities via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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