Retail Industry Consulting

Here are some of the essential areas of business planning in starting a retail business:

1.       Validation of the business concept
2.       Market study and analysis
3.       Business model development
4.       Application of omnichannel
5.       Store location analysis
6.       Store layout planning
7.       Inventory management, warehousing, and logistics
8.       Process mapping (operations)
9.       IT and automation (e.g. Retail management system (RMS))
10.   Staffing
11.   Financial and commercial assessments
12.   CX strategy
13.   CRM

14.   Digital Marketing

Here are some useful recommendations for managing a retail store more effectively:

•         Be warm and welcoming to customers, appreciate their presence
•         Encourage workplace professionalism
•         Gauge customers’ perspectives
•         Make retail inventory analysis and reporting mandatory and frequent
•         Employ strong QC measures and follow religiously
•         Keep an eye on the business environment, keep making the necessary adjustments at regular intervals
•         Keep the store shiny and spicy
•         Mystery audits are extremely helpful

·         Be a process-driven enterprise on the inside, a humanized brand on the outside

Here are a few norms to be upheld for high-quality retail inventory management in retail:

•         Meticulousness of the demand-predicting solutions
•         Procurement planning and scheduling
•         SOPs for all inventory management operations
•         Deployment of necessary QA and QC measures
•         Adherence to  the required standards of storing in warehouses and FCs
•         Robust reporting mechanism
•         Inventory audits and improvisations
•         Strong processes to calculate and track inventory
•         Appropriate inventory management software system
•         Healthy and professional working relationships with the supply chain partners
•         Cost control and ignorable shrinkage

·         Keeping provisions for omnichannel inventory management

In launching a multi store inventory management system, the following measures must be applied at both centralised and store-level:

•         Product management
•         Purchase and replenishment management
•         Stock tracking and reporting
•         Sales management
•         Inter-unit transfer of stock
•         Capability for centralised analytics and retail stock control

·         Obedience to QA and QC criteria

Here are some of the key tactics to rationalize retail warehouse operations:

•         Optimisation of warehouse layout
•         Procurement planning and scheduling
•         Dynamic staffing rosters as per workload
•         Rationalisation of warehouse operations SOPs
•         Use of IT and automation solutions for movement and trackability of inventory
•         Use of technology for speedy operations (e.g. software for retail stores)
•         Minimising manual intervention
•         Bringing assets closer to the respective activity zones

Customer experience is one of the major motives behind having a sound retail store layout strategy. If the layout does not click for customers, all other efforts become nearly meaningless. There are also reasons for space optimisation, smooth process execution, and safety and security justifying the need for a solid store layout strategy in retail.

Some of the vital areas/functions for which having a robust strategy is of extreme significance in the retail business are listed below.

•         Brand Distinction
•         Value propositions
•         Value chain
•         Value chain associates
•         Customer segments, CX, and CRM
•         Merchandising
•         Pricing
•         Distribution and channel
•         Revenue streams
•         Costing
•         Technology (e.g. retail task management software)
•         Core functions (store, sales, marketing, supply chain, inventory management, etc.)
•         Support functions (staffing, finance, administration, etc.)

In the retail industry, supply chain management encompasses the strategies, planning, and processes governing the flow of goods from producers/distributors to retail outlets/final customers.