How The Internet Of Things Increases Efficiency Across Industries

Samsung Business Contributor, SAMSUNG BUSINESS

When the devices that drive business are connected in the Internet of Things (IoT), a fundamental change takes place: They become more than just tools and instead become a part of an organization’s operational solutions. Recent data on the adoption of IoT solutions in the transportation, healthcare and manufacturing industries highlight just how significant the gains from this change are.

Consider the transportation industry: 117m barrels of oil saved over ten years by connected vehicles analyzing routes and energy use efficiency is an impressive figure, but it’s only the beginning of where the IoT adds value. Vehicles connected to real-time data on traffic and emergency services can also ensure safer transport of people and goods.

The use of the IoT in manufacturing is in its earliest days, but a full 82% of those companies who’ve already adopted it report that the efficiency added by “smart manufacturing” is significant: It helps companies manage the physical production line to keep things moving and avoid interruptions. Additionally, it allows firms to monitor inventory on a moment-by-moment basis. That, in turn, enables companies to control costs and lower prices.

In the fast-paced field of healthcare, the IoT adds value by streamlining everyday patient processing. When doctors can conduct patient checkups remotely using connected devices, the administrative and resource costs that come with scheduling these routine visits are eliminated—not to mention the time and productivity patients lose when they must take time away from work.

Across industries, when the tools employees rely on become their partners in operational solutions, the value added is both time and money saved and smoother delivery of service to customers.

The Supply Side: Learning more about the inside of a retail buyer’s mind

Submitted by The City Wire Staff on Tue, 10/27/2015 - 6:14pm

story by Kim Souza
ksouza@thecitywire.com

Editor’s note: The Supply Side section of The City Wire focuses on the companies, organizations, issues and individuals engaged in providing products and services to retailers. The Supply Side is managed by The City Wire and sponsored by Propak Logistics.

Buyers from large retailers like Wal-Mart and Target sift through as many as 55 to 75 emails a week from folks wanting to get a meeting to pitch their products, said Vanessa Ting, a former Target buyer and now a retail consultant in Los Angeles for her company, Retail Path.
Ting, who recently spoke at the Selling to the Masses CPG School held in Bentonville, shared insight from a buyer’s mind with prospective suppliers hoping to get their products into mass retailers.
“Buyers see tons of great products that meet consumers needs but they are always hungry for more unique items the won’t just cannibalize the sales of other products in the category,” Ting said.
Prospective suppliers often make a critical mistake in their introductory emails to merchandisers, with Ting estimating that just 10% of the emails contain information needed for buyers to make a decision. The last thing a buyer wants to hear is a supplier touting product. She said if first pitching though email, it’s critical that prospective suppliers cut through the chase and get to the point.
MENTAL CHECKLIST
Ting said retail buyer’s have a mental checklist that is applied to each product pitch and prospective suppliers need to address the list early in the conversation. The first list item is that the product matters and Ting said buyers are primarily interested in differentiated product, not just a “me too” item on the shelf. She said suppliers also have to do a good job communicating the benefits of their product. For instance, they need to make sure it addresses an unmet consumer need or offers a better solution than a product already on the shelf.
She said the product packaging also is important and can’t be an afterthought. One item with packaging is that retail buyer’s know that consumers want easy-to-read labels, Ting added. The final item in on the retail buyer’s list is the price. She said retailers will want to make sure new items are correctly priced. But given that everyone has to make money, Ting also warned that prospective suppliers must protect their margins.
Ting said suppliers are smart to do their homework around the retailer’s merchandising objectives such as “Made in the USA”, “Better for You” health and wellness or Millennials, and then try to align their product to those merchandising goals. If a retailer is experimenting with a new format, that is also an open opportunity for suppliers to line up with solutions for things like less shelf space in smaller formats.
PITCH TO WIN
Ting also revealed her “Pitch to Win” model at the recent event. She said suppliers have to share sales potential with the buyer early in the conversation.
“Suppliers have to build a financial case around their product. Buyers objectives are to drive top line sales and profits,” Ting said.
Even for new products, Ting said suppliers have to show sales potential to get a buyer’s attention. She said the last thing a retailer wants is a risky product.
“If you have sales from another retailer present it to them as data to show your sales over a period of time. Are they growing? Look for positive upward trends in the sales data to present to the buyer. Retail buyers want to catch products when they are on an upward trend,” Ting said.
She said Internet sales of the product also need to be shown to the buyer. If the product has not yet been in brick and mortar stores, Ting said it’s possible to build a sales potential case from syndicated point-of-sales data from a like product if it can married with a case that all of the demand is not being met.
“Position yourself as top line sales driver. While it’s true that 85% of a buyer’s assortment stays put each year, there are opportunities for new suppliers to jump into the mix if they can garner the attention of the category merchant,” Ting said.
She said buyers also want to know how the supplier will help market their product because it’s both parties responsibility. Without a marketing plan of some sort, Ting said new suppliers are facing an uphill battle. Even if the marketing is handing out samples with store demonstrations or social media fan impressions, Ting said it’s relevant to a buyer.
STELLAR EXECUTION
Ting said reliability, supply chain management, inventory management and on-time logistics are part of a strong vendor relationship which is crucial if a supplier gets on a retailer’s shelves. She said small suppliers should look for business partnerships to help with execution because it’s difficult to do it all well when you have a company to run. She said brokers or consultants who already have credibility with the retailer can help suppliers get new products onboard.
“Retail buyers are wary of vendors who haven’t been in the market for very long. Brokers and business partners can often clear this hurdle for a first-time supplier,” she added.
Ting said suppliers typically have six months to prove themselves at retail. She said monitoring the sales of new products is important because if a product is not selling, the supplier will need a plan to boost sales to keep their spot on the shelf.

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“Incremental sales matter to buyers, but they don’t necessarily want to be trading sales on the shelf which is why it’s equally important for new suppliers to state their case for marketing support,” Ting said.
She said some products lend themselves to being cross-merchandised or sold in multiples which is a way for the buyer to add incremental sales to their top line revenues growth. New product innovations like the Swifter mop also drive incremental sales and buyers love to see new products that raise the bar. Ting said suppliers also need to look for ways to add new bells and whistles to improve existing products and allow them to be sold at a higher price, which also can lift a buyer’s overall sales.
As a consultant, Ting said she recently got a new product into Wal-Mart Stores for a client in one 20-minute meeting. She said the key to that success was telling the retailer what they wanted to hear. It didn’t hurt that the product helped the retailer fill a white space; in other words it was a created to fill an unmet need. There was no sales history, so they built a case around sales potential based on documented consumer demand and a lack of product.
“On the flip side, I have seen folks pitch for two years before they got a yes from a retailer. You want to give the buyer something to chew on. Be scrappy and resourceful,” Ting said.

RFID Chips Away at Waste in the Supply Chain

Oct 30, 2015

^by Paul Myerson

Professor of Practice in Supply Chain Management, Lehigh University

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RFID technology can help increase speed and efficiency throughout the extended supply chain.

In the past, I’ve discussed the use and benefit of technology in the Lean supply chain. One of the technologies that has really started to significantly impact the supply chain is RFID (radio frequency identification).

For those of you not that familiar with RFID, it is technology that uses radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. Data is contained on a microchip attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the identification information to a reader, which converts the radio waves from the RFID tag into digital information that can then be passed on to computers.

According to an article at RFID Arena entitled, “Benefits of Implementing RFID in Supply Chain Management,” RFID is “not just a replacement for barcodes. RFID ensures that the right goods are available in the right place with no discrepancies and zero errors. It makes the supply chain considerably more precise and improves the efficiency and reliability of the entire chain. As real-time information is made available also administration and planning processes can be significantly improved.”

Products throughout the supply chain are counted numerous times and with RFID tags, product can be counted in seconds (with the added benefit of reductions in labor required). Additionally, there is the benefit of increased, real-time and very detailed information as RFID tags contain much more information than bar codes (which basically have the manufacturer and item code on an item).

RFID is helpful beyond manufacturing into the distribution of finished goods. It can accelerate the speed of delivery management, improve efficiency, visibility and increase accuracy in selection and distribution processes as well as reduce distribution costs.

RFID in retail store operations (e.g., apparel tagging) can aid in cycle counting and triggering replenishment from the back end to the front end of the store.

The opportunities for RFID to increase speed and efficiency throughout the extended supply chain seem endless.

RFID market to exceed $10 billion in 2015

Alliance spearheded by companies like Google and Intel supports double-digit growth. By Modern Materials Handling Staff

October 30, 2015

According to a new report from IDTechEx Research, RFID is thriving, reaching total sales of $10.1bn in 2015 with a large scope ahead for continued roll-out in many established markets, as well as growth in new markets.

However, the report cautions, companies must consider their positioning as many new players enter the market while the value chain consolidates.

About 38% of the 2015 market value is for the tags themselves, totaling 9.1 billion tags sold in 2015, up from 7.8 billion tags in 2014. That is across all the main RFID frequencies for passive and active RFID.

A significant part of that growth is attributed to the growing implementation of passive UHF RFID tags (also now known as RAIN RFID, the alliance set-up last year to promote the technology). UHF RFID is being widely adopted for tagging apparel, with 3.75 billion tags used for that application alone in 2015 versus 3 billion in 2014. In 2015, that represents less than 15% of the total addressable market for retail apparel, which is but one of many applications.

For shorter range HF RFID, business is growing as banks move to secure RFID cards enabling contactless payment; just under 2 billion were sold for that and other contactless card applications in 2015. NFC is part of HF RFID too, being backwardly compatible with other HF RFID standards. In 2015 NFC tag sales excluding payment and personal ID applications will amount to 230 million units, used in applications such as tagging computer game figures and setting up Bluetooth pairing of consumer electronic devices.

The continued growth has resulted in many new entrants and companies are having to carefully consider their positioning in order to be best placed as the business grows. For example, IDTechEx Research, which has studied the RFID sector since 1999, has profiled more than 150 RFID companies in China, grabbing market share in some areas such as RFID inlay manufacture. Tag and reader hardware companies are staking claims in software platform offerings as they try to face the challenge of moving from a horizontal product offering into software which, at an application level, often needs to be built with the vertical application needs in mind. Despite the growth there are still only a handful of companies with more than $100 million in RFID sales, although several are moving into that category.

Preparing Skills for the Future of Supply Chain Management

• by Bob Ferrari
• Published October 28th, 2015

The following guest blog commentary is contributed by Bob Ferrari, Founder and Executive Editor of the Supply Chain Mattersblog and Managing Director of the Ferrari Consulting and Research Group LLC.

In October, I had the opportunity to speak at theAPICS 2015 conference. My topic was: Positioning Your Skills for the Future Needs of Supply Chain Management, and in this 21st Century Supply Chain guest blog, I wanted to share some of my key messages to this audience as well, since this is a topic frequently brought up.

There is no question that supply chain talent development has become a top of mind multi-industry challenge that takes on different dimensions for both attracting and retaining key talent. The debate is often focused on whether strategies should address a perceived “skills gap” or a “training gap.”

But first, dwell for a moment on the various megatrends and converging forces impacting multiple businesses today. More technology-empowered and demanding customers have added to increases in the clock speed of business in multiple dimensions. Business growth and profitability stems from newer products, innovative services, and emerging markets. Speed is now a compelling requirement in all dimensions of supply chain business and decision-making processes. There is now increased senior management awareness to the strategic importance of the supply chain’s contribution to required business outcomes. With that recognition is keen awareness as to availability and retention of needed skills and talent, but individual strategies and action plans vary across industry settings.

With the “third wave” of technology convergence currently underway, increased computing, storage and cloud-based computing is now available at lower cost. The explosion of smarter mobile computing devices and platforms with the ability to leverage more real-time data has opened the perspectives of the “Internet of Things” (IoT), connecting digital applications with physical devices. We have reached a point where technology can support continuous synchronized planning and execution across the extended supply chain. The advent of the IoT opens opportunities for connecting manufacturing and service related physical objects to supply chain related planning and decision-making needs. The challenge, however, is having the trained and experienced resources to effectively leverage all of this new technological capability.

Across industry supply chains, teams struggle with keeping up with this faster clock speed of decisions, overcoming the increasing complexity and risks of supply chains and generally responding to constant change. There are needs for more responsive planning and synchronized execution, linked to desired business outcomes in quality, service and performance results. At the same time, there are the realities that supply chain teams may be drowning in too much of the wrong data, tracking too many unessential performance metrics and lacking in playbooks and response scenarios to certain events.

The reality is that business, technology and supply chain business challenges are out-distancing current skill and talent needs. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that more than 60 million “boomers” will exit the workforce by 2025, while only 40 million will take their place. That is one dimension of the skills gap, namely the built-up knowledge of how business and supply chain processes interact and yield outcomes and how decisions get made, is walking out the door to enjoy retirement. In some sense, it can be a supply and demand challenge.

However, the megatrends in business and technology are creating new and more demanding jobs with far more specialized, technology-grounded skill needs. Articulated essential skills now reflect on a broader combination of both hard and soft skills. There are needs for deeper cross-functional business, supply chain and product management knowledge that span beyond a single function or a single international business culture. There are needs for cross-organizational team leadership, collaboration and change management skills, along with the ability to leverage appropriate technology tools for the challenge at hand.

Yet, employers demanding these broad-based and specialty skills sometimes balk at adequate compensation or training needs. I advocate that approaches to closing the skills gap require stronger partnerships among employers, training organizations and employees on skill-based needs, compensation and development plans. One action that can help is defining job needs on the basis of individual skill needs as opposed to minimum experience requirements. The recruitment process should be one of matching skill potential, with compensation tied to skill mastery.

In preparing for my talk, I noted a late 2011 study from Accenture that observed only 21 percent of U.S. workers received any formal training in the prior five years. While that study is arguably dated, my informal polling of audiences indicates this situation continues. This is one facet of the training gap. Employees who desire to learn essential new skills may not be afforded such opportunities. This gap is even more acute for small and medium sized, but growing, businesses that may not have the financial flexibility to support needs for continual training. At the same time, data reveals that employers and supply chain management leaders fear that if they invest resources to train people in desired skills, people will quickly jump ship to other employers who require such skills.

The opening keynote of this year’s APICS conference was a chat with noted executive, mentor and author Jack Welch. I penned a recent Supply Chain Matters commentary which provided specific highlights of Welch’s wisdomsfor our community. In an unscripted way, he provided the response to the above challenge. He flatly stated that supply chain professionals should be valued in compensation since they are rather important to the business. Welch challenged these leaders to stop nagging about the loss of people and rather, turn efforts and resources toward establishing an organization that is fun to work within, caring passionately about your people, valuing a diversity of skills and people, and removing organizational barriers that get in the way.

My closing recommendations are that supply chain professionals must make skill development a personal mission and goal. Collaborate with management leaders on an individualized skills and learning path, and seek out opportunities to gain added hard and soft skills. Constantly take advantage of online, in-house or on-the-job training opportunities.

Employers need to start defining jobs in skills needs and expected performance parameters for both current and future organizational needs. Engage in strategic workforce planning and in individualized learning and career paths. Foster a culture of knowledge sharing and facilitate mentors for up and coming professionals. Make the supply chain both a fun and rewarding place to work and support efforts for more attractive compensation and reward programs that emphasize talent and skills development.

One of the most complex and technologically equipped aircraft in the world, the Airbus A380, still requires a skilled pilot and co-pilot with a window to the sky to ascertain reality and sometimes make critical decisions. There will always be a need for skilled professionals.

How 3-D Printing Could Disrupt Your Supply Chain

Oct 30, 2015Adam Kidd and Jamie Sciacchitano, consultants with GRA

3-D printing will challenge many traditional supply chain constraints and open up new opportunities, but don't ignore basic processes in the rush to innovate.

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search on Google Trends will reveal the meteoric rise in interest the world has in 3-D printing—and for good reason. 3-D printing is truly innovative with endless product design possibilities. While current media coverage tends to focus on the benefits of prototyping, we believe its greatest potential lies beyond this, in its capability to challenge many traditional supply chain constraints and open up new opportunities.

From a supply chain perspective the Big Picture question is whether 3-D printing has the potential to become a disruptive technology, or will it be just another incremental step in the supply chain evolution?

What is clear from the outset is that 3-D printing is not the solution to all manufacturing problems and consideration needs to be given to each company’s operating environment, manufacturing capability and product portfolio.

Since 3-D printing is still early in its evolution, we thought it worthwhile to explore some supply chain issues it could address and situations where investigation of its use may be appropriate.

Reduced Inventory via Reduced Lot Sizes

One of the more apparent ways that 3-D printing technology could be used to transform supply chains is by reducing manufacturing lot sizes, that is, by enabling smaller—even discrete—manufacturing runs. This could allow companies to reduce inventory holdings by being able to better match supply to demand. Naturally, this may not be an appropriate solution for all companies and all items. The sweet spot for this technology would appear to be where volumes are low and the level of manufacturing complexity is low to moderate—for example, where there are a variety of customized, low-volume finished products such as medical devices.

An initial assessment of demand could indicate the suitability for consideration of this technology. In weighing up the value of this approach, it would be worthwhile to weigh up the total inventory savings of smaller batch sizes, including lower working capital and obsolescence risk vs the costs of the 3-D printing capability. These could be significant.

Improved Responsiveness via Shorter Lead-times

Another way we may see 3-D printing change supply chains is by challenging the traditional view of the distribution network—specifically, by being used to decentralize manufacturing. As 3-D printers are able to provide the flexibility required to produce a higher variety of end products than traditional manufacturing lines with less overhead, by developing 3-D printing capability closer to customers, companies may be able to reduce reliance on traditional capital intensive manufacturing lines in centralized locations.

This has significant potential for countries or regions where increased responsiveness traditionally comes with a requirement to have a fully stocked DC in each major city. With 3-D printing, not only would the manufacturing lead-time be reduced, the distribution lead-time could also be reduced by situating operations close to customer demand—with the added benefit of transport savings.

One of the best examples of a company utilizing this technology is the Maersk shipping line. In 2014, Maersk began installing 3-D printers on their ships in order to print spare parts as required. By taking this initiative, Maersk has transformed the need for spare parts to be available at the nearest port and replaced it with rapid spare parts responsiveness that also helps to remove the risk of a disruption to service.

In exploring this option, consideration again needs to be given to demand volumes and unit costs. In particular, it is worth noting the 3-D printing process is currently significantly slower than traditional mass production. However, for companies with appropriate demand and product characteristics, this technology could be well worth pursuing.

It is also worth noting that this solution does not require companies to acquire 3-D printing capability themselves, as we are already seeing the appearance of companies like Amazon, Shapeways and more localized companies providing 3-D printing as a specialty service. We expect these services to grow and become more specialized over coming years as the commercial application becomes more widespread.

Improved Range Management via Customization

A decision trade-off often faced by many companies relates to managing the range of products on offer to customers while maintaining costs associated with holding more inventory. This is particularly troublesome for industries where they offer a long list of low-volume and potentially slower moving items, like customization and spare part providers.

For many companies, products like these are usually the first put forward for SKU rationalization, and rightly so. However, with 3-D printing, businesses could support a wider range of products, and therefore appeal to more customers, without the need to hold extra inventory. 3-D printing could enable manufacturing on-demand, effectively allowing companies to manage higher product ranges at a competitive cost level. Hasbro is a great example, as the company has integrated 3-D printing into its strategy, offering a wide range of co-customizable 3-D printed toys, allowing consumers to choose readily-available toy options, or further customize to their liking.

Evaluating Appropriateness

As most supply chain professionals understand, it is often simplistic to assume a single technology investment will solve all supply chain issues. In reality, identifying supply chain opportunities is a difficult task with many moving parts, and there is little change here. Given the investment required, as well as the imperative to not disrupt supply to customers, it is important that this technology is applied to the right situation. This requires an evaluation of the potential impact of this technology on a company’s supply chain strategy, planning and execution.

To help with this, the following chart offers an indication of where this technology may be most appropriate. Reflect on where your company or operating environment fits in the chart:

As you can see, we believe 3-D printing is ideally suited to low-volume, moderate valued products that require high customization on a short lead-time. If in assessing your company you have more than a couple of ticks, it could be well worth investigating the option of 3-D printing.

Many Possibilities

3-D printing lends itself to many possibilities for companies looking to transform how their supply chain operates. As the discussion above shows, it can be applied in different ways, to solve different business problems. Yet 3-D printing is not the golden bullet that will resolve all supply chain problems by revolutionizing the manufacturing landscape. In addition, it will not negate the need for traditional supply chain disciplines, such as demand planning or inventory management, while issues with energy usage and suitable materials also need to be addressed.

However, as 3-D printing evolves, it will become a more feasible option with greater possible applications. For this reason, should any of the above issues sound familiar, it is well worth keeping the option of 3-D printing on the table and consider how it could change how you tackle supply chain improvements.

Most Companies Have No Omnichannel Strategy

A mere 11% profess to move nimbly across channels, according to a survey of 120 CMOs.

Omnichannel marketing is like kale. You know it's good for you, but that first mouthful goes down hard. Though nimbly traversing across several marketing channels has been widely accepted as crucial for relevant customer engagement, only 11% of companies claim to go down that road. Most (55%) admit that they have yet to begin implementing a cross-channel marketing strategy.

That's the bottom line of a survey of 120 chief marketing officers conducted by The CMO Club in concert with Rakuten Marketing. The three leading barriers to cross-channel competency are lack of resources and investment (named by 64%), inability to make sense of data with existing technology (61%), and difficulty integrating data (52%).

"It appears brands are only beginning to connect the touchpoints that lead to conversion," said Peter Krainik, CEO of The CMO Club. 

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block to integrated marketing is lack of integrated marketing budgets. The most common budget structures reported by survey respondents either kept brand dollars separate from direct marketing dollars or allocated dollars by business unit. One marketer among the elite 11% of omnichannel practitioners noted that a change in budgeting structure fast-tracked her company's efforts.

"This year we shifted our marketing dollars out of channel silos and into a macro budget that supports an omnichannel marketing strategy," said Leah Robert, EVP ofCamuto Group, an apparel company whose brands and licensees include Vince Camuto, Jessica Simpson, and Lucky Brand Jeans. "This creates a unified customer experience and gives us one window into performance across channels. We can now use that data, combined with customer feedback at all levels, to address any service issues and reveal what more we can do for shoppers."

Data strategies must also be transformed if the proper mechanics for cross-channel engagement are to be in place. But only one in five companies measures cross-channel attribution holistically across all touchpoints, while a third continue to evaluate each channel individually and optimize based on channel-specific performance.

7 Ways Physical Retailers Are Trying to Fight Amazon in Their Stores

ByRebecca BorisonFollow|

Amazon  is every traditional retailer's worst nightmare. The e-commerce giant is slowly but surely gobbling up market share and turning consumers into frequent online shoppers.

This past week, Amazon surprised Wall Street analysts with a nice profit of 17 cents per share on revenue of $25.4 billion, up 23% year over year. And Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer recently estimated that Amazon's North American gross merchandise volume accounts for 36% of all retail dollar growth for the year (excluding vehicles, fuel and food/beverage). A scary figure for any non-Amazon retailer to see.

Amazon's innovation in delivery and logistics plus its breadth of inventory have made it easier for consumers to choose e-commerce over brick and mortar, forcing physical retailers to get creative to keep consumers coming through the door.

"Retailers must infuse digital features into the store environment to exceed customer expectations, compete more effectively with online pure-play retailers and offer a better, more complete, shopping experience," said Ken Morris, principal at Boston Retail Partners.

Here are some of the best implementations we've seen.

1. Entertain Shoppers

Some retailers are trying to attract customers to their stores by offering relevant entertainment.

Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's (CAB) , for example, have archery ranges and aquariums in their stores. This gets people in a store, and then once they're already there, they may pick up some products as well.

Other retailers go for a more technology-focused form of entertainment, offering virtual reality experiences in-store and interactive screens. Tommy Hilfiger, a unit ofPVH Corp. (PVH) , for instance, lets shoppers in some of its stores watch a virtual reality version of its fall catwalk show.

VF Corp's (VFC) North Face has a virtual reality setup in its New York store that lets consumers experience things like hiking, climbing or base-jumping.

"The most successful retailers will seamlessly blend the physical with the digital in the future store," Boston Retail Partners principal Ken Morris said.

2. Order Online, Pick Up In-Store

One easy way to get customers into a store is by offering free delivery to the store if a customer orders online, but picks up the products at a store. The customer will be happy to have free shipping, and perhaps while the customer is in a store he or she will decide to browse some of the other products in stock.

Some of the many retailers now offering this service include Lowe's (LOW) , Home Depot (HD - Get Report)   and Toys R Us.

A similar feature is Gap's "Reserve in Store" service, which also lets consumers check online to make sure a store will have a product in the size and color they want before actually going to the store.

Many retailers also offer the flipside of shopping in-store and having a product delivered to a customer's house. That tends to be most helpful with heavier products such as a large TV. This essentially turns a physical store into more of a showroom, letting customers see a product in real life, interact with associates and then get it delivered to their home.

It's all about flexibility and letting the customer do what he or she wants.

3. Offering Services on Top of Products

The Apple  stores have got this one down pat. They offer free in-store workshops on different topics such as Apple Watch Basics and iPhone Photography. They also have their famous Genius Bar with experts that can help with any issues you may be having with your Apple products. And once they've got you in their store for a workshop or a Genius Bar visit, it's easier to sell you their products. (It doesn't hurt that their stores are aesthetically pleasing, too.)

Best Buy  took a page from Apple's playbook and introduced its own Geek Squad to help consumers with any issues they may be having with their gadgets. For the holiday season, Best Buy is offering free Geek Squad setup for anyone who receives a gift from Best Buy. Best Buy will also host robot and virtual reality demos in its stores during the holidays. Both are great excuses to get customers into physical stores.

4. Upgrade the Store Visit With an App

A number of retailers have created helpful in-store features in their apps that add value to any visit. One example is Home Depot's app, which uses geolocation to help customers navigate the store. It'll tell them if a product is in stock and where it's located in the store. It also lets customers scan a product to find out more information about it.

Target  also has really useful in-store features in its apps. It offers an interactive store map, which will showcase trending items on Pinterest. It also lets customers create a shopping list to help them expedite their shopping visit. In addition, Target has a separate app called Cartwheel that gives customers discounts as they shop.

5. Reward Their Loyalty

Starbucks (SBUX) is the classic example of loyalty done right. Their My Starbucks Rewards program reels in customers who want to collect as many stars as they can to get free drinks and food. Granted, Starbucks isn't directly competing with Amazon, but they successfully convince consumers to forgo buying K-cups and other coffee products on Amazon and instead make a daily trip to their nearby Starbucks.

Other physical retailers try to attract customers with loyalty programs. 7-Eleven,Neiman Marcus, Sephora and Bloomingdale's, which is owned by Macy's (M) , are just a few examples of the many retailers that try to reward customers for shopping with them.

6. Personalize With Beacons

Several retailers have been testing out beacons, which let them ping customers when they are near certain products or aisles. In August, Target started testing beacon technology to bring an item to the top of a customer's mobile shopping list when he or she was close to that item. Last September, Macy's started testing beacon technology to ping customers with any deals or discounts happening that day.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) , J.C. Penney (JCP) and Best Buy have also tried out beacons. Beacons are still a bit controversial, though, since some customers are averse to having a store know too much about them and be able to track them throughout a store. For that reason, Nordstrom pulled the plug on a beacon trial two years ago. But some retailers still have faith that beacons and geolocation can offer a store experience that will help them fight Amazon.

7. Arm Store Associates With Devices

Many stores are giving their associates tablets and smartphones so that they can better assist customers. Burberry (BURBY) , Target and Apple are  examples of retailers that have done this.

In some cases, the tablets can enable associates to search through a customer's purchase history and preferences, if they have that information saved, so they can better guide the customer. The tablets can also let customers check out from any place in the store, getting rid of the annoying lines at cash registers.

Mobile will drive 51pc of Thanksgiving Day online shopping visits: report

By Chantal Tode

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October 30, 2015

Mobile traffic will top desktop on Thanksgiving Day

For the first time ever, mobile traffic to retailers’ Web sites is expected to overtake desktop on Thanksgiving Day, with mobile forecast to represent 51 percent of traffic and 29 percent of online sales that day, according to a new report from Adobe.

Mobile’s contribution to online sales on Thanksgiving Day will grow 12 percent from a year ago, reflecting consumers’ growing comfort with mobile purchasing and the gains that retailers have made in streamlining mobile checkout. While there has been a lot of focus on buy buttons on social media sites, Adobe predicts just 2 percent of sales will be directly impacted by social networks, on par with where it was last year.

Thanksgiving Day’s growing role
The report, 2015 Digital Index Online Shopping Prediction, predicts that iOS will represent 22 percent of mobile sales on Thanksgiving Day, compared to 7 percent for Android.

On the social front, referred revenue-per-visit as of the third quarter of 2015 shows that Facebook is in the lead with $1.24, followed by Pinterest at $0.74, Twitter at $0.60 and Reddit at $0.57.

Thanksgiving Day is expected to be the fastest growing online sales day for the second consecutive year, with an 18 percent increase from last year and $1.6 billion in sales, according to Adobe.

Cyber Monday sales are expected to total $3 billion for the first time, up 12 percent from last year.

Sales on Black Friday are expected to increase 15 percent for a total of $2.7 billion.

Thanksgiving Day has been playing a bigger role in sales for the holiday weekend over the past few years. This is, in part, being driven by mobile, which makes it easy for consumers to fit in a bit of shopping before and after dinner while remaining in close proximity to their family and friends.

The best deals
Adobe also predicts that online prices will be lowest on Thanksgiving Day, which means savvy shoppers will be on their phones looking for the best deals.

Overall, online sales for the holiday season are expected to reach $83 billion, up 11 percent from last year.

Adobe predicts 60 percent of sales will be devoted to electronics and 10 percent to gift cards.

UPS Announces $300 Million Kentucky Ground Hub Project 

 UPS Inc. announced plans to spend about $300 million to triple the size of its Centennial ground package sorting facility in Louisville, Kentucky, to double the processing pace and improve service. The announcement by the company that ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers said that the expansion complements the package carrier’s separate Worldport global air hub. The Centennial facility is being increased to 838,000 square feet from 257,000 square feet as part of a companywide capacity expansion effort that spans multiple years. Construction is slated to begin next year and be substantially complete two years after construction begins, the Atlanta-based company said. “This hub upgrade enhances UPS’s transportation and logistics capabilities and represents a continued commitment to our customers,” said Lou Rivieccio, president of UPS’s Ohio Valley District.  UPS plans to add at least 300 jobs, some full time and some part time, and start recruitment for those posts in 2017. The project serves the state and metropolitan area as well as supporting interstate operations, UPS said. It also will facilitate package shipments through Worldport. Included in the upgrade are automated conveyors and “decode tunnels” to replace scanning devices.