Cegid Retail Forum 2010: Cegid helps specialist retailers leverage their competitive strengths |  |
•On April 1, Cegid welcomed its partners, members of the Cegid Retail Club and more than 350 customers and prospects to the Cegid Retail Forum 2010. Every year, the Cegid Retail Forum provides the ideal setting for professionals to discuss good practices and to anticipate changes in technology and the retail business.
•2010 saw the third edition of the European tour covering France, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal and Italy. It focused on the four competitive strengths for 2010-11: sourcing, building the product line, restocking and store performance.
•This year the tour stopped in Paris and included workshops and round tables as well as exclusive guest presentations by leading brands such as La City, Caroll, La Halle, Linvosges and Louis Pion.
I - Managing the supply chain - from a reactive to a proactive approach
Nowadays, specialized retail chains work according to a well-established system in which, prior to the beginning of the season, they set their targets for sales and profit margins per product and per store. "We need to keep tight control over our collections, defining them in as much detail as possible, while buying as late as possible so as to be up-to-date with the latest trends" explained Alain Cottet, Chairman of Caroll and La Halle shopping center.
The ability to plan and re-evaluate collections in light of previous sales has a direct impact on a store's performance. Whether in terms of planning the collection, forecasting sales, managing suppliers, sourcing or logistics, the Yourcegid range of expert software includes vital planning functions and can simulate scenarios across the entire value chain. "The store's aim is to receive goods at exactly the right time: neither too early nor too late" said Éric Dessert, Cegid's Supply Chain expert. Stores need to be warned of stock depletion, oversupply and over-purchasing in order to immediately rectify these situations as they arise.
Cegid also provides sales forecasting solutions for retail chains that specialize in distance selling. Adapted to the special characteristics of this business model, companies using Yourcegid Retail save time and resources used in sales planning. "Most software providers offer restocking solutions but fail to offer forecasting solutions or vice versa. Cegid is the only software provider that has undertaken to apply its expertise in both restocking and sales forecasting, and has even worked together with us to acquire the necessary expertise in developing sales forecasts for the distance-selling market", said Sébastien Hertz, director of purchasing and supply at Linvosges.
II – Optimizing the vectors of store performance
Optimizing store performance was one of the most discussed topics at the Cegid Retail Forum round tables and workshops. Now that consumers have cut back on spending, effective store management requires striking the right balance between cost reduction and customer satisfaction by offering varied and regularly updated collections. "To manage stores properly, it is crucial to have one tool offering the flexibility to quickly adapt to changing customer behavior, further promote flagship products and mark down products that are not selling" explained Antoine Blaevoet, supply chain specialist at Cegid.
However, a store's performance is based on more than just effective inventory valuation ̶—stores must win customer loyalty. This point was driven home by Louis Pion's CFO during the Retail Forum in Paris. He explained the value of an information system entirely hosted and maintained by Cegid which enables sales outlets to react in real time to customer demands.
And by optimizing the check-out systems, retail chains will now be able to offer their customers the best promotional offer at the time of the sale.
At the Cegid Retail Forum, the Yourcegid Retail mobile solution was unveiled. This solution offers customers a personalized service by connecting to their PDA via WiFi. Customers can inquire as to a product's availability from the shopfloor and can request the product be delivered from the warehouse or transferred from another store. The solution also provides access to customer loyalty card accounts, with information on points, services and promotional offers.
Optimizing the management of in-store staff was another key topic at the forum. Managers can use the Yourcegid Retail expert solution to better manage their staff and access information needed to improve store performance. The solution makes it easy to create a schedule adapted to data acquired over time, such as busier and quieter periods and average sales per hour, per day and per season.
III - Innovation central to the Cegid Retail Forum
• The Cegid Innovation Store
Developed by Cegid and its technological partners, the store of the future provides cutting-edge innovation in hardware and technology to organize stores in a more intelligent and customer-oriented manner. With a rich array of modern technologies such as RFID, mobility, interactivity and multi-touch, the Cegid Innovation Store is a scalable concept putting the solutions of industry specialists to work on the challenges retailers currently face. It shows how consumer behavior can be analyzed and influenced from the first look at the store window through to making the point of sale more dynamic and speeding up sales transactions.
• RFID, a real and measurable difference
Nowadays, RFID provides immediate and accurate information on products from the logistical platforms through to store suppliers. Real-time knowledge of product movements provides a more accurate inventory analysis and 50% more merchandise to be absorbed without having to increase the size of warehouses or stores.
Portable RFID readers are used at the point of sale for a quicker and more reliable delivery of parcels and for inventory counts, both in store and in the stockroom. RFID technology is also used as an anti-theft measure. It has reduced unexplained losses by 20-90% and is used as a tool for measuring the conversion rate of goods which have been taken into the fitting room.
Yourcegid Retail solutions are designed to improve the competitiveness, productivity and profitability of specialist retailing chains and transform the customer experience at the point of sale. Today more than 1,000 chains and 20,000 points of sale in more than 65 countries use Cegid Retail solutions to optimize their distribution chain, from the customer right back to the supplier, and from the retail shop back up to the head office.
Yourcegid Retail covers all the business requirements of a distribution chain:
• Creating the product line
• Procurement budgeting
• Sales forecasts
• Supply and Logistics
• Multi-channel merchandising
• Store management
• CRM & customer loyalty
• Performance management
The leading developer of management software in France with annual sales of €248.6 million in 2009, Cegid counts more than 2,000 employees and 350,000 users in France and abroad. With branch offices in Paris, New York, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, London, Casablanca, Shenzhen, Tokyo and Singapore, Cegid also relies on distribution agreements throughout the world in order to support its customers in their international growth.
Creator of solutions dedicated to enterprise performance and growth, Cegid has built its know-how on "business-specific" (retail, manufacturing, hospitality, services, wholesale, CPAs, public sector) and "functional" expertise (accounting and fixed asset management, taxes, financial management and reporting, and HR/payroll management). Cegid's products are tailored to businesses and public institutions of all sizes and are also available in "On Demand" (SaaS) mode.
With technologies that integrate naturally and meet users' industry-specific requirements, Cegid opens a new dimension in information technology: the creation of value for enterprises and those contributing to their growth.
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