New Book - out now on Amazon

Latest publication by BCS features couple of my articles. The title of the book is “Management Skills in IT” and it is now available onAmazon.

Retail technology needs to think on its feet

I came across an interesting and relevant blog post by Paul Broome, CTO at TOREX. He lists a number of examples of innovative retail trends and experiments such as, Ebay shop on Oxford Street, Shoreditch Boxpark, John Lewis pop-up shops (listed below) and then argues that IT can play a significant role in leading such future innovations.

• E-tailer giant eBay has taken its proposition to an empty shop just off Oxford Street where it has opened the eBay Boutique. The store is stocked with 350 eBay bestsellers ranging from perfumes to digital cameras and flatscreen TVs. There are no tills, instead customers pay with their smartphone by reading QR codes on product tags.
• Shoreditch's Boxpark project mall recently opened; this being the world's first pop-up mall, built from stripped and re-fitted shopping containers.
• John Lewis pop-up shops at the Vintage at Goodwood festival for the last two years running. The shop was geared towards the festival's audience, stocking vintage products and running sewing workshops, fashion and furnishing advice.

In an example of how technology can respond he cites Apple example. Apple has been using its own products as portable POS system for some time. The combination of a HTML5 POS with the portability and low cost of tablet computing means this type of technology is well-suited to retailers, restaurants and bars looking for a flexible solution. The technology is applicable for delivery through a cloud-based service, making it easily accessible, without a big investment in hardware and can be set up in a matter of minutes. He argues that, such agility and flexibility could allow retailers to explore new sales channels to meet targets, particularly in the run-up to Christmas and over the January sales.

How $1.25 Billion Gets Spent In A Day - Cyber Monday

Further sticking with the theme of past few posts....sharing an interesting article by Karen Frankel on Blockbuster Cyber Monday. She notes that the spending increased 22%, the largest jump on record. Ten million people bought products online, comScore says, gobbling up $1.25 billion in goods easily beating the online sales offered on Black Friday.

Given the chilly economy, this turnabout is something of a surprise. One factor may have been "austerity fatigue," says comScore's Vice President, Industry Analysis, Andrew Lipsman. Consumers were so hungry for a break from the ongoing constraints of the financial crisis that they indulged like chocolate addicts at a Godiva outlet. Shopping sprees at work, where buyers could avoid family members looking over their shoulders as they selected surprise gifts, accounted for half the dollars spent, comScore said. Consumers also had greater-than-ever-access to online promotions and searchable coupons.  Over 550 merchants made special offers on Cyber Monday, including free shipping, hourly specials and exclusives, and sneak peeks of the hourly deals shared via email alerts.