Transforming the Store Experience

The Problem

The retail market has changed dramatically over the past few years, placing new demands on stores of all sizes. To create a multidimensional shopping experience for the customer - corporate executives, field managers, and store employees need access to a broad range of products and organizational information.

Customers
A recent Gartner study found that the majority of customer questions are inventory-related; and when shoppers can't get immediate answers to their questions, stores miss out on a sales opportunity.

Employees
When associates spend too much time searching bulletin boards, e-mails, faxes, or phone messages to get updates on HR, product, or training, productivity suffers. Employees also have the most contact with customers, yet they often know the least about the store's mission and goals and have no way to convey customer feedback to headquarters. Business consequences are loss in revenue and poor customer loyalty.

The Solution

Cisco Unified Communications for Retail Solutions provide store-level communications technologies that accelerate the flow of information between customers, employees, management, and executives.
The Cisco Intelligent Retail Network platform provides secure transmission of data, voice, and video traffic. Your gradual technology investment helps support improved sales, promote new products and services, and manage more effective decision making, while protecting your brand image and assets.
Cisco Unified Communications for Retail Solutions include:

• Customer IP applications, which help shoppers get the product information they need, using IP Phones. Cisco IP Phones throughout the store and in fitting rooms allow customers to scan product tags or call for assistance, while employees use inventory applications to manage stock. Cisco IP phones with color and touch screens can also be used to promote special offers and corporate brands.
• Employee IP applications, which support clocking in and scheduling, HR, payroll, and other operational tasks with an IP Phone or handheld device, maximizing productivity, training, and merchandising right from the sales floor. Managers can easily contact all personnel with a single group message by voice, e-mail, or video.
• Store collaboration tools, which support conferencing through a single networking conduit and facilitate communication between store employees, field management, and corporate executives. Messages developed at headquarters are uniformly broadcast to all stores, assuring consistent messaging on corporate decisions, goals, and mission.

Business Benefits:

• Increased revenue
• Greater customer loyalty
• Improved productivity
• Exemplary and unique service level
• Competitive advantage
• More convenience
• Consistent messaging
• Reinvestment of time to service
• Greater accessibility to information

Resources

Unified Communications for Retail Solutions Brochure
Spanlink Partner Brochure
IPcelerate Partner Brochure
LiteScape Partner Brochure