The Truth Behind “For Retail, By Retail” in the Retail Technology Industry
By Hunter Korpi, Director of Sales, ReStore for Retail
A few weeks ago, while speaking to a colleague in the retail technology industry, I had an epiphany on how so many vendors in the space use the slogan, “For Retail, By Retail.” Vendors love to espouse their deep understanding of the challenges stores face, and how that understanding has informed their product design to deliver the most value for their customers.
However, I think this sentiment deserves more critical examination from prospective retailers before they buy any “shiny object” store operations technology.
Most of these companies are founded by former retail executives or serial entrepreneurs who’ve surrounded themselves with retail industry consultants. The solutions they created are focused on solving a specific pain point or business challenge based on their professional experience. However, changes in the retail industry happen fast and so does what’s important.
The epiphany I had was none of these providers started with real-time data associated with running a profitable store–no one had built a solution around applying that data. What could data-driven retail do for the industry?
I really did not understand this perspective until I went to work for Hilco Global. Both their retail advisory practice and their own retail brands put them uniquely on the frontline of running profitable stores. They created their own Visual Store Experience (VSX) platform to help drive efficiency and effectiveness in their stores and for the retailers they support. They leveraged the data they had gathered over years of managing 30,000+ retail locations and baked it into ReStore for Retail.
As a retailer, Hilco Global also knew that data drives performance. Because of this, they focused on helping retailers capture the best data possible on what’s happening in their stores. With great datasets, brands are better able to adapt to new technologies, such as the emergence of AI.
Restore for Retail was developed as a mobile platform to easily capture, leverage and report on those day-to-day retail execution data points that will lead to continuous improvement in profitability through more engaged staff using the platform. Hilco Global and Restore for Retail work directly with the people most active in the retail community from store associates to district managers and top-level executives.
Because Hilco Global is using its own technology to run its stores, the ReStore team is consistently enhancing the product, as they are learning in real-time, which is leveraged to updating best practices across the platform.
ReStore for Retail closes the gap between strategy and execution. It empowers retailers to get back to the business of retailing - by simplifying daily store operations so staff can spend more time improving customer experience and their bottom line. ReStore for Retail is truly a ‘retailer built, and retailer proven’ solution.
ReStore for Retail is an independent operating unit of Hilco Global, one of the world’s leading retail authorities. To learn more about ReStore for Retail’s tech-enabled solutions, please visit www.restoreforretail.com.
