As brick and mortar and online retail channels merge, store operations executives are struggling with two key issues: visibility into incoming online demand and aligning this demand with in-store labor. To overcome these issues, early adopters of omni-channel strategies are realizing that incorporating labor and store fulfillment can lead to greater profit margins.
A new relationship announced between Kronos Incorporated and Manhattan Associates will help retailers profitably integrate their stores into their digital selling strategy. This will allow them to increase customer satisfaction and drive sales by freeing up trapped inventory in the store, while managing labor costs.
News Facts
Retailers typically manage their operations based on historical shopping patterns, and therefore, their information is collected in silos – online vs. in-store. But managing their in-store workforce based only on data collected at the store level, such as Point-of-Sale (POS) and traffic, is preventing retailers from maximizing margins in an omni-channel environment.
Kronos and Manhattan Associates have teamed up to provide a solution that empowers retailers to fully exploit profit margin potentials from channel store operations. The joint solution will enable retailers to efficiently execute store fulfillment processes while better staffing their stores accordingly. These two solutions, when paired together, will account for labor demands from all selling channels and from all non service-based activities now required to support the omni-channel initiatives.
As a result of the relationship, retailers will have the ability to:
Drive sales by tapping into inventory assets across all stores and distribution centers, which were previously unavailable to online shoppers.
Manage labor costs by eliminating overstaffing due to an uninformed attempt at managing an omni-channel strategy with siloed data.
Increase customer satisfaction by better scheduling and staffing in-store associates to meet customer demand.
In addition to helping retailers execute their omni-channel strategy, the relationship will allow retailers to better schedule and staff their in-store employees for workloads originating from the distribution centers and external suppliers such as special orders, large seasonal resets, and drop shipments.
Leading retailers around the world use Kronos to better manage their workforce and turn to Manhattan Associates for omni-channel excellence. Working together, the two industry leaders will help retailers achieve additional benefits from the use of their solutions.
Supporting Quotes
Leslie Hand, research director, IDC Retail Insights “Optimizing for the omni-channel customer requires that retailers tap into their inventory and human resources efficiently in order to provide the best service level possible. The relationship between Kronos and Manhattan will help retailers accomplish this goal.”
Liz Moughan, director, retail and hospitality practice group, Kronos “Comprehensive real-time labor and supply chain data is essential in an omni-channel approach, as consumers today move from one channel to another, often returning through different channels to finish the purchasing process. Workforce management and supply chain optimization are at the core of an omni-channel retailing strategy. Together with Manhattan Associates we look forward to offering retailers a powerful solution leading to better business outcomes.”
David Landau, vice president, product management, Manhattan Associates “As omni-channel initiatives increasingly turn to stores and store inventory to help meet customer demand, the need for process integration between store fulfillment and workforce management will be an imperative for maintaining profit margins. The combination of Kronos and Manhattan Associates’ domain expertise will give retailers the solutions to ensure their strategies provide profitable growth, all while maintaining and growing customer service levels.”
Supporting Resources
Kronos and Manhattan Associates made this announcement from the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 102nd Annual Convention & Expo being in held in New York from Jan. 13-16. Kronos is exhibiting in booth #1825. Manhattan Associates is exhibiting in booth #741.
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About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in delivering workforce management solutions in the cloud. Tens of thousands of organizations in more than 100 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000— use Kronos to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity.
About Manhattan Associates, Inc.
Manhattan Associates continues to deliver on its 23-year heritage of providing global supply chain excellence to more than 1,200 customers worldwide that consider supply chain optimization core to their strategic market leadership.
