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Introduction
As in every other aspect of the business world today, retail businesses are confronted by a multitude of challenges. The trend toward market globalization has opened up new retail market opportunities for businesses of every size and description. To stay ahead of the competition, retailers must effectively manage a multitude of variables, maximize efficiency, and collaborate effectively with trading partners and suppliers around the world. Midsize retailers face the same challenges as their larger, direct competitors?companies that typically have greater resources and better developed technology infrastructures. For example, retailers of all sizes are faced with the same need to carefully monitor and vigilantly maintain inventory levels. Large inventory levels at store and distribution centers are not uncommon due to decentralized requirement planning and the use of older, non-integrated solutions. Market conditions, including the trend toward just-in-time manufacturing, have made it necessary for retailers of all sizes to develop new skill sets and utilize more powerful technology solutions in order to help them manage ever-shorter manufacturing-to-retail processes and timelines. In addition, midsize retailers are having a harder time understanding customer buying and behavior trends, as well as catching the attention of skilled and desirable employees and then retaining them for acceptable periods.
Current Technology Challenges
A number of technology limitations impair the ability of many midsize retailers to compete most effectively. For example, many retailers lack visibility into critical business performance indicators, which some try to alleviate through time-consuming analysis using Microsoft Office Excel 2003 or other spreadsheet applications. Some may not be using electronic processes at all, or they may be using older product versions, occasionally in addition to incompatible or non-integrated business systems?a situation that can lead to even more time and effort, potentially costly errors, untrustworthy data, and difficulties gaining complete visibility into business activities and performance. Finally, many midsize retailers struggle with the need for more centralized data processing, and most need better, easier access to information about their businesses as well as better connections between business systems to help them grow or maintain profitability.
The combination of these industry-wide challenges and technology constraints can translate into real problems for business decision makers at every level of a retail organization. The CEO needs solid, real-time data from every level of the business in order to make the most strategic decisions. For the CFO, these concerns may manifest in the form of difficulty hitting profit and revenue targets due to high store operating costs, declining margins, shrinkage, high labor costs, and problems managing growth effectively.
Members of the sales team also need real-time visibility into information such as sales by product and other trends, without which they may be unable to contribute effectively to the overall health of the business. Industry challenges and technology constraints also impact customer service personnel, who may be unable to track transactions in real time or analyze up-to-date business data to understand customer trends and buying habits.
Retail Chain Manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX
Retail Chain Manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX has been specifically designed to help retailers streamline their business operations and better manage products, processes, transactions, and business relationships for greater profitability. Retail Chain Manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX can help increase retail profits by boosting operational efficiency, enhancing business insight, and helping better connect people, information, and processes.
In addition, Retail Chain Manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX can be easily tailored to meet each retailer's unique business needs using a wizard-based setup and advanced integration tools. The solution includes key functionality that helps retailers streamline processes and access and analyze critical information from across the entire retail operation. It can also help pinpoint information, so retailers can make better-informed decisions to help their businesses survive?and thrive?against the competition.
The information in the following pages will show how Retail Chain Manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX can help retailers manage all the details of their business while staying profitable.
Technology Guidelines for the Retail Industry
Retail industry solutions can deliver strong business value for the following retail business stakeholders:
- Business leaders, who need access to real-time data on all levels of the organization in order to monitor key performance indicators, correct system downtime and integration problems, and manage staffing and budget issues
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