Tyco Retail Solutions and EKN Find Inventory Optimization Topping Retailers' Wish List for this Season

NEUHAUSEN, SWITZERLAND--(Marketwired - Nov 17, 2016) - Tyco Retail Solutions (www.tycoretailsolutions.com) recently partnered with EKN Research to look at how retailers are managing the challenges of omni-channel retail and meeting the needs of their evolving shoppers. Having real-time enterprise-wide inventory available to shoppers and store associates is paramount to satisfy today's customers anytime and anywhere. The research e-book Inventory Optimization found that 50 percent of the retailers surveyed are unable to provide a single view of their in-stock position, and as such, sales can decline as much as 8.2 percent of total sales due to lack of inventory accuracy. This lack of visibility can cause retailers serious issues ahead of the busy holiday shopping season.

Inventory Visibility is Key for Omni-Channel Holiday
As brick and clicks continue to collide this holiday season, customer demands require a high degree of timely and accurate inventory availability via real-time inventory data access. Store in-stock levels that consistently fall below 85 to 90 percent pose a significant risk to sales and customer satisfaction as out-of-stocks can greatly impact holiday spending.

"Precise monitoring and optimization of inventory is critical to support retailers' operational performance in the omni-channel age," said Tony D'Onofrio, Chief Customer Officer, Tyco Retail Solutions. "As retailers seek to amplify the customer experience, awareness of stores' in-stock positions can help manage customer demand effectively at the item, store and channel level. This is especially important as customers use fulfillment options like Buy Online Pick-up In-Store (BOPIS), this holiday season."

New Fulfilment Options Require Better Accuracy
When it comes to adopting new ways to shop, today's customers are moving at lightning speed. To keep up the pace, 7 out of 10 retailers say they want to improve same day or next day fulfilment and shipping capabilities to meet consumer demand. However, item-level inventory insights are required for fast turnaround delivery and omni-channel options, like BOPIS or ship from store, which will increase significantly throughout the holiday season.

Actionable Omni-Channel Next Steps
"The results of our 2016 'Immersive Retail Experience Survey' indicate that inventory availability is more important than ever to improve business and customer intelligence. Investing in inventory management technology, as 40 percent of respondents plan to do within the year, is a key strategy to address this need," said Sahir Anand, Vice President Research & Principal Analyst, EKN.

The second e-book in a three-part series, Inventory Optimization, discusses the omni-channel inventory issues facing retailers and recommends tools and processes to better meet customer-centric demands. The final e-book in this series, Store Excellence and Performance, will be released in December.

About Tyco Retail Solutions
Tyco Retail Solutions, part of Johnson Controls, is a leading provider of analytics-based Loss Prevention, Inventory Intelligence and Traffic Insights. Tyco's solutions provide real-time visibility and predictive analytics to help retailers maximize business outcomes and enhance the customer experience in a digitally-driven shopping world. With over 1.5 million data collection devices in the retail marketplace, Tyco captures 40+ billion shopper visits annually to empower retailers with actionable insights to drive better operational performance. Worldwide, Tyco helps protect 80% of the world's top 200 retail chains with its premier Sensormatic®, ShopperTrak® and TrueVUE™ brands, as well as a full suite of premium safety and security solutions. For more information, please visit TycoRetailSolutions.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and our YouTube channel.

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EKN Research
Our research agenda is developed using inputs from the end user community and the end user community extensively reviews the research before it is published. This ensures that we inject a healthy dose of pragmatism into the research and recommendations. This includes input of what research topics to pursue, incorporating heavy practitioner input -- via interviews etc., and ensuring that the blend of research takeaways are oriented towards a real-world, practical application of insights with community sign-off. For more information, visit www.eknresearch.com.