by No To the Bike Parking Tax

Article by Terry Cruikshank

Retailers’ who are best prepared to accept change and diversify technology purchases will remain the most competitive within the industry. Embracing technological advancements is expected for retailers in 2011. New technology solutions help Retailers to communicate with today’s consumers more effectively and quickly. From the way consumers first notice in-store signage, get daily deals or learn of promotions, the future of improved retail signage is now.

The recession has played a major factor in determining how consumers shop. More and more customers are watching their spending, seeking discounts and using their debit cards. According to a Chicago-based research firm, 35% of U.S. consumers choose where to shop based on special offers and discounts . As a result, retailers with in-store promotional and pricing signage for store merchandise must be able to access multiple sign files and folders in a timely manner to communicate current deals and drive sales. Many retail headquarters create signs and save the files to pubic folders for store managers to print onsite. However, many face problems with this method such as not being able to react quickly enough to the competition; inconsistent signage not meeting corporate guidelines; lengthy time to market; posting of incorrect or outdated promotions and incurring waste and shipping expenses. Without easy access to these files and no way of tracking if the correct files are being printed, retailers continue to look for new technologies that help improve signage communications with consumers.

With the internet being a convenient, easy and fast way to shop and search for promotions, discounted pricing is no longer the key component for retailers to attract customers. In-store experiences and customer service have quickly become influential factors along with promotions for consumers when choosing where to shop. Signage to communicate timely discounts is essential when it comes to improving the overall customers’ in-store experience. Many retailers manage all of their store signage utilizing in-house systems that use up large amounts of server space. Some of these methods are outdated and time consuming and have no easy way to automate or organize the availability of the signs based on promotion/regional access or timing. Retailers face challenges with structural support by not having the capability to organize sign libraries, sort or remove outdated files. Common errors take place at the manual process for merchandising personnel. Processing and printing files has become a tedious job and often leads to inaccurate promotional signs and a decrease in employee productivity. Various sign sizes require employees to select the correct print driver and media settings. As a result, retailers have seen an increase in employee training for the sole purpose of printing signage to various paper sizes.

The need to upgrade to a more sophisticated system to improve employee productivity and create a more simplified and streamlined printing process for in-store signage has become evident and in many cases, critical for retailers. Being able to quickly react to competitors and manage multiple files and folders with multiple users can seem like a daunting task for both small and large retailers, but the need to embrace new technologies has become more and more essential as consumers continue to expect more from their in-store experiences and retailers have to be more aggressive and react faster to meet changing marketplace needs.

SignDirector by OKI is an ideal solution for retailers requiring an easy way for store personnel to print- on-demand, the right signs for each location while reducing the time to post promotions from weeks to minutes. Powered by Microsoft SharePoint®, the SignDirector solution is simple to integrate into a variety of network infrastructures, delivering the most efficient way to distribute and manage signage across an entire retail organization.

SignDirector provides retailers with a document management system for merchandising processes, allowing corporate to easily manage and distribute merchandising materials and other documents electronically to stores via a private web portal, and permitting store personnel to quickly print signs on demand. The application leverages the strengths of SharePoint Server and provides retailers with a collaborative tool that encompasses document management capabilities and application templates to provide a role-based management tool that lets the merchandisers manage content while IT is responsible for the infrastructure.

Three proprietary features of SignDirector — Time-Based Promotions, Merchandising Categories and Store Groups — allow merchandisers to fully manage the large volume of sign files in the system. With Time-Based Promotions, retailers can create a specific titled promotion and assign a start and end date. Through Merchandising Categories, specific pull-down menus for various store segments or departments are created to simplify and manage categories for easy identification. Finally, with Store Groups, merchandising managers have the ability to create customized groups to set up promotions by region or store type.

SignDirector’s driverless printing feature improves the overall printing process – empowering merchandising groups to manage and direct signs to any number of locations for simple “no fuss” on-site printing. With print settings embedded in the files, on-site printing is easy and retailers are assured perfect printing every time.

Burlington Coat Factory (BCF) a national department store retail chain agreed to be the first retailer to test OKI’s sign management tool. Based on its success, SignDirector has since been rolled out to all of its stores. BCF features coats, apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family, along with baby clothes, furniture, toys, home decor items and gifts. The company has more than 465 stores in 44 states nationwide, all requiring promotional and pricing signage for store merchandise.

“We have countless merchandise and promotions to keep up with, and our employee productivity and time to market were being affected by the inefficiency and inflexibility of our printing process. By partnering with OKI, we were able to develop together a true solution specific to our needs, which has yielded positive results right from the start of our implementation.” Brad Friedman, SVP of Information Services, Burlington Coat Factory

As the marketplace aims to provide a better shopping experience for customers, professional-looking and easy-to-read signage is an essential step for retailers. The store environment and merchandise signage is a focal point in a customer’s experience. Retailers now have the opportunity to take advantage of technological advancements that improve overall processes, increase efficiencies and gain the competitive edge.

Click here, to find out about OKI’s SignDirector solution.

Article also published in Recharger Magazine, August 2011, by Terry Cruikshank, Senior Manager, Industry Marketing | OKI Data Americas

About the Author

Terry Cruikshank is the Senior Manager of Industry Marketing at OKI Data Americas

by No To the Bike Parking Tax

Article by Terry Cruikshank

Retailers’ who are best prepared to accept change and diversify technology purchases will remain the most competitive within the industry. Embracing technological advancements is expected for retailers in 2011. New technology solutions help Retailers to communicate with today’s consumers more effectively and quickly. From the way consumers first notice in-store signage, get daily deals or learn of promotions, the future of improved retail signage is now.

The recession has played a major factor in determining how consumers shop. More and more customers are watching their spending, seeking discounts and using their debit cards. According to a Chicago-based research firm, 35% of U.S. consumers choose where to shop based on special offers and discounts . As a result, retailers with in-store promotional and pricing signage for store merchandise must be able to access multiple sign files and folders in a timely manner to communicate current deals and drive sales. Many retail headquarters create signs and save the files to pubic folders for store managers to print onsite. However, many face problems with this method such as not being able to react quickly enough to the competition; inconsistent signage not meeting corporate guidelines; lengthy time to market; posting of incorrect or outdated promotions and incurring waste and shipping expenses. Without easy access to these files and no way of tracking if the correct files are being printed, retailers continue to look for new technologies that help improve signage communications with consumers.

With the internet being a convenient, easy and fast way to shop and search for promotions, discounted pricing is no longer the key component for retailers to attract customers. In-store experiences and customer service have quickly become influential factors along with promotions for consumers when choosing where to shop. Signage to communicate timely discounts is essential when it comes to improving the overall customers’ in-store experience. Many retailers manage all of their store signage utilizing in-house systems that use up large amounts of server space. Some of these methods are outdated and time consuming and have no easy way to automate or organize the availability of the signs based on promotion/regional access or timing. Retailers face challenges with structural support by not having the capability to organize sign libraries, sort or remove outdated files. Common errors take place at the manual process for merchandising personnel. Processing and printing files has become a tedious job and often leads to inaccurate promotional signs and a decrease in employee productivity. Various sign sizes require employees to select the correct print driver and media settings. As a result, retailers have seen an increase in employee training for the sole purpose of printing signage to various paper sizes.

The need to upgrade to a more sophisticated system to improve employee productivity and create a more simplified and streamlined printing process for in-store signage has become evident and in many cases, critical for retailers. Being able to quickly react to competitors and manage multiple files and folders with multiple users can seem like a daunting task for both small and large retailers, but the need to embrace new technologies has become more and more essential as consumers continue to expect more from their in-store experiences and retailers have to be more aggressive and react faster to meet changing marketplace needs.

SignDirector by OKI is an ideal solution for retailers requiring an easy way for store personnel to print- on-demand, the right signs for each location while reducing the time to post promotions from weeks to minutes. Powered by Microsoft SharePoint®, the SignDirector solution is simple to integrate into a variety of network infrastructures, delivering the most efficient way to distribute and manage signage across an entire retail organization.

SignDirector provides retailers with a document management system for merchandising processes, allowing corporate to easily manage and distribute merchandising materials and other documents electronically to stores via a private web portal, and permitting store personnel to quickly print signs on demand. The application leverages the strengths of SharePoint Server and provides retailers with a collaborative tool that encompasses document management capabilities and application templates to provide a role-based management tool that lets the merchandisers manage content while IT is responsible for the infrastructure.

Three proprietary features of SignDirector — Time-Based Promotions, Merchandising Categories and Store Groups — allow merchandisers to fully manage the large volume of sign files in the system. With Time-Based Promotions, retailers can create a specific titled promotion and assign a start and end date. Through Merchandising Categories, specific pull-down menus for various store segments or departments are created to simplify and manage categories for easy identification. Finally, with Store Groups, merchandising managers have the ability to create customized groups to set up promotions by region or store type.

SignDirector’s driverless printing feature improves the overall printing process – empowering merchandising groups to manage and direct signs to any number of locations for simple “no fuss” on-site printing. With print settings embedded in the files, on-site printing is easy and retailers are assured perfect printing every time.

Burlington Coat Factory (BCF) a national department store retail chain agreed to be the first retailer to test OKI’s sign management tool. Based on its success, SignDirector has since been rolled out to all of its stores. BCF features coats, apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family, along with baby clothes, furniture, toys, home decor items and gifts. The company has more than 465 stores in 44 states nationwide, all requiring promotional and pricing signage for store merchandise.

“We have countless merchandise and promotions to keep up with, and our employee productivity and time to market were being affected by the inefficiency and inflexibility of our printing process. By partnering with OKI, we were able to develop together a true solution specific to our needs, which has yielded positive results right from the start of our implementation.” Brad Friedman, SVP of Information Services, Burlington Coat Factory

As the marketplace aims to provide a better shopping experience for customers, professional-looking and easy-to-read signage is an essential step for retailers. The store environment and merchandise signage is a focal point in a customer’s experience. Retailers now have the opportunity to take advantage of technological advancements that improve overall processes, increase efficiencies and gain the competitive edge.

Click here, to find out about OKI’s SignDirector solution.

Article also published in Recharger Magazine, August 2011, by Terry Cruikshank, Senior Manager, Industry Marketing | OKI Data Americas

About the Author

Terry Cruikshank is the Senior Manager of Industry Marketing at OKI Data Americas