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11 Jan19:15pm

Retail Trends for 2021

There is no question that whatever we predicted would happen to retail in 2020 was quickly changed with the onslaught of the pandemic.

2020 forced bricks and mortar stores to expand their online presence and offer curbside pickup in order to survive.  Customer behavior also changed due to working from home, home-schooling and the desire to shop online for essentials such as groceries and health products.  Professional work attire was no longer needed, and sweats and athletic gear became the norm for virtual meetings.

Online stores not only had to deal with more competition, but some also had to look at different ways of attracting customers as marketplaces such as Amazon gave priority to essential product sellers.

As the pandemic continues to influence how we live and shop, many of these trends are predicted to continue throughout much of 2021. So what are the things that retailers need to do to arm themselves with the tools to attract shoppers and outstrip the competition?

In 2020 we learned that the retail supply chain was pushed to its limits by the pandemic, and this trend is likely to continue.  Retailers should expand their supply chain partners in order to be able to respond to unpredictable demand and be able to step in where the competition fails, either on product supply or ability to deliver in a timely manner.  Optimization of omnichannel fulfillment to customers and analysis of shopper behavior data will also be invaluable.

Last year’s experience has shown that technology to give you real-time inventory visibility and the ability to source products from the closest possible warehouse or supplier should be a top priority for 2021!

If you are struggling with inventory management, contact xocbox to learn how we can help.

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28 Apr21:55pm

As Ecommerce Grows, Recruiting Gets Tougher

The recent headline on the front cover of Internet Retailer magazine screamed out Always Be Recruiting. What is happening in the etail world?

Due to the improved economy, and huge growth in e-commerce, experienced e-retail staff have found themselves to be in great demand.

While this is great news for those seeking work, it is making life difficult for employers trying to find the help they need to remain competitive, and is especially frustrating for small and mid-sized companies whose staff may be moving on to greener pastures.

The US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting strong growth technical jobs that are essential to e-commerce. In fact, a survey by Dice.com which finds jobs for technical staff, found that 71% of those surveyed expected to see an increase in the number of technical staff they employ by as much as 11% in the first quarter of this year, and this scenario is expected to continue throughout the year.

One way companies are approaching this problem is with the use of technology in their own systems and processes to fuel growth, and this is where xocbox can help.

One of our customers recently observed that a process his staff had been doing manually before incorporating it into xocbox’s system, had taken about 15 minutes to do and involved cutting and pasting information from one place to another and possibly reformatting the data.

Since xocbox provides a central place to manage data from different sources, we were able to include this task into their processes, allowing staff to update data in their site in a matter of minutes by simply pressing a button and cutting out hours of tedious work.

If you are thinking of hiring more staff to keep up with an increasing workload, and ever changing demands, contact xocbox to see how we might be able to help.

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