Managing retail IT services is a multifaceted ordeal, with new trends in technology increasing in importance because of the mood surrounding brick-and-mortar retail these days. But the impending doom facing retailers is exaggerated. We’re simply on the precipice—or, perhaps, we’ve just tipped over to the other side—of a new understanding about how people buy from retailers in the connected, mobile-dominated modern age.
Retail, on the whole, is changing to adapt with this new understanding. There are massive shifts taking place, both in terms of how retailers serve customers and how they manage themselves. Organizations overseeing retail field services have to research and prepare for those changes, which are affecting the type, scope, scale, and execution of IT deployments.
New in-store experiences mean more IT work
Managing field services for tens or hundreds of retail locations creates a lot of regular work, even when all the technology is working correctly. Operations checks, routine service, upgrades, installations, repairs, and on-site troubleshooting provide more than enough tasks to keep your field service technicians and the vendor you have managing them busy.
A mere minute of POS downtime can cost a retailer thousands of dollars in revenue, not to mention the drastic negative impact it can have on the customers that have this negative experience.
But many brick-and-mortar stores are going through elaborate transformations as online and mobile shopping increases. As retailers strategize about how to merge the convenience of e-commerce with the personal service of the in-store experience, the physical storefronts themselves are getting reimagined and redesigned with the latest technology. Some retailers are upgrading or installing these innovative solutions on an enterprise-wide scale, which will test any field services organization’s ability to flex accordingly. But even those that aren’t diving head-first into new retail technology still need their staffs to be trained on what the new capabilities are and how use them properly.
It’s more important than ever for organizations handling retail IT deployments to leverage the flexible, on-demand workforce of independent technicians available to them. The evolution of physical retail locations is leading to an increased workload, requiring a scalable talent pool of field service workers to handle higher demand. Additionally, new innovations like smart signage, interactive displays, in-store artificial intelligence, and virtual reality showrooms necessitate finding and acquiring specialists to handle these emerging uses of cutting-edge technology.
IoT, automation, and remote service are up next
The interconnected web created by Internet of Things (IoT) devices holds a lot of benefits for both the retailers and field service professionals that utilize it. IoT integration with brick-and-mortar retail improves the efficiency of inventory management (via self-monitoring) and allows for better, more elaborate in-store customer experiences. Trends like visual stock searches at a clothing store — where someone takes a picture and uses that to search the retailer’s inventory — or virtual remodeling experiences at home improvement stores all hinge on IoT devices.
But retail IT services aren’t limited to learning how to install and manage IoT devices in stores. Field services can be greatly improved by utilizing them as a way to provide greater automation and monitoring. IoT-connected devices can understand when they’re not working or connecting with others correctly, which in turn allows for them to automatically generate service tickets and even notify field service managers or nearby technicians that they need servicing.
Beyond self-monitoring and automated service requests, the always-connected nature of IoT devices allows for better monitoring and resolution without having to be on-site. Status reports can be generated remotely, and automatic diagnostic data capturing increases the ability of those handling retail IT services to address issues from afar and prepare technicians to issues and probable solutions before they arrive. Field service managers need to ensure that they platform they use for technician and project coordination is capable of integrating with the automation IoT device networks can provide.
Response times mean more than ever
Field service organizations understand how important reliability and good first-time fix rates are to retailers. A mere minute of POS downtime can cost a retailer thousands of dollars in revenue, not to mention the drastic negative impact it can have on the customers that have this negative experience.
But the latest in retail technology is not certain to work every time, and, even if it does work perfectly, it will take some time for retail store staffs to get acquainted with using this technology properly. The importance of innovations like IoT devices, interactive signage and displays, or new forms of payment and point-of-sale setups underscores the equal value of the IT field services supporting them. After all, some retailers see this emerging technology as the very thing that may justify the continued existence of brick-and-mortar stores.
Prepare your field services for the evolving world of retail IT by training your current technicians and project managers, sourcing independent technicians qualified to install and maintain these emergent forms of retail technology, and setting up your field service management platform to integrate with the wide array of data provided by today’s IoT devices.
Then use that preparation to quickly handle IoT device-generated service requests as well as repairs or in-store assistance when those issues arise. Customer satisfaction is at the heart of retail IT services and is a KPI that is maintained best by quickly resolving technology issues the first time, no matter whether it involves an old POS system or a cutting-edge interactive kiosk.
