The cinema chain also began using Twitter in August to handle customer enquiries such as when movies will be released in Australia and also promote competitions such as free movie tickets.
This also provides us with a platform upon which we can more easily add additional functionality and more rapidly respond to change, Doro says.
While use of the cloud has been the strategy from the start, the company has only recently started noises on Facebook and Twitter.
free scanner frequencies Retail cashes in on technology,
This has enabled the company to reduce transaction times at POS, improve targetmarketing to consumers, provide more immediate and accurate information regarding stock on hand in any of its stores, as well as increase security in store for staff and customers, says Doro.
These, and other in-store efficiencies, are being re-invested into improving customer service.
The companys Australian marketing relationship manager, Mark Tsen, says the self service approach is at the core of keeping price tags as low as it can.
The only IT requirement Dahlgren needs is full redundancy on an internet connection in order to run the cloud offerings. In addition, he says it is in the process of moving the companys PABX system into the cloud. The service of this will be handled by IPscape.
The Australian retail sector has been doing it tough of late with the triple whammy of a strong dollar, consumers increasing their purchases from overseas-based onlinefree scanner frequencies Retail cashes in on technology retailers and the two-speed economy.
Hoyts
Commenting on its supply chain and stock back end systems Tsen says the company does not use RFID or near field communications (NFC) yet, and still relies on the traditional barcode on pallets and individual products.
In reality, my IT room is a half rack, Dahlgren says. The only thing that resides in that half rack is a file server and a mail server. Both of which, I plan, in the foreseeable future to put in the Cloud as well.
The in-store retail experience is being overhauled through the use of technologies such as self service checkouts, ster ticketing and Tap and Go payments. The online experience has also been overhauled and social media is increasingly being used to improve customer service and build customer loyalty.
The company also has an iPad application for its store magazine, Emporium, as well as an iPhone application linked to its existing website which means customers have the convenience of shopping using their iPhone.
The Information Security Forum (ISF), an free scanner frequenciesindependent information security body, has launched a report giving advice to businesses on how they can prepare their organisations for cy(...)
People also have the perception that they can rent a movie at home for a few dollars and watch it on their home entertainment system so our focus is how we deliver better products and services he says. Part of its bid to compete with home entertainment systems was investing in huge screens with 7.1 surround sound which shakes the seat from the bass frequencies.
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On the curse side, the biggest threats to the business arent the downturn in retail, the two speed economy or the high dollar; theyre pirated downloads and consumers who prefer to invest money in home entertainment systems so they can watch movies in the comfort of their own lounge rooms.
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The lack of physical IT infrastructure has proven to be beneficial for the company, particularly when it relocated its Sydney office about nine months ago.
The Australian retail sector has been doing it tough of late with the triple whammy of a strong dollar, consumers increasing their purchases from overseas-based online retailers and the two-speed economy.
There are some operational questions about how we implement that, just because of the physical layout of our cinemas, and the need for some people to come back out [when the movie is playing] to go to the candy bar or go to the toilet, he says of the project.
Es Police has awarded outsourcer Northgate Information Solutions an IT services framework contract that is worth up to 400 million.
If we can take that [inconvenience] away and help people to have a better experience at Hoyts, than that is something we want to do with whatever technology we implement, he says.
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We do receive compliments back via our call centre but this is an instant way of getting feedback, good or bad.
IT operations general manager, Mark Doro, says it made investments in a number of areas including merchandise, point of sale (POS), closed circuit TV (CCTV) and loyalty systems.
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Henry says the company is keeping an eye on streaming media because while it is not as mature as the US online ordering business, Netflix, yet the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) could change this due to increased download speeds.
When Dahlgren arrived at the company, it only had what he describes as very basic website pages for its products. Since then, weve expanded those pages to proper content pages, he says. On Facebook we have over 11,000 likes for skin care product Nude by Nature which has grown in just a few months.
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Meanwhile, its weight loss product Rapid has 1200 likes. Nude by Nature and Rapid are also promoted on Twitter. Hi Lifes Facebook page is also used to get customer feedback on its products.
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Like many of Australias major retailers, furniture giant IKEA has realised self service kiosks are the way of the future -- as well as being integral to the IKEA concept.
Hoyts is also planning to eventually phase out its ticketing system as the penetration of smart phones begins to ramp up so patrons will simply have to present their smartphone with a virtual ticket displayed on it. According to Henry smartphone penetration is now at over 50 per cent in the Australian market.
With regard to self-checkout and contactless payments, the company is investigating a number of payment technologies such as contactless pinpads as well as mobile POS offerings. Myers current POS system allows it to deploy wireless registers in store to support sale and special events.
The investment in closed circuit TV has also helped Myer to reduce shrinkage, which includes theft and fraud, improve the system availability and improve efficiencies.
Quite frankly, I am not interested in acquiring lots of hardware assets and maintaining them. For me, the cloud is the perfect solution.
Despite the potential for negative customer experiences to spread very quickly on social media, Tsen says there is actually benefits and efficiencies to be had in addressing customer issues in an open forum.
Hi Life Health and Beauty
He says the movie exhibition industry as a whole wants to move to electronic tickets because picking up a ticket is seen as more of an inconvenience these days.
He added that the implementation of a new POS system has meant ster transaction processing while the central loading of promotional activities, such as significantly reduced manual processes it easier for store team members.
We have recently implemented a wirelessly connected device that handles end to end product replacement, he says. The technology alongside the process change, has increased restocking time, stock availability, as well as stock level accuracy.
That is still at a trial stage and we are evaluating regions that have the Tap and Go capability and looking at integrating that into our ticketing system, Henry says.
In response, the company has turned to social media, rolling out a Facebook application, SocialTix, to make it easier for customers to buy tickets. As of August the SocialTix application had 1,391 likes although Hoyts did not have any numbers of how many people had actually used SocialTix.
While many companies are now embracing the cloud, cosmetics and weight loss company, Hi Life Health and Beauty, has made use of cloud services since 2006 and, as a consequence, has no IT staff on its payroll.
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A year ago the transition of IT infrastructure into the Cloud was accelerated with the appointment of chief operating officer, Mikael Dahlgren. Dahlgren says he was responsible for the companys IT strategy and has continued its preference to rely heavily on outsourced IT.
We also want to streamline that process so people can get a seat online and not have to stand in a queue waving their credit card around. Were working with a third party integrator on a project so people can present their mobile device at a scanner and have the barcode on the smartphone screen scanned.
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It still requires resources and even though we have a high frequency of repeated questions were moving toward integrating this more with the customer relations function within the business, he says.
Myer
We have also been focussed in a more general sense in preventing IT from being an impediment to the business, and weve worked hard to increase the flexibility of our systems and processes to enable to us to readily respond to changing service levels, infrastructure and project demands, Doro says.
To overcome this expected problem, Hoyts is in talks with its operational team to see how they can prevent people from going out with their phone and trying to sneak back a friend or two.
According to Tsen, there is a healthy level of usage and time spent by customers using the kiosks.
Department store giant, Myer, identified a number of years ago that technology could play a meaningful role in improving the operations and performance of the company.
At the moment all my business critical systems are in the cloud such as the call centre in Sydney and other applications such as the ERP system which includes the accounting distribution system, he says.
While IKEA in Australia does not have an online shopping presence -- it, like major retailers views the in-store experience as central -- it has utilised online tools, namely Facebook and Twitter, to build and serve its customer base. According to Tsen, IKEAs Facebook community has 80,000 members and theres also a healthy amount of interaction which takes place on this page, ranging from customer service issues, to questions about store openings.
Tsen says IKEA has a wide range of kiosks in stores ranging from product availability and location through to design and decision tools, as well as the kiosk for IKEA mily where members can view offers, manage their account details and book seminars.
IKEA
Despite the protestations of high-profile retailers such as Harvey Normans Gerry Harvey, the future of retail is looking brighter according to major retailers.
In an effort to keep afloat many retailers are turning to technology as a means to innovate and are increasingly retaining, and in many cases, winning back customers.
The CCTV system was installed to improve security, safety, compliance and reduce the cost of business. So r, the benefits for customers have meant reduced theft, greater availability of merchandise and a safer shopping environment. In the supply chain area, he said this has been a major focus for Myer over the last five years. We recently completed the first stage of work in support of the establishment of our global sourcing offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
On top of its IPscape-based cloud customer contact centre, Dahlgren says the companys Netsuite enterprise resource planning system is also in the cloud.
We have 80 staff and we are approaching $50 million turn over but the ct is that we can run this business with no IT staff, he says. I have a third party person coming in two half days a week to do desktop support and some general maintenance but that is it, there are no IT people on my payroll.
For the Hoyts cinema chain technology has been both a blessing and a curse to its retail operations, the companys business systems manager, Geoff Henry, says.
While the company does have a Twitter presence, the company is not seeing the same volume of commentary as on Facebook, Tsen says. However, there are plans afoot to integrate Twitter more as a pure customer relations/service channel so IKEA can respond quickly to customer enquiries and complaints.
To make ticket purchasing easier it is also working on a Tap and Go payment project with the Commonwealth Bank as part of a broader rejuvenation of the point of sale systems.
