How Can Retailers Best Prepare for Black Friday?
With Black Friday fast approaching, retailers must ensure they are fully prepared to deal with the increase in footfall in-store and capitalize on the huge sales opportunity. However, the rise of theft continues to threaten the success of Black Friday for retailers. Research by NRF discovered that retail crime accounted for over $112 billion in industry losses in 2022. As a result, it’s never been more important for brands to have the correct measures in place to reduce losses.
As well as in-store, retailers must also be aware of the threat online during Black Friday and by implementing the correct cybersecurity protocols, retailers can reduce the number and severity of attacks significantly. Meanwhile, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) can improve the customer experience which can reduce in-store pressures, ultimately allowing retailers to succeed during the busiest shopping period of the year.
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Providing an enhanced shopping experience
During Black Friday, retailers must ensure they have the appropriate stock for in-demand items to drive sales. However, this can be a major obstacle for retailers. Dean Frew, CTO and SVP of RFID Solutions at SML Group explains, “Understanding which products to stock heavily ahead of Black Friday can be a challenge, but retailers can use AI algorithms to analyze historical data and improve their demand forecasting processes. This allows them to more accurately predict the number and type of items to replenish ahead of the festive season. This provides retailers with enough of the right inventory to fulfill consumer demand, ultimately increasing their sales.”
Whilst AI is a useful tool implemented by retailers, its effectiveness is limited by inaccurate data sets. However, RFID technology can solve this issue by significantly increasing inventory accuracy. “AI is only as accurate as the data it relies upon,” Frew said. “To generate actionable insights, retailers must feed AI tools with accurate information. To access accurate inventory data in real-time, retailers can lean on item-level RFID solutions that help them gain over 98% inventory accuracy.”
A safer online experience
RFID technology is an effective way to improve in-store operations, but retailers must also be aware of their online presence and the emerging cyber threats that can have a negative impact.
“During the festive season, retailers collect significant amounts of data both online and offline, making them a tempting target for cybercriminals,” said Dominik Birgelen, CEO of Oneclick AG, a Swiss cloud company. “It is therefore paramount for retailers to ensure the security of customer data to maintain the trust and loyalty of their valued customers. While technological advancements have empowered retailers to bolster their cybersecurity, hackers also continue to leverage the latest innovations to make their attacks more sophisticated.”
The consequence of a cyberattack is catastrophic as it can not only negatively impact the customer’s shopping experience, but it can also damage brand reputation and customer loyalty. To mitigate the risks of these threats, retailers can adopt cloud solutions.
“ZTA is a security framework that assumes no inherent trust within a network. It focuses on verifying every user and device attempting to access resources, regardless of their location or network,” Birgelen said. “Retailers can adopt ZTA principles by implementing multifactor authentication, granular access controls, and continuous monitoring to ensure that only authorized entities can access sensitive data or systems.”
Preventing theft during the sales
Retail shoplifting is an ever-growing problem and with Black Friday only around the corner, it will be a high priority for many retailers. A lot of effort is being made to minimize theft, but retailers must look towards innovative solutions if they are able to succeed.
“Many retailers are locking high-value items, whereas some retailers have deployed checkout barriers that require receipt scanning before allowing customers to leave stores,” said Oleksandr Martyshko, senior mobile software architect at Teamwork Commerce, which makes mobile-first retail management software. “Questions remain over the effectiveness of barriers, and while locked products might reduce shoplifting, both solutions undeniably negatively impact the customer experience for in-store visitors. They significantly slow down and disrupt shoppers in an industry where success is increasingly reliant on providing seamless, speedy services.”
Undoubtedly, Black Friday presents a great opportunity for retailers. Reducing theft must be a priority, but it must be achieved without sacrificing the customer experience.
“With technologies such as RFID-powered self-checkout, retailers can reduce theft while providing a high-quality customer experience,” Oleksandr continued. “Products can be equipped with RFID tags, which are capable of triggering in-store alarms and deployed at item level. From here, shoppers simply place their filled baskets or carts into a designated zone at checkout. All items are scanned by RFID readers within seconds, significantly reducing the time spent at checkout.”
Driving success
This year’s Black Friday is unique, to say the least. Retail theft is at the highest it’s ever been, cyber-attacks remain as potent as ever and retailers are continuing to search for the best ways to utilize AI for their in-store process. What hasn’t changed is the opportunity Black Friday presents for retailers. To build new, long-lasting relationships with customers and drive sales, retailers must implement the correct technological solutions to improve the customer experience and reduce theft, allowing brands to succeed during the busiest shopping period of the year.
