Question And Answer – How To Break Six Bad Retail Planning Habits

By Karin Bursa, Logility

Retail has changed a lot in just the last few years, never mind the past 10 or 20 years. On the webcast, How to Break Six Bad Habits of Retail Planning, featuring RSR Research co-found Paula Rosenblum and Logility Director or Retail Business Consulting Jim Brown, we explored many of the processes (or habits) implemented a decade or more ago that are still at the heart of today’s retail operations. In order to keep pace with today’s market and be prepared for the coming wave of even more demanding customers, retailers must eliminate their old and outdated habits before they can achieve improved profitability, greater sell-through and increased service levels.

For many, this process is easier said than done.

During the webcast we received many questions from the live audience. Paula and Jim have taken the time to respond to several of the questions here on the Voyager Blog.

Q: Change involves people, process and technology. Which do you think is the hardest to fix?

Paula: I believe the people side is the hardest. Some people are honest and say, “I don’t like change.” Others say, “I am excited by change.” The reality is, no one likes change. When you are doing a repetitive activity, you get into a rhythm with it. Change their activity and disrupt their rhythm, and you’re bound to hear complaints.

When I was a practitioner, any implementation failures I experienced were not technological, they were cultural. A smart manager will get employees involved early and help them feel like they are part of the process rather than victims of it. Find out their pet peeves in their existing worlds and make sure you fix those first. If you make them part of the process change, you have a far better chance of succeeding.