With technology advancing at its current rate, the one question on everybody’s mind is how can they prepare for the future? Francesca Nicasio attempts to explain how to do just that in her new book “Retail Survival of The Fittest: 7 Ways to Future Proof Your Retail Stores”.
Nicasio clearly did a large amount of research for her book as can be seen in the well structured, detailed information found in each chapter. In her book, Nicasio systematically addresses all areas of retail that are changing with technology, as well as changes to marketing and customer retention.
Two chapters that we found particularly relevant were chapters 3 and 4. Chapter 3, entitled “Taking the Guesswork out of Retail” explains the benefits of analyzing customer and sales data in order to optimize inventory to suit the customer needs. Here, she encourages the use of online inventory management systems and inventory-tracking software, such as small business inventory forecasting app, to ensure that small business owners can keep track of their inventory at all times across many different locations.
In chapter 4, entitled “Increasing Profits the Modern Way” she explains how to use this sales and inventory data and software to maximize the profitability of your business. She also suggests ways other processes that contain a lot of repetition could be optimized to save time, which in turn saves money.
There is no doubt the Nicasio has created a very useful guide to retailers who want to future-proof their stores. Her case studies show real situations where the techniques worked and her action steps at the end of each chapter explaining how to get started in a concise manner.
In terms of inventory management, online inventory management systems, such as QuickBooks inventory app, are the future. They simply offer too many better alternatives to traditional inventory management for this not to be the case. The message from Nicasio is clear: Future proof your retail stores, or risk getting left behind.