Internet users decide in an average of eight seconds1 whether they are going to stay on a site or not, so it is crucial
NEW PRACTICES FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE RETAIL SECTOR
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INTROduction
GOOGLE ENTERPRISE IS A DIVISION OF GOOGLE THAT IS DEDICATED TO PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS. ITS MISSION IS TO HELP COMPANIES CREATE, SHARE AND FIND INFORMATION. Google Enterprise solutions transform the way people work on a day-to-day basis thanks to tools intended for team collaboration and designed for the web.
GOOGLE ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS ARE GROUPED INTO THREE MAIN CATEGORIES
applications (Google Apps)
SEARCH
(Google Search)
GEOLOCATION
(Google Maps / Google Earth)
As a recognised partner of the retail industry, working with customers like Ahold, Brand Alley, GANT, L’Occitane, Rituals and Specsavers, Google Enterprise has identified a number of trends and opportunities in this sector.
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AN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND COSTLY SUPPLY CHAIN, PARTICULARLY FOR RETAILERS WITH AN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE.. “Faced with increasing competition over prices and the growing cost of raw materials, profit margins are shrinking away to nothing.” Source : Accenture, 2011.
TEAMS ARE SCATTERED WITH LIMITED MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION, PARTICULARLY AT POINTS OF SALE. «At Best Buy, only 2000 of the 180,000 employees work in collaboration with one another.» Source : Jacob Morgan, Chess Media Group, 2011.
THE EMERGENCE OF ONLINE TO STORE (O2S), WHICH CONSISTS OF SEARCHING ONLINE THEN BUYING AT THE SHOP. Faced with an increasingly wide choice of products, consumers are becoming more and more demanding and better informed. 64% of consumers carry out online research before visiting a shop to make a purchase. Source : Commission Européenne, 2010
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OPPORTUNITIES
ATTRACT CUSTOMERS, WIN THEIR LOYALTY, IMPROVE THEIR EXPERIENCE both online and in the shop
FOSTER COLLABORATION AND PROMOTE INNOVATION within your teams within your teams
IMPROVE WORKING PROCEDURES
GOOGLE ENTERPRISE OFFERS SOLUTIONS TO CAPTURE THESE OPPORTUNITIES RIGHT NOW with simple yet powerful tools like Google Apps, Google Chromebook, Google Search, Google Commerce Search and Google Maps.
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OPPORTUNITIES
ATTRACT CUSTOMERS, WIN THEIR LOYALTY, IMPROVE THEIR EXPERIENCE BOTH ONLINE AND IN THE SHOP Google Enterprise offers a richer customer experience thanks to tools that promote teamwork and are designed for the web, like Google Apps, Google Commerce Search, Android and Chromebook for Business.
These solutions put brands in touch with new customers, improve online profitability, increase levels of traffic to points of sale and enrich the customer’s in-shop experience with new dimensions that bring together sales advice and the sensory experience.
Search: generate interest before the sale Internet users decide in an average of eight seconds1 whether they are going to stay on a site or not, so it is crucial to help customers find the products and services that meet their needs quickly. Google Search Appliance and Google Commerce Search (GCS) encourage the discovery of new products and offer a better online shopping experience thanks to the speed and intuitiveness of Google’s search technology. Google Commerce Search is a high-performance search solution specifically designed for online or multi-channel retail.
By bringing together the data relating to online products and the speed and familiarity of Google Search, GCS provides visitors with the information they need to make their purchasing decisions, all in a response time of just a few milliseconds and with unequalled precision. The repercussions of this enhanced user experience are that it increases website conversion rates, increases sales and develops customer loyalty. 1 Source : « Eight Seconds to Capture Attention: Silverpop’s Landing Page Report » (2007)
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« L’Occitane is unique in that our beauty products centre around ingredients such as lavender, shea butter and verbena. As our customers visit our re-designed website to shop and research our products, we’re excited about the speed and accuracy of on-site search results that will be provided to us through Google Commerce Search.» Christine Burke VP of International E-Commerce, L’Occitane.
Other online traders have reported impressive returns Woodcrafts has seen its search-driven revenue increase by 34% and its online conversions increase by 28%. Searches on BabyAge.com have risen by 64%. HealthWarehouse has recorded a growth of 19% in its online conversion rate thanks to Google Commerce Search.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT GOOGLE COMMERCE SEARCH ANDGOOGLE SEARCH APPLIANCE, SEE THE “RESOURCES” SECTION OF THE GOOGLE APPS RETAIL SITE.
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Generate traffic Mobile local advertising is naturally complemented by geolocation tools. With Google Maps API Premier, companies can easily integrate interactive Google Maps into their public or
internal websites. To give an example, Carreofour offers geolocation of all its shops, along with personalised routes. Apple and McDonald’s also use Google’s geolocation functions.
Improve in-shop customer experience Shops set the stage for the purchase and the customer relationship through styling, a well-defined selection and layout of products, a particular ambiance created through lighting and music. The spirit of the brand must be apparent at first glance and consistent with the web and mobile channels. Offer advice and interactivity
Access multimedia content
Customers are increasingly in possession of smartphones and tablets, so sellers owe it to themselves to offer a rich, interactive in-shop experience.
Google Video centralises and securely streams multimedia training all over the world. Information relating to sales and management is accessible from any point in the shop or stockroom via a Google Android mobile device or Chromebook, Microsoft Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Apple iPhone or iPad.
Using mobile terminals, tablets, phones and laptops, directories of videos and demonstrations hosted on Google Video can be accessed and presented directly to customers in the shop.
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MOTIVATE TEAMS AND FOSTER COLLABORATION
Despite the geographical distribution of employees, rotation of staff and seasonal changes, there are ways of motivating teams and stimulating their productivity.
Promote collaboration and increase productivity Many departments have to work in collaboration: such as merchandising, marketing, logistics and product management. Collaboration is fundamental to a brand’s success and is facilitated by the different functions offered by Google Apps. These professional applications are
totally web-based and can be accessed securely, at any time, from any place and via any wired or mobile device connected to the Internet. They simplify the sharing and distribution of information, and real-time collaboration at regional, national and international levels.
« A very intuitive tool that won our employees over very quickly. With Google Apps, we have been able to link up teams from the central departments with those in the regions by giving them a tool that allows individual work and common management. » Cyril Guillemain Head of organisation and change management in Kiloutou’s IT department
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Communicate in real time and in all languages Google Apps enables real-time management in a multilingual environment. It is a simpler process which replaces theexchangeofemailswithdocuments that are shared and jointly edited in real time, selectively and securely, by the various people involved, who make comments through instant messaging or in the discussion thread within the document itself. Language barriers
disappear thanks to the translation of instant messages exchanged through Google Apps. Furthermore, Gmail offers 25 GB of storage, so it is no longer necessary to regularly delete emails in order to free up space. The Google search function allows you to easily find these messages again without needing to spend time organising them.
« Thanks to tools like automated translation, Google Apps enabled us to improve communication and collaboration between our different sites around the world. »
Christine Atkins Senior Vice-President, Ahold
Coordinate diaries The shared online calendar enables you to schedule key dates, projected milestones and anticipated deliverables. Co-workers share their diaries, with availability of participants, synchro-
nisation with smartphones, setting of reminders for meetings or conference calls, searching for created events and the option to integrate with public diaries. Management of working hours is thereby made simpler.
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Share best practices Via Google Video, heads of departments a nd shop ma nagers ca n exchange their points of view and experiences relating to merchandising
and shop layouts through portals for collaboration that combine photos, graphics, videos, comments, forums and documents.
« In fashion, we work with product catalogues, archived images of our collections and press photos. We started by adopting Gmail but quickly discovered the power of Google Sites and Video for Business. Since then, thanks to these solutions, it has been quick and easy for our teams to share videos, photos and presentations, both internally and with the press. Our shops around the world can access pictures from our catwalk shows instantly. It is a huge advantage to be able to give online access to all this content without needing to send large numbers of attachments. Our employees really appreciate the way the technology helps them to work more efficiently and creatively. »
Carlo di Biagio Group Operations Director, Roberto Cavalli.
You can create discussion forums with Google Groups to promote
knowledge exchange between departments and shops.
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Develop employee loyalty and simplify human resource management Communicating key information To teams that are geographically dispersed can be an arduous task. With tools like Google Apps, both mobile and office-based employees can access their emails from any location. The information is made accessible to everyone and helps to reinforce
company culture and employee involvement. Furthermore, a tool like Google Translate can translate emails, websites, documents and even instant conversations into 53 languages, making international communication easier.
Bring human resources teams and employees together requests, etc. in real time. It is even possible to automatically chase up employees who have not yet formally accepted company policies, in order to implement compliance regulations. This kind of system eliminates numerous manual procedures, which are expensive and can be subject to typing errors. Because they are simplified and automated, the procedures are better received by employees
With Google Sites, it is possible to create a human resources portal that is accessible to all, without any technical skills. This will store all of the company’s information, rules and forms. By implementing automated actions on the basis of simple scenarios, it is possible to track applications for an internal vacancy, employee changes of address and contact details, holiday
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Develop employee loyalty and simplify human resource management Integrate new employees When faced with turnover levels that can be high, it is critical to be able to source, integrate and train new employees quickly. When it comes to new employee training, it is very easy to introduce portals for self-training,
based on Google Sites, that consist of secure videos and documents. This self-service approach helps new employees to get integrated quickly and smoothly, whether they are sales assistants or managers.
The French automotive Treves supplier has automated its system of hiring requests, which used to be written by hand. Both in its native country of France and internationally, this slow and tedious procedure was marred by the loss of a fifth of the forms. Now, managers submit hiring requests through a simple web form in Google Docs. Each request passes automatically through all the steps of the validation process. Once it has been noted, the new position is added to a Google spreadsheet. The validation process has thereby been reduced from four weeks to ten days. The human resources manager can also track all recruitment and job vacancies in real time.
Manage skills It is often difficult for human resources to obtain a real-time image of skills within the company. By combining Google Forms and Google Apps
scripts, it is possible to identify these skills and the training completed by employees in order to maximise team potential.
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OPTIMISE WORKING PROCEDURES WHILE REDUCING OPERATING COSTS
Reduce operating costs Lighten the IT load to concentrate on retail At a cost of 40 euros per user per year for all of the services supplied as Saas, Google Apps creates significant savings. Brands no longer need to worry about investing in equipment and software, nor in upgrade mainte-
nance. Google Enterprise takes care of these and continually provides the best technology. Retailers use these IT services according to their current needs, in a smooth manner thanks to monthly billing.
« We calculated out over a five-year period and realised that we could achieve a 60% reduction in our email system Total Cost of Ownership by moving to Google Apps »
Louise Gary Manager of Client Services, Hamilton Beach
With Google Apps Marketplace, brands can very quickly choose and deploy web applications included in the Google Apps suite: such as software for accounting, CRM, project management, etc. Every Marketplace application provides a single sign-on system, making adoption extremely
simple. They also offer additional integrations such as data syncing with the Google Apps suite. Administrators manage a single directory of both users and applications from the same unified interface as Google Apps. This functionality reduces overheads and improves security for the retailer.
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Reduce operating costs Win new markets The Saas model of Google Apps is ideal for companies that are growing rapidly because it allows for the addition of
new employees in just a few hours and gives them instant access to email and all of the company’s documents.
« The technological lead of Google Apps for Business, as well as the new practices and the minimal total cost of the solution, are all major benefits for Brandalley in view of the highly competitive nature of e-commerce. »
Thibaud Cainne CTO, Brandalley
« Our objective is to double in size. In our search for ‘agile growth’, EAT adopted Google Apps for Business. By providing our employees with online applications, we no longer need to waste time installing and updating local applications. In addition, our employees have the option to work using any device: computer, smartphone or tablet etc... »
Cesar Ramanauskas Systems Engineer at EAT
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Reduce operating costs IT that’s always up to date Chromebooks, which are 100% webbased computers using Chrome OS, also offer subscription-based pricing for greater flexibility. This is an all-in-one package that includes the computer, operating system, updates and cloud-based management, as well as full assistance from Google Enterprise. Google updates are absolutely smooth and guarantee that the operating system and software solutions are always up to date, without any need to manually install patches. As very little data is
stored on the computer, tiresome tasks like backups and transferring data when changing equipment are no longer necessary. Brands no longer need to worry about the consequences of a computer being lost or stolen. Chromebooks are equipped with the first commercial operating system designed from the start to ensure protection against the permanent threat of viruses and other malware. For administrators, Chromebooks are managed easily from a single webbased console.
« Google gives Specsavers the ability to roll out to new countries rapidly, leveraging a cloud infrastructure without significant investment. »
Karl de Bruijn Directeur Informatique Europe, Specsavers
« While it takes us two weeks to open a new shop, Gmail is the service that is activated most quickly... »
Cesar Ramanauskas Systems Engineer at EAT
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Guarantee security and reliability Google operates one of the most reliable distributed data centres in the world. Protection of the intellectual property and data on these servers is an absolute priority and the company dedicates a great deal of resources to maintaining data security.
With 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week protection and monitoring by a dedicated team, these systems continually meet very strict requirements in terms of controls. Google guarantees at least 99.9%2 uptime for Google Apps.
Improve the supply chain Automate data collection industry-specific processes that can be automated in little time and at low cost with Google Apps.
Thanks to its online forms, Google Apps automates the collection and centralisation of sales-related data between points of sale and head office, as well as from suppliers. Monitoring of budgets and price changes, product recalls and calendars of events shared between shops are just some of the
2
The 99.9% uptime guarantee
with Google Apps for Business
forms part of the service level agreement.
« Google Apps is a simpler, more economical way of bringing our information system to life. The degree to which this tool has increased employee productivity is also unbelievable » Howard Kolodny Director of Information Systems, Z Gallerie
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Improve the supply chain Manage complaints Euroma ster Group, wh ich ha s 1500 points of sale in 10 countries, implemented Google Apps in order to develop new business practices. Complaints are managed through Google Sites, combining email with instant messaging, which makes the monitoring process smoother and
accelerates the customer response time. The same can be said of absences, which are managed through a shared online spreadsheet, simplifying the HR manager’s task by grouping together the information from each Euromaster garage.
Extend access to standardised usage procedures Often long and difficult to update, these procedures are documented and shared with a limited number of employees. By using Google Sites, brands can create this kind of document collaboratively and make it accessible to everyone. Employees
therefore have access to the latest updated version, in their mother tongue, thanks to Google Translate. The costs of creation, revision and publication are minimised. Access is possible from any kind of device, mobile or fixed.
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conclusion
We can look forward to many new business practices being made possible by Cloud Computing, particularly in relation to collaboration and mobility. With four million companies using Google Apps, retail managers and employees are seeing gains in the speed, simplicity and sharing of their day-to-day tasks.
TO FIND OUT MORE AND READ TESTIMONIALS FROM COMPANIES USING GOOGLE, CONTACT US OR VISIT GOOGLE.CO.UK/A