You need an IT partner who takes a holistic approach to your retail organization to ensure every facet integrates seamlessly, from your inventory management software to your POS systems to employee devices, and more. Modernize your business to create a connected shopping experience and compete for the future.
Connection’s Retail Technology Solutions are designed to help your organization:
- Prepare your network infrastructure for expansion and upgrades.
- Enable employee mobility for better in-store customer service.
- Boost revenue with precise inventory management in real time.
- Enhance customer engagement with digital signage and content management.
- Minimize the risk, impact, and cost of a breach with upgraded infrastructure security.
- Make cloud initiatives cost-effective with customized assessments and managed services.
- Improve your workplace culture and reduce turnover with employee engagement solutions.
- Create a seamless and secure checkout experience with a modern POS system.
- Eliminate disruption and maximize productivity with efficient printing solutions.
ON DEMAND WEBINAR
Retail Snapshot: Economic Impact and Technology Trends
Watch our webinar on demand as Connection expert Brian Gallagher, Retail Strategy Business Development Director, and our partners from Dell Technologies and Zebra provide an agnostic view of YTD performance and trends driving retail throughout the second half of 2024 and beyond. Don’t miss your opportunity to filter the news and re-evaluate your organization’s priorities against others in the industry.
Smart Store Technologies
Customers appreciate the convenience of online shopping. But the only thing they value more is personalized service.3 That’s what still drives them to make most of their purchases in stores. After all, ecommerce sales only grew 7.7% in 2022. That’s a dramatic drop from the double-digit ecommerce growth in each of the past five years.4A smart store leverages modern retail technology in mobility, inventory management, digital signage, and POS systems to generate more digital touchpoints in stores for a connected experience. But you can also dig deeper to unlock emerging technologies like AI/ML, virtual and augmented reality, edge computing, IoT, and big data that create more opportunities for real-time customer engagement.
But where do you start? The needs of a large, big box store are much different than those of convenience store. This is where Connection comes in. Our Retail Practice understands that not all retailers' technology needs are the same. We can help design a system that integrates all the smart store solutions needed for maximum efficiency, train your associates and work with you to assess, execute, and manage your initiatives so you can focus on growing your business.
Learn more about the different ways we can help begin your journey to the smart store with customizable solutions specific to your organization.
Expert Guidance from Industry Experts
Empower your organization with solutions from a trusted leader in retail technology.1.800.800.0019
Transforming Retail Through the Power of AI
Explore how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the retail industry. Watch now and learn how to anticipate and plan for the future of your retail journey with Connection experts Jamal Khan, Chief Growth and Innovation Officer and Head of the Helix Center for Applied AI and Robotics, and Brian Gallagher, Retail Strategy Director.
FEATURED PODCASTS
Retail Strategies That Modernize The Customer Experience
Success in retail has become centered on the customer experience. Take the friction out of purchasing with VMware while using an infrastructure that’s already in place. Check out this TechSperience podcast to hear from the retail experts at VMware and Connection on how to connect employees with consumers and transform your locations into faster and more efficient stores.How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Everything in Retail
This podcast explores how AI solutions—a combination of data management, connectivity, edge computing devices, and software—can create powerful results. Experts from NVIDIA, Lenovo, and Connection cover real-world examples of how retailers are getting their return on investment and what strategies have been successful in delivering strong business outcomes.
Connection TechSperience: a boisterous group of tech enthusiasts keen on deciphering the inner workings of the IT world, sharing their passion (along with industry-insider secrets), and offering a fresh perspective on all things technology.
Retail Technology Solutions
Cloud Services
Retailers are increasingly investing in the cloud to gather more and better insights. In 2020, almost half (47 percent) of retail executives reported that their organization had accelerated cloud adoption, but only 51 percent of them felt their company was ready for the shifting landscape.5 That’s why you need the hands-on support of retail IT experts to guide you in every phase of your cloud journey. With Connection’s Retail Cloud Solutions, we’ll help you assess, execute, and manage your cloud initiatives, so you can improve your organization through big data analytics.
Cybersecurity Solutions
Retail has been the most-targeted industry sector for cybercrime every year since 2018.6 Protect your organization with our Retail Cybersecurity Solutions. We’ll help you minimize the risk, impact, and cost of a breach using the latest technology. Our experts will work with you to devise a custom strategy that addresses your vulnerabilities, ensures compliance with industry and regional regulations, and provides backup connectivity for better business resiliency.
Digital Signage
Digital signage can increase the average purchase amount by 29.5 percent and customer satisfaction by 46 percent.7 To help you unlock these benefits, we have the hardware for every kind of environment and the ability to customize your content in an intuitive content management system (CMS). We also offer digital signage media players designed to run 24 hours a day and enable easy access and control over your displays and content, from anywhere. You can create your own content, or leave it to the experts to design and deliver your messaging for better in-store engagement.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is one of the strongest indicators of success for your retail organization. On average, companies with engaged employees have 20 percent higher sales, 10 percent higher customer satisfaction, 24 percent lower turnover, and 28 percent less shrinkage.8 Empower your employees for success with better training tools and mobility. You can also gather valuable employee insights and transfer instant communications with our Local Measure Employee Engagement Platform.
Inventory Management
Select from the best barcode and RFID technology on the market to efficiently mark and track products. We provide a wide range of wireless, connected, color, black-and-white barcode printer and scanner models. For RFID tags, we have active, passive, semi-passive, and weatherproof options of low, high, or ultra-high frequency that can scan for items from a distance. Whatever your asset tracking needs, we’ll help you select and implement the right barcode and RFID technology for precise product data and consumer forecasting in real time.
Mobile Solutions
Mobility is no longer a luxury—but a necessity—in today’s retail environment. However, many retail IT departments are overwhelmed managing the burgeoning number of devices operating within their network. Our device management services and accessories will provide all the resources and tools you need for a successful mobile strategy. Our experts will help you select the best devices and accessories for optimal usability and ensure comprehensive endpoint security and compliance
Networking Solutions
Understand your network landscape, capabilities, and opportunities to develop a comprehensive strategy for upgrades and expansion. We’ll help you build a network map to efficiently plan IT spending for new initiatives. We can also make your network IoT-ready, build optimal branch networks, enable WAN automation, run DC-LAN assessments for better security, and increase your network availability and reliability by more than 50 percent9 with intent-based networking (IBN). Whatever your needs, our Retail Networking Solutions are designed to lay a strong foundation for your future growth.
POS Solutions
Speed and convenience are only the baseline criteria for your POS system. You can also use it as a powerful customer engagement tool. Delight customers with a POS system that offers loyalty program rewards, asks for their feedback, or encourages them to make a donation to a cause your organization cares about. With our Retail POS Solutions, we’ll help you create an unforgettable checkout experience that will keep customers coming back.
Printing
Minimize disruption and boost productivity with efficient printing. We’ll work with you to develop a custom strategy to improve budgeting and forecasting with predictable costs, increase printer uptime with better technology and support, and eliminate printer security vulnerabilities. Our experts will help you select and install the right customer-facing and employee-facing printers, toners, and accessories from our elite partners in printing technology, including HP, Epson, Xerox, and Lexmark.
Custom Services
Connection specializes in custom technology enablement for retail. Our offerings such as managed infrastructure services, distribution and configuration services, and lifecycle services are designed to help retailers maximize the benefits of technology for their unique organizational needs. We even have our all-in-one Location in a Box solution that sources all of your equipment from Connection.
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Transforming Retail Through the Power of AI
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1 TotalRetail, “2020 Retail Technology Report: An Analysis of Trends, Buying Behaviors, and Future Opportunities,” 2020.
2 Ibid.
3 McKinsey, “Personalizing the Customer Experience: Driving Differentiation in Retail,” April 2020.
4 Digital Commerce 360, “US Ecommerce Grows 44.0% in 2020,” January 2021.
5 Google, “Retail’s Transformative Year: New Google Research Shows the Impact of COVID-19 on Holiday Shopping.” December 2020.
6 Trustwave, “2020 Trustwave Global Security Report,” April 2020.
7 Mvix, “89 Proven Digital Signage Statistics,” 2020
8 Quantum Workplace, “The Future of Retail: Emerging Retail Employee Engagement Trends and HR Best Practices.”
9 Cisco, “2020 Global Networking Trends Report,” 2020.
2 Ibid.
3 McKinsey, “Personalizing the Customer Experience: Driving Differentiation in Retail,” April 2020.
4 Digital Commerce 360, “US Ecommerce Grows 44.0% in 2020,” January 2021.
5 Google, “Retail’s Transformative Year: New Google Research Shows the Impact of COVID-19 on Holiday Shopping.” December 2020.
6 Trustwave, “2020 Trustwave Global Security Report,” April 2020.
7 Mvix, “89 Proven Digital Signage Statistics,” 2020
8 Quantum Workplace, “The Future of Retail: Emerging Retail Employee Engagement Trends and HR Best Practices.”
9 Cisco, “2020 Global Networking Trends Report,” 2020.
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