TALANGS designs and implements various In Store Applications to meet the demands of the new age retailer where our applications are built entirely on “cloud”, accessible via multiple mobile technologies – iOS/Android/ Windows. TALANG's In Store Applications are built not just to reduce the startup time, but also to ensure that the applications work at all points on the positive / negative boundaries. Our applications are capable of integrating with the existing Supply Chain Management and ERP, which also perform immaculately on the software developed by us.
Some of our In-Store applications cater to different aspects of store retailing as in:
- Mobile-POS application – It is built for reducing the long queues at POS machines and is capable of integrating with the existing ERP and hardware (thermal/laser printers, barcode/credit card scanners) via wireless integration. Multiple POS instances can be simultaneously opened for billing. As this solution is web based, it reduces upgrading efforts and maintenance cost.
- Augmented reality app for jewelry store - Customers can install this in-store app on multiple devices and use it to view the complete catalog. They can also view themselves juxtaposed on the jewelry, creating an interesting and personal experience, thus driving a store’s growth.
- Store optimization apps – Store associates can use this app to efficiently reduce gaps on the shelves, keep a tab on changing prices of items, generate barcodes on the go – for reduced to clear items etc. This app has direct benefits, but when integrated with the POS, its benefits increase manifold, as it can be used to track fast-moving goods and improve replenishment cycles. Overall, it ensures the best possible customer experience.
Operations is an area of concern for any retailer. TALANGS recognizes this fact and thus, builds solutions to cater to efficiency in retail operations, by leveraging technology to eradicate waste, reduce the time and cost of deploying new functions and improve the overall IT security. We build solutions for retailers and ISVs, which cater to specific areas of operations. The key areas:
- Warehouse Management System – TALANG's Warehouse Management System (WMS) provides a single platform to control and monitor the movement of goods through your warehouse with optimal utilization of labour, space and equipment. The simplified work processes of WMS comprehensively cover all the inbound, outbound and cross-docking logistics. It also provides associated information on transactions, shipping, receiving, put-away and picking, which directly impact the profitability of a business. Our WMS is alight weight application built entirely on an open source software called OFBiz, to manage the inflow and outflow of goods into the warehouse of smaller retailers.
WMS facilitates large store commodities with optimal cost management through rule-based allocation of inventory to orders. It provides complete back-office integration with Order Entry, Inventory Control and Purchase Order modules and helps lower cost of transaction and inventory calculation. The solution facilitates quick and accurate turnaround for business efficiency and productivity.
- Backroom Management – Helps store associates to maximize the interaction with the customers, while at the same creates an efficient way of locating inventory in the backroom and managing the backroom space of the store.
- Order Management - Various applications are developed for different types of orders (Backorder, Pre-order, Just-In time) in order lifecycle and for B2B & B2C scenarios, thereby assisting various finance options, which helps the client to boost sales.
Today’s retail industries are facing inconstancy in data, which could provide single view of the readiness in real time. We, at TALANGS, build solutions in the Data Analysis and Business Intelligence analytics areas that help in using the data in new ways to gain maximum value in the retail domain. We provide solutions for analyzing sentiments of conversations on social media accounts by using sophisticated algorithms to identify actionable insights. Data pertaining to hot topics and trends, positive or negative feedback and comments, active and influential users, competitor analysis, and much more are used for analysis. These analytics help retailers take quicker, better and wiser decisions on marketing effectiveness, brand building and improving products or services.
Some of the solutions in business intelligence technology platforms for retailers:
- NotionViz: This big data analysis application collects data from social media and provides retailers with a clear picture of the brand advocacy amongst their customers. It can be integrated with existing ERP to provide even deeper connections and insights, which leads to better understanding of the customer.
- Data Science: Unique design of reporting data science from multiple systems helps to drive results to create a single version of truth, which enables measuring risk, increasing revenue and profits, and protect brand reputation and cash flow.
To understand the customer and precisely deliver what he or she needs, forms significant part of planning. Planning has always been an essential aspect for retailers, in-order to have the Geographical Forecasting, Capital Budgeting, Assortment Allocations, Space Planning, and Inventory Level in place.
TALANGS's Planning Approach:
TALANGS provides services, which can analyze the customer shopping patterns, helping the retailers in better placement of products (Cross merchandising) and planning of inventory. One of the most important aspects of the planning solutions that we build includes “cross channel” capabilities and analyzing the requirements of today’s retailer. Merchandising and planning systems built for only a single channel cannot suffice in today’s highly competitive retailer environment.
We have worked with one of the biggest retailers in the world to enhance their merchandising systems on many of the modules, some of the biggest being pricing / promotions, event planning, visual merchandising, etc. Some of the projects include multiple functionalities like integration with reporting, analytics, inventory information, store-based event planning, etc.
Organized set of processes, pricing and promoting replace the traditional approach to planning and execution. At TALANGS, an extensive array of planning systems, in combination with a team of specialists operate successfully to serve some of the well-known retail giants in the industry.
E-commerce has come a long way and has been one of those customer-centric technologies creating a massive impact on the retail experience. One of the fastest changing areas of retail, the challenges and the rewards are equally significant. Some of the key trends, which are being played out around the world are personalization and curation, crowd-sourced commerce, social and mobile commerce.
Currently, this is the increasing trend to use many of the available platforms to power e-commerce. TALANGS has the extensive experience in many of these including – Magento, Drupal, Open Kart, Presta Shop, etc. We have a wide base of experience in the e-commerce domain and have been instrumental in developing and maintaining a variety of e-commerce sites.
E-commerce itself is said to be under an increasing pressure from m-commerce. However, TALANGS understands the inherent pros and cons of both these channels and uses an Omni-Channel approach to work around key bottlenecks. This way, we intend to provide a seamless experience to the customer.
TALANGS has come up with a light, but effective Omni-Channel framework that is capable of creating a significant advantage for the retailer. The TALANGS's Retail Competency Centre (SRCC) Omni-Channel Business Suite provides an integrated set of service offerings to enhance a retailer's Omni-Channel business strategy, thus reducing operational and integration inefficiencies. It further enables retailers and their team to create a consistent brand shopping experience across all channels. The four key offerings in the Omni-Channel Business Suite are:
- Building e-Commerce Websites
- Omni-Channel Framework Implementation
- Continuously evolving IT methodology to improve Customer Engagement Cycle
- Business Processes Improvement complemented by cutting-edge technologies
Customer experience is always the big question in the retail world. The fast paced change in retail, the upheavals in different categories, channels and customer experiences have brought the need for looking at ways to keep the customer completely engaged.
Increasingly changing customer experience has moved in the direction of personalized, curated and meaningful conversations with retailers. No longer can retailers afford to just have a good merchandising plan and hope for customers to fall in. The customers have much more information at their fingertips than a few years ago, along with the increased competition from different retailers. Hence, the key aspect of retail is enhanced customer experience.
Enhancing Customer Engagement:
TALANGS constantly works on some of the cutting-edge ideas and technologies. Some of the areas that we have already delivered include focused customer engagement platform for retailers, which can be used to enhance the customer experience. It is linked with multiple functionalities like loyalty point collection, wish list, social media engagement, store locators, etc.
Another latest project revolved around creating an application, which brings together the three building blocks of retail – Retailer, Supplier and Customer - on a single platform, bringing unforeseen benefits for all the three. This enables accessing the retailers and getting products/services delivered to them, using one single app. The app contains user flows like assisted shopping, scan on the go, and delivery flows like home delivery, community delivery etc., which go a long way in improving customer experience.
