How to create a blueprint for matching
90%+ features with base product

An organization's technology strategy is intricately crafted. Any new product no matter how useful it looks, if not mapped with the current architecture correctly can wreck the system. As a catalyst and facilitator of the organization's technical growth and stability, the retailer needs to find products that suit the need of the hour keeping in mind a lot of considerations.

What are the factors that a Retailer keeps in mind while going for a product?

Functionalities

First and foremost he needs to identify and understand the requirements of the organization for a product. Let's just say that a retailer needs a new POS system. So after they have identified the product need, they need to zoom in on the functionalities like what kind of POS, mobile or otherwise, what other features should it have, what kind of display, should it be Omnichannel and IP friendly? etc.

Price

Every organization has a budget for every segment, including technology. So the Retailer needs to keep in mind how much he wants to invest in a product and the ROI. He will need to work his way around to find a product that takes care of all that's needed at the same time within the budget.

Availability

Is a suitable product available in the market that meets the retailer's requirements? If not exactly then at least a 80% fitment. If the exact fit is not available, then which is the product that can be customized to meet 100% functionalities? Finding answers to these questions will lead to a solution that matched the requirements best.

Ease of use

Finding a product that will fit seamlessly into the current architecture and people can use easily is a tough challenge for the retailers to meet. The considerations made on the retailers' part includes:

  • The UI of the solution should be very simple and intuitive, easy to navigate.
  • The training on the system should come with an easy training module for the users. Better if minimum or no training is needed.
  • The basic processes of the system (for example sale) should be completed with limited number of clicks.
  • It should be flexible enough to be integrated with various systems to help the store user with the customer information better.

Implementation

While looking for a suitable product the implementation part needs to be kept in mind. Products that take lesser time to implement are preferred over others as they save time and costs.

Maintenance & Support

Does the vendor provide support and maintenance? Are there other vendors in the market that provide support for this product? What is the support structure offered by the vendor and at what cost? Is there a local presence of the vendor to support? What are the issues that the product currently has? What is the feedback of the product from other retailers, reading reports about the product and market enquiry will help make an informed decision. Also, availability of on-going support is also an added advantage while selecting a product.

When a new product starts working, many errors may occur during the first phase. To sort these out the buyer needs ample customer support from the provider. Some products come with support for a period. The longer the support period the more profitable it is for the organization. The provider's reputation for good customer support is also a consideration while choosing the product.

Version

Retailers need to keep updated about the newest and most advanced versions of products they are looking into. Retailers need the understanding of the enhancements of the newest version and how it will blend into the current architecture of the business and help it grow. How does it fit into his vision of omnichannel growth? Does the new features support his digital initiatives and future plans?

How do you map a product to a business?

Let's take the case of a fashion retailer. They need a new inventory management solution that caters to their Omnichannel needs. Now there are ample Omnichannel inventory management products for retailers available in the market. So how do they select one? The answer is by feature mapping.

How does that work?

It begins with partnering with a service provider who will do the feature mapping for the organization. Once they are hired they start with assessing the current business landscape of the client to get a better understanding of the business, architecture, customers, market scenario and client expectations.

First they look for architecture gaps and assess them. Maybe the retailer's existing inventory management solution only tracks the warehouse and not the online and in store inventories. Then there is the gap that needs to be addressed. They need to find a product that helps the retailer track inventories across channels.

Then they start looking for a product. Now there are numerous different types of inventory management products available in the market. Segment based filtration would help in finding the product that fits the Omnichannel requirements of the fashion retail client. Once narrowed down the product, the feature mapping starts to find the closest match for the business requirement. It can be compared with trying on jeans until you find the perfect fit.

This stage involves

  • Documenting the existing business processes.
  • Matching the solution with the existing processes.
  • Finding the gaps and making necessary configurations if needed. Aspire's feature mapping capabilities include building the product to fit the client's needs and integrating it. We assist the customer to decide on the product by providing a clear picture of features matched with their existing processes. We take into account various integration needs such as 3rd party integration, whether it would integrate with the existing system or not and various out of the box integrations the product has that can be useful for the client.

With correctly mapped features the business will improve in the direction they were lacking. Better functionalities will ensure better customer service and in turn better revenue growth. Selecting a correct partner for feature mapping will ensure you are not misdirected and find the perfect piece that solves your business requirement puzzle.

Author: Shreyasee Ghosh, Research Analyst

Practice Head: Chetan Singh, Store Solutions Architect