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Swyft Helping Retailers Prepare to Deliver on Expected Surge in Fourth Quarter Consumer Ecommerce Demand

By
Sean Tarry
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There’s no escaping the fact that those operating within the retail industry have faced some monumental challenges recently. Impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic have disrupted traditional operations, presenting retailers and other businesses with a raft of challenges that have ultimately resulted in decreased store traffic and a loss of sales and revenue. In conjunction with these challenges, there has been an acceleration of consumer behaviour toward online purchases, forcing merchants to enhance their ecommerce capabilities and strategies in order to meet the increasing demands and expectations of today’s digital consumer. And, according to Aadil Kazmi, CEO and Co-Founder of Swyft – a provider of software that supports fast and efficient ecommerce delivery – the need for retailers to do so is more important now than at any time previous.

“The pandemic has certainly altered the retail landscape,” he says. “It’s changed the customers’ journey with brands and the methods and channels by which they’re choosing to make purchases. Retailers have responded by accelerating their digital initiatives and focussing more on the development of their ecommerce capabilities in order to enhance the experience they offer their customers. Given the shortfall in sales that much of the industry has suffered over the course of the past 16 months, it’s going to be imperative that they provide fast and efficient delivery of products. We’re expecting an incredibly busy fourth quarter for ecommerce in Canada, likely representing a surge in online demand of about four to five times the average. To seize the opportunities, and to avoid the disaster that took place during the final quarter of 2020 when most of the major carriers and couriers left businesses in the lurch, retailers are going to need to offer carrier optionality.”

Faster, better, cheaper

The ‘lurch’ that Kazmi refers to is the uncomfortable position that carriers placed retailers and their customers in as a result of catastrophic shipping and delivery delays heading into the lucrative 2020 holiday season. The now infamous ecommerce failure still resonates with anyone unfortunate enough to have been affected by it. And it’s prompting many to become creative in their approach to ecommerce fulfillment and to explore alternative ways by which an enhanced digital experience can be created for their customers. It’s “only natural” that retailers are seeking improvements to their modes of delivery in light of last year’s ill-performance, says Chris Hamoen, Head of Sales and Marketing at Swyft, suggesting that the solution the company provides will revolutionize any business’s ecommerce operations, resulting in greater efficiency and increased customer satisfaction.”

“We offer same-day delivery for businesses of all sizes,” he asserts. “So, whether you’re talking about Holt Renfrew or the local retailer in your neighbourhood, we help them all leverage same-day service for the delivery of their products. And we make it available at a lower price than UPS, FedEx, Purolator, Doordash and all the others. The old saying with respect to developing a business or product is ‘faster, better, cheaper – pick two’, meaning that you can often really only satisfy two of those things. Swyft, however, ticks all three boxes. We’re faster because we ensure same-day delivery. We’re better because of our significantly superior customer experience. And, because of our model and the way in which we’re building the company, we’re able to bring down the price of same-day delivery service considerably.”

Democratizing same-day delivery

Founded in March 2020, Swyft is a technology company on a mission to democratize access to same-day delivery through the development and deployment of its ground-breaking software. Powered by the company’s proprietary algorithm, it helps retailers selling online to remove the risk from their delivery and logistics by opening up their shipping and fulfillment to a number of providers. Essentially, when Swyft’s software captures orders placed on a retailer’s website, it balances those orders in near real-time across a number of local delivery service companies in what Kazmi describes as an “extremely quick and intelligent way”. It facilitates the central gathering and sorting of packages and, leveraging a unique understanding of the markets the company serves, it enables smart routing for the most cost-effective and efficient delivery of product.

In addition, the mode by which Swyft organizes fulfillment, it’s also able to offer an eco-friendlier and more sustainable model for delivery. The company has run some preliminary numbers and has found that it’s able to cut emissions on an average per parcel basis anywhere from 8 to 12 percent, providing the opportunity for retailers to operate their logistics with greater eco-consciousness while meeting consumer expectations around fast and reliable service. It’s another way in which Hamoen, who was recently a key architect for Digital Main Street’s ShopHERE Program in Toronto, believes Swyft is revolutionizing ecommerce delivery for all retailers, despite their size.

“I’m very familiar with the needs of small businesses trying to compete in an online world,” he says. “Because the small business community in Canada doesn’t have the interest of any of the major carriers in the country, they don’t have access to competitive rates and so aren’t able to offer them to their customers, making it extremely difficult to compete with Amazon and other larger retailers. We’re able to provide them with those competitive rates and options, levelling the playing field for small businesses and allowing them to offer a best-in-class customer experience. For the larger players, we’re able to offer the same benefits of carrier optionality and diversity. Many of them aren’t able to offer same-day delivery because their delivery service partners aren’t able to provide it at scale. And, because Swyft is able to provide this level of service, we’re allowing larger retailers that don’t sell on Amazon to enhance their offering and elevate the ecommerce experience their customers receive.”

Best-in-class experience and expertise

The company’s Co-Founder recognizes the complications and difficulty in implementing same-day delivery nationwide at scale. And, so he should. Until April 2020, Kazmi served as Engagement Manager at Amazon, overseeing insights and analytics for the online giant’s CPG vertical on amazon.com. He left the company just 14 days before his equity vesting date, bringing with him a plethora of experience and expertise, in order to solve the same-day delivery headache for retailers everywhere. And, what’s more, Zeeshan Hamid, Kazmi’s Co-Founding partner and CTO at Swyft, is also a former member of the Amazon creative and tactical engine room. Working for five years as its Software Development Manager, Hamid is credited with building the company’s last mile logistics and running its delivery execution. Today, the pair are lending their vast knowledge toward the development of Swyft, raising the standards of shipping throughout North America. And, in light of their former employer’s recent announcement of ‘one-day’ shipping, the arrival of their competitive same-day delivery alternative could not have arrived at a better time.

“The move to same-day delivery for retailers is not a matter of ‘if’, it’s a matter of ‘when’,” Kazmi asserts. “Within the next couple of years, if you’re a retailer and you’re not providing same-day delivery of packages to your customers, you’re going to be losing out on sales, consistently. If a customer is looking for a belt bag, they’re likely to find the same or similar product in a number of places, including Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Farfetch, Etsy, Goat, StockX and others. The belt bag is going to be the same price on every one of these websites. The retailer that’s able to offer the fastest shipping is the retailer that wins that customer’s business. And that’s true right across the board in retail. For retailers that are looking to grow their business and protect their base, same-day delivery will serve as their biggest and most important differentiator going forward.”

Full visibility and transparency

On top of the efficiency that Swyft provides its clients, and helping to support the seamless execution of its deliveries, is ultimate transparency in the way of real-time tracking that’s available to online shoppers. Unlike traditional ecommerce delivery which provides only partial transparency into the delivery status of orders, Swyft allows retailers to provide customers with full visibility into the tracking of their package in real-time, as well as an extremely predictive and precise estimated time of arrival, often reducing delivery time windows down to an hour. Customers are also given access to the driver of the delivery vehicle, allowing them to contact them in order to communicate special delivery instructions and other details and information relevant to the delivery. In addition, each of Swyft’s enterprise customers are supported by a dedicated account manager, providing them with a single point of contact in order to troubleshoot around issues and provide insights related to improving the customer experience.

“The real value in providing these layers of service is the ways in which they each contribute toward supporting an exceptional experience for shoppers,” Kazmi explains. “Through real-time tracking, we’re able to dramatically reduce delivery error rates, creating a more seamless last mile transaction and increasing customer satisfaction. And, our dedicated customer support allows Swyft to not only be a fast and efficient shipping carrier for businesses, but to also serve as a dedicated resource to help businesses grow. Our merchant success managers are working every day to bring insights to retailers to help them refine the process around same-day delivery so they get the most value out of it.”

Seamless integration

Swyft’s software is easy to introduce, allowing retailers to integrate their Shopify store in as little as three clicks, and fits effortlessly and seamlessly with any ecommerce platform. And, the company offers a spectrum of options with respect to integration. Clients can decide to leverage Swyft’s API connection, providing them with unlimited customizability options and access to advanced customer experience tools through a merchant dashboard. Or, they can choose to begin using Swyft’s services through a CSV upload, allowing them to get started with same-day delivery in less than three days. In addition, Swyft is also in the process of actively building partnerships with leading providers of enterprise resource planning and transportation management systems in order to include prebuilt integration into the platforms, further reducing integration times.

With such a robust and innovative solution to the same-day delivery conundrum for retailers, it seems instinctive to want to compare Swyft’s services with those of Amazon Prime, pitting them in competition with one another in a race to last mile supremacy. However, it’s not the way Kazmi sees it. Though, he certainly recognizes the potential that the company is currently tapping in order to continue growing and expanding its creative fulfillment offering.

“We don’t really look at ourselves as competitive to Amazon Prime,” he says. “Amazon has built an amazing and comprehensive logistics platform for Amazon sellers. We’re servicing all of the retailers and brands that sell outside of Amazon. Having said that, from a service level and performance perspective, we stack up very closely to Amazon Prime, which only offers same-day delivery in a select few markets and for certain products. At the rate that we’re growing, we’re going to cover the majority of Canada by the end of this year, servicing just about every major market.”

Ownership of customer data

Equalling the same-day delivery service of Amazon Prime is not only representative of an impressive feat by the company, it also enables it to offer an alternative to those currently selling with the ecommerce juggernaut. And, according to Hamoen, it provides a potentially massive competitive advantage to any retailer choosing to partner with Swyft in the way of access to customer and transactional data.

“For brands who really value their ability to offer same-day delivery, they’ve been forced to partner with Amazon in order to provide that service,” he says. “But today, they can decide to partner with Swyft and own their customer information while providing an equal or better customer experience. Without ownership of your customer information, it’s a race to the bottom for brands. Brands increasingly want to know who their customers are, where they made their purchase, why they made their purchase and what else they might be interested in to enable them to start building a meaningful profile of them. But, if you’re selling on Amazon, you’ll never have access to that information. Swyft allows brands to own their customer data and relationships, build a community and following and interact and engage with them in a really profound way.”

Rapid growth and expansion

Supporting Swyft’s incredible vision and the growth that the company is currently experiencing, Inovia Capital led a significant funding round with support from global venture capital firm Forerunner Ventures. And, further credence is given to Swyft’s sharp rise in the fulfillment space when considering the fact that it is the only carrier company that Shopify has invested in directly. Though its services are currently limited to the Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles markets, Hamoen says that the growth the company is experiencing is rapid and will only continue to intensify throughout the months to come, positioning Swyft as one of North America’s fastest expanding providers of delivery and fulfillment services.

“We’re in the process of launching our services in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta. All of these markets will be covered by the end of the year, and there’s more to come. Within the next couple of years, Swyft will be operating within every single market throughout North America. And, before long, we’ll be seriously looking at international expansion in order to offer our services in Europe. However, our focus today is to help retailers in the markets we serve offer same-day delivery in an efficient and cost-effective way and to head into an important fourth quarter ready and prepared to capitalize on an increase in consumer ecommerce demand and enjoy a successful and prosperous holiday shopping season.”

For more information about Swyft and how it can help transform the ecommerce experience that you provide for your customers in an extremely cost-effective and efficient way, visit www.useswyft.com

Retailers and Restaurants Hope for Much Needed Boost with Calgary Stampede Launch this Week: Interviews

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Image: Calgary Stampede

With Alberta now open for business as public COVID-19 measures are gone, retailers and restaurant owners are hoping the return of the Calgary Stampede will give business the much-needed boost it has desperately hoped for during the pandemic of the past year or so.

“The food service and retail sectors of the Calgary economy are locked and loaded for a robust reboot that will be triggered by the 2021 Calgary Stampede,” said Michael Kehoe, broker of Fairfield Commercial Real Estate in Calgary. “Traditionally the 10-day Stampede period has been a sales bonanza for local stores and restaurants and this year is expected to provide some much-needed momentum after the disaster of the 2020 lockdown.

Michael Kehoe

“Expectations are being kept in check as the lack of corporate spending and tourist-oriented visitors that will be missed on the bottom line this year. Local and regional Stampeders will be left to drive the footfall and sales numbers. Food service venues are busy ramping up staffing levels and many are booking live entertainment as customers hopefully flock back to their favourite watering holes to socialize and celebrate. 

“Stampede 2021 is an important milestone in the re-opening process of the Calgary economy and will serve as a vote of confidence for consumers to return to their pre-pandemic shopping and dining patterns.”

For businesses, the past week has been a good one as things start getting back to normal after a tumultuous and challenging year. On July 1, the province officially lifted practically all the mandatory restrictions in place to fully combat the spread of COVID, including capacity numbers for establishments as well as the requirement to wear face masks. The City of Calgary kept the mandatory face mask bylaw in place, however, until Monday when that too was repealed.

Image: Calgary Stampede

The Stampede is back after being cancelled last year. It officially runs July 9-18.

That’s welcome news for the hospitality industry which has been devastated in the past year or so.

Ernie Tsu, President of the Alberta Hospitality Association and owner of the Trolley 5 establishment in Calgary, said the opening up of the province on July 1 has meant everything for the industry.

“It’s now been able to give restaurants that didn’t have patios, or very small patios, a chance to work themselves out of debt and to try to stay alive,” said Tsu.

“I think the Stampede is important for the industry and the public in general. It’s that punch in the arm that the city needs coming out of this last 14 months, the pandemic. That sense of return to normalcy. For the restaurant industry it’s amazing just to see people back out again with such strong support of all their local restaurants and pubs.”

Tsu said the industry hopes the reopening of the province and the Stampede kick starts the turnaround for many businesses in the city.

“It’s going to take 18 months to recover but the next few months will be the first step,” he said.

“As a born and raised Calgarian, I’m looking forward to the Stampede and being able to have a little bit of that sense of normalcy again.”

Image: Calgary Stampede

Michael Holden, Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist at the Business Council of Alberta, said the reopening of the province is huge for retailers, restaurants and small business owners.

Mike Holden

“It’s something that businesses have been looking forward to for a long time. It’s a solid step towards getting back to normal. Everybody welcomes that step and welcomes this move towards progressing to fully reopening. Even though things are open it’s going to take a while for things to get back to normal. Some people will still be reluctant to head out. It’s not as if everything is going to suddenly, magically turn back into what it was like pre-COVID. I think there will be a more gradual process. There’s going to be bumps along the way. Whether it’s businesses trying to staff up and get the people they need or whether it’s individuals being fully willing to go out to restaurants and bars and into stores in general. But we’re on our way,” said Holden.

“The Stampede is the kind of shot in the arm that a lot of businesses have been counting to help them be able to get back on their feet again. We’re not going to see a Stampede like we did two years ago or prior to that. It’s going to be more subdued for sure partly because of the lack of international visitors and there will be some reluctance by some people to come out but others are going to be more than happy to come out. That extra push, that little bump in social activity in bars and restaurants is exactly what those businesses are going to need to help themselves start digging out of the challenges that they’ve been facing all this time.”

Deborah Yedlin, President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said the reopening of business in Alberta and the upcoming Stampede is a note of optimism for the city after what it has been through.

Deborah Yedlin

“The fact that we’re being able to do it as a safe event and certainly there are measures that are being put in place for people who decide to go to the grounds and partake in the events on the Stampede grounds. But also I’m hearing a lot of conversations about ‘oh I’m going to have a Stampede party in my backyard’. That means we’re supporting local entrepreneurs in terms of the service sector which has been so devastated,” said Yedlin.

“But broadly speaking you know we’re looking at more than $280 million of economic impact that the Stampede has on Calgary every year and local businesses are a big part of that. Whether you’re an Uber driver or you’re a caterer or you’re selling water on the grounds, I mean there’s just so many pieces to this. They’re so important. And also the local retailers that supply us with Stampede clothing. There’s so much that goes into supporting local business in terms of Stampede. It’s critical.

“People have to regain a level of comfort for being out and this could be a very good way to sort of break that mindset of everyone having been inside and not really interacting as they have for the last 16 months.”

Willowbrook Shopping Centre to Expand Footprint with Unique Outdoor F&B/Entertainment Concept

By
Craig Patterson
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THE COURTYARD at Willowbrook Shopping Centre

Landlord QuadReal announced this week that it is expanding the Willowbrook Shopping Centre in Langley BC by adding a new 27,500 square foot section called THE COURTYARD. Included will be 10 new food and beverage options and an entertainment area in an outdoor village-like configuration as part of an effort to attract shoppers and increase dwell time at the retail centre. 

Construction on THE COURTYARD starts this month with a completion date expected to be a year from now. Design features will include a firepit, a water feature, and a pedestrian experience that will boast enhanced landscaping and lounge areas for social gatherings, entertainment and events.  

“We are building for the future of the Langley community and looking forward with a positive lens,” said Larissa Jacobson, VP of retail leasing at QuadReal. “We’re excited about the new development. This is the next step in curating Willowbrook’s unique offerings.”  

The first confirmed food and beverage operators at THE COURTYARD include: 

  • AO Ramen – an upscale Japanese restaurant with the only teppanyaki bar south of the Fraser River,  
  • Chachi’s – gourmet sandwiches and comfort food, 
  • Good Taco  – fresh, homemade tortillas and authentic fillings,   
  • Trattoria Italian Kitchen – classic Italian cuisine with a ‘neighbourhood feel’, and 
  • OEB Breakfast Co. – an all-day breakfast and lunch restaurant that offers ‘familiar classics’.  
THE COURTYARD at Willowbrook Shopping Centre Rendering

THE COURTYARD’s goal is to attract shoppers to Willowbrook by offering multiple food and beverage options that in themselves will be attractions on top of any entertainment that would be featured. Food and beverage is shown to increase dwell time at shopping centres which in theory would translate to increased sales in stores and other businesses. 

QuadReal has positioned Willowbrook Shopping Centre as a premium offering for the Fraser Valley region which is located east of Vancouver. Willowbrook has seen millions invested in the centre over the past several years including upgrades to the centre as well as new tenants. 

We reported last year that three junior anchor tenants would be aded to the centre including TJX-owned Winners, T&T Supermarket and Nordstrom Rack. In 2018 we reported that QuadReal was expanding the centre by 190,000 square feet in an outdoor configuration, adding retailers such as Toys R Us and Sport Chek in the mall’s former Target space as well as a new H&M store. 

QuadReal also owns several other shopping centres in Canada seeing redevelopments including the Oakridge Centre in Vancouver, Bayview Village in Toronto, Cloverdale Mall in Toronto, and others. 

Podcast [Interview]: Noah Stern, Co-CEO of Moose Knuckles

By
Retail Insider
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Craig speaks with Moose Knuckles co-CEO Noah Stern about the future of the company as it goes fur-free. Included in the discussion is how Moose Knuckles pivoted and grew during the pandemic as well as its future plans to expand the brand with standalone stores globally.

The Weekly podcast by Retail Insider Canada is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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Frank and Oak Ends ‘Style Plan’ Subscription Service Program

By
Lee Rivett
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Frank and Oak "Style Plan" box
Frank and Oak "Style Plan" box. Photo: Daily Hive.

Montreal-based fashion brand Frank and Oak launched its “Style Plan” back in 2018 where their in-house stylists would curate a selection of Frank and Oak products to ship out to clients. Each month, clients would receive an email with the recent picks and would automatically ship to customer. All items could be returned; however, a $25 styling fee would be charged if items purchased cost less than $25. There were other benefits (like 20% off their website, etc.) included with the service, but this was the core feature for the “Style Plan” service.

Starting in July 2021, Frank and Oak notified its “Style Plan” clients that the company was discontinuing the subscription service.

Email to Frank and Oak "Style Plan" clients announcing its discontinuation
Email to Frank and Oak “Style Plan” clients announcing its discontinuation. Photo: Lee Rivett.

While not outright stating that they were cancelling the “Style Plan” service, Frank and Oak basically is cancelling this service. The rationale provided for the change was “As part of our environmental pledge, we’ve decided to remove monthly boxes in order to reduce our footprint while offering a seamless shopping experience”.

In place of the “Style Plan” service, Frank and Oak is offering a free loyalty program which provides benefits such as member pricing, early access to new collections & events, private sales, and free shipping & returns on all orders. Most of these are standard fare for most online clothing retailers at this point.

To be convinced and have access to this site from anywhere in the world, do the correct setting up VPN Android. You can also use other sites for your needs with this helper. 

Image: Frank and Oak

In June 2020, Frank And Oak filed for bankruptcy protection with about $19 million in debts. The company launched as an online menswear brand in 2012 and began opening stores after that, and in 2017 launched womenswear that included some standalone women’s stores. The company had 20 stores and now only has a handful in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. Frank And Oak has struggled for several years and came up with creative ways to stay in business, including a partnership with Postmedia for advertising in return for an equity stake as well as with landlord Cadillac Fairview. In March 2020, Frank And Oak co-founder Ethan Song left the company.

Sporting Goods Retailer Decathlon Opens Pop-Up Store in Brampton

By
Dustin Fuhs
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Image: Decathlon Pop-up at Bramalea City Centre

French sporting goods behemoth Decathlon has continued its Canadian expansion with a pop-up at the Bramalea City Centre near Toronto.

The pop-up store in Brampton, ON carries a variety of the company’s best selling products. In addition, the brand is offering free shipping to the store on any product purchased at Decathlon.ca.

Decathlon has more than 1,600 stores in over 50 countries. It designs, manufactures, tests, and sells apparel and equipment for over 65 different sports. Decathlon teams provide a complete sports experience through in-store gyms, product test areas, sports classes, training apps and physical and virtual activities for the community. Currently, there are five Decathlon Canada stores in Quebec, one in Nova Scotia and two in Ontario.

Retail brokerage and consultancy Oberfeld Snowcap is leading Decathlon’s expansion in Canada under the direction of Sylvain Charron, Robert Weinberg and Darren Quayle. 

We will update this bulletin as the retail updates come in for the expansion.

Lululemon Expanding Robson Street Flagship in Vancouver

By
Lee Rivett
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Lululemon signage installed on annexed retail space along Robson Street next to the existing flagship location in downtown Vancouver
Lululemon signage installed on annexed retail space along Robson Street next to the existing flagship location in downtown Vancouver. Photo: Lee Rivett.

Retail Insider reported in September 2020 of Canadian athleisure brand Lululemon is expanding its flagship store in downtown Vancouver. The expansion would annex a space vacated by Australian footwear brand UGG. Lululemon will grow its 4,400-square-foot store by an additional 2,500 square feet at 970 Robson Street with the expansion. During the July 2020 walkabout, the Lululemon-branded construction signage for the annexed space was in place for a potential opening in the near future.

Lululemon opened the Vancouver flagship store, occupying the prominent corner of Robson and Burrard Streets, in 2014. Taking over the UGG space will give Lululemon more than 100 feet of linear frontage along Robson Street between Burrard Street and a laneway. Retailers across the street include Victoria’s Secret, Clearly, and the future TWG Tea Salon & Boutique in the former Tesla Motors location. Luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo occupies the same block at 918 Robson Street.

Lululemon flagship on Robson Street in Vancouver with annexed former-UGG next door with Lululemon signage installed
Lululemon flagship on Robson Street in Vancouver with annexed former-UGG next door with Lululemon signage installed. Photo: Lee Rivett.

CBRE Vancouver’s retail team negotiated the lease deal under the direction of Mario Negris and Martin Moriarty. Lululemon is opening and expanding stores despite the pandemic. In places such as Richmond BC, Lululemon is relocating its store to a space once occupied by Victoria’s Secret, for example.

We will update this bulletin as the retail updates come in for this location.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For July 6th, 2021

By
Retail Insider
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Canadian Retail News From Around The Web

Top Stories: National

Central/Eastern Canada News

Western Canada News

Brief: Tokyo Smoke Opening in Top Mall, FYE Opens 2nd Storefront

By
Retail Insider
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5Fitness Centre ‘Evolve Strength’ Added to ‘The Post’ Tenant Roster in Downtown Vancouver

Evolve Strength – Image by Ray Yue

Evolve Strength, a one-stop shop for personalized health and fitness, will be adding it’s first location in the Vancouver marketplace.

Read More about Evolve’s move to the highly anticipated commercial development

4US Retailer FYE Opens Store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre

FYE at CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs

Specialty entertainment and pop culture retailer FYE has opened a location at CF Toronto Eaton Centre. It’s the second location for the retailer featuring a large selection of Pop Vinyl, collectables, models and a full back section of vinyl records.

Read More about FYE and its newest store

3American Eagle’s ‘Aerie’ to Open at Park Royal Shopping Center in West Vancouver

Aerie construction signage at Park Royal Shopping Center in West Vancouver (July 2021)
Aerie construction signage at Park Royal Shopping Center in West Vancouver (July 2021). Photo: Lee Rivett.

American intimate apparel Aerie has construction signage up at Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver, B.C. within the “Park Royal South – Exterior” section. It replaces a retailer that shut its store after a restructuring.

Read More about Aerie’s newest store location and what it replaces

2TWG Tea to Relocate 1st North American Storefront in Vancouver

Former TWG Tea Salon & Boutique location at 1070 W Georgia Street in Vancouver
Former TWG Tea Salon & Boutique location at 1070 W Georgia Street in Vancouver (December 2016). Photo: Stuart Isett

Singapore-based TWG Tea Salon & Boutique is relocating its first North American retail presence which opened in Vancouver in December 2016 to a considerably smaller retail space recently vacated by a well-known auto dealer.

Read More about TWG Shifting gears by going small

1Tokyo Smoke to Open at CF Toronto Eaton Centre

Tokyo Smoke construction hoarding at CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs

Cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke will replace a shuttered retailer in the iconic downtown shopping centre.

Read More about Tokyo Smoke’s newest move

Read More News Briefs From Retail Insider:

How Lowe’s Canada Weathered the Pandemic by Implementing More than 230 New Initiatives: Executive Interviews

By
Mario Toneguzzi
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Image: Lowe's

Responding to the changing needs and desires of consumers, retail giant Lowe’s Canada has implemented more than 230 initiatives over the past  year or so aimed at improving customer experience on every channel it operates – in stores, across websites, by phone, by live chat, on social media and through its VIPpro app.

Those initiatives were fuelled by the changing landscape in the retail world brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the IT team of about 345 experts enabled Lowe’s to roll out a number of ideas in rapid fashion, which were planned initially for the longer term. The company accelerated its IT transformation, increasing its project volume by more than 50 per cent.

Rajat Khanna

Rajat Khanna, Lowe’s Canada’s Vice President Information Technology, said as a home improvement retailer it provides many essential products and services for customers. For the customer, a complete omnichannel experience was required. From a store standpoint, staff had to adapt to the changes required through mandatory public health measures. The supply chain was challenged.

All three dynamics came into play.

“On top of that we had an added thing to solve: How do we harmonize our experience across all the banners that we have. We have a Lowe’s banner. We have a RONA banner. We have a Reno-Depot banner,” said Khanna.

Image: Lowe’s

“Looking at all this, the good news was we already had all the plans in place. Now the road map was three to four years. So what we had to do was how do we fast forward everything that we had already in the plan by 50 to 75 per cent and in addition to that, not just fast forward, but be agile and roll out in months so that we can keep making progress.”

For example, it fast forwarded its Zebra Smartphones, handheld devices, for staff. Thousands of them across all banners. The smartphones have apps on them to help staff in various ways provide a better experience for customers. For example, an app as a store counter to keep track of how many people are coming and going from the store. There’s also a line-busting app that monitors how many people are in line for checkout for when it’s too busy staff can check people out while they are in line. Also, product inventory apps where staff can determine how much product is available and where it’s available.

“That Zebra Smartphone became a tool for us that solved our problems today. It also became a leverage for us where we can keep installing apps. There’s no shortage of it. We have about 20 now but we can go to 30, 40, 50 in the future. It becomes a good platform for us to scale,” said Khanna.

“In about 14 months, we rolled out about 230 initiatives. We moved that fast.”

Image: Lowe’s

These were just some of the initiatives fast-tracked in 2020:

  • A curbside pickup scheduler where a customer could order a product but also choose a time slot of when they want to be at a store to pick it up;
  • An online colour paint selector where customers could see different colours, see a virtual room setting where that paint was used;
  • Pickup lockers where customers could come and grab items they had purchased which were being stored in the contactless lockers at the store;
  • During the first wave, Lowe’s customer service call volume increased more than eight-fold. New initiatives included interactive voice response (IVR), online parcel tracking and order cancellation, as well as a live chat feature on websites to ease the pressure on its teams and help customers more effectively by reducing the time they spend waiting on the phone, 94 per cent less time to be exact;
  • Installation of electronic shelf labels in its Appliances department. It will be rolled out eventually to other products such as lumber;
  • The VIPpro app and Pro pickup priority service for contractors helping them get the tailored service they are accustomed to obtaining from its in-store Pro teams.

Tony Cioffi, Executive Vice President, Store Operations, said the IT transformation for the company has been huge.

Tony Cioffi

“It’s really about the partnership between IT and store operations. We have an IT support team that understands what the issue is and really goes into stores to understand what problems we are trying to resolve and then really work in partnership to resolve them,” said Cioffi.

“The biggest paradigm shift we’ve done as a team is we’re attached at the hip. Our teams are attached at the hip. We know that we can rely on our IT organization when we’re looking at what problem are we trying to solve and go after.

“We talk a lot about retail fundamentals in our business. We’re trying to get our stores focused really on three things. And when you focus on three things it allows your life to be a lot clearer and you can really get things done. Our number one priority is customer service. Making sure we’re there to serve our customers. Our number two priority is making sure we have the inventory in our shelves, the in-stock position, so that when a customer comes in they have what they need. And number three making sure that when a customer walks in our stores, they feel it’s a clean environment and they feel safe. And nothing has been more important in the last 18 months than having those priorities. Every project, every IT, technology or process that we’re implementing, has all been with the focus of how do I make my store associates spend more time on those big three, on the three retail fundamentals.”

Cioffi said the pandemic made the retailer, and the industry, understand how nimble and quickly they had to respond to changing consumer trends. And multiple initiatives were put in place to support those front line workers who were taking care of those customers.

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