Software Is Not Your Solution
Through many conversations with Parker Avery clients and technology partners, as well as in industry articles about the latest innovations and technologies, the words solution, system, and software are used interchangeably. Despite what most technology vendors proclaim, neither software nor a system alone will solve your business [...]
How COVID Changed the Role of the CIO
Recently Parker Avery's CEO Robert Kaufman was interviewed by a media analyst about how COVID changed the role of the CIO. We all know the global pandemic brought about severe changes in most industries. However, to a large extent, the focus was on how things [...]
Considerations for Remote Software Selection Projects
A few weeks ago, Partner Amanda Astrologo and Senior Manager Julie Cheney were featured on Parker Avery’s “Talk Retail to Me” podcast, where they discussed remote software selection projects. The two retail experts provided their perspectives on how software selections have changed since the onset [...]
Opportunities Backed up with Belief
“The best opportunities are the opportunities that are backed up with belief.” ~ Coach Mike Krzyzewski Although Clay and I are die-hard Georgia Tech fans, having spent our college years toiling on the Flats, last week, I took a moment to watch a portion of Coach K’s retirement [...]
Facing Reality: Which System Implementation Activities Should Not Be Done Remotely
Recently, Principal Marty Anderson and Senior Manager Russ Smith got together on Parker Avery’s “Talk Retail to Me” podcast to discuss how system implementation projects changed over the past year due to the myriad of global and national disruptions. During the podcast, the two experts [...]
Driving Success in 2021
As we quickly approach the summer season, our retail and consumer goods clients are increasingly becoming more optimistic about their prospects for a successful 2021. With many parts of the country progressing in getting the COVID pandemic under control and as personal freedoms return, we are [...]
AI Adoption in Supply Chain Planning
This past Saturday morning, I had the pleasure of joining panel of analytics and supply chain experts on the Clubhouse social media platform for a discussion on artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in supply chain planning. The panel included Jay Koganti—Vice President Supply Chain COE at [...]
Demystifying the Centralized Demand Signal
A couple weeks ago, Parker Avery's Chief Analytics Officer Sam Iosevich and Partner Amanda Astrologo participated in a CGT webinar where they discussed the benefits of a centralized demand signal. Over the last few months, Parker Avery has helped several clients realize tremendous improvements from [...]
Analytics: A Win-Win Approach
Recently on Parker Avery’s Talk Retail to Me," podcast, our Chief Analytics Officer, Sam Iosevich, and his long-time colleague, George Arutyunyants discussed George’s continuous journey through advanced analytics. As the firm’s Senior Director of Analytics, George explained how Parker Avery uses a win-win approach to analytics [...]
Gaining Proficiency Through Virtual Learning
Training alone does not lead to proficiency. There must be intentional knowledge transfer and sustainment activities. A few weeks ago, a few of our change management and training experts got together on Parker Avery's podcast, "Talk Retail to Me," and discussed the quick evolution [...]
2021: The Year of Collaborative Decisiveness
Retailers and consumer brands cannot rely solely on past performance to predict the future. This tenet has always been true, but 2020 and the pandemic have intensified the focus and accelerated the need for self-reflection and change. Key Focus Areas [...]
Overcoming Resistance to Change
A few weeks ago, on our “Talk Retail to Me” podcast, Parker Avery’s change leader Kathi Toll interviewed change management expert Carrie Habel. The two retail veterans discussed how company leaders can understand and address their teams’ and their own resistance to change. This week’s blog [...]
A Game-Changing Advanced Analytics Solution
On a recent Parker Avery “Talk Retail to Me” podcast episode, Chief Analytics Officer Sam Iosevich discussed Parker Avery's advanced analytics solution development efforts with the firm's Director of Solutions Architecture, Leo Greyz. Leo is enhancing Parker Avery’s “Results as a Service” (RaaS) offering and bringing it to [...]
More than Success: ROI Significance
We talk often about change management for our clients, but last Friday, The Parker Avery Group sponsored an event that has the ability to truly change the world: the RetailROI (Retail Orphan Initiative) SuperFriday Virtual Event. Spearheaded by Greg Buzek, Founder and President of IHL [...]
2021 Focus Areas for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers
Despite the hesitancy of many consumers to venture back into brick-and-mortar stores in the waning weeks of 2020, the industry realized that physical shopping channels—while undeniably and forever altered—are indeed here to stay. Recently, we were asked by several media analysts about the future of [...]
Insights on the State of the Logistics Report: Resilience Tested
I just finished reviewing CSCMPs (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) Annual State of the Logistics Report, authored by Kearney with input from a number of industry professionals. The report primarily covers 2019, and I was surprised to see it was the 31st year of [...]
7 Tips for Solution Demonstration Success, Part 2
This week, retail expert Heidi Csencsits continues her sage advice to solution vendors about conducting successful solution demonstrations—including tips on virtual demos. If you missed the first three points, you can read them by clicking here for Parker Avery's blog post from last week. [...]
7 Tips for Solution Demonstration Success, Part 1
Retail, like most industries, has been punched upside the head by 2020, with many companies understanding the need to quickly change their business processes, realign organizational structures, and evaluate supporting technologies. As we outline and prioritize recommendations as part of our clients’ overall roadmaps [...]
Unleashing Your “Superpowers”
In this transcript version of our Talk Retail to Me podcast, we welcome the newest member of the Parker Avery team, Rob Gentry. While he’s fairly new to our firm, Rob is certainly not new to the retail industry. He has over 20 years of [...]
Three (or maybe four) Key Takeaways from Analytics Unite
Last week, The Parker Avery Group sponsored and participated in Consumer Goods Technology’s Analytics Unite event—a groundbreaking virtual conference that brought together around 500 retail and consumer goods professionals from a variety of different backgrounds and from around the globe. While indeed, the virtual setting was [...]
Strategic Sourcing in a Disrupted Supply Chain
In this episode of Parker Avery's podcast, "Talk Retail to Me," we take a deep dive into strategic sourcing decisions for retailers and consumer brands. I interviewed Robert Kaufman, Parker Avery’s CEO, along with Senior Manager Rob Oglesby one of our resident inventory and supply chain [...]
Digging DEEP: Achieving Omnichannel Resilience
Earlier this week, Sam Iosevich and Marty Anderson participated in a virtual networking event hosted by Parker Avery partner Synoptek, a global systems integrator (GSI) and managed IT services provider (MSP). This invitation-only, private event was titled, “Reimagining Retail in 2020 and Beyond: Strategies To [...]
Deep Analytics: Why You Need it Now More Than Ever
In this podcast, we interviewed Parker Avery experts Clay Parnell and Sam Iosevich to discuss how retailers and consumer brands can embrace analytics into their business models to enable cross functional collaboration and deliver meaningful financial results. In this week's blog, we provide the conversation [...]
Retail’s New DNA
Once again, summer is quickly coming to an end, and consumer attention is turning to back-to-school. But with many local governments largely in flux on how to return to classes, consumers are unsure what they need for the coming school year. Do we simply need [...]
Two Critical Inventory Changes for BOPIS Success
The Parker Avery Group recently published a point of view, "Essential Disruption: Store Level Omnichannel Capabilities for Retail’s New World," in which inventory expert, Rob Oglesby discusses key tenets retailers must embrace to deliver exceptional omnichannel experiences in our disrupted world, focusing on store fulfillment. [...]