What does it take to be a successful Merchant of Record?

Many enterprise merchants in recent years, in particular QSR chains and Convenience & Energy Retailing companies, have become the Merchant of Record (MoR) for their franchisees. In an earlier article, we explained what it means to be a Merchant of Record. Here, we’ll explain the profile of companies that might...

Don’t Miss Your Future – Four Blind Spots that Retailers Need to Recognize

Since Marc Andreessen’s prediction in 2013 that “…retail guys are going out of business and ecommerce will become the place everyone buys…,”1 there has been a cascade of opinions and predictions about the digital disruption of retail. Hindsight teaches us that digital disruption is about more than technology. In spite...

The Annual Expedition – A Look at NRF's Big Show

The following story is reposted from Convenience Store Decisions and is written by W. Capra Executive Consultant, Ed Collupy. Innovation in 2018 will be about retailer & solution provider collaboration, thinking about not only the new, but extending what’s in place today. It’s a journey that more convenience/petro retailers and...

Gears That Keep Technology Moving

In his latest post to CStoreDecisions, Ed Collupy reflects on how industry standards improve profitability by reducing costs and improving competitiveness: Standards, in my early days of retailing, were always there to set expectations, something to work by, and measure compliance success with. Then I learned about technical standards. NAXML,...

Capitalizing on the Cloud: How Migrating can Benefit Retailers

A growing number of companies are moving data and business applications to the cloud with the potential of increased flexibility and decreased costs through diminished need for infrastructure, staff and software. The benefits are clear – moving from capital based expenditures (Capex) to a fully-loaded, usage based (Opex) model provides...

Innovative Shopping Mall: A Selling & Buying Experience

The following article is reposted from CStore Decisions and features commentary by Ed Collupy, executive consultant, W. Capra Consulting Group. The Journey to REC There was a long line when I ordered my coffee at the airport, but it moved pretty well. I placed my order, paid cash and proceeded to the...