PMC Articles and Comments

Retail 2012 –What can retailers learn from the survivors of the British High Street?

2012 will be a big year for retail, and whilst the Olympics and the Queens Diamond Jubilee will inject some optimism back into the sector, there’s no denying the economic climate will keep tough times rolling for retailers. In this article we take a look at the actions that the Aurora’s, the Selfridges and the John Lewis’ of the retail world have taken to survive on the British high street, and advise what all retailers should be thinking about this year.

PMC Testing Services: Retail, Hospitality, Gaming and beyond

In the past 12 months PMC have delivered an exciting range of testing solutions across a number of industry sectors…

PMC at the Retail Systems Awards

PMC returned to the Retail Systems Awards, this time sponsoring and presenting the EPOS innovation of the year award. Throughout the night a number of retailers and retail technology suppliers were awarded and recognised for their excellence and innovation in the field of technology within the UK retail sector....

Social Media, Smart Phones and an Anti-social Society...

As retailers plunge deeper into the world of social media and m-commerce, PMC asks whether these advances will breed an antisocial network of high street retailers and consumers.

Christmas – getting customer service right could make all the difference.

Huw Thomas, managing director of PMC argues that retailers can make more of peak Christmas trading by getting the customer experience right.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could reduce your IT operating costs without degrading service? Here’s how….

PMC’s proven offshore Operational Management service can help you free up day time capacity or remove the headache and cost of having your daytime staff managing night time and weekend processes. Find our more…

PMC is celebrating 10 exciting years in retail!

As PMC proudly celebrates its 10th year in business, founder and CEO Paul Mason takes a personal look back over the past 10 years of PMC, and how the retail systems market place has changed.

Christmas – the season of goodwill and forgotten customer service

Christmas planning is more than ensuring that your technology is in place – retailers need to get the customer experience right. Short queues, efficient service and smooth transactions could be the difference between good and great this season.

Will the Olympic effect bring optimism back to retail in 2012?

As retailers brace themselves for the 2011 peak Christmas trading period, Huw Thomas – Managing Director at PMC, asks if the Olympic effect will help bring optimism back to retail in 2012.

Making Off-shoring Work

At PMC we have shown that for UK retail, off-shoring IT services such as operational support, application support, development and testing can be a successful and highly cost effective solution. We’ve asked our Development Lead – Vishal Shah, who recently spent 15 months on secondment from our India office to the UK, to share his thoughts on how to make off-shoring work.

Batten down the hatches or prepare for post recession    growth - The PMC view

Following up on our recent breakfast debates, PMC shares its views on what the right IT strategy needs to be in today’s difficult trading conditions. We also share our white paper on what every IT strategy needs to look at in tough times.

Who is taking responsibility for the future of the high street?

With more retailers going to the wall, and with 14% of the high street now standing empty, Huw Thomas, Managing Director of PMC asks who is taking responsibility for the future of the high street?

Open Source Tools – Do they have a place in a professional    services market?

For many clients the security of commercially available tools is their first priority, and they’re willing to accept the cost and customisation restrictions that off the shelf tools may bring. However, for other clients the flexibility or potential cost savings that open source tools can offer make them a practical and favoured approach to meeting their core testing requirements. So which approach is right?

Why Performance Testing Matters

Customer experience is fundamental to loyalty and brand reputation, so for any retailer, ensuring that their systems can cope, that websites don’t crash, and that store systems don’t lead to long queues of unhappy customers is critical. That’s where performance testing comes in.

PMC’s First Customer Satisfaction Survey – The Results

PMC has recently taken the step of undertaking its first ever customer satisfaction survey. In keeping with PMC’s open and honest culture, we committed to publishing the results of the survey. So here it is, the result of what our first survey said.

Making the most of recruitment opportunities

In challenging market conditions, the focus for retailers is often to get teams to deliver more with less, and it’s rare to see workload shrinking. Any change to your team such as the resignation of a key member can feel like a disaster, but it is also an opportunity to take a step back.

Spring has sprung, so are you ready for Christmas?!

Whether it’s chocolate at Easter, Summer Holiday specials, ‘Back-to-School’ or Christmas – wherever your crucial peak retail period falls (and there may be more than one) - are you ready?

Managed Service Solutions for PCI Compliance or ‘How to    Remove the PCI Pain’

Huw Thomas, managing director and Lehane Kellett, technology director at PMC, contest it’s not simply how to deal with PCI it’s making the strategic choice between the in-house or managed service route.

Outsourcing – benefits to retailers

Huw Thomas, managing director, PMC looks at and answers some key questions on outsourcing for retail.

Channel Integration – more than a wish it's a necessity

However you discuss the rise and rise of online retailing one principle remains constant - the importance of integration. That is ensuring your online, in-store, catalogue and other channels work together. And that means more than rubbing along together with the odd glitch, it means total integration.

The Future Is Only As Bleak As You See It

"If the question is: 'What should we do now?' The answer is: 'Keep coming back to the business strategy' – re-confirm your plans, re-assess your position and go forward. Your strategy must include several options and deciding on the priority of those is part of your business planning. What’s sure is that for some retailers their plans will work and for others they will need to re-assess and re-schedule more often. Some will win and some will lose – but one thing is certain – those that do nothing will lose." Huw Thomas, managing director, PMC.

Multichannel – Still Some Distance To Travel

Huw Thomas, MD of retail systems experts PMC argues that a gap remains between those retailers that make the most out of multichannel retailing and those that could do better.

Seeing ‘eye-to-eye’ With Your Online Customers

Shoppers no longer tolerate a poor online experience. Today, every online experience must be positive - in fact it should be a pleasure for the shopper. Unfortunately, too often web sites remain hard to navigate and riddled with bugs, far from ‘user-friendly’ many are ‘user-hostile’. The result is the same, users leave and head for more readily accessible competitor sites.

False Dawn or Cautious Optimism?

"During the last few months many retailers have adopted the ‘back-to-business’ mantra. This does not mean that everything in the garden is rosy. Far from it. Doubtless this will be a slow recovery that’s why the phrase ‘cautious optimism’ is most appropriate." Huw Thomas, COO, PMC.