Author: Nikki Baird

Nikki Baird is the vice president of strategy at Aptos, a retail enterprise solution provider. She is charged with accelerating retailers’ ability to innovate. She has been a top global retail industry influencer for several years, with a background in retail and technology. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and has been quoted as a retail subject matter expert in The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Huffington Post, and National Public Radio, among many others. Nikki brings perspective from all sides of the retail technology equation: she has been an industry analyst for nearly fifteen years, co-founding Retail Systems Research, the premier boutique analyst firm focused on the retail industry. Prior to co-founding RSR, Nikki was an analyst at both Forrester Research and Retail Systems Alert Group, where she covered retail industry and technology topics. Prior to that, she was director of marketing for StorePerform, a store execution management software provider, and director of product marketing for Viewlocity, a supply chain software provider focusing on adaptive supply chain execution and exception management. Nikki came to Viewlocity from PwC Consulting, now IBM Global Services, where as a senior manager she led IT strategy consulting engagements for retail and CPG clients. Nikki has an M.B.A. from the University of Texas, Austin, focusing on operations and IT. She also holds a bachelor of arts in political science and Russian, with a minor in physics, from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The Container Store networks its experts from store-to-store

Like many chains, The Container Store was seeking out a better store employee communication tool in large part to keep up with smartphone-enabled consumers. But it had to be easy and intuitive to use, something that enabled “heads up conversations, not heads down at screens.” What should be top-of-mind when retailers are considering employee communication and collaboration tools?

Don’t Call It ‘The Customer-Centric Supply Chain’

At the recent Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ annual conference, Tesla turned out to be most emblematic of the reason why we’re all going to hear about retail and supply chain a lot more over the next few years. It’s because it’s all about the customer. Do you likewise see customer needs playing a bigger role in driving the retail supply chain?

RSR Research: Mobile Apps or Mobile Sites?

One view is that mobile apps are crucial to future retailing success. But there’s also the view such as when one individual on a vendor briefing call stated, “Retailers aren’t investing in apps. Mobile sites are the future – consumers don’t really use apps.” Do you see more of an opportunity around enhancing mobile sites vs. mobile apps? Why does it seem retailers are facing particular challenges coming up with compelling mobile apps?

RSR Research: Is It Time for Store Employees’ Roles to Change?

If the purpose of the store is no longer mainly about acquiring products, then what are they there for? They’re there for service — that is, they’re going to need to be there for service if they want to survive. Do you agree with the author’s premise that, considering future possibilities for the store, “the role of the employee promises to be the most disruptive change of all”?