JDA Software Group has announced significant enhancements to its workforce management (WFM) and all-channel commerce solutions.
Capabilities now available in JDA Workforce Management and JDA Commerce Suite allow retailers to simplify and automate retail execution, as well as unify their associates, to create and deliver a seamless and superior customer experience across all shopping channels while maintaining a consistent brand vision.
JDA Workforce Management and JDA Commerce Suite, both former RedPrairie solutions, are part of the JDA product portfolio as a result of the December 2012 merger between JDA and RedPrairie.
The advancements made to JDA Workforce Management and JDA Commerce Suite emphasise JDA’s role as a single, best-in-class provider for integrated planning and execution solutions for retailers, manufacturers and distributors worldwide.
Breakthrough innovations now available in JDA Workforce Management include a mobility platform that allows retailers to mobilise their workforce across the enterprise to drive sales, increase employee engagement and reduce time spent on administrative tasks.
JDA is leading the mobility innovation by offering an embedded mobile experience within the WFM solution that extends as a mobility development platform to the rest of the organisation. The mobility integration is the result of RedPrairie’s August 2012 acquisition of Vortex Connect, a leader in mobile workforce management solutions.
Available in this latest software release, JDA’s workforce management solution includes the following workforce mobility applications: JDA Mobile Employee Connect, JDA Mobile Operations Connect, JDA Mobile Shift Connect and JDA Mobile Manager Connect.
Functionality offered through these mobile applications include: time and attendance, operations and reporting, dashboards and KPIs for managers, employee shift pick-ups, and swaps for unplanned schedule changes and more.
“JDA’s workforce mobility solutions increase employees’ responsiveness to customer needs, improve administrative efficiencies while ‘unchaining’ employees from the back-office, bolster employee morale, and equip managers with time-sensitive information at their fingertips,” says Wayne Usie, senior vice president, retail at JDA Software.
“A tool that allows retailers to create a better relationship with their customers and their employees while improving the top and bottom line is a powerful differentiator in a competitive marketplace. JDA is excited to put our customers at the forefront of the workforce mobility trend.”
One company that understands the benefits of workforce management technology with mobility is Bob Evans. Bob Evans recently announced it will deploy the latest version of JDA Workforce Management in approximately 565 restaurants.
JDA will provide extensive WFM capabilities to Bob Evans including optimised scheduling, time and attendance, employee self-service, performance management and workforce mobility applications.
Significant enhancements made to the latest version of JDA Commerce Suite – JDA’s commerce platform that integrates the store and all other channels to create a 360-view of orders, merchandise and customer behaviour – include upgrades to its embedded relationship-marketing capabilities that allow retailers to leverage rich customer history and preferences captured through the platform’s customer relationship management to provide more personalised offers and services.
JDA relationship marketing creates automated and highly-relevant customer follow-ups based on customer history and events from the retailer’s cross-channel transactions. The scenarios that can trigger customer communications include abandoned carts, customers’ first purchases, inactive customers, nearing loyalty tier thresholds and more.
Also enhanced in JDA Commerce Suite is merchant desktop, the intuitive and robust all-channel commerce ‘control panel’ that helps retailers directly translate their brand vision into the online customer experience.
Technical developments made to merchant desktop include updates to the page builder, product media/family management, price management and dynamic assortments applications. These tools allow merchants to respond dynamically to shifting demand – adjusting assortments, modifying Web sites – through a visual administrative tool which minimises IT dependency.
“While many companies are scrambling to take advantage of big data, retailers must first focus on leveraging the customer data they already have in their systems,” says Usie. “Retailers need to put the processes and technologies in place to translate data into highly scalable, personalised and relevant customer outreaches that improve brand perception, customer experience, and overall profitability.”