Hang on! Business Continuity – The Retail Perspective
“Business as usual” is the goal for every business continuity plan.
Retailers come in many forms including supermarkets, department stores and clothing outlets but they also come in many sizes from your large multinational corporations (MNCs) such as Tesco right down to your SMEs such as your local newsagent. The one thing they have in common and what defines them as retailers is that they supply and sell products/commodities to end consumers for consumption, not for resale.
For retailers, the bare minimum they need to operate is;
- A Premises
- An Inventory to sell
To ensure efficient operation of the retailer, effective inventory management needs to be in place. This involves the retailer supplying the correct amount of goods to meet the demand on the market, therefore supply and demand curves form the backbone of retailer’s inventory management. But that’s a separate blog all together…
The first thing you need to consider when building a BC plan for a retailer is what that specific retailer needs. Time and resources are too scarce to be protecting anything that isn’t essential, particularly with smaller sized retailers. As previously suggested, inventory and premises are the 2 things all retailers have in common, therefore a BC plan can be developed and applied on this basis.
Securing the Inventory
Inventory is the primary source of revenue for a retailer, therefore it must be considered in your business continuity plan. Retailers are constantly trying to supply the correct amount to satisfy the demand, without over or underestimating the forecasts. Essentially, it boils down to supply and demand curves, where retailers try and find an equilibrium where supply equals demand to ensure efficient operations.
In theory, the supply and demand equilibrium is plausible, but when it comes to business continuity it may not be so practical. If there was a disaster at a suppliers manufacturing facility and goods were unable to be delivered, how would the retailer continue to trade?
Firstly, retailers should consider contingency inventory; inventory held to meet unexpected or unforeseen circumstances. This means that the retailer can continue to trade with the extra inventory regardless of any unexpected circumstances with the suppliers.
Secondly, retailers should consider having a diverse supply chain made up of multiple suppliers and backup suppliers. If a retailer limits themselves to 1 supplier and that supplier is unable to supply or deliver goods, the retailer is unable to trade. In essence, if the supplier stops supplying, the retailer stops trading. However, by having a diverse supply chain with multiple suppliers as well as back up suppliers, this reduces the retailers risk and ensures business continuity if 1 or more supplier fails to supply for whatever reason.
Protecting the Premise
Without premises, the retailer is unable to operate. This means protecting it should be the height of importance. The best way to do this is to be proactive, not reactive. Aside from the legal obligations the retailer must uphold, they should seek ways to further enhance the safety of their store to reduce the risk of disruption. Simple things such as making sure smoke detectors work, installing burglar alarms and safety windows are all simple proactive steps businesses can take to protect the premises.
Even if you take the proactive approach, disasters can still occur and therefore you should investigate the possibility of trading from an alternative location. If your usual premises became unfit for use, having a similar alternative is very important to ensure the business continues to operate. For large MNCs, this is usually resolved by having multiple subsidiary’s in a country.
For small firms, this isn’t the case and they should consider having alternative plans. Sir Alan Sugar began selling from the back of van and although this may not be ideal, it could be a possibility in your BC plans. Other alternatives could be working and selling from home or in this day and age, having a company website that sells goods. This allows the business to continue trading online, even if the store is unusable.
Protecting Against Theft and Damage
As a retailer, you are particularly vulnerable to theft from BOTH consumers and employees. Furthermore, the type of retailer you are and type of products you sell will also determine how vulnerable you are to theft. For example, a jeweller would be at higher risk to theft than a furniture retailer. Jewellery tends to be a more valuable good than furniture and therefore they are at more risk to theft. Plus, it’s much harder to ‘leg it’ with a chest of drawers in your arms.
Crime Prevention Officers (CPOs) can be a useful resource to avail of. They will conduct a security risk assessment to highlight any areas which may be a threat to your business and advise on steps to take to avoid these. Check with your local authorities whether a CPO is available as it can kick start your crime prevention measures and BC plan.
Other crime prevention measures such as CCTV, easily visible floorspace and simply keeping selected lights on during the night can all act as deterrents for criminals.
Don’t believe that inventory is the only thing of value that can be stolen. Data and company information can be just as valuable to thieves. At a bare minimum, backup all company data and take copies which are stored in a secure alternative location to allow easier data recovery.
However, it’s more important to stop data theft from occurring, therefore taking a proactive approach is more advisable. Taking steps to protect your data is vitally important to ensure business continuity.
How can Renaissance Help?
Renaissance is Ireland’s Premier IT security distributor and leading independent business continuity consultancy provider.
We will guide your business through the data security and compliance landscape by covering cyber security issues, such as Data Leakage, Virus threats, Malware threats as well as Mail and Web borne threats. This ensures that you can protect your data, protect your reputation and ensure your business continues to trade.
For more information on Renaissance check out our services
Alternatively, you can contact us
Renaissance are hosting Ireland's 1st Cyber and Data Compliance Expo, “Cyber Expo Ireland” on 29th November 2017 at the Irish Management Institution, Dublin.
At this event, you will be able to speak to the full cyber community including Exhibitors/Vendors, Value Added Re-sellers, Security Experts and End Users. CensorNet, Trustwave, Altaro and 14 other vendors will be there to demo the latest tech in the cyber space and you will be able to get Re-seller Guidance, Expert Insights and have 1-to-1 consultations with a variety of experts.
We are also running a COMPETITION: The 1st 200 registrations will be entered into a draw to WIN a ClearCrypt MSATA Drive with 500GB of encrypted storage space.
For more information on the event or to register Click HERE;
Any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to get in contact.