The new frontier of online retail dominance presents an increasing level of difficulty when curating the e-commerce customer experience. Shifts in generational habits and the move to digital and e-commerce from brick and mortar shopping have forced retailers to step up their customer service to acquire and retain customers. Business are utilizing lots of flash and sizzle in their online marketing techniques, but sometimes perfecting the basic services and looking for opportunities in the exceptions can provide a win-win for both the customer AND the retailer.

One of our partners, a global fashion retailer, reviewed analytical data and noticed something that led to further discovery. The high number of abandoned shopping cart items was cause for curiosity. Why would someone go to the trouble to shop for and select an item, and then abandon it? After conducting an impromptu survey of the accounts associated with the abandoned cart data, they came up with some statistical data which showed the two main reasons for abandoned cart items were:

Worries about fit, fabric, and/or color
Having second thoughts about the overall purchase commitment
After some discussion, we determined that both reasons are most likely directly related to the lack of the ‘hands-on’ experience in a virtual world. No matter how exact a photograph, rendering, or diagram appears, it is still difficult to determine personal fit, fabric feel, construction quality, and small details which can make the difference when finalizing the purchase. That combined with the uncertainty of the returns process can cause a loss of enthusiasm as the customer gets closer to completing the purchase.

We decided, in part, to combat this by embracing and streamlining the return process. The goal is to make the customer feel 100% confident that if they don’t like the item for any reason that we’ll make it easy to send it back. For perspective, they shipped a very high very volume of cartons per day, and the actual return rate was under 0.1%. The existing returns process was basic and a bit cumbersome for both the client and their customers. The customer had to initiate the return via email or phone call. Once the purchase was verified, the client’s customer service rep manually issued the return label via email. Although not overly complicated, it still involved extra steps for all parties.

We determined that the ideal software solution would be to include a “prepaid” return label with every carton. The client was willing to take the gamble that we’d still see fewer than 0.1% of the labels being used. However, it would increase customer confidence in the process and give them a sense of insurance that they would like the items they are adding to their carts. After some intense negotiations with the current parcel carrier, it was agreed that return labels would be provided with packing lists in all cartons, but they would only bill the client for return labels which were actually used by the customers. For customers, this ultimately encouraged more shopping! The marketing team spread the word online about the new terms and encouraged the no hassle, no commitment returns policy. Order in every size, return what you don’t want, no problems, no phone calls, just slap on the label included in the original packaging and get an immediate refund when the items are received back at the warehouse. The exciting byproduct of this is that the overall daily carton average increased and the number of returned cartons actually dropped significantly. The freedom that customers felt by having that return label as insurance helped them relax and shop with more abandon—then ended up keeping most of it anyway! Our client turned an unpleasant process into a profit center. Call a Katalyst consultant today to find out how we can help you maintain world-class customer service.

As you must have read probably a million times by now, technology is evolving. It always has; the only difference now is that it is now omnipresent. There’s not a single industry in the world that technology has not had a profound impact on. It is valid for the health and fitness industry as well, where technology has enabled things we wouldn’t have even imagined until even a decade ago. Take wearable devices, for example, who would have thought that one day, we’ll be able to monitor our heart rates without having an array of machinery attached to our bodies and without having a doctor involved? Such devices and other novelties, then, have given rise to another trend: Mobile apps for health and fitness.

While still a relatively new phenomenon, the fitness mobile app market is already valued at roughly $15.7 billion. As it continues to gain traction, we must take the time to see precisely how the effect the foundation it is based on, i.e., healthcare and fitness. The influence of mobile app technology in the context of this industry has been quite positive. From better operations for the companies to enhanced accessibility and improved quality of care, this technology has had a lot to offer. So, now let’s take an in-depth look at the essential ways in which it has impacted this industry.

Higher quality of patient care: With such an app easing the process of setting up an appointment with a healthcare professional, consulting with them remotely, and more, both patients and doctors are able to communicate in a far better way. And with better communication, clinicians are empowered to deliver better care to patients under their supervision.
Remote monitoring: Yet another compelling advantage of such apps is that it allows patients’ health to be monitored remotely. It is especially crucial in the cases when the patient is unable to travel to a healthcare facility or doctor’s premises for whatever reason. Additionally, they allow professionals to help patients follow treatment plans with functionalities like reminders, share digital notes about their health, and so much more.
Seamless operations: The ability to generate precise records and store them in a centralized database. It doesn’t only serve to deliver better care for patients but also helps healthcare and fitness companies ensure seamless operations. One can access anything, starting from treatment plans to blood and X-Ray reports and so much more via apps. It thus makes it easier for companies to keep digital records have any changes, updates, and movements in this regard.
It is clear to see how just how keen and earnest the effect of mobile apps has been on the health and fitness industry. And with assistance from a professional mobile app development company, you too can achieve this and so much more. Not only will your business thank you for it, but most importantly, the patients will, for they will receive ace care as well as several other convenient means to heal quickly.

TestOps – changing paradigm of QA

Software quality assurance is moving towards continuous integration and delivery to improve software quality in 2020. The DevOps is also bringing new changes in the world of software testing as it requires continuous testing. Testers need to change their mindset to take software testing as a continuous process. Software quality is ensured when you test each release that can be done through automation, as well.

Many companies have started their groundwork by applying DevOps, release automation, monitoring, and test automation, release consistency to imporove total quality management for software.

Adding value to the business

The quality assurance process is time-consuming and can delay the entire process, but looking at the whole picture, and this adds a lot of value to the business. The software quality assurance helps in reducing the number of bugs and improves end-user experience. Any software with bugs is not acceptable and can harm the development company’s reputation along with the product.

A paradigm shift from performance testing to engineering

Performance testing is done to deliver robust software. Next year, the use of performance testing will continue to increase and add value to testing. Performance engineering has a list of benefits such as:

Better revenues and profits with an increase in conversions
Enriched end-user experience
Reduce the cost of maintaining hardware and software
Reduce the cost of change required for improving performance
Early detection of bugs
It Improves customer experience and the viability of the product.

Big Data Testing

The big data is trending and has been used to test the applications created using big data. In the coming years, there will be a lot of upcoming technologies to test and fit in a variety of landscapes.

AI testing

Artificial testing is now getting a lot of attention in the software industry as it offers a lot of benefits. AI could help in improving software testing as it can perform testing from the end-user perspective. It can identify the problems just like humans. We can also use AI to match the two images and find differences in their backgrounds and icons if any. An algorithm based on AI can also be used to improve the texture used in the image.

Focusing on End User experience
The overall experience offered by an application or website is listed on the top for software quality assurance. Usability testing becomes essential to deliver an enriching experience. Random users should perform the testing as they could find flaws that the developer will not be able to see. Users have a different perspective to view things. Hallway testing is highly useful to check the end-user satisfaction.

Conclusion

Now you have the list of new trends that will be going to rule the software testing industry in 2020. You can dive deep to gain a better understanding of each one of them to deliver better and productive software.

Katalyst Technologies sponsored a panel discussion on global innovation with The Executives’ Club of Chicago, featuring expert guest panelists. Read on to discover the four main areas of global innovation as told by Katalyst and other global companies.

Recently, Katlayst Technologies hosted a panel discussion centered around innovation with the International Business Forum of The Executives’ Club of Chicago, titled “Innovation in a Global Environment: Leveraging People, Processes, and Systems.” Katalyst CEO, Rahul Shah, who is also a Co-Chair for the International Business Forum, was a panelist for the event.

Other notable members on the diverse panel were Howard Dahl, President & CEO, Amity Technology LLC., a global manufacturer of agricultural equipment. Steven Thiry, President & CEO of Fives Machining Systems, Inc., an industrial engineering group that designs and supplies for the world’s largest industrial groups. Dan Swinney of Manufacturing Renaissance, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to build thriving and inclusive communities by connecting them to manufacturing through education, training, and local ownership, and Ray Ziganto of Linara International, a strategic advisory firm with expertise in domestic and international mechanical component manufacturing, were also featured guests on the panel. Ray Bellan, President of Katalyst’s Global Engineering and Manufacturing Practice, was the panel’s moderator.

The panel’s discussion focused on four different avenues of global innovation, human capital and people, automation and its impact, regulatory systems and innovation itself.

On the area of innovation itself, the panelists talked at length about how to manage and inspire innovation across geographically dispersed teams. Rahul Shah shared his belief that the underlying message for organizations was that they should learn to accept failures as they innovate because not every venture will turn out successful. Howard Dahl of Amity Technology, LLC added to Rahul’s belief that to create an innovative culture, one should establish an environment where ideas can be welcomed and cultivated. Another insight shared was the importance of connecting with the customer to achieve innovation and successful design localization. The importance of understanding local cultures and local markets was also brought up during the discussion. Dahl indicated that he visited Russia and Ukraine 90 times to learn its markets.

On the topic of human capital and people, the significant issues discussed pertained to the shortage of people and skills and how it has affected the panelists’ businesses. In addition to the challenges of managing global teams, the struggle of mismatched skills in the labor market were also discussed. Expressed explicitly was the difficulty in filling high-tech manufacturing jobs in the US. In the case of Katalyst, Shah spoke of Katalyst’s global internship program, in which Katalyst sends US interns to its offices in India. When the interns return to the US, they are left with a multicultural experience that prepares them for today’s diverse global marketplace. Steven Thiry of Fives Manufacturing Systems shared his concern with the availability of quality candidates in the future, noting that the average tenure of a Fives employee is 25 years and that a number of those employees are nearing retirement. Additionally, Dahl shared that in order to fill the void caused by the shortage of people and skills, Katalyst could provide an outsourced engineering team.

Panelists also agreed there can be an international risk that comes along with competing globally. At one point during the discussion, the panelists spoke on the impact of US government regulations on US manufacturers who want to sell all around the world. Even when in compliance with the ITAR (International Trade in Arms Regulations) and despite the exported products not being made for military purposes, companies can run into issues with selling internationally due to specific regulations . Fives’ Thiry shared an example of his own. Fives produces automation equipment to make carbon fiber composites that are used to build airplanes and aerospace defense components. However, because Fives cannot export and compete globally, whereas European competitors can, there is an uneven playing field for Fives, who produce their equipment in Wisconsin and Kentucky. As a result, the panelists view regulatory measures of this kind as stifling towards business growth.

That evening, the topic of automation raised questions regarding education. There was a consensus amongst panelists that training below a university degree such as vocational training, commonly available in Europe, was scarcely available in the US. Although workplace automation was mentioned, it is not a significant concern for the panelists as most of them do business in low-volume, high-mix industries where automation is not easily implemented.