Digital transformation has triggered seismic shifts in the retail industry. More eCommerce options. Touchless interactions like contactless payments and “scan and go” solutions. Advanced fulfillment that considers physical and digital assets to improve inventory and optimize processes. The Covid-19 pandemic underscored the advantages of digitization for retailers already acting on their vision—and the disadvantages for those who lagged.
APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
The right applications enable retailers to extract more value from customer interaction data they’re already collecting. Leading retailers are automating and digitizing manual processes, modernizing application development with DevOps, and using cloud services whenever possible. They’re optimizing existing sales models and creating new ones by automating supply chain and inventory management, merchandise planning, stock-keeping, pricing, and promotion. Technologies used for automation include the internet of things (IoT), big data analytics, AI, robotics, and robotic process automation (RPA).
USE CASE
The Covid-19 pandemic stress-tested retailers’ digital ecosystems, and the industry has emerged more resilient. Retailers are reducing costs and improving the customer experience with advanced applications and omnichannel experiences like scheduled pick-ups and delivery services. Yesterday’s push for leaner supply chains contributed to outages, exposing the need for demand-driven analysis and near-real-time data. Today’s retailers are meeting the need with cloud-based solutions that produce value from up-to-data data using AI/ML, artificial reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), and analytics.
WORKFORCE OPTIMIZATION
The retail industry has emerged as a beacon of resilience by providing in person, omni-channel and seamless customer experience with its smart use of analytics, AR, VR, AI and facial recognition. An agile, scalable and adaptable workforce able to adapt and thrive upon adoption of new technologies and business models.
