Accelerate your retail business with smart digital solutions

The Digital Revolution is happening before our very eyes and each business needs to find a way to respond to it.

Digital transformation is not an option anymore. It’s a necessity and a matter of survival.

Digital transformation is the process of integrating digital technology into all areas of a business, profoundly changing how it operates by creating new – or by modifying existing – business processes, customer experiences, and organizational culture. It is not only enhancing traditional methods, but reimaging them for a digital age to meet changing market expectations.

Digital business transformation is the transformation of business activities, processes, products, and models with the aim to fully leverage the opportunities of digital technologies. It brings people, business, and technology together. It creates new customer experiences.

Determining the goals of digital transformation in retail

An effective digital transformation strategy should start with the end in mind. Retailers must define what they want to accomplish. What will digital transformation change for their customers, their engagement, and their experience.

After establishing the objective, leaders should choose and adopt technologies with a clear focus on improving the overall business.

There are plenty of new opportunities in the retail industry to create high-performing retail networks and sales channels by digitizing processes and moving to ecommerce.

Digital transformation helps to improve efficiency, reduce costs, control finances, and increase security. It can also mitigate risks or lead to discovering new monetization opportunities.

Implementing the right innovation and digital solutions in the retail industry will help with monetising data, streamlining and speeding up logistics, and improving business processes. Thanks to machine learning solutions retailers and engagement-based platforms can leverage recommendations to deliver a much better experience and boost sales. Companies whose success relies on online interactions with users can personalise the experience and deliver a curated journey for every user.

Reaching customers

New technologies are conquering consumers’ hearts and wallets while changing their behavior, expectations, and needs.

Research is key. A deep understanding of how your customers use digital will help you to design a solution that will give your users a unique customer experience. An experience which customers should ideally not be able to find anywhere else but in their interactions with you.

• What are the pain points?
• What drives them to buy?
• What devices do they use? How many times do they browse before they buy?

Research is key. A deep understanding of how your customers use digital will help you to design a solution that will give your users a unique customer experience. An experience which customers should ideally not be able to find anywhere else but in their interactions with you.

Building customer loyalty

Only thirty-two percent of companies report that customer retention is their priority, with the majority of businesses focused on finding new customers – which is an expensive strategy.

It costs up to five times more to acquire new customers than it does to retain existing customers. This makes customer loyalty crucial for business growth as boosting customer retention has a positive impact on profit.

Loyal customers are more likely to share their experiences with friends and word of mouth recommendations are exceptionally effective. This is confirmed by the numbers – according to Bain & Company, apparel shoppers referred fifty percent more people after the tenth purchase than first-time shoppers.

Omnichannel and seamless shopping are one of the most important trends in retail. In 2019, brick-and-mortar stores remained the prime shopping channel for purchases but the global COVID-19 pandemic will probably change this dramatically. Leading global digital retailers such as Amazon and Aliexpress focus on integrating physical stores to digital ecosystems. Providing a seamless omnichannel experience is not just an option, it’s a must for retailers who want to keep up.

To effectively manage an omnichannel approach, retailers must integrate the user experience across all channels including digital, physical, social media, mobile, phone, instant messaging, and more. This provides customers with a seamless user experience at each brand touchpoint.

Giving an idea a shape, planning and evaluating the essential features of a product to accomplish business goals and eliminate possible mistakes – these are big challenges in planning a digital transformation process for retail.

Digital transformation in retail may include implementing self-service check-outs in brick and mortar stores, applications for customers, mobile loyalty programs, ecommerce platforms, recommendation systems based on artificial intelligence, big data platforms for franchise holders, artificial intelligence solutions and to create a high-performing retail network.

Self-checkouts

Consumer habits change quickly as seventy-five percent say they prefer using self-checkouts to save time – but they are not limited to payments, buyers can use them to find out about promotions and scan items, as well as navigate the store. Retailers are also able to free up staff members and reduce shopping cart abandonment while creating a unified commerce experience.

Digitizing sales channels

The retail industry is digitizing their processes and moving to ecommerce. Moreover, smartphones allow a consumer to interact with brands on multiple touchpoints seamlessly. The main challenge for brands is to make the online shopping experience relevant to what their customer needs.

Selling products via dedicated apps or websites, social media or ecommerce platforms – it all requires making the right business decisions and technology choices.

Omnichannel experience

Over the years, commerce evolved from single channel, to multichannel, and now omnichannel. Managing the omnichannel process effectively requires integrating the user experience across digital, physical, social media, mobile and many more. Retailers have to provide customers with a seamless user experience at each customer touchpoint.

Mobile loyalty programs

Seventy-five percent of consumers say they would more actively participate in loyalty programs if they were accessible via mobile phone.

Introducing loyalty programs in retail can bring significant benefits.

Increased spending – loyalty members spend on average five to twenty percent more than non-members. Additionally, thanks to having access to a larger pool of data, companies can cross-sell and upsell their products, for example, suggesting accessories which complement a customer’s recently purchased outfit.

Higher referral rates – according to Bain & Company, apparel shoppers referred fifty percent more people after the 10th purchase than first-time shoppers.

Higher purchasing frequency – according to Bond’s 2019 Loyalty Report which surveyed over 55,000 customers, seventy-nine percent admitted that having a loyalty program makes them more likely to purchase again.

Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) concept is based on extending Internet connectivity beyond standard devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, to any traditionally non-internet objects, enabling them to identify themselves to other objects, interact with them, and exchange data. In the retail sector it builds a network between internet-connected physical devices to monitor goods throughout the entire supply chain and avoid loss.

Augmented reality
Augmented reality adds digital components to the real world, often by using the camera on a smartphone to enhance the customer experience. The advances in augmented reality have been quite impressive. Augmented reality solutions have already been implemented in the retail sector and are making a real splash.

iBeacons
iBeacons are small and smart technology devices that can be attached to anything, anywhere. When a customer comes in close proximity to them, they broadcast tiny radio signals, which a user’s smartphone can receive and interpret. If you were selling digital cameras on one of your shelves, for instance, you could stick an iBeacon underneath it, and, when a customer comes nearby, a notification will be automatically sent to that person’s smartphone. If clicked, the user will be directed right to your online store where the product specifications, pictures and pricing can be displayed.

Machine learning is a cross-industry trend that’s expected to stay on the rise for the next few years. It’s a revolution happening right before our eyes, and those late to the party might find themselves outpaced by their competitors that leverage ML and leave everyone else in the dust.

Using ML product recommendations to cross-sell or maintain engagement

Amazon and any other service in which a users’ purchasing behaviour can be predicted based on another users’ choices can benefit from machine learning. By making the right suggestions when users add an item to their basket or upon checkout, companies can cross-sell effectively and improve user experience at the same time.

Creating personalized experiences

This is true for any business, but retail in particular can benefit from applying machine learning solutions to personalise the buyer’s journey. Catering to customers’ exact and individual needs can be a huge competitive advantage. “Retailers that have implemented personalization strategies see sales gains of six to ten percent, a rate two to three times faster than other retailers,” writes Daniel Keyes for the Business Insider.

Users expect more and more personalisation in their interactions with companies online, and ML can be the key to providing it by showing tailored suggestions based off the clients personality – a personalized experience means no one sees the same things, the site evolves based on their habits and preferences designed to truly engage the individual user.

Improving back-office processes

Certain activities, like verifying applicants’ resumes, or matching invoices in finance departments, are important but unengaging and repetitive. Implementing machine learning to deal with them can free up workers, whose time can then be better spent on more demanding and crucial tasks.

Improve planning and predictions

You can monetise data you already own by using projective learning models and algorithms to interpret it. This will allow you to detect patterns of behaviour (of users, customers, or workers) and make more accurate predictions. This can help you sell more, make your team more productive, or improve user experience.