If “Cyber Monday” isn’t a sign of the times, what is? Online shopping not only has its own sales event to rival Black Friday, but it’s growing year by year. What might be 20% of the market today may be half the sector tomorrow.
But that begs the question if retail is on its way out. Well, it’s looking like retail is digitising fast too, ensuring that the retail sector also has its own part to play in the flourishing digital age.
There’s one thing we can’t deny – the future is now. And with this brave new future comes marvels and upgrades to your humble store. Changes like outsourcing your payroll to digital accountants, having an AI assistant on hand to do your data analysis, or switching out your hard drives and heavy servers for the ethereal “cloud” take only an hour or two to implement. It’s a future where you’ve got more time for what you care about, instead of greasing the cogs and gears of your business.
What is Digital Transformation in Retail?
Simply put, digital transformation is bringing the latest tech into a retail business. It’s streamlining, optimizing, adapting, and advancing. Every sector or business type can benefit, and it’ll change the way your business operates (for the better), that’s why it’s called digital transformation.
Key Technologies Driving Digital Transformation
Cloud Computing
Chances are, you’re using cloud computing in some form already. Even if you’re simply using ChatGPT to answer some queries, that’s using processing power off-site. If you’re in a sector that requires data processing, rendering, analysis, and any other resource-heavy computing, cloud computing will change your business. Instead of paying the overheads or upfront fees for a powerful setup, you can rent server or computing power as you need. It’s cost effective and space effective.
And if your business doesn't need that kind of PC power (yet), then cloud storage is also a worthy upgrade. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s like a hard drive that you can access anywhere on any device– it’s pure convenience and it allows your team to access important files too.
Mobile Commerce
Smartphones can do practically anything that a computer can, so it’s worth investing in some mobile-friendly programs, services, and site layouts. Mobile commerce is a world unto itself, so there’s endless ways it can be implemented within your business. It could mean QR codes for restaurant guests to order from their table– freeing up wait staff to manage mobile delivery orders– and it could be implementing smart technology into the workplace so your phone can control everything from your air-con to your industrial reclaimer.
Integration & Internet of Things (IoT)
Today, almost anything can be connected digitally. You could, in theory, connect your office computer to a smart plug, power it on, use remote access to open Teams and be in your morning meeting before you hop out of bed. Smart technology and integrated programs mean your inventory can be managed, counted, repurchased, and put up for sale without you lifting a finger.
Social Commerce
Yes, you can buy clothes on Instagram, or a car on Facebook. Any business you have can have its products on social media for everyone to see. And since social media is the digital hub of advertising, your promotions can convert directly to purchases. Of course, social commerce is a skill set of its own, so bringing in an expert to advise you how to play to your strengths is key– for example, should you target Facebook or Instagram users? Well that depends on factors like the age of your target demographic, or how you like to present your products.
Main Trends Shaping Retail Digitalization
Process Automation
Slowly, all the time-chewing tasks around your office or warehouse are being streamlined with automation. RFID and QR codes collect and collate your inventory info, while AI chatbots handle customer queries and facilitate returns or exchanges.
Similarly, timekeeping apps can easily monitor and collate staff hours, ensuring your payroll processing is fully automated to free up manager man hours. These digital payroll solutions can also offer data insights into productivity for retail businesses, helping business owners pinpoint areas where they may be able to save on operating costs or even optimise inventory levels to accommodate market fluctuations. But more on this later!
Omnichannel Customer Experience
The ideal omnichannel experience for a user would be something like seeing a jacket on an instagram post, commenting “that’s cool!”, receiving a surprise coupon for the jacket and being directed straight to check out on the website. This way marketing, customer service, promotions, and sales are all seamlessly interconnected for a complete experience. Omnichannel integration is still in its early forms, but it’s expected that as AI connections grow, these transitions between platforms will be smoothened.
Data Analysis and Personalization
If you’ve ever clicked on an ad on Facebook, then seen tons of similar ads pop up the next day, that’s targeted advertising. With AI, targeted advertising will get smarter. Not only will they know you’ve clicked on a link for a jacket, they’ll learn your buying habits– whether you made the purchase, whether you buy a new jacket every year, or don’t need another one, or just decided to splurge and have no interest in them at all. So, depending on who you are– or your customers are– you can target them with a pair of your boots that match the jacket, or a trip somewhere cold instead.
And remember those payroll and stock management solutions? Having these centralised retail business management software solutions can also aid in recording and analysing operational and performance data for retail businesses. These real-time data insights empower business owners to make focused optimisation decisions across all aspects of their retail business.
Retail is Here to Stay – But Not As We Know It
So much of the digital transformation of the retail sector is revolving around AI. Smart technology, integrations, and hardware automation are simply a step towards it. Take some time to see what others in your niche are doing to propel their brand with more technology and emulate them, then build upon their ideas to really soar. The sky’s the limit.
