Kelly Brown

28 February 2024

Unified Commerce

Retail reboot: How to shut down budget blocks and reset your tech spend

Kelly Brown

28 February 2024

Unified Commerce

Can you keep up with stakeholder demand for innovation projects? And is your retail business scaling up IT spend to ensure the business is stronger, smarter and ready for the future?

Last month we asked if your retail business is spending enough on IT. We shared the critical indicators that can mean you’re underspending, tips on what you should spend and when it’s the right time to ramp up.

But of course, any increase in IT spend must be paid from somewhere. In this blog, we look at what gets in the way of scaling up investments and how to make the case for increasing spend.

While retail has traditionally lagged in IT spend as a share of revenue compared to other sectors, retailers that are aggressive on growth realise they need to harness new technologies for a customer-first experience.

The shift towards technology and innovation is critical for survival, especially as the industry becomes increasingly competitive, and the gap between winners and losers widens.

Today technology is not just for “keeping the lights on”, but a crucial driver for efficiency, customer satisfaction and sustainable growth.

So what’s stopping retailers from upping their spend?

There are five challenges that prevent retailers from making the decision to adopt new technologies:

Challenge 1: Money’s tight and many priorities to juggle

Retailers often face tight budget limitations and the need to prioritise expenditures that seem crucial for immediate survival, such as inventory, rent and staffing. Plus, there's often a real temptation to take a short-term focus, with execs opting to chase quick wins instead of playing the long game with IT investments. It’s all about juggling priorities, and sometimes tech just doesn’t make it to the top of the list.

Challenge 2: Understanding the big picture and shaking off old habits

A lack of understanding or awareness about the transformative potential of IT investments is another major hurdle. Sometimes the obstacle is an organisational culture resistant to change, where IT is viewed as a mere cost centre rather than a growth enabler. Traditional mindsets and the "if it ain't broke, don’t fix it" attitude hinder the adoption of new technologies.

Challenge 3: Playing it safe and doubting the hype

Retailer hesitation towards IT spending is frequently due to risk aversion - fear of not achieving the anticipated return on investment, especially if they’ve been burned by failed tech projects in the past. This skepticism is fuelled by rapid technological changes and a market flooded with new solutions, making it difficult to tell whether the investments will achieve the touted benefits.

Challenge 4: Old systems, big headaches

The complexity of upgrading IT infrastructure, especially for retailers with established legacy systems, presents significant operational challenges. Concerns about disrupting current operations, the resources required for successful implementation, and the task of staff training deter retailers from undertaking comprehensive IT upgrades. Compatibility issues with existing and future systems can make the transition to a modern IT infrastructure seem a daunting task.

Challenge 5: Keeping up with the competition

Highly competitive market conditions force retailers to focus on immediate competitive tactics, such as price wars, often at the expense of strategic IT investments. The pressure to maintain low prices and manage operational costs can leave little resources for innovation IT spending. Plus, the emergence of new consumer needs and technology changes can be overwhelming and create a sense of inability to keep up, leading to decision paralysis.

So how do you navigate the budget blocks to start over?

Making a business case for increasing IT spend involves a mix of strategy, foresight and clear communication.

Here's how to justify the investment:

Show real ROI: Demonstrate how the investment will help achieve your strategic business goals by providing a solution to challenges you face or taking advantage of new opportunities. Illustrate the benefits it offers with concrete data and case studies. Show how a modern tech infrastructure increases revenue, reduce costs over time and enhances operational effectiveness.
Check out the competition: Highlighting what others in retail (and other sectors) are doing is a powerful motivator, especially if they're gaining a competitive edge through technology. Show how changing consumer preferences and rising expectations for speed and convenience are creating new growth opportunities, with retailers that deliver a personalised omnichannel CX best positioned for long-term growth and loyalty.
Include a roadmap, and a plan for dodging trouble: Present a clear, phased plan for how the IT investment will be rolled out. This should include timelines, milestones, budget requirements and expected outcomes. Define the risks associated with inaction, including cybersecurity vulnerabilities, operational inefficiencies, and the threat of falling behind in a rapidly evolving retail landscape. Show you know how to select the right technology that delivers the expected returns for your retail business, and that you have a plan for what to do if things go wrong.
Highlight operational savings: Detail how IT investments will streamline day-to-day operations, improve inventory management, point of sale transactions and overall productivity, while also ensuring compliance with increasing data security and privacy standards. Demonstrate the operational necessity and legal imperatives for the IT upgrade.
Showcase scalability and sustainability: Explain how investing in IT is not just a short-term expense but a step towards making the business scalable and future-proof. Modern technology means you can easily adapt and grow by staying relevant and adaptable with technological advancements.
Get everyone onboard: Be ready to address any concerns or objections. This involves understanding the perspectives of different stakeholders and directly addressing their individual concerns, using data, visual aids and storytelling to make your case compelling and relatable.
Present data-driven insights: Show how a better IT infrastructure can lead to more effective data collection and analysis, which can shift your business strategies from guesswork to smarter, data-driven decisions. You’ll have insights that allow you to predict trends, deeply understand your customers' behaviours and optimise your operations for efficiency and satisfaction.
Boost working capital and get smart with stock: Demonstrate how a modern tech infrastructure improves visibility into stock levels and sales patterns, allowing for better demand forecasting and inventory allocation, and minimising stockouts and markdowns. This optimisation leads to a reduction in tied-up capital, freeing resources for other strategic investments.

By focusing on these eight strategies, you can craft a compelling case for increasing investments in IT, showing it’s a crucial driver for efficiency, customer satisfaction and sustainable growth.

If you want to ensure your retail business accelerates innovation while lowering costs and risk, get in touch. We’d love to help you navigate the budget blocks and craft a compelling business case.

For insights into how a unified commerce approach gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

download now

Carmela Salisbury

28 February 2024

Unified Commerce

How a single view of customer and inventory data translates to happier customers

Carmela Salisbury

28 February 2024

Unified Commerce

How do you keep up with customer expectations when consumer demands are rising – and often shifting?

As inflation and cost-of-living increases put pressure on consumer spending, shoppers are becoming more discerning and deliberate, rapidly switching between brands in the search for what they want.

That’s why customer retention has become an important strategy for retailers wanting to capture market share and maximise profits. Retaining customers costs less than acquiring new ones, and returning customers are more likely to spend than new customers.

By taking the time to develop relationships with customers, provide excellent service, reward loyalty and stay connected, businesses can retain customers and drive sustainable growth.

But at a time when only 25% of retailers can connect their online and in-store transaction data, many retailers struggle to deliver the unified experiences they need to meet customers where they are now.

Unified commerce solves this by unifying online and store experiences with back-end systems so you can attract, scale and earn the most from loyal customers. It’s now retail’s top priority, with 88% of retailers investing in unified commerce or considering doing so to make their businesses stronger, smarter and ready for the future.

So how does a single source of truth translate to better customer satisfaction and retention?

If your retail management system has been built up organically and relies on complex dependencies, you’ll know how difficult, slow and expensive it can be to integrate with modern technologies and create new customer experiences.

A unified commerce platform can take that pain away. It bypasses the limitations of legacy and omnichannel systems by breaking down the walls between internal channel silos, using a centralised commerce platform that combines point of sale, inventory, ordering and fulfilment, loyalty, pricing and business intelligence.

With one platform, you gain the single source of truth that gives you real-time visibility of your customer, inventory and fulfilment data across all your stores and channels. 

You can offer customers the easy purchase, convenient delivery and stress-free return options they want, while recognising and rewarding the shopping they do with you.

Here’s how:

Optimise inventory and availability

Infinity lets you consolidate your inventory from all locations – warehouses, call centres and physical, mobile and online stores – and make it available for customers to buy anywhere, at any time. You can extend your range across more channels - marketplaces, in-store kiosks, shoppable screens, pop-up stores, concessions and mobile devices. And you’ll reduce costs, cut stock requirements and increase margins.

Fulfil orders the way customers want

When your data is unified, you can offer a range of fulfilment options no matter what channel an order comes in from. Click-and-collect, store-to-door delivery, drop shipping, returns anywhere and ‘endless aisle’ fulfilment are all possible. You get to choose what’s best for customers and most profitable for you.

Reward customer loyalty

It’s getting harder and more expensive to get a clear picture of customer activity and behaviours as more customers opt out of being tracked. However, loyalty programs offer a compelling reason for consumers to identify themselves in-store and online. With customer details captured and stored in single unified commerce hub, you can recognise customers consistently, wherever they shop with you. Using that data and Infinity’s loyalty capabilities, you’ll know which customers are most profitable and what their preferences are. Your store teams can view this information to offer personalised service and encourage conversion at point of sale.

Localise pricing and promotions

Pricing is shared across channels so customers can trust that they’ll see the same price whether they shop with you in-store or online. You can make better decisions about store product assortments, by matching breadth and depth to demand, trends and local demographics. And by customising products, prices and promotions nationally, regionally and even by individual sites, you’ll increase conversions and maximise profits.

React smarter and faster to demand changes

Using APIs on an open platform, you can expose data in real time, rather than replicate or move it. That lets you add specialised functionality across various systems and provides a fast and easy way to plug in and deploy new services, channels and devices. You’ll innovate quicker, keep up with customer demands and build your competitive advantage.

This blog was originally published on 17 March 2020 and updated 28 February 2024

See what a single source of truth can do for your customer retention!

If you want to unify your data to offer a seamless blend of physical and digital customer experiences, contact us to get started.

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

download now

Kelly Brown

2 February 2024

Unified Commerce

Low tech, high risk: 8 signs your retail business is underinvesting in IT

Kelly Brown

2 February 2024

Unified Commerce

Are retailers spending enough on their IT?

As we all know, retailers traditionally have spent less on IT compared to other industries and enterprises of a similar size.

In the past, it was for good reason.

Other sectors like finance and healthcare rely heavily on technology for their core operations and risk management. Banks need top-notch IT for secure transactions, while healthcare relies on IT for patient records and life-saving equipment.

Retail, on the other hand, focused more on physical store operations and customer service, where IT played less of a central role. Retailers didn't face the same level of regulatory pressures as other industries with strict data security and privacy requirements, nor did it handle much sensitive customer data.

Retail is also a volume-driven and highly competitive sector with significant operational costs and price sensitivity, and slimmer margins compared to other sectors. This leaves less room for significant IT investments, especially when measured against competing demands from inventory, store rents and staffing.

And retailers were often slow to adopt new technologies because they didn’t yield high returns. Business changes were more gradual and often driven by consumer trends rather than technology.

So what has changed?

It was only with the advent of new technologies like mobile apps, ecommerce and digital marketing that IT become a game-changer in retail.

Retailers learned to be agile and invest in technology for competitive advantage during the pandemic and are starting to embrace that agility as new technologies like generative AI become mainstream.

Now retailers are focussed on finding the right systems and partners to rebuild their business from the bottom up. They’re building a customer-centric approach to retail using technology and experiences to enhance the brand, drive sales and grow loyalty.

The most forward-thinking and ambitious retailers know that they need to do it quickly. Nearly one in five retailers have posted negative economic profit since 2015. And while the retail sector has created value over that time, the gap between winners and losers is widening, with the top 10% of publicly traded retailers now accounting for 70% of the sector’s economic profit.

Retailers that are aggressive on growth - creating distinctive omnichannel customer experiences and expanding the breadth of their product offerings, while also resetting their cost base - are the companies that will create value, meet customer needs and head off competition.

And that means retailers are now as dependent on technology as other industries for their survival.

How much should retailers spend on IT?

The simple answer is it depends. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution and the right number depends on a retailer’s specific circumstances. It can vary greatly by retail category, company size and growth stage.

Our anecdotal experience suggests that most retailers spend only 1-3% of their revenue on IT, although one study found that retail and ecommerce IT spend was 10% share of company revenue in 2023 (up from 7% in 2022).

This is still low compared to other industries such as software, tech hosting and financial services, which dedicate 19%, 16% and 15% of revenues respectively.

These industries, of course, have different business models with significant investments in R&D. We’re not suggesting retailers need to invest at these levels, but they do need to scale their IT spend for opportunities that make their businesses stronger, smarter and ready for the future.

What are the problems retailers experience when they underspend?

There are 8 indicators that can mean it’s time to assess your level of IT spend:

1. Things just don’t work smoothly

Retailers who don't spend enough on their IT infrastructure may face hardware malfunctions, software crashes and other technical issues that disrupt business operations and negatively impact customer experience. Legacy systems can be less efficient, more vulnerable to security breaches and don’t integrate well with newer technologies.

2. Customers are frustrated

Today’s consumers expect a seamless shopping experience, whether online or in-store. Inadequate IT infrastructure can result in slow service, unavailability of products, discrepancies in pricing and a disjointed omnichannel experience, all of which lead to disappointment and frustration, a lack of trust and even a sense that your organisation is dysfunctional and incompetent.

3. Growing pains

Retailers with outdated or poor IT systems may find it difficult to scale their operations effectively. As the business grows, systems can become a barrier, hindering expansion and adaptation to new market demands.

4. Data, what data?

The inability to collect, analyse and act on data due to poor IT infrastructure can leave a retailer behind in understanding market trends, consumer behaviour and inventory needs. That means missing out on insights that could drive business growth and operational efficiency.

5. Security, what security?

Inadequate security measures and a lack of robust data privacy protocols are signs of underspending. Retailers need to invest in IT to protect customer data and comply with privacy laws. Failure to do so can lead to data breaches, legal issues and a loss of customer trust.

6. Compliance and regulatory challenges

Retailers are subject to various regulations, including those related to data protection and privacy. Insufficient IT investment can lead to non-compliance with these regulations, resulting in fines and damage to the company’s reputation.

7. Employees aren’t happy

Working with outdated systems can be frustrating for employees, leading to decreased morale, lower productivity and higher turnover rates.

8. Sales decline

With all these issues, sales and profitability can dip. Customers may choose competitors with better service and technology, and the retailer may incur additional costs due to inefficiencies and security breaches.

When is it time to increase your IT spend?

If your retail business is focused on any of the following goals, you’ll want to increase your IT spend as a percentage of revenue, at least in the short term:

Transforming into digital-first business: Retailers are implementing omnichannel strategies to make shopping a fast, easy and compelling omnichannel experience with personalised products, prices and promotions pre, during and post their purchases, plus fast and frictionless on-demand delivery options.
Meeting changing customer expectations: Changing consumer preferences and rising expectations for speed and convenience are creating new growth opportunities. The retailers that deliver a personalised and memorable CX are best positioned for long-term growth and loyalty.
Developing new business models: Retail leaders are improving and expanding their traditional products and services and launching in new, but related, market segments. Technology is blurring industry lines and allowing different operators – including retailers – to move into services such as media, healthcare, finances, travel and entertainment.
Improving operational efficiency: With increasing costs, pressure on consumer spending and the cost of doing business on the rise, there will be more consolidation and business failures. Retailers recognise that investing in technology now will lead to long-term cost savings, even if it means a higher short-term spend. It’s about making things run smoother and more efficiently, which cuts costs down the road.

Want help to find the right systems to build your unified commerce business model?

We can help you build a foundation for operational efficiency and continuous, innovative growth. Just contact me at kelly.brown@triquestra.com or get in touch.

For insights into how a unified commerce approach gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

Download now

Carmela Salisbury

30 May 2023

Unified Commerce

Seven things to look for in a retail technology partner

Carmela Salisbury

30 May 2023

Unified Commerce

      With many customer journeys now beginning online, and a growing appreciation of the critical role of in-store teams in the customer experience, the key issue for retailers today is how to extend their online experience into stores to create unified retail.

That means seamlessly integrating all backend systems to deliver the distinctive omnichannel experiences consumers now demand. Can your retail system keep up?

If you’re developing the roadmap or requirements for your next point of sale or retail platform, start here.

No matter the scale of what you want to accomplish – extending POS functionality, creating a single view of inventory, or starting your unified commerce journey to connect POS, inventory, fulfilment, order and customer data – you need a partner with the right people, processes and technology.

A partner who understands the 24x7 demands of retail and can provide you with the systems to innovate quickly, optimise inventory, maximise margin and deploy frictionless customer experiences - efficiently and profitably.

Here are the important indicators of a good technology partner, plus questions to ask:

1

Maturity and market responsiveness

Look for a partner who’s been around retail for a while, with a platform built on a modern architecture and sound business model and proposition. They’ll need to understand your fast-paced, data-intensive environment where any significant level of downtime is unacceptable.

Their people will have the capability to help you plan and implement your projects so that they work for you now and into the future. When you choose a partner with a mature platform, they can focus on delivering innovation because the core functionality you need already exists.

2

Real-world customer experience

Make sure your partner has a recent and proven success record for planning, implementing and managing complex, large-scale deployments across multiple stores, multiple formats and multiple geographies.

Have they implemented unified commerce systems or are they just unifying digital commerce channels? Ask for evidence of the relationships, products and services that help their clients to be successful, including the consultancy, customisation, integration, training and support services you’ll need.

3

Flexible and innovative mindset

You want a partner who’s got the people and processes to move fast, while cultivating an environment where innovation flourishes.

Check that they have a history of responsiveness and the ability to assess and quickly correct any unforeseen issues. Can they change direction, be flexible and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act and customer needs evolve.

4

Broad product capability

Choose a partner that can give you a broad and holistic portfolio, perspective and experience. You’ll need all your core requirements out-of-the-box plus the ability to customise and easily add new functionality.

Offering a unified experience means unifying all the backend systems that run POS, inventory, customers and loyalty, pricing and promotions, analytics and fulfilment. You don’t want to be tied to a point player that can only provide portions.

Your partner should let third parties connect via APIs and cultivate a vendor ecosystem to reduce risk and increase flexibility. You also need to know that your partner has a strategic roadmap and investment committed for new capabilities.

5

Consulting and market understanding

Find a partner that will guide you in the right direction and tune technologies to fit your individual business needs. Do they have consultancy skills that span business and technical knowledge? Can they advise you on business processes as well as how the software works? Make sure they understand your wants and needs (as well as those of your customers) and can translate them into products and services.

6

Exceptional operations

Check that your partner can meet their goals and commitments, and that they have the organisational structure, skills, experiences, programmes and systems to operate effectively and efficiently. That includes agile — make sure they’ve done the training and really understand agile principles, methods and practices.

7

Local and committed to your success

Look for a partner that is a local business, focused on your region’s potential to succeed. A local partner means you can have more influence on the product roadmap and enjoy direct engagement with people on the ground committed to your success (and not distracted by offshore business activity). And a mid-size partner is more likely to view you as an important customer of influence.

This blog was originally published on 21 January 2019 and updated 30 May 2023.

Want help to innovate and scale new services, faster?

Triquestra has been delivering retail management systems in multiple industries and geographies for more than 25 years. Our product and people are supporting award-winning retailers delivering disruptive, world-first customer experiences that build loyalty and grow sales.

If you’re experiencing technology challenges that prevent you from unifying your physical and digital channels, get in touch. We’d love to help you digitise your business to create the unified experiences your customers now expect.

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our new ebook:

DOWNLOAD NOW

Mike Baxter

28 February 2023

Releases & News

New in Infinity – March 2023

Mike Baxter

28 February 2023

Releases & News

Here’s new functionality across the Infinity platform that will help you unify physical and digital channels to create the seamless omnichannel experiences customers now expect.

Infinity is a modular platform and you may need additional components or licencing to access some functionality.

PRODUCT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Extend control over store-specific data

You can now prevent a range of Infinity data from linking down from the Head Office to branches, including customer records, print layouts, POS buttons and drilldowns. This feature gives your stores greater control over the data that is specific to them and ensures that it won’t be accidently overwritten by Head Office staff.

INVENTORY

More control over nominated suppliers

You can now restrict your staff from manually ordering from nominated suppliers, thereby preventing purchase orders from being created against internal suppliers or staff inadvertently ordering from nominated external suppliers.

Increase efficiency with automated stock replenishment requests

Replenishment requests can now be automated centrally at the Head Office for stores based on minimum levels set for stock items. When stock is running low, it is ordered automatically, thereby reducing the store overhead involved in manually monitoring stock levels and requesting additional goods.

Increase visibility of non-freight item costs

The Freight field that is used when receipting and invoice matching has been re-labelled FRT/Extra, making for a more intuitive experience when matching non-freight item costs, such as customs fees, to purchase orders.

ORDER MANAGEMENT

Better visibility of quotes and order data

Quotes and orders layouts have been enhanced in several ways:

Branches’ GST details are now included on orders and quotes.
The GST number on the quote removes human error from the process and maintains accurate information through the sale conversion process from quote, order and to sale.
The addition of customer emails to quotes helps store staff follow up with customers when seeking to convert quotes into orders.
Discount breakdowns allow customers to see discounts clearly compared to base price on quotes, while the subtotal breakdown allows B2B customers to easily see the tax component and tax exclusive total of a quote or order.

CUSTOMERS & LOYALTY

Give customers more visibility of loyalty discounts

Fuel retail customers can now see their cent-per-litre loyalty discount total broken down as line items. For example, they will be able to see their SuperGold discount calculated as part of the total discount, giving them confidence they have maximised their fuel savings.

REPORTS & ANALYTICS

Easier access to current store promotions and prices

A new report allows you to view products, the rules-based pricing promotions that are in play, and the prices before and after tax. This can be useful when you need to verify that current signage matches the price loaded in Infinity or if you want to generate a list of current prices for ad hoc price checks.

Improve analysis of waived payments

The Product Sales Summary Report now includes $0 transactions, meaning you can see transactions where no payment was taken from the customer. This is useful in cases where an item has been processed but a fee, or other associated payment, has been waived.

Better visibility of cash adjustments

The Safe Balance Adjustment Report now show the reasons for safe adjustments that have been made, allowing you to review activities related to cash-up, bank reconciliation and accounting.

POINT OF SALE

Help store teams deliver more personalised CX

You can now add customised information relevant to your business to the Customer Details screen at the Point of Sale, such as external loyalty memberships, favourite store, or product preferences. Your store staff can then use this information to upsell or otherwise personalise the customer experience.

Increase visibility of planned stock orders

You can now give your store staff visibility of draft purchase orders, allowing them to see the quantities of stock that are contained in draft orders. Note that this should be used carefully where drafts are still under review and are subject to change.

Integrate Hikvision’s video security system

Infinity can now be integrated with Hikvision for recording POS activity in real time. Data input from a range of functions performed by your store staff is merged with video footage, giving you oversight of sensitive transactions. Customers wanting to take advantage of this integration should be aware that some support from Hikvision will be required to make it fully functional.

ADMINISTRATION

Automate trading day reports at unmanned fuel sites

Fuel retailers who run unmanned sites with outdoor payment terminals can now automatically create and complete trading days once all the terminals have settled. This frees site managers from manually creating the trading day to see Infinity reporting on site performance.

Increase control over staff passwords

You can now limit the ability to force password changes to staff members with the same or lower access levels. This is useful if you want to limit password changes to supervisors and their direct reports.

TECHNOLOGY

Stay current with latest Microsoft technologies

Infinity is now certified to work with Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022.

To find out more about any of these enhancements and add them to your Infinity platform, contact us.

If you’d like to get our regular ‘New in Infinity’ updates in your inbox, sign up to our newsletter.

Kelly Brown

13 December 2022

Customer Experience

6 omnichannel retail painpoints unified commerce solves

Kelly Brown

13 December 2022

Customer Experience

      With rising customer expectations for a seamless ‘one-brand’ experience, many retailers have hit a wall because their omnichannel efforts can’t meet today’s retail demands.

Here Kelly Brown describes six major omnichannel retail challenges and explains how a unified commerce approach helps to create the relevant and tailored omnichannel experiences your customers now expect.

Customers today are delightfully unreasonable, and expect to transact when, where and however they want. They don’t care how you achieve it and will reward you if you have it - or shop elsewhere if you don’t.

Retailers are responding by integrating their physical and digital channels to deliver new omnichannel experiences that align with customer expectations.

However, it’s complicated.

Many retailers have taken a hard look at their ecommerce capabilities over recent years, but most are still searching for ways to create connected and adaptable experiences within stores. They have legacy solutions that are no longer fit for purpose and have bolted on solutions for the digital space that don’t easily integrate.

And they struggle to support their customers’ current omnichannel demands, let alone the ‘phygital’ shopping journeys now expected by post-pandemic, digitally savvy consumers.

If you’re looking at how to keep pace with customers, here are the most common challenges retailers face as they build their omnichannel systems, and how they can be remedied with a unified commerce approach.

1

Inventory that isn’t real time

Managing inventory is a retailer’s biggest challenge — no matter their size. It’s also the biggest cost. Many retailers launched digital commerce channels without getting their inventory right and can only access rudimentary sales and inventory positions. That prevents them from offering the ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ options that are best for customers and most profitable for them.

The solution: Optimise inventory and availability

One of the most compelling benefits of unified commerce is a single view of stock across all stores and DCs. This means you can quickly see where inventory is and therefore the fastest place to fulfil from. You’ll improve inventory accuracy, reduce stock requirements, minimise fulfilment costs and get products to customers faster. And you’ll increase sales by using ranging and fulfilment capabilities that enable you to sell products across channels (and even sell products not normally stocked within any channels).

2

Blending physical and digital experiences

Services such as click-and-collect, ship-from-store, find-in-store and returns anywhere are all just table stakes today. Many retailers implemented quick-fixes at the start of the pandemic to swiftly get new capabilities up-and-running, but now need a long-term unified solution to connect backend systems and deliver the omnichannel experiences customers expect.

The solution: Create relevant and agile experiences

With a unified inventory you can increase your purchasing, ordering and fulfilment options to provide customers with frictionless experiences and access to your entire range from any location. A single platform gives everyone across channels and stores the ability to view all customer touchpoints in real time. And you can extend your range across more sales channels such as in-store kiosks, shoppable screens, pop-up stores, concessions and mobile devices.

3

Obtaining a single view of the customer

Today consumers don’t think in terms of channels. They now expect a “one-brand” experience that lets them shop at any time, using any channel, from any device, at the best price. But if you’ve got siloed backend systems and processes that mean your customers must deal with inconsistencies and gaps, you simply cannot offer a seamless customer experience.

The solution: Personalise your customer experience

The ability to see each customer’s shopping preferences and purchase history across all channels is critical for building personalised shopping experiences. With a unified commerce platform providing a holistic view of your customers, you can better plan your pricing and promotion strategies and get the right offer or message to the right customer, at the right time and right place. By creating remarkable customer experiences that meet or even exceed consumer expectations, you can ensure customers return, again and again.

4

Integrating data silos

Retailers use multiple customer-facing and back-office systems, spanning POS, mobile apps, inventory management, ecommerce, CRM, fulfilment, finance, marketing and more. Often loosely connected with manual processes and custom integrations, these omnichannel solutions are fragile, inefficient and costly to maintain.

The solution: Lower cost of ownership

A single commerce platform gives you a leaner and more flexible architecture that reduces the need for reconciliation and manual processes to maintain and manage data and functions, and there is only one system to secure. Exposing data and functions (rather than moving and replicating them) makes integration faster and standards-based, improving efficiency, decreasing errors and increasing accuracy. Third parties can easily plug in, building the ecosystem of retail software, tools, resources and devices you can add and change to match your business needs.

5

Adding modern technologies and capabilities

To keep pace with consumer demands for omnichannel services, retailers need to create and deploy new apps, services and channels. However, connecting legacy systems with modern technologies requires custom integrations, and creating new brand experiences is complex, costly, time consuming and risky.

The solution: Accelerate speed to market

With a single platform, there’s less work required to plug in and implement new functions across channels, test cycles are reduced, and you’ll use development capacity more effectively. You can run experiments to test new customer experience innovations and easily move the successful experiments into enterprise-wide operations. These improvements in IT efficiency and flexibility let you launch new tools and services to meet business demands and start seeing revenue benefits faster.

6

Unifying employee experiences

After years of underinvestment and now a labour crunch, many retailers are playing catch-up with the employee experience. Their stores often lack the tools and systems that enable their people to deliver the relevant and personalised customer experiences that match online shopping’s price, speed and convenience.

The solution: Boost in-store productivity and sales

By arming your store staff with the right customer data and tools, combined with AI-driven recommendations, they can more easily make decisions, provide personalised upselling advice, sell inventory at any location and serve customers faster, anywhere in the store. You’ll enhance customer interactions, improve the employee experience and increase conversions.

Can you keep up with your customers’ expectations?

Retailers are unifying their backend systems to create the seamless and convenient experiences customers now expect. If you’re experiencing technology challenges that prevent you from unifying your physical and digital experiences, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop the ability to create a compelling in-store experience harmonised with a digital offering for competitive advantage.

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our new ebook:

DOWNLOAD NOW

Mike Baxter

1 November 2022

Releases & News

New in Infinity – November 2022

Mike Baxter

1 November 2022

Releases & News

Here’s new functionality across the Infinity platform that will help you create the convenient and seamless omnichannel experiences your customers now expect.

Infinity is a modular platform and you may need additional components or licencing to access some functionality.

INFINITY API

Extend access to New Zealand addresses

Infinity’s integration with the Addressify address validation service now supports New Zealand addresses. Using Addressify prevents customers from providing inaccurate or incomplete address details, giving you the confidence that loyalty customers and online and store orders are linked to the correct customer address. To use this feature, you’ll need a service agreement with Addressify (details of their New Zealand service are launching soon).