A Revamped Retail Tech Stack: An Evaluation

Do you recall your shopping habits back in 2013? We were either busy visiting the local departmental stores regularly for groceries or strolling endlessly through crammed shopping malls. The advent of smartphones altered how we envision our daily lives, and a few taps provide enough details to make informed purchase decisions.

As Meg Whitman, President & CEO of Hewlett-Packard, appropriately stated - “communications is at the heart of e-commerce and community.”? Retailers also focused on creating better communication channels by incorporating technology and augmented in-store shopping experiences for customers. Significant investments in POS and order management solutions followed.

However, the rushed investments often leave retailers with poorly integrated tools and software, with newer solutions siloed over legacy systems. The aim is to deliver a seamless omnichannel retail experience but the absence of a rationalized approach delivered only orthodox and disparate customer data, systems, and sales funnels.

The Traditional Approach to Retail Technology - Its Benefits and Shortcomings

This strategy resulted in retailers blending several point solutions over a while, each of which is designed for a specific purpose:

• Category management
• Customer loyalty
• Email marketing
• Inventory restocking
• Supply chain management
• Warehouse management, and more

Besides its multiple benefits, the long hours needed in adapting, updating, and maintaining led to increased costs. Thorough risk-benefit and trade-off analyses should be conducted beforehand. Retailers still need help in unifying the technology solutions but find it almost impossible to integrate toward a unified commercial platform.

Future of Retail - Business Resolutions to Incorporate

The years of the pandemic proved to be extremely difficult for the offline sector, leading to retailers stepping onto the technology landscape to keep up with the ever-evolving customer demands. The strategies include:

AI

Several retail improvement opportunities open up with artificial intelligence incorporation. Tailored product recommendations, personalized marketing intimation, and distinct pricing strategies motivate customers to explore the products/services offered.

Hybrid Shopping

Estimates indicate a growth of 39% in global retail e-commerce sales in the coming years, with expectations of surpassing $8 trillion by 2027. But offline retail started picking up once the pandemic’s effects faded away. A new lease of life has been infused with digital solutions to create extraordinary in-store shopping experiences. The combination of online and offline retail is expected to rise further.

Augmented Product Information Management

Managing product information and creating product narratives make a significant difference in working in favor of a competitive edge. Managing extensive product portfolios is a challenging task to be accomplished manually, and that’s where technology plays a major role. Detailed product information helps in building customers’ trust, making the shopping process simpler.?

Futuristic Tech Stack

Businesses that break down the monolithic legacy systems into modular components enable retailers to integrate new technologies faster. This enables simple scaling of operations and more personalized shopping experiences in the future.?

Essential Elements of a Redefined Retail Tech Strategy?

All-in-One Platforms

An integrated business outlook creates a unified ecosystem of inventory management systems, sales analytics, customer relationship management (CRM), and other relevant mechanisms for seamless interaction and data sharing. The benefits are multi-fold and include improved operational efficiency, scalability, data accessibility, and more.

Efficient Inventory Control Mechanisms

A pivotal focus in the retail tech stack has been automated inventory management. Several retailers still lack a real-time inventory update system. The stakes are significantly high in this category with substantial scope for optimizing costs and increasing profitability. Tasks such as automated stock replenishment, order processing, supplier interactions, and more are at the core of automated inventory control.

Omnichannel Shopping Journeys

The digital age demands a seamless shopping experience for customers. Integrated online and offline channels are necessary to create personalized shopping streams, single inventory management platforms, and better customer engagement, to retain and attract customers.

Predictive Analytics

Advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms enable retailers to analyze vast amounts of data. Accurate predictions regarding customer behavior, industry trends, and demand scenarios assist retailers in implementing systems for supply chain optimization, price optimization, and fraud detection.??????

How can United Techno Assist in Changing the Retail Trajectory?

With years of experience, technology solutions from the United Techno retail tech experts enable retailers to incorporate newer operational techniques, and the customers to change the way they shop. We assist our clients in addressing Big Data challenges and grabbing opportunities in cloud, automation, IoT, and AI.

The future of retail technology looks promising! Stay on top of the latest industry trends and implement smart retail technologies with our seasoned innovation experts.