The value of building a hyperconnected business from the ground up

If we’ve learned anything in the last 20 months, it’s that the future is digital. And, as such, the businesses of the future must be hyperconnected; enabling people, information and things to come together in unique ways. For larger, more established businesses getting this right can be complicated because they must manage legacy systems and processes and navigate the change brought about by entirely new ways of working. For smaller businesses, this presents an incredible opportunity to create a digital business from the ground up.

Across the Middle East and Africa (MEA), technology has enabled businesses to keep running even when the world around them stopped. For retailers, big and small, this meant becoming more reliant on technology solutions so that they could respond quickly to lockdown regulations, transform how they connect with consumers and better manage fluctuations in consumer demand.

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Preparing for the retail business you want in the future

The businesses that had already started their digital transformation journeys before pre-Covid were in a better position to adapt to the unexpected changes brought about by the pandemic. Businesses like Signature Cosmetics, a southern African-based beauty brand.?Lockdown restrictions forced the retailer to close its 170 stores across southern Africa. While they had planned to scale up their e-commerce strategy in 2021, the pandemic brought their plans forward a bit. Fortunately, the digital transformation groundwork was in place as they were already working with Microsoft on the modernization of their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems using Microsoft’s Dynamics 365. Signature Cosmetics could simply switch its focus away from these efforts and towards establishing their e-commerce division. In fact, they were able to launch a virtual store in just two months.

Beyond surviving and mitigating business disruption, if you create a hyperconnected business before your business really starts growing, you up your competitive advantage because you are better prepared to adapt and handle whatever the market throws at you as you scale.

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AI as a hyperconnected business enabler

Hyperconnected businesses are proactive, not reactive. They bring different types of business data together to provide a more holistic view across the business, which results in faster and more meaningful business outcomes. This also makes collaboration easier, so that people can be innovative, share ideas and work together across their different roles. For small businesses, creating a hyperconnected business from the very beginning lays the foundations necessary to yield long-term benefits.

AI is an important tool in any hyperconnected business’ toolbox. Just ask Migros, a 65-year-old Turkish retailer that is using an AI-powered system to strengthen its digital transformation efforts. This system uses advanced analysis techniques to recognize products in the aisles and estimate shelf occupancy rates. Supported by Azure Cognitive Services, the solution is only set to get better day-by-day as it is continuously learning.

And because these AI-powered models can help retailers understand specific scenarios, like customer behavior at a promotional display, for example, retailers are able to gain a fresh perspective into how customers interact with products and how they move around the store. Real-time insights empower retailers to adapt and adjust anything that may not be working, to improve customer experiences in-store, and determine when their busiest days are so that they can coordinate shifts accordingly. But as is the case with any new technology, it is critical that it is used responsibly; only being used to observe foot traffic and shopping trends and not being used to identify or monitor shoppers.

It’s safe to say that the pandemic has served as a major reality check for businesses that were reluctant to embrace digital transformation. And it has successfully silenced any doubts that business leaders may have had about the need to embrace digital for business continuity and longevity. For smaller businesses looking to one day become larger enterprises, emerging technologies present opportunities to access real-time insights so that you can improve your operations, better meet customer expectations, and plan for the future.