Digital Transformation in Retail Sector
Digital transformation has been an ongoing topic that is drawing interest from every sector.
The retail sector has been seeing some of the most drastic changes since the late 1990s.
These changes led to the birth of online shopping and the emergence of mobile commerce.
The birth of mobile devices has changed the way people shop. Take, for example, mobile payments.
They are now available everywhere, with cashless transactions being the new norm in many stores.
The emergence of mobile apps has also changed things- for example, apps like Groupon allow customers to download coupons on their mobile devices.
The growth of mobile is not solely for the consumer- it is also changing the way that retailers are doing business.
One example is the introduction of the virtual dressing room.
Digital transformation has impacted every industry over the past decade, and retailers are no different.
Consumers have started to shy away from human contact as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks.
This has made retailers prioritize their digital transformation strategies.
This trend of transforming Kirana/Retail stores started before the pandemic even broke out.
There have always been advantages to retail stores because they are more accessible, more flexible in their approach, accept credit cards, and often have quick supplies to many buyers.
Although today’s shoppers are all about convenience and experience, there is still a gap between their experience and their awareness.
The retail stores can nevertheless bridge the gap and gain a competitive edge in the market by consistently pushing forwards and taking little steps daily toward digitalization.
Challenges faced in transforming the digital industry:
- Complexity
Retailers cannot handle everything on their own due to the complexity of digital transformation.
Retailers must carefully select their outsourcing partners to ease the burden.
Establishing digital journeys that enable all stakeholders, customers, and enterprise entities to work together definitely requires a different type of partnership.
- Technology
An accurate picture of orders, products, inventory, customers is crucial to a successful digital transformation.
Another significant challenge is choosing the appropriate technologies that can bring value.
To evaluate which new equipment and technology will be most suited to an organization, it is important to take calculated risks.
- Digital Disruption
According to IDC, Indian e-commerce will reach $99 billion by 2024 and will experience a 27% growth rate.
It is common for customers to conduct online and offline research before buying a product.
Price, availability, user-friendliness technology, and most importantly, recalls playing a huge role in the overall process.
Keeping customers hooked on a product or service is as important as visibility in the market for corporations.
- Supply Chain Management:
To meet the demand of its customers, the company had to rethink its delivery model in response to the pandemic.
To ensure a low cycle time, retailers need to ensure that the products are defect-free and are constantly moving.
Benefits of Digital Transformation in Retail Store
- Omnichannel holistic experience: We can provide, a uniform experience from the start of the shopping journey till the time the purchase is complete in a manner with minimal human intervention.
- Smart experience: A smart experience can be offered, with a combination of
- Smart mirrors
- Chatbots
- Voice-based search
- Virtual showroom
- Data-driven personalization of product
- Virtual Product Trial: AR/VR to help customers try before they buy
- Virtual Store Tour
- Interactive Store wall
- Better Supply Chain, Inventory & shelves management: With Smart Shelves, all products can be placed at the correct place.
Using smart shelves, you can get to know when you have fewer items on the shelves or when items are not placed correctly on a shelf.
Also, chances of in-shop theft, as well as product lying on floor, can be avoided. Deep learning ( by analysing customers’ data and behaviour…in-shop experience), products can be placed at correct places so that customers don’t have to ‘search for a product’. Also, better inventory management can be done, along with making right product available at shop.
- A friendly robot can help the customer. Customers can talk with robot (Instead of talking to a salesman. Less human interaction ensures no risk of spread of the infection post-COVID-19 outbreak.
- Good experience during checkout: An automated Checkout can help customers in avoiding long queues as well as make a contactless payment.
Technologies used in the Digital transformation process:
- Data Analytics
Optimizing business processes is crucial for corporations operating in a competitive retail market.
Data analytics is useful in identifying customer requirements, predicting future performance, pricing adjustments, forecasting demand, picking out the highest ROI opportunities. Therefore, providing highly customized products or services.
- Artificial Intelligence
Making customer service better and more effective is assisted by AI, which enables online shopping, as well as promotes products based on customer behaviour.
With the widespread use of chatbots, the customer’s query response time has been dramatically reduced, keeping them satisfied and happy.
Using AI has improved retailers’ ability to deliver fast and personalized service to customers, improving customer loyalty as well as deeper brand engagement.
- Internet of Things
To improve their marketing and sales strategies, retailers are making smart moves.
Smart technologies such as automation, smart shelves, automated checkouts, and layout optimization in stores are becoming increasingly common.
These all improve customer service, boost sales, increase customer loyalty, and boost inventory management.
- Supply Chain Digital Twin (SCDT) : With real-time data & snapshots, SCDT, performs a detailed simulation model of an actual supply chain. From this, one can understand a supply chain’s behavior, forecast supply chain dynamics, predict abnormal situations, and work out an action plan.
Conclusion on Digital Transformation in Retail Sector
How digital transformation is helping the retail sector
In our society, the retail sector is an essential part of the economy. Since the 1980s, retail stores have been steadily closing down across the country. However, now with the recent transformation to digital, these stores are opening back up again. The retail sector is now seeing more growth than ever before.
By properly blending online & offline experiences, one can offer a good personalized omnichannel experience to customers.
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