The retail landscape is moving with rapid changes in 2020, as continued global online connectivity shapes the way consumers make purchasing decisions and access a world of sales opportunities. It’s more important than ever for forward-thinking retailers to embrace the opportunities that come with technological innovation, as well as moving with intentionality to reduce their risks across the upheavals that are causing issues across many elements of the retail chain.
Retailers
Current Technology Issues
There’s a wide range of current technology issues facing the retail industry, including…
- Customer loyalty – as customers gain access to an ever-widening range of retail options, it’s harder than ever to secure and build on customer loyalty.
- A lack of integration between physical stories and online stores – when consumers are looking to take their physical experience into the online space, frustration is caused when the online store doesn’t mirror the range or experience of the physical retail experience.
- After-sale service – today’s modern consumers expect authenticity, communication and accountability in their purchases. When this isn’t mirrored in the post-sales experience, customer loyalty and repeat visits are on the decrease.
- Integrated systems across accounting, inventory, HR and payroll, leading to increased manual workloads and system issues both internally and externally.
Impacts to The Industry If Issues are Unresolved
If retailers fail to find solutions for these technological issues facing modern business, impacts within the industry include…
- Increased labour costs and overheads. With disconnected systems that aren’t bringing integration across accounting, inventory, HR and payroll, the need for manual work increases, bringing with it higher overheads. When every dollar counts, those overheads can be the difference between a profit and a loss.
- Lost sales and missed opportunities. If online store fronts don’t offer the range of products the physical store space carries, consumers can move on to other providers or purchasing options as a result of the disconnected system. Leads coming in from places like Facebook and Instagram are looking for a rich experience in their online shopping and consumption.
- Inability to connect with customer bases. If you’re launching new products and promotions but don’t have the tools you need to engage with your audience, how will you let new and repeat customers know about your offerings?
- Lack of thoughtful relationship management with existing customer bases. It’s all too common for retail to consider the customer journey as ending at a successful sale, but in the current trading environment, customer relationships are a part of a 24/7 experience.
Motionwave Technologies Solutions
Motionwave Technologies actively brings products and services into the retail technology space, alleviating the impact cause by potential industry issues with purpose-built solutions. These solutions are…
Products Include:
Microsoft 365 eCommerce
Microsoft’s eCommerce platform is all about providing intuitive solutions to every aspect of the eCommerce experience. Built for a cloud-based experience, it’s fully scalable, reached via web browser and any internet connection. This allows for dynamic scalability across all levels of use and data requirements. It also offers integration across web store and back-office for real-time data exchange and up-to-date reporting and inventory. Offering an integrated system for POS, eCommerce, HR and Payroll, Microsoft 365 eCommerce allows you to engage with your customers across multiple incoming sales channels and opportunities.
Microsoft Office 365 Sharepoint
Wave goodbye to outdated document management with Microsoft Sharepoint, a document management system that takes the form of a web-based collaborative platform. With direct integration into Microsoft Office, Microsoft Sharepoint makes it easier than ever to send, receive, share and update documents across organisations, no hardware necessary.
Microsoft Office 365
Designed for business and enterprise, Microsoft Office 365 comes complete with 99.9% email uptime and the full suite of Office applications for your staff, both in online and offline environments.
