Retail industry in flux: Three key data focus areas for retailers who want to stay on top

By Kevin Connor, Director of Product Strategy, Retail Pro International 

Pretty much every time you walk through a shopping centre or visit your favourite online stores, something will have changed since your last visit. It could be that a window display has been tweaked, a new feature has been introduced to an online store, a delivery option has been removed, or a retailer has ceased to trade altogether.

This constant evolution means retailers need to keep their eyes open, and keep moving forwards. As John F. Kennedy said, “change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

In this spirit, retailers must embrace change, as desperately clinging to the past or present is likely to result in failure. These are noble intentions, but can be difficult to follow in practice, especially for those who have been trading for many years more than the digital challengers; manual processes and disparate information and data points can make it difficult to ensure all parts of the retail car are working correctly, let alone make sure it is driving in the right direction.

A key enabler of this critical agility is having software and management platforms that are fit for purpose. But how can you make sure this is the case? Here are three key areas retailers must ensure they have nailed down if they want to be in a position to enjoy ongoing success:

Data unification

Big Data is now a big deal to businesses: Gartner says almost half of organisations invested in Big Data in the last 12 months. It can be particularly useful in the retail sector, with new data sources helping paint an increasingly accurate picture of activity right the way from shop floor behaviour to the inner workings of a warehouse. The bad news is that if data is not properly organised and arranged, it will soon become overwhelming.

This holds exciting potential in terms of the knowledge retailers can gather about their customer base, but things will get messy if the data is not unified; to succeed, data sources from both the physical and digital channels must be brought together.

Not only that, data must also be made available across the ever-expanding range of devices retailers use, from in-store team members checking stock levels on a mobile device, to head-office teams pulling data points to feed into PowerPoint presentations to board members.

The bottom line is data democratisation: geography cannot be allowed to limit data flow, as international expansion continues to become an increasingly realistic proposition.

The right tools for the job 

Once data is under control and made accessible to all, the next step is simple: figuring out what it can do for you. This means ensuring you have the appropriate tools to facilitate agile behaviour in the face of change.

Legacy systems can really make life more difficult in this regard, acting as a metaphorical straightjacket, making it difficult to recalculate your position and adapt in line with changes in customer demands, supplier conditions and wider industry developments.

That’s simply not acceptable in the current climate: retailers must seize take back control of customer interactions, making a brand-forward solution an absolute priority. To put yourself in a position for long-term success, the key things to get in place are a powerful PoS, smart inventory management capabilities, and tools to manage customers and employees.

Integrated processes

The third key focus area is one that is all too often overlooked: once data is unified and has been processed and analysed, the insights drawn from it must then be integrated with the wider business.

Failing at this final hurdle will leave retailers with nothing to show from their efforts, with siloed information and sluggish functionality putting them at serious risk of watching the rest of the field gallop off into the distance. In practice, retailers must ensure they have a platform that is capable of bringing together a wide range of functions including PoS, purchasing and receiving, inventory management, wholesale management, ecommerce and cross-channel management, accounting and finance.

Taking control

Change is a constant, so it’s no good trying to hold onto the past. The reality is that success will only come to those who have the agility to alter their course in line with the changing nature of the industry, and demands from customers.

It can prove difficult to find the relevant in-house resources required to become truly agile, so it could prove a good idea to seek outside assistance; this could come in terms of personnel, retail management expertise and retail management platforms. Specifically, retailers should be on the look-out for a combination of a strong, adaptive ERP/business management software, with SAP Business One being an obvious example.

With an expert eye and suitable platform in place, retailers can then get to work unifying all data sources, getting the right tools to allow you to take action, and making sure processes and outcomes are integrated. This will ensure agility, standing retailers in good stead to get on top and stay on top, adapting the very way the business operates in line with advances demanded from customers or made by the wider industry.