Retailers are met with new challenges everyday in the ever-evolving marketplace. Changed customer behaviour, post the pandemic has found most retailers highlighting issues with point to point integration and disconnected processes, which in turn lead to performance blind spots.
The industry comes with complex and manual processes for associates. The rigid infrastructure and high cost of development of new capabilities have restricted the growth of retailers. It has become important to address these retail issues while also deploying a new strategy to tackle these wisely. The industry has thus reacted through evolving retail strategies to simplify the problems. There were a few changes within the system of the industry which helped the sector thrive.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) along with McKinsey and Company released a research study giving a more academic prospect to the evolution of the sector. This research has helped us in finding the seven imperatives that would help the retailers and the industry adapt and sustain in the new changing world.
The seven imperatives:
It has become important for retailers to adopt the seven imperatives to tackle changing customer demands. The first four imperatives are based on accelerating retail progress, while the next three are based on the future planning of strategies that will help retail growth in the coming years.
- Becoming omnipotent on omnichannel : The changing customer needs to be handled by becoming more Omnipotent on Omnichannel for a better customer experience. Customers are making more online purchases than they were before the pandemic. Therefore, it has become more important for the retailer to improve their presence on such digital channels. This will help customers choose retailers based on their easy and smooth end-to-end experience.
- Personalised shopping experience : Customers these days expect more personalised shopping experiences and offers as table stakes. With most retailers falling short of the expectations of customers these days, it is only a mere fifteen percent of the retailers who have implemented and worked towards a more personalised and seamless experience.
- Turbocharge delivery : A large percentage of the customers expect the approach on the same day or within the two days of the order. Retailers are working towards getting better investments in order to fulfil their supply chain capabilities. This will help the company grow faster.
- Purpose moves to the forefront : Customers have become more purpose-driven and are opting for more sustainable products and services. A brand is set to lose its customers if it starts placing profits over them. Customers these days pay more for the products that meet their demands and sustain longer. It's always about taking a stand or taking a seat.
- Embracing a fluid workplace : A strong, digitally dominated world demands retailers to augment their workforce capabilities to thrive. Picking up the right talents in the industry will help the chain grow. Focusing on more diverse talent pools, new recruitment models, and upskilling will help close the skill gap.
- Pursue a retailers ecosystem : By developing a sustainable ecosystem, retailers get the upper hand in transforming and leapfrogging the competition. It helps them tackle challenges from digital competitors and develop new methods of engaging with the customers giving them a better end-to-end experience.
- Deploy analytical and automation support function : The retail sector has achieved outsized productivity growth over the last ten years and has now come down to seeking transformational productivity gains. It has become important for companies to use analytics and automation across P&L to continue this growth.
Over the years, shopping has become more experience-centric, where everyone wants to eliminate their competition while maintaining a seamless customer experience. And, the retailers who understand this phenomena and new age technology will sustain longer in the market. Intellect Commerce’s 6DX POS solution allows retailers the power to choose, integrate and switch over with ease. Composable, contextual and MACH-compliant, this POS ensemble also helps retailers focus on the seven strategic imperatives which will ensure their success now and in the years to come. Book your free demo now!