What Retail Companies Can Learn From Digital Transformation Leaders

During the lockdown phase, there was considerable brand swapping by consumers who     wanted a good value from their purchases conveniently, from the safety of their homes. And that’s when     most retailers realised the importance of digitalisation. As businesses revert to recovery and growth modes     from survival modes, adopting some traits of digital transformation leaders can go a long way to help.

Thanks to the proliferation of labelled marketplaces, the retail landscape today is more competitive than     ever. Customers have many options to choose from, and only the brands offering personalised, engaging     user experiences convince them to open their wallets.

However, despite such developments, many retailers with small and medium-sized businesses are     hesitant to adopt the technologies that help them evolve in a rapidly changing world. These enterprises     must respond to consumers’ changing expectations before they become irrelevant or ‘dated’ in their     markets.

How can SME retailers differentiate their brands, become more competitive, and deliver the experiences     that buyers seek? It will be through digital transformation – the approach already adopted by several     organisations in the manufacturing, hospitality, education, BFSI, IT & ITeS, and telecommunications     industries.

The focus areas and the top strategies that your retail business can use to drive smooth digital     transformation are:

1- Make distribution services more innovative

Digitally enabled businesses stay seamlessly connected with their delivery services. They also ensure that     when customers order goods from their stores, the packages are delivered in minimum time and optimum     quality. That’s where IoT helps. By offering real-time visibility and alerts on the status of goods in transit,     it makes retail solutions more efficient.

TTBS offers location-based services including Fleet Management solution that uses GPS to track your     vehicles in real-time, helping you ensure that they follow the best routes while transporting consignments.     Besides monitoring routes, it lets you track driving behaviour for on-road compliance. Overspeeding alerts     and unnecessary idling alerts are instantly delivered.

With TTBS Fleet Management you get records of total distance travelled by your vehicles and the fuel     consumed by them. You can geo-fence the areas within which fleet movement is authorised and get     notified if a truck/van moves out. Such measures also reduce the possibilities of vehicle theft. All alerts are     sent on an intuitive interface accessible via the system’s desktop version and mobile app.

Offering more visibility into fleet operations and enhancing customer satisfaction with real-time shipping     notifications, TTBS Fleet Management is a simple solution for innovative distribution.

Our GPS based IoT solutions also include Asset Management and Workforce Management systems that     retailers can use in their distribution services. While asset tracking gives real-time information on location     of valuable business assets, workforce tracking helps to ensure that on-field employees stay productive     and use the right routes in completing their tasks

2- Adopt tools to understand customers better

For a positive impact on your retail business’s bottom line, you need to put customer engagement at the     heart of your operations. And that is possible only when you comprehend consumer behaviour correctly.

Thanks to the ubiquity of cloud platforms, the technologies for data analytics and customer relationship     management (CRM) systems are not restricted to large corporations alone. Any SME can leverage them     to keep a record of its customers and develop more effective marketing campaigns.

The Cloud CRM solution offered by Tata Tele Business Services (TTBS) offers pragmatic insights into     customers’ purchase habits, preferences, frequencies, and behaviour.

It comes with a strong business analytics layer, user-friendly interface, configurable workflows, automation     features for birthday greetings, and reminders to help you serve your customers better. It also gives you     substantial cross and up-sell opportunities to increase revenue per customer.

3- Understand how consumer technology is changing

Consumer technology companies such as Google, Apple, and Facebook influence the behaviours and     values of their users. Digital transformation leaders also stay attuned to the changing trends on their     platforms to understand their customers better.

Today, customers get updates about new product launches and discount codes and read reviews about     brands on Facebook and Instagram. They use Alexa and Siri to find products of their choice and make     payments with digital wallets like Google Pay and Amazon.

It is essential to consider these innovations and harness them wherever possible. If you ignore the     progress of technology designed for the general public, you will not understand why something that worked     a few years back does not impress them anymore.

4- Empower your employees

Your frontline employees are the core of your retail business. They assist your customers, help you boost     sales, manage accounts, update stock reports, and probably also play a role in home deliveries.     Empowering this team is about making them more confident and skilled with the proper knowledge and     tools to complete their tasks more efficiently. As per the scale of your operations and the kind of consumer     products you offer, you can deploy various digital tools to support your workforce.

Cloud CRM enables employees to make more informed recommendations to customers and upsell more     effectively. In addition, you can also use TTBS’ Document Management System (DMS) to simplify the     management of files related to suppliers, purchase orders, taxes, daily sales, P&L, inventory, and invoices.     TTBS DMS is affordable with a subscription-based ‘pay-as-you-go’ model and can be used through a web     browser on any device. It does not involve any additional hardware or software and helps you store your     data securely on the cloud. You can grant different levels of permissions to your team to access and edit     the documents.

The benefits of DMS are better collaboration and record-keeping while also eliminating the costs and     shortcomings of maintaining paper-based documents.

5- Build and strengthen your agile capabilities

As physical storefronts open across the country and set paths for recovery from pandemic-induced losses,     retailers must also strategise their operations to address future uncertainties. The new plans will be     primarily rooted in trends that have become more critical in the past year – e-commerce, omnichannel     services, and automation.

The pandemic and lockdowns did not impact the business of digitally active players as severely as the     ones stuck in their traditional models. Many consumers still prefer to shop online and get products     delivered at home. An e-commerce strategy – even if it begins with a basic mobile app – is essential to     thriving in the new normal.

Omnichannel services such as curb side pickups, same-day deliveries, buy-online-return-in-store, and     accepting orders via website, apps, and phone calls strengthen the reach and growth of your business.     Consistent loyalty programs across platforms also make you more customer-centric. So the next time you     roll out a discount coupon for buyers spending above a certain limit, do not force them to “order only via     (your) app”. Instead, distribute the benefit fairly across all channels.

You can also use cloud computing to automate your inventory management and marketing functions to     save costs and reduce human errors.     If connecting to public cloud services such as AWS and IBM Softlayer is a concern, deploy TTBS Secure     Connect. It builds direct private connections between such services and your devices via a secure MPLS     channel.

Change before it is forced upon your business

Another tactic that retailers can pick while learning from digital transformation leaders is to evolve before     a change becomes inescapable. By utilising technologies and work models that provide more value to     your customers, motivate your staff to become more productive, and add more flexibility to your operations,     you can strengthen business resilience for the uncertain future.

TTBS has designed effortlessly deployable, scalable, secure, and cost-effective technology solutions to     optimise retail services. To know more about these, please get in touch with us on 1800 266 1800.