industryopinion Future-proofing retail IT
Leading Resolutions, operations in retail for 2025 and beyond.
D
espite the initial retail forecast for a strong golden quarter end to 2024, UK retail sales fell unexpectedly in December. Industry experts initially predicted that consumers would
be ready to draw from higher incomes and savings with a renewed appetite for discounted goods, but they were instead absent from UK high streets. Retail sales, adjusted for the inclusion of Black Friday, fell by 0.3% month-on-month in December, as reported by the ONS. Change is needed to ensure a healthy consumer base for UK retailers going into the new year, and retail leaders have already realised that digital retail is key to this. Thus, as retail continues to move in a digital direction, the
question on business leaders’ minds is: Are your current customer systems, processes, and infrastructure prepared for digital retail in 2025? While many retailers may have experienced growth over the past few years, there are massive differences between what they need for a future-proof digital strategy and what they need for a future-proof digital strategy, which depends on organisation sizes, resources, and growth goals. Retailers have already recognised that staying proactive and
planning beyond just a golden quarter bump can yield substantial long-term benefits. This is especially true when assessing and improving IT business systems. For some businesses, IT networks and systems have been designed and developed to support all the departments in their business – including retail, logistics and head office functions. Although this may have worked in the past years, including when business direction may pivot or trading models change, implementing an IT solution that can work with whatever the future might bring is a worry that keeps a lot of business owners up at night. IT is fundamental to business success. E-commerce capabilities
and customer engagement are key, and understanding whether your IT is capable and what upgrades need to be taken is necessary to ensure continued growth for retail businesses.
Reviewing your existing operations Understanding the current state of retail operations is a key first step, as it relates to business efficiency and in the broader context of the retailer’s market sector, size and trading position. To deliver the next steps and outcomes that are proportionate and pragmatic, it’s essential to understand each business on a case-by-case basis. In reviewing different aspects of the current state of IT within a business, tech consultants can analyse and construct a broader
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IT strategy to implement now for the future. This involves accounting for IT organisation and available resources, levels of governance and processing, available investment and budgeting, the levels of application across operations and an assessment of existing technical infrastructure.
Reduce business risk amidst increasing cyber threats Restructuring operations across IT to improve services and application deliveries is critical to reducing business risk. It’s most important that business leaders and their IT operators are aligned on defining a clear roadmap for improving technical infrastructure and applications, including understanding the risks of network use as operations expand. IT and data security audits are the first steps in figuring out where the problems lie, yet not enough business leaders are prepared with this information in hand to make informed decisions about their security needs. In an increasingly risky cyber landscape, ensuring legacy
systems that may provide security vulnerabilities is key. However, balancing an IT strategy focused on buy versus build and moving to replace commodity systems with best-in-breed commercial products will be critical points in managing and aligning with any functional requirements. Businesses must move away from legacy networks that may no longer be fit for their expanding operations but also in a way that doesn’t create additional security risks.
A more service-focused organisation Investing in your IT is necessary to give your operations a competitive edge in today’s business landscape. Advanced data analytics, retail AI and automation, clienteling, and even in- store or online customer aids are just a few recent technological developments that have already seen massive business value. Yet, not every retailer has been able to adopt them, leaving them further behind the pack. Creating a more service-focused IT strategy that works with
your retail business growth is needed when defining a broader business strategy for thriving in the golden quarter and planning for the years to come. Retailers will struggle to survive in an already competitive market without a tailored IT strategy that works alongside their retail business needs.
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