Retail
Evolving the retail tech stack
Amber Hovious, VP marketing and partnerships at Teamwork Commerce looks at managing customers through retail technology.
Retail is notorious for being a highly competitive sector with small margins. As such, the need for evolution is imperative in order to succeed. How do you think the retail industry has changed over the past couple of years? Consumer behaviour remains at the heart of the retail industry and there’s no denying that any change in consumer trends has a direct impact on retailers. In the past few years, retailers have had to cater to evolving consumer demands both during and aſter the pandemic. Te pandemic changed everything when it comes to consumer
expectations and with retailers needing to appeal to customers in any way that made them feel comfortable throughout lockdowns, an effective omnichannel strategy became an absolute necessity for retailers wishing to remain afloat. Today, having an omnichannel presence does not ensure
success. Consumers demand a huge amount of personalisation and convenience in their shopping. Not only do retailers need an effective omnichannel strategy, but they need to be able to cater to customer needs at every touchpoint - from initial interaction through to transaction. As technology evolves, delivering this is becoming more feasible, but in order to operate effectively, all technology deployments must be able to communicate seamlessly with each other.
2022 brought positive outcomes for retailers with post-pandemic recovery and the revival of brick-and-mortar shopping. But it did not end without challenges. As we consider the outlay of this year, what are the biggest challenges facing retailers in 2023? One of the biggest challenges for retailers in 2023 is economic uncertainty. Te recession is likely to squeeze consumer shopping
28 | March 2023
budgets and make customers more frugal when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Of course, the knock-on effect here for retailers is the risk of reduced sales, whether customers turn away completely from stores due to item prices, or have found alternative products at lower prices from competitor retailers. Furthermore, ongoing issues such as the labour shortage and
supply chain challenges only make it more difficult for retailers to function smoothly. Consumers today want to leverage a blend of both physical and online sales channels. Retailers that lack the appropriate technology and staff to facilitate this will find it difficult to maintain the balance between online and offline.
In order to thrive in today’s competitive landscape and deal with 2023’s challenges, many retailers are turning to technology for support. But what should they be investing in? Tere is no single technology or soſtware solution that retailers should lean on when it comes to meeting consumer needs and dealing with today’s challenges. Retailers must recognise the value of a modern tech stack that includes a range of state-of-the-art technologies integrated with each other, allowing a seamless flow of information across different touchpoints. However, one important factor to consider is complexity. Retailers should ensure that they can deploy a system that provides a single pane view of the sales funnel across different online and offline sales channels. Tis can create a streamlined and seamless operation that delivers high level efficiency as well as a top-quality customer service. In addition, retailers must continue to update their tech stack
with the latest solutions to meet evolving consumer needs. For example, using an outdated point-of-sale (POS) terminal is no
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