Retail Te need to respond to busy periods is encouraging retailers


to consider new technologies and approaches themselves, something McKinsey describes as the ‘Great Retail Reset’, with leaders in the sector hoping to boost returns with everything from omnichannel partnerships to expanding portfolios. Tis has fostered a hunger for technologies which can deliver business value. One such technology is Process Intelligence, which effectively helps businesses to harness data and optimise internal operations. Process Intelligence promises to pave the way for innovation that can be turned into real competitive advantage.


Gaining a holistic picture Britain’s High Streets illustrate the scale of the challenge facing technology retailers. In 2023, a record 62 retail businesses failed, with customer footfall still 10% lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to the Centre for Retail Research. For retailers attempting to embrace new tech-driven ways to reach customers, it’s never been more crucial that their operations keep pace with their innovation. Otherwise, any competitive advantage delivered from new ideas or new technology will be lost due to inefficiencies in internal operations. Tese can involve an incredibly complex landscape of people, processes, and systems, with retailers running thousands of processes every day. Few truly understand this landscape and this is where process intelligence comes in. Before businesses harness process intelligence, they must lay


the foundations for change by gaining a holistic view of their internal operations through process mining. Tis technology provides retailers with insights into every process within their business, like an X-Ray showing what is really happening. Te technology works using event logs, showing how processes are actually working, and capturing data from everything from ERP or CRM systems to emails to Excel spreadsheets. Many retailers might believe they have designed a straightforward process, but in reality every process is operating with thousands of deviations, which all take time and money away from the business. Process mining is incredibly powerful, offering companies the chance to uncover hidden opportunities within their processes which can drive efficiency in all business operations from returns to shipping to supply chain.


Driving customer satisfaction Customer expectations have also shiſted drastically. Retailers who fail to meet expectations will find that customers are prepared to look elsewhere if they don’t get what they want, when and how they want it. Process intelligence offers technology retailers real-time visibility of their operations, which enables them to deliver for today’s fickle customers. Retailers can easily see where stockouts are most likely to occur and divert stock to where it is needed, before it becomes a problem. Tis can also help customer service teams to reset customer expectations when needed. Process intelligence also has an important role to play in


returns and cancellations, helping retailers to home in on and eliminate errors that can cause orders being sent back. One example of this can be seen from a Swiss luxury retailer, who used process mining to uncover the root cause of returns that


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were causing issues for the business. Analysing processes, the luxury retailer could see there was an inefficiency between systems that allowed one customer to reserve an item online while another was able to buy the same item. Using process intelligence, the luxury retailer cut their overall cancellation rate by 20%. Retailers have a wealth of data at their fingertips thanks to


loyalty schemes and process mining, which powers process intelligence, enabling retailers to tailor customer experience based on that data, so that retailers can customise promotional offers to the brand’s most loyal customers. One retailer used process intelligence and found that when customers ordered a product to store, and then did not pick it up, they were more likely to cancel orders. So they actioned this and were able to nudge customers with a simple ‘Are you going to come in and pick it up another day?’ message. Tat meant their cancellations dropped, and it improved productivity, because employees were not wasting their time packing items for cancelled orders. Some technology retailers are already reaping the rewards


of this technology, not only using it to enhance customer satisfaction, but also boost productivity. German tech retail giant MediaMarkt Saturn used process intelligence to root out problems linked to invoice control. Te company was seeing too many invoice exceptions which were preventing invoices being processed, and used process intelligence to find which suppliers and stores were causing problems, and changed those particular processes.


Buying power With purse strings tight in the technology retail sector, businesses need to be confident in their buying decisions. With global factors making supply chains less predictable, spotting issues ahead of time is more crucial than ever, especially as we approach the golden quarter, to ensure sales are not unduly affected by supply issues and that new products can reach the market with minimal delay. Process Intelligence lets retailers set up a supply chain ‘control tower’ which can analyse process data for trends, spotting risks and helping retailers anticipate issues so they can be proactively avoided. With this insight, they can set up intelligent automations which use real-time data to trigger actions automatically, freeing up valuable team time. Tis means retailers can keep track of lead times, for example,


but can also have a useful overview of CO2 emissions in their supply chain. If delays are consistent, business leaders can contact vendors to discuss performance, or pivot to new vendors which offer more accurate preliminary dates.


Future-ready retail With issues ranging from inflation to inventory challenges, the macroeconomic picture has created a perfect storm for many technology retailers. In this environment, process intelligence offers crucial advantages which retailers cannot afford to ignore. From boosting customer experience to driving productivity gains, technology retailers can use the power of process insights to gain insights into the reality of their business, and use that as a launchpad for future innovation to deliver business value.


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