Oracle NetSuite thought leadership: How retailers can deliver the perfect order
Shoppers today expect a seamless experience whether in-store or online. This throws up challenges for retailers hindered by cumbersome legacy IT systems.
The rapid pace of change in the way we shop across different physical and digital channels continues to throw up challenges for retailers. Consumers now expect a seamless customer experience, whether they shop in person, online or using mobile apps.
Take the survey of more than 46,000 consumers in the US last year, for example, which found that a mere 7% were online-only shoppers and just 20% were store-only shoppers. The remaining 73% of shoppers used multiple channels for making purchases.
This technology-driven change means omnichannel is now the minimum standard retail benchmark. Martin Schofield, former IT chief at Burberry and Harvey Nichols, and now director at consultants Retail247, explains:
“As a consumer my need is simply to be treated well and consistently – however, whenever and wherever I choose to interact. To meet these needs, we need a real-time foundation that manages products, stock, sales and customers in its stride. We need to get the basics right.”
‘IMPLEMENTATION SHOULD NOT BE MEASURED IN YEARS’ One of the challenges for retailers, however, is cumbersome legacy IT systems. Schofield adds: “Retailers need to move at a pace that is often at odds with the established implementation process. The basics shouldn’t be as complicated as they are. Implementation should not be measured in years. We need the basics to work and a sound foundation to be agile enough to accommodate the new.”
The answer to that lies in greater real-time visibility of inventory, central management of data and customer interactions and crosschannel capabilities. That’s where something like Oracle NetSuite’s unified business management platform can help retailers deliver a seamless and personalised omnichannel experience.
Read the complete thought leadership piece here.
