To succeed in retail today, businesses have to continue to adapt to the fact that the crux of consumer buying decisions increasingly lies around questions of ethics, environmentalism, and sustainability.
Two out of three of us consider ourselves to be “belief-driven buyers”, with a strong desire to know that the products and services we buy are created in an environmentally-friendly way by organizations with solid environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles. Rather than an obstacle or hindrance to industry, organizations that successfully adapt to this trend will find that they quickly build stronger bonds of trust and loyalty with their customers while often also developing more efficient operations and processes. This can be achieved by reducing wastage associated with excess packaging and reducing overall energy consumption. Korean retailer Coupang serves as a good example of a company that eliminated packaging from 75 percent of its deliveries, resulting in higher brand loyalty and reduced logistical expenditure.
As more and more of us become aware of the increasingly critical nature of threats facing our environment and the planet, technology that enables companies to both find new solutions to these problems, and to do it in a way that’s transparent and accountable, will be a essential in retail throughout the next year.
Zapaterías Candy is a Mexican shoe store chain that is part of Grupo Andale, a company with high values of commitment and quality. They currently have more than 50 stores in 10 states of the Mexican Republic, which operate through omnichannel software made by Teamwork Commerce.
Large retailers are grappling with debt, over-saturation, and fierce online competition. Unfortunately, the same struggles also apply to smaller retail businesses. There are multiple challenges in the retail industry in today’s world. Still, at the end of it, it comes down to how to keep the customers satisfied and coming back while navigating through issues like supply chain problems, having the right product at the right place at the right time, and maintaining profitability in a never-ending pricing competition.
Prior to spring 2020, consumer shopping was already in a state of transformation – online sales were steadily growing and offerings such as buy online and pick-up in-store (BOPIS) were gaining solid interest. Then the pandemic hit, and nearly every category of retailer had to pivot in order to survive.
Lightspeed (NYSE and TSX: LSPD) powers complex small and medium-sized businesses with cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms in over 100 countries. With smart, scalable, and dependable point of sale systems, Lightspeed provides all-in-one solutions that drive innovation and digital transformation within the retail, hospitality, and golf industries. Its product suite enables SMBs to sell across channels, manage operations, engage with consumers, accept payments, and ultimately grow their business.
Retailers face the challenge of optimizing commercial decision-making while mastering the complexity of the increased need for differentiation and customer focus. Retail is all about mastering details every day, with increasingly challenging external and internal factors. Attracting the right technical talent to master this complexity is not doable for all retailers, however. all great retail companies need to stay ahead of their game and have an answer to this growing complexity.
Retail companies must prioritize profit and productivity to remain competitive in today’s international market. It’s necessary to act quickly and effectively to guarantee success and to stay ahead of competitors. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help retail operations, increasing profits and optimizing business operations. AI services in the retail sector are predicted to increase from $5 billion to above $31 billion by 2028.
Retail transformation is nothing new for everyone. It is just happening much faster and in more ways. However, the retailer is still guided by one thing…the customer is always right. And today customer wants to be right, right away. There a lot to do, but retailers have got this…its all very solvable. You know where you want to go…you need the right partner. One that leads with decades of experience and a legacy of innovation to help you drive retail strategy and execution simultaneously. That partner is Zebra.
