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Evolution is important and necessary to ensure survival and sustainability. With changing time, evolution has become a part and parcel of everything. So also businesses need to be able to evolve in order to go on for years together and not have to shut down. Similarly retail businesses need to adapt to their dynamic, extremely competitive, challenging and fast-paced environment to not only sustain but also to progress in this modern day and age. This can certainly seem like an uphill task for most retailers. However, achieving this feat is not impossible and to do this listed below are certain important trends that retailers can consider investing in now, before these become missed opportunities.
Omni-channel is the new norm: For a retail business that is still employing on one or a few channels, it will be making it’s way to doom. There is no better time but now to realize that such a strategy won’t last the long mile and sooner or later, the business would crumble. Even e-commerce giants like Amazon who were initially pure play online players are investing in omni-channel strategies getting into offline retailing. Omni-channel retail is essentially the step forward for retailers to sustain and progress. Any retail owner who is still not considering ‘omni-channelizing’ their business must invest in it right away by employing comprehensive omni-channel retail software solutions, else it could spell the end for such businesses, as has been the case of some earlier successful retail businesses.
Same day delivery and delivery using drones: Time has certainly changed and situations when retailers had the liberty to take days to deliver products to their customers are now become a passe. As the competition is intense and is set to get even more cut-throat in the retail and especially the e-Commerce sector, trying to be better than the other is no more an option. As a result, some big giants have started providing features such as ‘same-day delivery’ or using drones to deliver products to their customers. These features are beneficial to the customers as it provides almost instant gratification as well as retail businesses can enjoy better customer loyalty. However this kind of delivery strategies require a well planned and comprehensive supply chain management solutions which retail businesses need to consider investing in.
Customer experience is more important: In this current age, customer experience could well prove to be the most competitive battleground for retail brands, eclipsing product and pricing. If a retail business has not set it’s focus on it’s cusotmers, peril is nigh. Customer experience has come a long way as retail has evolved from being merely transactional to an entire shopping journey. Therefore, in order to stay in business, retail companies, no matter their size, have to make ensure that they are putting their best efforts to enable their customers with the best possible shopping experience that would in result lead to better loyalty. Retail business owners have to be ready to invest in the right tools and technologies such as CRM, analytics and POS software solutions so that they can very well be able to exceed the expectations of their customers that can boost their business in terms of repeat sales and enhanced loyalty.
If retail businesses are desiring to make a strong and lasting impact on their customers, they have to be ready with right resources – people, products, processes and technologies. To be equipped with this, retailer owners must take note of and be ready to invest in the right trends at the right time. This will help ensure their businesses evolve and keep-up with the ever changing and complex demands of the retail industry.