Ensuring End-To-End Digital Transformation
By Erin Harris, Editor-In-Chief, Cell & Gene
Follow Me On Twitter @ErinHarris_1
Our friend, Miya Knights, global retail technology director at Planet Retail, in partnership with Digimarc, just released an insightful report titled, “Harnessing the Power of Digital Transformation: The Ultimate Retail IT Therapy.” In her report, Knights explains the importance of harnessing digital transformation in omni-channel retailing. She writes, “Only through the digital modernization of their own automated systems will retailers truly be able to grow sales efficiently and enrich shopper engagement effectively at any and every physical and digital touch point.” The ultimate point of the report is to inform retailers about digital AIDC innovations to bolster customer-facing, operations, loss prevention, and supply chain efficiencies. The report’s key takeaways advise retailers to focus on omni-channel profitability, treat the store as a major part of the omni-channel proposition, and digitally transform their businesses. In addition, the report provides rich quantifiable data about digitization’s impact on retail.
Indeed, Knights succinctly highlights the following with regard to retailers’ top 5 strategic priorities — all of which point to digital transformation:
“The top 5 strategic business-related statements that the retailer survey respondents ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly’ agreed with.
- Having a real-time view of and control over inventory throughout the supply chain is essential
- Engaging consumers in the various ways in which they want to shop is challenging
- Ensuring a fast check out experience is important to gaining customer loyalty
- Investing in an effective digital & mobile strategy to improve the customer experience is essential
- Improving data capture capabilities throughout the supply chain can enhance product flow and on-shelf availability”
Knights offers astute analyses throughout the report, and in my opinion, her most important analysis focuses on modernization of the supply chain. She states, “There is no point in having a truly cutting-edge digital front end, where store and online blend seamlessly, if management of product through the supply chain leads a retailer to fail on its promise to deliver. Real-time supply chain visibility is becoming a prerequisite for the demand-sensing capabilities required to fulfill customer demand in the most profitable way at any given time.” IRT knows that order management is the backbone of retailing. Without a revamped supply chain that is built on a solid order management foundation, cut your losses now.
There’s plenty more data-rich nuggets of information in the report that will help retailers prepare for omni-channel digital transformation. Let us know how you’re digitally transforming the business by emailing me at erin.harris@jamesonpublishing.com.