The COVID-19 crisis has pushed a move towards digital transformation, which has been inevitable in any case, to happen at a quicker pace. It has forced retailers to have a serious look at technology investments in pursuit of a more digital and a more modern approach of running their businesses and in the services they offer.
The businesses to emerge with a lesser amount of scars from the crisis we experienced in 2020, are those businesses who had already invested in customer-centric technologies and where they were able to adapt more quickly to newer business models.
Businesses need to respond to the new reality of predominantly digital customer interactions and daily variations in demands, pricing and logistics capacities and more. This means, foremost, having the relevant tools to manage, track and analyse customer and transactional data.
There is a wealth of customer data to be gathered from clients' digital interactions with brands and vice-versa. All of which can be of huge benefit to your business’ decision making processes or even in terms of the services offered. The right business management tools or technologies becomes essential in using that data for a competitive edge, especially during the tough times.
Some technologies in high demand refer to highly digitised customer services such as easy payment options, improved point-of-sale, mobile solutions such as electronic proof of delivery, the elimination of manual processes, making your products and services available online and much more.
For online retailers, it's becoming all about fast-tracking online deliveries, and switching to more economical digital business models to reduce the costs of online orders fulfilment.
Overall, retailers have the responsibility of balancing financial gains with community involvement and crisis response, which requires third-party collaboration and a different approach to doing business.
Focusing on seamless customer service through all of the above requires the functionality of modern industry-specific software management such as integrated retail management solution or POS management solution.
Invest in a single point of contact - a central platform or dashboard that provides information transparency, data modelling and analysis, operational performance and mobility under the same roof.