Delivering a friction-less retail experience is emotionally speaking, a pleasant experience. You’re pleased because you’re running your business better, and your customers are pleased because you’re meeting their expectations at every point of contact with your company. That’s how you create customers for life.
But thanks to technology that enables instant engagement and changing consumer values and behavior, retail companies are experiencing relentless disruption. Dealing with that disruption is what drives the buzz around the National Retail Federation’s (NRF 2019) annual flagship industry event which brings together 36,500 retail professionals and vendors from more than 90 countries.
Retailers attend in order to better understand the latest trends and learn about the best technology.
(c) altrendo images
What’s shaping the business
Retail experts like Jia Wertz, a contributor to Forbes and Huffington Post, agree that in 2019, the market will be defined by emerging technologies that change the way consumers interact with their favorite brands, a shift in preferences, and the emergence of new battle lines for e-commerce.
The tendency toward treating a brand as a culture has been building steadily as young consumers are buying based on attitudes towards corporate responsibility and social consciousness. Many companies now realize the importance of committing to a higher purpose and engaging employees to live the brand’s values which in turn helps equate internal culture with exterior identity. According to Wertz, retailers that embrace these trends and prepare for them will have opportunities for growth this year.
This means retailers must respond to demands for more ethical business practices, more sustainable supply chains, and lower environmental impact. At the same time, they must provide a flawless, appealing experience on all channels that allows clients to interact with the brand in creative ways. And last but not least, retailers must deliver e-commerce purchases faster than ever before.
The key to success in this challenging landscape lies in connecting supply and demand.
The right solutions
With over 700 exhibitors at NRF, how can you be sure to find the right solutions to these business drivers?
In order to give customers what they want, when they want it, and where they want it, your organization must connect supply and demand. At NRF this year, SAP has created five end-to-end retail scenarios to help you visualize exactly how to do it.
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- Experiences You Can Trust — Say NO to wrong orders, shipping nightmares, and chaotic customer data! Whether your customer is glamping outdoors or revamping indoors, we have the right technology to help you deliver whatever, whenever, wherever. Let us help you rethink your business model and apply emerging technologies like blockchain, machine learning, and robotics for seamless customer engagement
- Best Run Beauty and the Augmented Reality Experience — Having trouble spotting trends, optimizing revenue opportunities, and engaging shoppers? Being a best run business will help you fix those problems. It will also help you monitor costs, analyze your data and make better decisions. Learn how SAP’s end to end story will bring more value to your business
- Experience The Connected Store — Customers are willing to pay more for positive experiences, but only if they are flawless. We’ve re-engineered our applications, so you can seamlessly respond to your customer’s need — online or in-store! Learn how SAP C/4HANA, SAP Leonardo and KeyTree can help you master inventory challenges with the help of an augmented store assistant, and that’s just for starters
- Experience SAP & Google Cloud — Your assortment plan needs to be in good shape if you want to maximize sales and profit for specific periods of time. Find out how you can leverage the Google Shopping Platform and your warehouse robots to get your initial purchase quantities right to ensure a steady allocation process over time
- Experience the SAP Solution Zone — Intelligent Enterprises effectively use their data assets to achieve desired outcomes faster — and with less risk. To become intelligent, your enterprise needs an intelligent suite to run processes efficiently, intelligent technologies to create new revenue streams and better experiences, and a digital platform to turn your data into gold. In the Solution Zone you can see how Intelligent Enterprises run in several key areas including Merchandising, Supply Chain, In-Store, the Customer Experience, Mid-Market Commerce, Innovations and the SAP Fashion Labs.
Be sure to check out Card & Party Store’s 2020 retail trends and predictions! You can also check out the article here: https://www.card-party.co.uk/blog/retail-trends-for-2020
Visit us at NRF: Retail’s Big Show, SAP Retail to learn more about Experiences You Can Trust. Follow me on Twitter @magyarj. This story also appears on Medium.