How technology can improve your retail business

Technology adoption is now crucial for organisations if they want to remain competitive. Customer satisfaction has become a very important factor in the success of businesses. The right technology will not only improves the customer experience but the overall processes of the business (retail business).

Here, is how technology helps retailers gain a competitive advantage

AI-Driven Demand Forecasting

For a business to succeed, accurate forecasting is critical. Demand forecasting helps retail businesses with questions like:

How many products will be sold in the upcoming weeks? And at what locations?

But why use Artificial Intelligence? Businesses and Demand forecasting have become more complex than before, therefore, traditional systems are not able to meet the expectations in this digital age. A system may learn automatically and refine its suggestions utilizing data thanks to technologies like AI and machine learning.

Inventory Management

Simply put, inventory management involves monitoring inventory from purchase to sale.

There are numerous things to manage when handling inventory, including:

• 1. Product location and  the quantity
• 2. Which item has run out or is on the verge of running out?
• 3. How much should be ordered?
• 4. What are the best and worst-selling products?
• 5. Demand forecasting: future customers demands

 and many more..

And handling all of these through the old legacy systems or manually is a tedious task.  Therefore using an advanced inventory management solution is a need of the hour.

For example, IoT, RFID, and cloud solution combinations help you track your products in real-time. For example, tracking inventory as it moves from location to location.  Using technologies similar to AI (Artificial Intelligence) can also aid in the most precise demand forecasts.

Expiry Management

There are thousands of products that need to be handled in the retail industry on daily bases.  It is hard to manually keep track of every product’s expiration date, which eventually results in inventory waste and, thus, financial loss for the organisation.

Therefore, it is crucial that automated technologies should be used to manage expiry dates. So that users get alerts for expiry dates and can take needed actions.

These type of technologies usually follows FEFO which is First-expired-first-out.  FEFO ensures that the product with the earliest expiration date sells out first. This provides visibility into what’s about to expire. Sellers can therefore attempt to sell those goods first.  In order to try to sell products with a closer expiration date, sellers can call around and offer discounts to anyone who might be interested.

Online Presence

Retailers can reach a bigger audience and expand their businesses to other cities, states, and even countries by having an online presence. Online presence increases brand recognition. Nowadays, people would rather shop online than physically visit a store. Therefore, having an online presence is crucial for retailers to maximise profit. 

For example, Having a fast and mobile friendly website is essential. You can run focused marketing campaigns and list your items, customer reviews, contact information, and blogs about how your products can be helpful.

Personalised Alerts

The modern consumer wants a seamless, highly tailored experience. And one way of achieving that is Personalised alerts.

Personalised alert is a powerful tool. They can drive more traffic, sales, revenue, and brand loyalty. These alerts are essential for customer engagement. 

For example, retail businesses can send alerts about discount offers, abandoned cards, reorders, and many more to their customers and keep them engaging with their brands.

Not only the customers, but employees like inventory managers can also get notifications about the products/goods they are running low. Thus these alerts help businesses in many ways.

Conclusion

Indeed, organisations can do a lot with the help of technology because it is the greatest ally in the pursuit of success. Retailers who are able to adapt to the digital economy will be at the forefront of the next wave of consumerism. Now is the time to get your business future-ready. Contact us