SAP Analytics Cloud: 7 proven ways it can help your business

From manufacturing to marketing, businesses worldwide face unforeseen challenges as they continue to meet the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations are accelerating digital transformation, establishing variable cost structures, and implementing agile operations to emerge from the pandemic stronger.

While most companies believe that the pandemic will negatively impact their business, some businesses feel that the consequences will be short-term. Although most firms have been affected by the pandemic, a survey shows that two-thirds of micro firms are severely affected by the crisis than 42% of the large companies.

Amidst this uncertainty, companies must consider how the pandemic’s continuation or return in different regions will impact their recovery strategies. Businesses must face this uncertainty by reassessing assumptions, re-evaluating scenarios, and strengthening their ability to respond.

Read more: 11 Practices Followed by Leaders to Build Resilience and Ensure Rapid Business Recovery

Simply put, now is the time for businesses to focus on supporting critical areas of their business that will help them stay relevant in the new environment and plan new strategies for what’s next.

Critical areas for businesses to focus presently

• Workforce
• Finances
• Operations and supply chain
• Strategy and branding
• Tax, trade, and regulatory
• Crisis management and response

What can businesses do?

• Leverage their crisis management team to focus on efforts in the wake of the crisis.
• Shift your focus on bringing back employees to work, assess your company’s response efforts to date, and evaluate areas for real-time course corrections.
• Use the insights the crisis has provided to help chalk out better strategies and capitalize on the opportunity for transformation.

  SAP Analytics Cloud has changed the way businesses plan their strategies. It is a robust, agile analytics platform that helps firms arrive at faster and improved business decisions. Moreover, it delivers insights that can be used for enhanced decision-making and optimize resources across all processes.

Read more: How SAP Supports Effective Business Continuity Planning 

Combining our functional and industry expertise with SAP Analytics Cloud, Fingent top custom software development company, delivers analytics solutions that drive your competitive advantage, reduce costs, and increase revenue. 

What is SAP Analytics Cloud?

SAP Analytics Cloud or SAC is one of the best SaaS solutions that combines all the functionalities such as planning, predictive, business intelligence, and more in one user interface. It helps save time and effort while making improved decisions.

SAP Analytics Cloud comes in two modes: Private and Public. As the name suggests, the Private edition hosts only one customer while the Public edition offers multi-tenancy. Also, cost-wise, the public edition is less expensive than the private edition.

Also read: Fingent offers e-Invoicing integration for SAP ERP users in India – Stay compliant with GST India e-Invoicing

Top 7 business challenges solved by SAP Analytics Cloud

1. Planning and consolidating financial strategy in one solution

SAP Analytics Cloud puts together- planning, predictive, Business Intelligence, and augmented analytics competencies into a simple cloud environment that allows you to consolidate your finances, expenses, and revenues at a single source across your whole organization.

2. Discovering useful insights

SAP Analytics Cloud joins hands with machine learning and augmented analytics to help convert insights that deliver value across your business.

Augmented Analytics allows you to explore your data automatically, discover cycles and trends, and identify possible ways to effectively chalk-out your expenses and cost plans. These intelligent insights can be turned into an actionable plan using a personal sandbox environment that helps visualize your performance metrics and simulate potential budget outcomes.

3. Aligning plans across your business

There’s no denying that financial and operational planning is a must when working with multiple teams and stakeholders. SAP Analytics Cloud helps you make smart decisions. It comprises several collaborative enterprise planning tools that allow you to link and align your expense and cost plans across departments such as HR, sales, finance, marketing, IT, and supply chain in real-time. These benefits eliminate the need for sending out unnecessary emails enclosed with irrelevant plans and avoid collaborating without context.

SAP Analytics Cloud allows you to create and assign tasks with the calendar, communicate with your team in real-time with the discussion panel, and collaborate directly on your plans with the data point commenting tool.

4. Improving planning cycles with predictive analysis

Gone are the days of the tedious manual building of your expense forecasts. SAP Analytics Cloud includes exceptional machine learning and predictive analysis technology that can help you build accurate expenses and cost plans much faster.

You can use the predictive features to automate baseline expense planning forecasts based on previous data. You can then monitor plan attainment with real-time, up-to-date predictive forecasts. Its accuracy indicators enable data analysts (without any technical knowledge) to trust the data-driven predictions before including them into their planning process directly.

5. Enhancing strategic business decisions

With SAP Analytics Cloud machine learning technology, you can convert insight into action within seconds. Automated technology helps you avoid agenda-driven and biased decision-making as it provides you with insights that drive your business.

• Search to Insight – Natural language query generates visualizations to answer your questions instantly. Machine learning technology provides you with important trends quickly.
• Smart Insights – Machine learning technology helps you save time and focus more on high-value activities by allowing you to understand the significant contributors of data points without the need to pivot your data manually.
• Smart Discovery – This allows you to identify key influencers and relationships in your data to help you understand how business factors influence performance. Also, it can detect anomalies and help you take corrective measures. With machine learning projection, anyone can simulate the impact of strategic business decisions.

Case study: Automated Integration between SAP SuccessFactors-Employee Central and SAP S/4HANA – Find how Fingent helped the customer gain real-time insights for improved decision-making

6. Data modeling

SAP Analytics Cloud helps you plan and build the right model where your data is stored efficiently. With this end-to-end solution, you can immediately take action and start planning. The data modeling feature allows you to prepare your data for analysis. “Models” and “Stories” are the two key components of SAP Analytics Cloud’s BI function. Models allow you to enhance your data by cleansing, wrangling, establishing hierarchies, defining rules and conditions, and adding formulas. Stories give life to your data by letting you visualize your information through charts and graphs, which will help you gain valuable business insights. 

7. End-to-end industry dashboards 

SAP Analytics Cloud offers business content packages tailored to individual analytic scenarios. Each package entails aesthetically built dashboards, stories, and data models carefully designed for specific lines of business and end-to-end business scenarios. Also known as Analytics Content Network, this business content library offers tried and tested best practices for leveraging your available data and accelerating your go-live. The content network is customized to work with existing SAP data sources such as SAP S/4HANA or SAP C/4HANA.

Read more: SAP Focused Industry Templates & Automation Solutions 

Today, businesses need to forecast changes ahead of time. SAP Analytics Cloud helps to anticipate and plan for the impact of the crisis on business. How a business responds to challenging situations determines its strength and potential to recover. 

Fingent is an SAP Silver Partner. With our expertise in cloud computing and SAP services, we can support you through this critical time and help stabilize your business operations and strategize for the future. Get in touch with our expert to discuss your requirements. 

The Future of FinTech Looks Promising: Here’s Why!

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption and has also cast doubts on the future and growth of the FinTech industry. Despite the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy, FinTech leaders remain cautiously optimistic about the industry’s growth. They forecast that as people, businesses, and leaders tackle the ongoing outbreak of the pandemic, market fluctuations will experience stability. As soon as the crisis situation is settled, the market is forecasted to start experiencing growth. FinTech solutions are foundational to how we transact in the current scenario and tackle the future market. It is vital for financial institutions to up their game to deliver smarter, quicker, and safer solutions. 

What are the upcoming FinTech opportunities that will impact everything in the financial ecosystem? 

The ‘Digital-Only’ Era

1. Digital payment services 

The coronavirus crisis has brought the significance of cash management to the forefront. There are massive technical and fundamental shifts taking place that are quickly becoming the new normal. Digital-only banks are one of the many such shifts and they increase efficiency and convenience. Nobody is expected to visit the bank physically, stand in long queues, and go through a lot of paperwork. With digital-only banks, you can create an account or transfer money at a location and time convenient for you. Some of the amazing features of digital-only banks are a quick review of account balance, account transaction history, bill payments, and real-time analytics. They offer P2P payments with no transaction fees. They also offer Ethereum and other cryptocurrency transactions. Digital-only banks have a deep connection with technologies such as blockchain.

Read more: How Digital Finance Could Boost Growth in Emerging Economies 

2. Digital lending 

Digital lending is one of the FinTech opportunities that’s prospering while shutdowns and layoffs across the globe resulted in a cash crunch for most individuals and households. Governments have provided some help. However, it is largely left up to financial institutions to provide loans to individuals and businesses. Fintech companies perform better than their traditional counterparts in the lending segment by leveraging AI technology. They can use AI to screen applicants and rate their credit-worthiness. It allows loan applicants to secure loans quickly and conveniently. 

Financial institutions must partner with FinTech application development service providers to leverage self-service, multi-channel digital lending processes. This includes loan processing, screening, collection, and credit scores. As an end-to-end process, it will provide customers with a smooth onboarding and approval lending experience.

3. Digital investing 

Retail investors around the world are more active in the stock market now than ever before. Access to information that was previously restricted to more advanced investors, has fueled an exponential increase in retail investing. This trend will continue.

Read more: FinTech Innovation: What Is In-Store?

The Era of Blockchain Technology 

Identity theft and fraud have been the bane of financial institutions for many years. Blockchain technology plays a crucial part in saving the industry from these problems. The rapid growth and adoption of blockchain is making it an integral part of financial institutions’ operational infrastructure including digital payments, trading shares, smart contracts, and managing identities. Blockchain features such as global reach, speed, and security are motivating its faster adoption among financial institutions. 

Companies must build trust and display transparency in contracts and the supply chain. Using blockchain helps them gain visibility throughout the supply chain. It also takes care of quality control and performance benchmarks. It is crucial that financial services quickly adopt blockchain into their systems and search for opportunities to increase FinTech partnerships. 

Read more: Leveraging Blockchain Technology to Transform Supply Chain Industry 

Impact of Regulation

Regulators are needed to balance innovation with customer interests. Regulators have been proactive in helping businesses deliver greater customer value by defining data privacy rules. This has fueled a massive shift in how people spend, buy, save, borrow, and invest. Given the enormous innovation in this sector, the FinTech arena is divided into five broad categories:

• Deposit, lending, and capital raising
• Payments, clearing, and settlement
• Investment management
• Insurance
• Market support

We know that compliance with regulations will become mandatory for banks. This makes it important that banks adopt a flexible and robust digital strategy in order to solve regulatory challenges. Leveraging digital transformation and FinTech innovation will help banks to evolve as a modular body that becomes highly responsive to political and social pressures.

Read more: Digital Transformation in Financial Services: All You Need to Know!

Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can automate repetitive processes in banking, insurance, and other financial services. This will lower the risk of common errors and inefficiencies while increasing productivity and ROI. RPA does not require programming. Efficiently programmed software robots can automate repetitive processes. Intelligent automation technology goes a step ahead to observe human actions and automate directly, the entire process. IA can be effectively used in the administrative section for the customer onboarding process, risk assessment, data analysis, security checks, and more. 

Read more: How Robotic Process Automation Is Revolutionizing Industries? 

What must you do to take advantage of these opportunities? 

Here are a few things you can do to leverage the massive opportunities made possible by the digital-only era:

1. Infrastructure

Financial institutions must invest in the right technical infrastructure. With multiple technology options available in the market today, it is imperative for financial institutions to make the right decision based on the company’s needs and objectives.

2. Market proposition

Develop a clear market proposition. You must partner with FinTech companies to develop robust and scalable apps. Having them as trusted advisors will help you retain your customer base. 

3. Partnership

Before partnering up with FinTech companies, you must examine their needs and plan on how they want to execute them. This will help you derive greater benefits from the partnership.

4. Product hierarchies

Incorrect product or service information can damage the good reputation of your company. Have a clear definition of products and services and outline their use and cost. This will minimize reputational risk and maximize the opportunity to retain and acquire customers. 

5. Switching 

Most bank customers may want to switch their accounts. You must allow switching and help your customers to switch seamlessly between products. 

6. Educate your customers

Your customers may not be aware of the digital services you provide. Hence, it is important that you educate your customers regarding the use, safety, and implications of your digital technology. 

Read more about our Case Study: How Fingent enabled NEC Financial Services to take advantage of the FinTech revolution?

Explore FinTech opportunities

Access to data presents new opportunities for growth. With continuous technology penetration, financial services will see steady growth resulting in the expansion of FinTech. In many ways, FinTech contributes to the revolutionization of the financial sector and the way customers interact with your business. It offers your customers a hassle-free experience and helps your employees to be more productive. 

Read more: FinTech: Safeguarding customer interest in the post-pandemic world 

FinTech will help you keep your focus on customer experience and personalization that can drive user loyalty. For a technology partner who will get you to reach new heights in this new era of Fintech, call us! 

The impact and significance of digital transformation in financial services

Changing customer expectations, increasing regulatory complexity, stiff competition, and other factors are constantly pushing businesses for renovation and innovation. Also, the rising number of FinTech companies and solutions over the last few years have completely transformed the financial services landscape. Rather than just technology, digital transformation in financial services has now become an integral part of a successful business strategy. Digital transformation in the financial industry has improved employee and customer experience by helping meet regulatory deadlines and ensure cost-effective operations while remaining highly competitive.

If you consider how banking has transformed over the years, you will understand how digital transformation in banking and financial services has grown to benefit everyone with convenience. From simple branch offices to ATM and mobile apps, digital transformation has offered greater convenience, choice, and experience. Today, customers are gravitating more towards digital experiences and products.

What is the importance of digital transformation in the financial industry?

According to a recent report by Global Economic Prospects, the global economy will contract by over 5% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the crisis has accelerated economic transformation, leading to an increase in the adoption of digital financial services.

Although the digital transformation was a development priority even before the COVID-19 crisis, it has now become indispensable for both short-term as well as long-term sustainable recovery efforts. 

Here are four fundamental shifts that are forcing financial institutions to accelerate the rate of digital adoption.

1. Forced adoption of online and mobile channels

Social distancing and lockdowns are forcing people to stay indoors or go outdoors only to buy essential items. This has forced the rapid adoption of digital technology across the globe.

Deloitte reports that the United States, which has traditionally lagged in digital adoption is experiencing an all-time high in the number of check deposits and mobile logins. Interestingly, the major contributors to this growth are baby boomers and senior citizens who have been typically slower to adopt the digital channels.

For example, Goldman Sachs reported a 25% increase in the number of active users on the bank’s institutional platform. Also, the country has seen a spike in call center interactions as customers seek protection from the financial crisis caused by the pandemic. 

2. Digital and contactless payments

The lockdown has witnessed a race among retailers to set up e-commerce capabilities to capture sales. With consumers shifting to online purchasing, there has been an acceleration towards digital and contact payments. 

While MasterCard reported over 40% growth in contactless payment across the globe, Visa reported a staggering 150% increase in the U.S alone. Hygienic payment modes such as digital wallets, scanning QR codes, click/tap-to-pay, etc. have taken off well to encourage contactless payments during the pandemic.    

Read more: FinTech: Safeguarding customer interest in the post-pandemic world 

3. Virtualization of the workforce and ways of working

Previously, financial institutions hardly imagined their workforce working remotely. But, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced financial services companies to build a remote work model.

Wells Fargo and Bank of America have pushed almost 70% of their employees to work from home and have established contingency locations for those employees who are into trading and operations. Standard Chartered Bank has kept most of its employees working from home, increasing its VPN system capacity to 600% to keep pace.

Bandwidth issues aside, this transition has been largely successful due to digital disruption in financial services. Most financial companies have even committed to making the remote working model permanent. 

4. Evolution of economies and underlying market structure

Even though financial companies have been enjoying stability for years, the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled margin pressures for companies.

On one hand, insurers are fighting lowered premiums and high claim costs due to the market scenario, while on the other hand, banks are affected by reduced interest rates. Though it is difficult to predict the duration of the economic downturn, it is forcing financial services companies to operate effectively and efficiently to remain competitive in the market. 

Moreover, as the market dynamics continue to evolve, “big tech” is likely to reinforce its foray into financial services leveraging its scale, size, and expanding its role in the consumers’ day-to-day activities. Also, smaller FinTechs could be at risk with their funding models. All these evolutions will have a substantial impact on buying, building, and partnering decisions for many incumbents as well as start-up financial companies.

Top 6 digital transformation trends in the financial industry

1. Mobile banking

The digital banking environment allows customers to transfer funds, deposit checks, and apply for loans easily from their mobile devices. Today customers prefer to do online banking at their convenience instead of visiting the brick-and-mortar banks. More and more customers prefer to use mobile banking as it allows 24/7 access, almost negligible waiting time, and ease of use. Mobile banking has changed the functioning of banking and financial institutions to a great extent and is expected to grow further in the coming years.

2. Blockchain

Blockchain is gaining momentum steadily and will play a crucial role in digital payments, loan processing, escrow facilities, etc. Additionally, Blockchain will be used in RegTech (a new technology that uses information technology to streamline regulatory processes) to avoid unnecessary regulation breaches.

3. Big data

Big data is everything. Financial institutions including banks are using machine learning to process data and drive analytical solutions effectively. Big data helps banks and other financial institutions to serve their customers efficiently by tailoring their services based on the insights gathered. Eventually, this can help financial institutions to bring in more investment and create a great work environment for both employees as well as customers. 

4. Mobile apps

While everything in banking and other financial services is going mobile, there are third-party financial service providers who are competing with the banks. They could be financial managers, unconventional leaders, or financial budgeting mobile apps. Banks will have to consider ways to integrate these third-party services- what information to provide, the companies they want to partner with, and which services they are likely to offer to their customers directly without the need of the middle-man.

Read more: Business Intelligence in Financial Services

5. Automated Wealth Managers

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is disrupting several industries with automation and numerous other possibilities. Wealth bots or automated wealth managers use complex algorithms to calculate the best investment opportunities, best loan providing institutions, best interest rate, etc. Automated wealth managers have made financial planning a breeze and are also helping people achieve their business objectives accurately and with great returns.

6. FinTech (Financial Technology)

FinTech is a modern technology adopted by banks and financial companies to deliver financial services efficiently. It has improved drastically since its ATM and credit card days to the latest digital banks and blockchain technology.

FinTech along with automated technology and machine learning algorithms are revolutionizing the world of finance. Digital technologies such as customer service chatbots, expenditure tracking, and online budgeting tools are some examples of how far financial services have come today. 

How Fingent can help you?

As your digital solutions partner, we will help you navigate industry disruption and equip you for future challenges. We apply our extensive experience and deep industry knowledge in fintech to guide you to see digital transformation through fruition. Here, we top custom software development company ensures to maximize value with minimal disruption to your existing infrastructure to help achieve your goals. Get in touch with us to learn more. 

How Technology is Transforming Classroom Learning

There’s no denying that technology has completely transformed the way we live and steadily it is becoming more and more predominant in the classroom as well. From improving the communication between teachers and students to enhancing presentations and lessons, to organizing curriculum calendars, there is no limit to the ways to use technology in classrooms to set up a successful life for students outside of school. 

Today, many educational institutions are offering courses that no longer need students to study in a traditional classroom. 92% of teachers said that the internet has a significant impact on a student’s ability to access resources, content, and materials, according to the Pew Research Center. 

Benefits of using technology in the classroom

Here are a few advantages of using technology in classrooms. 

1. Improves collaboration

Many technology-based tasks involve aspects that require students to seek help from their friends or teachers. Teachers have observed that when students are assigned to tasks, the students who are more technologically advanced assist those who are not.

2. Incorporates different learning styles

Each child is different and it can be challenging to adjust a study plan to fit every student in the classroom. Thanks to technology in education, it is possible to modify the lessons. For instance, kids who might want to draw during the class can create an infographic to demonstrate their capabilities and understanding of the concept which a teacher might not have previously seen or assessed.

3. Creates an engaging environment

While most people consider technology to be just a distraction, it is not so. When used correctly, it can help encourage active participation in the classroom. Using laptops, computers, tablets, etc., in the classroom can help bring more interaction and fun into learning, thus making lessons more interesting.

Read more: Impact Of Augmented Reality In Education Industry 

4. Students learn essential skills

Using technology in classrooms, students can gain the knowledge and skills essential for problem-solving, critical thinking, collaborating with others, and improving motivation and productivity. Technology can also help develop several practical skills such as creating presentations, writing emails, learning proper online etiquette, and understanding the difference between reliable and unreliable sources on the internet. These skills are very important and prepare the students for the future.

How to use technology in the classroom?

While traditional classroom learning is still prevalent, many educational institutions are willing to embrace technology. Here are nine creative ideas to use technology in classrooms to enhance learning.

1. Schedule your online classes

Google Calendar allows you to create and share a class calendar that will keep the students informed about the class, duration, announcements, and important dates. Teachers can easily email the class calendar link to the students. This will help both the teachers as well as the students to stay organized and come prepared for each class.

2. Use virtual manipulatives

While there are manipulatives such as blocks, ten blocks, coins, and tangrams to visualize mathematical concepts, virtual manipulatives are more effective.

Virtual manipulatives help students to comprehend complex concepts. So, incorporating virtual manipulatives in classrooms is not just going to benefit the students but also appealing to hands-on-learners.

3. Digital field tours 

One of the popular and cost-effective ways to use technology in classrooms is to take digital field tours. Apps such as Google Streetview allow you to virtually explore parks, forests, and even national and international landmarks from the comforts of the classroom. For instance, a virtual tour of the Grand Canyon can help students learn about the location or the subject and help them learn beyond books.

4. Use Social Media

Much of our time is spent on social media today. So integrating social media into the classroom is a great way to use technology in classrooms. For example, creating a WhatsApp or Facebook Group for a particular class allow students to post discussion topics. You can even consider developing interesting Twitter hashtags students can use to discuss lessons or ask questions.

5. Create digital content

Digital content related to what students are learning helps them display their individual creativity as well as showcase learning. Provide options like blogs, videos, eBooks, podcasts, flyers, or other digital means that will help students to express themselves.

6. Gamified learning

Make learning fun by incorporating gamified learning. Simply create a virtual scavenger hunt by giving the students a list of questions for students to search and find the correct answers. You can even consider forming groups or pairs of students to encourage teamwork and collaboration.

7. Include videos

Videos help students remember important concepts longer than reading. Teachers can record videos such as whiteboard explainers, peer presentations, classroom activities, etc., and share it with the class via Google Classroom, YouTube, or Gdrive.

Videos will help visual learners to learn at their own pace. Also, videos will help establish a better connection between teachers and students while comprehending clarity.

8. Podcasts

Motivational podcasts, interviews, and online courses can aid the teaching process in the long run.

Some examples of podcasts that teachers can include in the classroom are;

• Podcasts blogs
• Lectures from other teachers
• Researches on academic topics

Teachers can take it to the next level by asking the students to create their podcasts.

9. Multimedia lessons and presentations

By incorporating visual effects, music, videos in the presentations, they can be made more enriching for students. Teachers can consider inviting virtual guest speakers via Skype, Google Hangouts, and Facetime to engage their class during the slideshow or digital presentations. This will boost engagement with lessons.

Some of the future trends in the education industry

1. Student-centered learning

The future of education will be student-centric learning. Teachers need to adopt personalized teaching and learning practices. Flexibility in learning will result in imparting quality education to students. Flexible learning patterns will gain prominence in future classrooms. 

2. Edutainment

The concept of blending learning with entertainment is opening the doors to thinking forward. Technology can be used to focus on slide shows and online videos. Technology innovations like Augmented Reality (AR) are already replacing pens and chalk pieces in the field of education and will bring about significant changes soon. A study conducted by the University of Georgia has shown that the introduction of AR makes 72% of the students more likely to participate in classes. Building such participation is a critical aspect of education. 

Media learning is helping students to hone their creative skills and stay in touch with educational events that are happening across the globe. Videos, educational podcasts, simulations, and recorded audio-visual lessons are trends that transform traditional classroom learning and teaching. 

3. Adaptive learning

The adaptive learning curriculum is personalized learning that allows students to work on instant feedback given by their teachers and improves student engagement. 

In the future, students will be categorized and trained based on their inherent strengths and capabilities. Appropriate learning tools can be recommended to reveal students’ budding talents and bring them to the fore. The adaptive learning pattern will not only keep the fundamental interests in mind but also the individual needs of the students.

Fingent helps schools, universities, colleges, educational institutions, NGOs, and training centers to develop customized LMS platforms that come with aptitude-based smart learning tools. This makes sure that you can have a more interactive learning atmosphere. Customized LMS allows you to cultivate more transparency and communication between the instructor and the learner, which works to improve performance significantly.

Read more: E-Learning Taking A New Front: How Can LMS Technology Help 

Integrating technology into the classroom allows more effective communication between the teachers and students. It empowers students to take responsibility for their learning by participating in projects and learning activities, giving feedback on lessons, and understand how to use technology in classrooms creatively and safely. Get in touch with our custom software development experts today and know how we can help you bring technology in classrooms more effectively.

Why Does the Retail Industry Need to Embrace Digital Transformation?

The term digital transformation in the retail industry means disruption, new services, and improved functioning of the existing system using technology.

As the customer journey is evolving, retailers have to adapt and evolve as well. Also, with the shift towards personalized shopping, retailers have to go beyond focusing on a single technology in order to create new and innovative business models.

Location-based services, mobile apps, and big data analytics have brought about a significant change in the retail industry. This post details the significance of Digital Transformation in Retail. 

What does digital transformation mean for retail?

Retailers will have to look beyond marginal enhancements and redefine processes to create a connected engagement using technology. Digital transformation is not only about agility, innovation, data intelligence, customer centricity, and new value propositions but also about streamlining processes, reducing costs, and improving productivity across the transactional cycle. 

Now, more than ever before, retailers have to rethink every aspect of their business. Right from sourcing, pricing, inventory planning, employee training to customer experience management, retailers have to find new ways to drive revenues and create innovative business models.

McKinsey states that COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in the retail industry. According to their report, e-commerce penetration in the United States which was supposed to reach 24% by 2024 has rapidly grown from 17% to 33% in just two months since the lockdown. 

“Contactless retail that leverages digital transformation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Virtual Reality (VR) increases customers’ confidence to shop during the COVID-19 pandemic”, says GlobalData. With changes in consumer behavior and consumption patterns, retail digital transformation trends are only likely to continue in the future. 

Read more: Contactless services: The New Normal in Retail 

Simply put, digital transformation in retail can improve customer retention and satisfaction by offering products and services according to their needs. 

What are the benefits of digital transformation in the retail industry?

While digital transformation is not an easy one, a well-thought strategy can bring in the desired results. Also, it comes with several advantages such as:

1. Improved operations

Using cloud technologies helps improve operations within the company and enable the retail staff to respond to customers quickly which eventually improves client support. Availability of real-time data helps predict demands ahead of time and stock goods in advance. 

2. Convenience

AI tools are helping customers to shop without a cashier and enabling retailers to sell their products in physical stores as well as websites and mobile apps. Thus, AI-powered automation of retail processes such as locating items, tracking inventory and replenishing stocks, remembering customer preferences, etc. will enhance the customer experience.

Read more: AI To Solve Today’s Retail Profit Problems 

3. Better communication

Retailers can form a better connection and improve their communication with their customers via social media, mobile apps, websites, chatbots, etc.

4. Enhanced customer experience

Digital transformation influences customer experiences and makes them better. Technical tools help increase the productivity of the employees and make services more efficient. This helps customers get not just high-quality services but also ensures a pleasant buying journey. While digital transformation is customer-centered, it also helps your business become better and stay ahead of the competition.

Read more: Re-Imagining Customer Experience in Retail Industry 

5. Boost revenue

Digital transformation offers retailers a chance to reach a wider target audience and thus increase their channels of income.

Why is the retail digital transformation more relevant now?

While the shift towards e-commerce is not new, the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated it. In the United States alone, approximately $600 billion represented online sales that accounted for 56% of overall retail growth in 2019.

Here are some more reasons why businesses have to mandate digital transformation and tweak their customer journey to respond effectively.

1. Life post-COVID will see a surge in online shopping

With increased emphasis on social distancing and personal safety, there will be several changes in consumer demands, saving patterns, spending style, and buying channels. Business leaders must plan their digital transformation and make profits in the post-COVID era. Business recovery and sustenance will depend on digital channels during the social distancing phase. Businesses should consider establishing digital channels and improving presence, invest in data, and improve models for customer demands. Additionally, business leaders can integrate pandemic outbreak models with supply chain demands and empower employees to work from home efficiently.

2. Transparency in supply chain

The pandemic has affected the supply networks across the globe and has caused many retailers to be unable to meet consumer demand for their products. So, retailers will have to be more transparent about their inventory and plan their online and offline customer experience.

3. Retailers with a digital presence will be more successful

Given the current pandemic situation, most people are indoors and spending only on essential items. So, retailers having a digital presence are already ahead of the competition. Such retailers are taking advantage of the pandemic situation and capturing the market share through innovation and customer acquisition. Businesses need to continue with their digital transformation program instead of closing their business and filing for bankruptcy.

4. Customers are rooting for their favorite brand

Most people are affected by social distancing, maintaining personal hygiene, queuing up for entry in stores, and other restrictions. So, customers are rooting for their favorite brands and expecting them to provide better services while taking safety measures. This increases the demand for digital transformation of retail more than ever.

Top 3 retail digital transformation trends to embrace

Retail digital transformation has already started and many companies have benefited from it. However, digital transformation is not a short-term process as technologies keep evolving and retailers will have to keep track of the latest trends. We have shared some of the latest trends to watch out for.

1. Augmented Reality (AR)

AR technologies and tools are helping customers to try and view things from the comfort of their homes. For instance, Toyota’s Augmented Reality shopping experience allows you to try 10 different cars before selecting the right one. 

Another great example is IKEA. They let their customers choose furniture using their app. Customers just have to point the camera to the right place at home and the app will suggest options that suit your decor.

2. Mobile applications

Mobile apps help you connect with customers in a better way. It allows customers to check on the products, read reviews, etc. Additionally, customers can contact the support team in case of any issues.

Mobile apps are also good for further development as they allow you to add new features and enhance the services you provide.

Read more: 3 Must-Have Retail Mobile App Features to Boost Your Business 

3. Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual Reality technology has immense potential to develop and grow in the retail industry. VR can enhance customer experience and take it to the next level as it will allow customers to check homes, cars, etc., without even stepping inside. The retail giant Walmart employs VR headsets in over 4,500 of its stores for managing grand shopping events like Black Friday. VR training has boosted the confidence and productivity of Walmart’s associates and has increased their rate of retention. 

Summing up

It can be said that simply having a retail store will not help you anymore. You must integrate digital transformation from your physical store to your online store and social media accounts.

Instead of spending days researching your options, we can help you save your time and money. Let us know about your retail business needs and we’ll come up with the best digital transformation strategies suited for you. Contact us today. 

Digital business transformation: Why Digital Strategy for Business is a Must Today? 

• What is digital transformation?
• What is digital disruption?
• Causes of disruption and digital transformation
• Why should businesses leverage digital transformation?
• How to start your digital transformation journey?
• Digital transformation trends to embrace in 2023 and beyond
• Conclusion

A Complete Guide to Understanding Offshore Software Development

• What is offshore development?
• What is the difference between onshore, nearshore, and offshore?
• What makes offshoring software development so popular?
• How does offshore development work?
• What are the advantages of offshoring software development?
• What are the disadvantages of offshoring software development
• What are the latest trends in offshore software development?
• How to choose the right offshore software company?
• Best practices to follow while offshoring software development
• Final thoughts