Does your current software give your business the visibility and flexibility you need to be responsive and competitive, or is outdated software negatively impacting business growth and excellent service?

The retail world is becoming more complex. eCommerce has grown in the U.S.—from $42 billion to $236 billion in the last decade*—and lifestyle shopping is raising customer expectations. Having the right retail management software solution—one that can keep up with your business needs and the increasing pace of technology—is critical.

Given the recent advancements in technology—and higher customer expectations—perhaps it’s time to ask if your retail management software is up to the task of nurturing and managing your growth over the coming decade.

Epicor has been a part of successful retail businesses for years. Here are some risks you may face from using outdated software:

This Technology Spotlight examines the role of digital transformation in customer engagement and omni-channel retail. It also looks at the role of Cisco’s enterprise networking solution portfolio, particularly Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) and Intelligent WAN (IWAN), in the strategically important omni-channel retail market.

Maverik is a regional convenience store chain that operates more than 270 convenience stores with a brand identity and décor theme around adventure, sports, and the outdoors. Maverik needed a digital signage program to reinforce the brand, drive foot traffic from the pump stations into the store, and promote food purchases.

Maverik partnered with Samsung and RevelTV, a digital signage integrator, to design and deploy an integrated digital signage program. High-brightness Samsung OMD Series displays facing the pump stations attract and encourage in-store visits. Commercial grade Samsung displays on top of the soda fountain, in the checkout area, and hot foods counter promote specials and entertain customers.

Today, people are shopping across multiple channels. There is a need for the retail industry to evolve and create great digital experiences that seamlessly blend the purchase journey.

How retailers are experimenting with technology and how tools like Workplace by Facebook can help retailers innovate.

As retailers seek to improve the consumer journey both online and in-store, they are migrating from omnichannel marketing to a harmonized retail experience that orchestrates digital and physical channels to work in sync. Many retail brands are realizing that such harmony has now become essential to building loyalty and winning new consumers.

Understanding the journey between where consumers live, where they work, where they play and where they shop provides a better overall awareness of the most relevant and dominant trends in consumer behavior. Retailers anticipating this behavior have many opportunities to optimize and enhance their:

• targeted ads
• hyper-personalized promotions
• location-aware ordering capabilities
• curbside pickup preferences
• last-mile delivery visibility for customers

The retail industry is changing slower than it ever will and faster than it ever has. And customer demands are evolving at speeds never seen before. For companies serious about innovating at scale and transforming their business in order to dominate their market, it will take innovative thinking, disruptive technology and near flawless execution. This challenge, perhaps best described as the perfect blend of art and science, is more than achievable, but only if you have the right partner. Which is why we want you to meet Leonardo, by SAP. SAP Leonardo is a digital innovation system that enables organizations of all sizes to transform at scale with minimal risk and disruption. SAP Leonardo brings new technologies and services together to help businesses power their digital transformation. SAP Leonardo proves that truly transformative and sustainable innovation happens when technology, people, and data are combined.

The response to possible bank card fraud is one of the most important factors affecting the relationship that customers have with their bank. For customer-centric financial institutions who issue millions of bank cards, any instance of possible fraud is both a business risk to be managed and an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships. To help identify these financial risks the bank uses a third party fraud detection system that issues real-time alerts on unusual card activity. In the past, these alerts were sent directly to the bank’s highly trained Bank Card Security specialists who would manually call customers and work with them to verify and resolve the suspicious card activity. They would then update the CRM system so the interaction was included in the customer record. Although customers appreciated the proactive approach and the bank reduced losses due to fraud, the specialists were spending unnecessary time dialing and trying to reach customers rather than working to reduce fraud.

eCommerce offers consumers new ways to interact with traditional retailers, resulting in changed consumer preferences – 63% of customers today would switch brands for a better connected experience, and 75% want personalized offers based on purchase history. Traditional retailers need to consider how to build a new digital retail platform strategy within their business models to engage with consumers and help maintain their competitive edge. 

Read this whitepaper to learn:

• A 4-step strategy for retailers to build a retail digital platform strategy with APIs.
• The role APIs can play in optimizing consumer journey personalization and creating new revenue channels.
• How a leading fast food company created a unified consumer experience by adopting a platform-based business model.

As the first managed services partner for Google Cloud Platform, Rackspace can help you accelerate innovation and cost savings within your retail organisation. With over 2.5 million hours of experience managing over 8000+ ecommerce websites, let us look after the intensive day-to-day operations of the cloud, so that you can focus on achieving your core business objectives.

This paper explores:

• Customer Voices: a look at three customers experiences working and thriving with GCP cloud
• Shopping trends and forecasts for 2019
• What’s on offer with Rackspace and our Fanatical Experience