Benefits of a Mobile-enabled and Cloud-ready Store Solution Explained by Decathlon India
We can affirm without doubt that physical stores will still be around in the next few decades, in fact, for some industry experts we are actually in the golden age of brick-and-mortar retailing. This can seem an irony in the digital age with the explosion of online and mobile commerce.
But more than a renaissance of physical stores, we can see it as a retail paradigm shift, whose center is the customer and experiential shopping. The days of big-box mediocrity are over, as Doug Stephens of the Retail Prophet says, “it’s less square footage for your store but more experience per square inch”.
The truth is that we are immersed in a new era of what retail means, where the capacity to adapt and will determine the near future of successful retailers. The need to adopt omnichannel strategies is clearly shaping top retailer priorities and technology investments. The results of a survey regarding top store level hardware-spending priorities for 2016, indicate that Mobile POS (M-POS) will continue to be a top priority for 2016, together with Cloud-based store solutions, probably explained by the agility, scalability and disposability of these types of solutions.
On the one hand, mobile P
OS are
a great tool for omnichannel interactivity in the stores, since they unveil inventory visibility to save the sale, they provide detailed product information for expert face-to-face advice, that complement the 24/7 online search, and personalized customer assistance with tools like rich search based on the client’s preferences. As a result we have empowered store associates ready to deliver superb in-store customer experiences.
On the other hand, cloud-based store solutions do not require large investments in IT infrastructure, which make them the perfect ally for innovation, as they turn it into something feasible from the financial and technical standpoint.
Retailers need to be armed with flexible, cost-effective store solutions to respond effectively to season peaks, scaling up and down as demand for capacity fluctuates. Mobile and cloud-based store solutions are also ideal for pop-up stores, kiosks, line-boosting or showrooming. They provide a high degree of agility when opening new stores and terminals, simplify store hardware and software costs, while providing the right information at the right time and place to save the sale and engage with customers. Customers that will become loyal over time thanks, among other mechanisms, to expert and trustworthy face-to-face advice.
These and other benefits will be discussed next week in a new free webinar of the series “Retail transformation for CIOs” called “Top benefits of a mobile-enabled and cloud-ready store solution”, including an exclusive interview with the Head of IT in Decathlon India by the CEO of Openbravo. They will also discuss the Decathlon experience and the retail landscape in India for 2016.
Register now and have the opportunity to discuss your questions with them!
Thursday 19th of November at 11.30 CET (16.00 India time) in English
Thursday 19th of November at 17.00 CET in Spanish
Thursday 26th of November at 10.00 CET in French
