Over the last few years, the world of commerce has taken on an entirely new identity. As a result, we’ve seen the making (or breaking) of retailers who either recognize these changes and reinvent their business—or don’t.
Whether it’s adding new sales channels to meet consumers where they buy or diversifying supply chain dependencies to reduce bottlenecks, demands are continuously unfolding, and retailers need to get on board or risk being left behind.
The challenge for retailers is to find a way to constantly evolve and innovate. They need to embed agility throughout their operation to deliver cutting-edge multichannel shopping experiences that consumers crave, or face losing sales to the brands that do.
According to research we carried out in early 2022, 32% of shoppers get frustrated by brands that don’t sell on their favorite online channel, and 33% would buy from a competitor that sold on their preferred buying channel over an existing brand they’ve used before.
In a world where customer acquisition and loyalty are everything, can businesses afford to miss out?
That being said, we understand that it’s often not as easy as just plugging in a new sales channel. Businesses need to be able to maintain customer experience far beyond the buy button.
For many retailers, adding more channels means adding more complexity and that could result in operational issues like overselling, delayed deliveries, mispicks, and higher costs resulting in negative customer reviews and a lot of staff stress. In fact, our research shows that for 1 in 10 firms, the complexities of multi-channel shopping and delivery channels were their biggest challenges last holiday season.
Brands need a back-end tech stack they feel confident in so they can run toward change, rather than trying to avoid it. However, investing in back-office technology should involve careful consideration. Modern brands must have the flexibility to quickly connect a variety of best-in-class tools and apps to adapt and meet consumer expectations. ERP (enterprise resource planning) software and other single-solution platforms simply aren’t built for that.
It’s now clear that many ERPs, OMS (order management systems), and other standalone solutions such as WMS are outdated, inflexible and wholly unfit for purpose in this new era. For instance, going live with an ERP takes forever (420 days on average), customizations take months and costs often come in 400% higher than expected, which is hardly conducive to being agile, bold, and ahead of the times.
Brands need to be able to instantly integrate a changing roster of the best tech for each area of their business, as and when trends and shopping habits change. They need purpose-built functionality that saves time and cuts costs. They need flexible, best-in-class tools that help them scale their business and delight modern customers. That’s where a ROS (Retail Operating System) like Brightpearl comes in. Brightpearl was built and developed to help modern merchants do one thing, above all else: Grow Fearlessly.
Enjoyed this extract? Check out the rest of our eBook on how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped consumer expectations for fluid retail journeys:
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