If you’re still talking about the cloud as something separate from your retail business, it’s time to change the conversation. Welcome to your digital future—and a whole new way of working.
Cloud computing has fundamentally changed the landscape of technology and business, allowing its adopters to better harness other emerging technologies such as social media, mobile, big data and advanced analytics to transform their business. How? By doing things cheaper, faster, with more computing power and with a level of customization users simply couldn’t have expected previously. Today’s consumers expect retailers to be implementing these technologies. As seamless, digitally enabled, personalized shopping experiences become the standard, retailers that cannot adapt will be left behind.
Accenture has identified three business imperatives for retailers making the shift to cloud-based solutions.
1. Lay the groundwork for seamless cloud platforms. Achieving the shift to cloud computing requires a focus on data, insights from analytics, and the ability to execute. There are six characteristics of cloud retail, as outlined in this graphic. Each of these has a desired outcome and a technological foundation that must be put into place.
2. Focus on a seamless customer experience. Retail in the cloud means providing solutions rather than the commodities. Today’s customers want to shop on their terms – through the channels they choose and with the information they control. Retailers must adopt agile approaches across physical, web, social, and mobile interfaces with consumers, breaking down the barriers between merchandising, supply chain and channel operations.
3. Use cloud computing to drive growth in new markets and services. With the average income rising in emerging nations, there are rich opportunities for growth far from home. Cloud technologies in these emerging territories will enable great technological leaps, in the same way that the rapid adoption of mobile technology eliminated the need telecommunications wires and cabling infrastructure.
For more insights, read the full report here
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