Five Ways to Get Retail Experiences Right in 2019

Delivering frictionless retail experiences is emotionally pleasing. You’re pleased because you’re running your business better. Your customers are pleased because you’re meeting their expectations at every point of contact with your company. That’s how you create customers for life.

But thanks to technology that enables instant engagement and changing consumer values and behavior, retail companies are experiencing relentless disruption. Dealing with that disruption is what drives the buzz around the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual flagship industry event, which brings together 36,500 retail professionals and vendors from more than 90 countries.

Retailers attend to understand the trends and get the latest on the best technology.

What’s Shaping the Business

Retail experts like Jia Wertz, a contributor to Forbes and Huffington Post, agree that in 2019, the market will be defined by emerging technologies that change the way consumers interact with their favorite brands, a shift in preferences, and the emergence of new battle lines for e-commerce.

The tendency toward brand as a culture has been building steadily as young consumers are buying based on attitudes toward corporate responsibility and social consciousness. Companies now realize the importance of committing to a higher purpose and engaging employees to live the brand’s values, which in turn helps equate internal culture with exterior identity.

This means retailers must respond to demands for more ethical business practices, more sustainable supply chains, and less environmental impact. At the same time, they must provide a flawless, appealing experience on all channels that allows clients to interact with the brand in creative ways. And finally, retailers must deliver e-commerce purchases faster than ever before.

The key to success in this challenging landscape lies in connecting supply and demand.

The Right Solutions

With over 700 exhibitors at NRF, how can you be sure to find the right solutions to these business drivers? To give customers what they want, when they want it, and where they want it, your organization must connect supply and demand.

At NRF this year, SAP has created five end-to-end retail scenarios to help you visualize exactly how to do it.

• Experiences You Can Trust: Say no to wrong orders, shipping nightmares, and chaotic customer data. Whether your customer is glamping outdoors or revamping indoors, SAP has the right technology to help deliver whatever, whenever, wherever. Let SAP help you rethink your business model and apply emerging technologies like blockchain, machine learning, and robotics for seamless customer engagement
• Best-Run Beauty and the Augmented Reality Experience: Having trouble spotting trends, optimizing revenue opportunities, and engaging shoppers? Being a best-run business will help you fix those problems. It will also help you monitor costs, analyze your data, and make better decisions. Learn how SAP’s end-to-end story will bring more value to your business
• Experience the Connected Store: Customers are willing to pay more for positive retail experiences, but only if they are flawless. SAP has re-engineered applications so you can seamlessly respond to customer need – online or in store. Learn how SAP C/4HANA, SAP Leonardo, and KeyTree can help you master inventory challenges with the help of an augmented store assistant — and that’s just for starters.
• Experience SAP and Google Cloud: Your assortment plan needs to be in good shape if you want to maximize sales and profit for specific periods of time. Find out how you can leverage the Google Shopping Platform and your warehouse robots to get your initial purchase quantities right to ensure a steady allocation process over time.
• Experience the SAP Solution Zone: Intelligent enterprises effectively use their data assets to achieve desired outcomes faster – and with less risk. To become intelligent, your enterprise needs an intelligent suite to run processes efficiently, intelligent technologies to create new revenue streams and better experiences, and a digital platform to turn your data into gold.  In the SAP Solution Zone you can see how intelligent enterprises run in several key areas, including merchandising, supply chain, in store, the customer experience, mid-market commerce, innovations, and the SAP fashion labs.

Visit SAP at NRF: Retail’s Big Show to learn more about Experiences You Can Trust.

Follow me on Twitter: @magyarj