Creating a futuristic roadmap for today’s retailers

By Tarsus Distribution

Entities in every sector face a critical need to overhaul their IT architecture and operating models to keep up with a constantly evolving landscape. In fact, digital technologies have become a key element across every vertical, and nowhere is this more relevant than in the retail sector, which is facing its own set of challenges.

More than any other, the retail industry has been turned on its head, thanks to a rise in e-commerce, which has seen many traditional retailers struggle to expand their technological capabilities.

In addition, today’s increasingly demanding customers want omni-channel and more personalised experiences, and if they don’t get them, they will go elsewhere. Add to this, the growing complexity of today’s supply chains, and it’s easy to see that these companies need to adapt or die.

Retailers have seen significant changes in how people shop for products and solutions, as well as how they engage with brands. In general, consumers are more tech-savvy, more connected, less brand loyal, more informed, more social, and far more channel-agnostic.

Covered in this article

Shrinking margins
Time to take action
Transforming the retail industry

Shrinking margins

These and other factors have put a lot of pressure on retailers’ bottom lines. Over the past few years, margins have been slowly shrinking, a problem that was compounded by the global pandemic and resulting lockdowns.

However, a solid, robust foundation of digital technologies can arm retailers with the capabilities they need to enhance performance across their operations and increase their revenue.

Unfortunately, too many retailers are still lagging behind when it comes to digital transformation. They have not introduced any meaningful omni-channel solutions, they are not using their data effectively to gain actionable insights, and they are still working with outdated tools and methods that are hampering their agility.

Time to take action

To turn this on its head and start on an upward trajectory, they need to act, and act fast. Retailers need to embark on a radical transformation of their ICT infrastructure, hardware, and software.

A well co-ordinated, strategic ICT transformation can have tremendous benefits for the retail sector. Technology has the ability to be a critical driver of next-generation growth, as well as innovation.

Digital transformation will not only drive the omni-channel experiences that consumers demand, but it will also help retailers introduce smarter offerings, and help trim the fat from operations. It could even support them in terms of building new revenue streams and business models.

Through transformation, retailers will also have the ability to harness the power of the vast amounts of customer data they receive every day, which will help them gain insights into their customer, to better target them with customised offers, and hyper-personalised experiences.

Transforming the retail industry

Retailers who want to be able to respond to these trends, and become more accessible and agile, need to use digital technology as a core enabler across a broad spectrum of areas within today’s modern retail sector.

The right tools can facilitate a seamless integration between online and brick-and-mortar channels with clever digital services that can smooth the path for the full customer journey.

Highly tailored offerings that have been designed through advanced analytics can be updated almost instantly and supported by a wide range of compelling digital content. Through digital, retail business models can be extended far beyond historical core business to bring in extra revenue, broaden customer touch points, and collect more customer data.

Finally, the appropriate investments can quicken time to market, reduce running costs, and ensure smooth operations - all of which better a retailer’s responsiveness to consumer needs, boost business performance, and grow revenues.

In partnership with leading technology brands, Tarsus Distribution is uniquely positioned to empower entrepreneurs and SMBs to be future-ready, with seamless integration of systems, data, storage, printing, hyperconvergence, networking and security solutions.  Contact our team today to set your business up for future success.