The digital economy is changing the way the world does business and the retail industry is having to adapt to customer demands in order to survive.

It’s no longer enough for retailers to simply have an online presence, the new wave of retail change is allowing consumers to interact with retailers in innovative and pervasive ways. Increasingly, customers focus on value, convenience and retail experience above brand loyalty, and retailers need to be able to keep pace in the hyper-connected world. Mason Advisory understands the challenges that retailers face and works closely with our retail clients to help them address those challenges and exploit new opportunities.

Challenges

Pervasive retail

From buttons on fridges to voice commands in the car on the way home from work, every moment is now a retail opportunity. Shopping lists are becoming obsolete as consumers instantly add products to their basket from anywhere in the world and successful retailers need to ensure their IT environments are connected, live and instantly available to their customer base.

Personalisation and privacy

No two shoppers are the same and as people assert their individuality, retailers need to ensure their offerings are differentiated across the customer base without compromising the privacy of shopper’s data and purchasing history.

Customer experience

Increasingly younger shoppers are looking for innovative and engaging retail experiences in environments that are fully connected and offer them the ability to execute transactions with minimum fuss. In-store retailers need to ensure that their venues provide a similarly no-fuss service, supporting the latest trends from self-scanning to cardless payments.

Seamless interaction

Consumers want the ability to interact with retailers in a seamless way across their devices and in physical stores. From click-and-collect to scan-and-deliver strategies, data needs to be transported in a boundaryless fashion across IT platforms that are architected for the future.

Intelligence

Understanding what customers want and when they want it is essential to ensuring low inventory costs without compromising availability. Retailers are having to turn to AI (Artificial Intelligence) and big data strategies to allow them to accurately predict demand and to focus products on the right customers.

Competition

New entrants into the market are more agile and able to respond rapidly to consumer preferences unencumbered by ageing property portfolios and estates. Traditional retailers need to transform to compete, including rationalising existing environments and creating competitive digital strategies to complement their bricks and mortar.

Security

Retailers use more and more customer data and analytics to make informed decisions about product strategy. Ensuring that this data is properly governed and controlled is the number one security and reputational risk for senior retail executives. It is vital that these challenges are embraced at a board level.

Mason Advisory understands the complex challenges of retail environments is ideally placed to help you maximise your investment in the digital economy.