Digital Transformation in Retail: Tailored Business Solutions

Retail businesses need to invest in mobile apps to help make their business a high revenue-generating system. Digital transformation is, at the highest levels, using cutting-edge technology to leverage game-changing strategies to adapt to changing customer preferences. For example, companies like Spotify have made the era of audio CDs redundant. Retail, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same option. Retail is the physical transfer of goods like clothing, electronics, medicine and furniture.

It’s quite simple really. You can’t create a digital pair of shoes to replace physical ones. While many companies understand this factor, they do not realize the impact that digitization is making to the way retail is changing. Gone (almost) is the era where you would, maybe with your family, visit a store to buy a television or buy shoes. Just a few years ago, this store would have been the main source of information.    

Today, every part of a customer’s shopping experience is being digitized. From eyewear companies introducing 3D visual try-on, to paint companies allowing room uploads and color combinations, retail is moving from the ‘feel & touch’ era to a visually-driven one. This is the prime reason why a lot of physical stores are shutting down or downsizing.

The biggest problem for brick and mortar stores, however, is the cost of running. Factoring in rent, upkeep, employee salaries and storage, investing in a digital store is much a simple endeavor. Digital stores require lesser physical space investment and communication between company and customer is instant. Just ask Amazon or eBay.

Transformation in Retail – The Real Deal

Digitizing processes and accessing the same via business apps is a new reality. This normalization brings in multiple optimization offerings to the table. They are:

Supply Chain Optimization

A digital supply chain app collates and analyzes all information in real-time. In the good old days, this was an MS Excel exercise. With digitization, the exercise is done by mobiles and PCs, which turn data into analytics into real-time. A supply chain app can check stock levels, track shipments of consignments, assign jobs to employees, tag and record data, streamline all operations, integrate payment gateways for secure transactions, compare pricing and create/share invoices automatically – all accessible from a single source.

Data Intelligence

The two biggest advantages of data intelligence are understanding changing customer demands and forecasting. While the first is more of a short-term advantage, forecasting is a long-term advantage. With actionable data, executives can use analytics for improved decision-making. If only Kodak had this option, they would have understood the importance of digital cameras and forecast that film/analog cameras would become redundant in the long-run.

Marketing Strategies

With a business app, companies can connect directly to the client via push notifications, SMS and email. All offers and promotions can be shared immediately and the return on investment is kept high. Moreover, with personalized content and offers based on data from individual searches, newer opportunities of business can be realized.

Another important venue is social media. Integrated social media channels help a company keep in touch with customers, share information and improve the brand image in the process. The result is cleaner marketing models, improved functionality and time-saving for the company and customer.

Smart Retail Solutions at 10x Speed

Retail businesses need to get going. To create their own mobile apps that work on Android, iOS and the Web. With mobile app development becoming the most important decision in a companies’ business strategy, enterprise mobility is an easily achievable exercise.

HokuApps is a mobile app development platform that offers enterprise mobility solutions at 10x speed. Armed with a cutting-edge automated technology platform, apps are made via a drag and drop process and provides 100% customization. Create apps that offer front-end and back-end transformation, are reliable and cost-effective.