Shopping in a retail store used to be so simple: you entered a physical building, grabbed the product(s) you needed, checked out with a human cashier, and left. But one blink of the eye later and retail stores are now—checks notes—the centers of the omnichannel universe?
Retail evolves fast. So fast, in fact, that frontline teams are struggling to keep up. How can these teams overcome the retail pressures and disruption brought about by constantly expanding technology and consumer demand? According to a new analyst report by IDC, the answer lies in collaboration.
Let's dive in.
Historically, retailers, manufacturers, and their various merchandising and distribution partners have worked in siloes, carrying out their in-store tasks irrespective of each other.
For example, a manufacturer may send field a field rep to a number of stores to stock merchandise and track on-floor inventory. In most cases, retailers have little to no visibility of this field rep: when they're arriving, who they represent, whether or not they completed their tasks, and so on. On the flip side, manufacturers have little to no in-store and between-store visibility of their field rep: did they take the most efficient route? Did they complete their work on time and up to standard? And to make matters worse, the field rep often has no easy way to communicate with the retailer: where is the product they're supposed to stock? Has it arrived yet? Who's the best point of contact?
These uncertainties permeate the entire retail ecosystem. While they manifest in different ways depending on the team and context, they all have one thing in common: they are detrimental. Detrimental to in-store sales, workforce enablement, operational costs, on-shelf availability... the whole nine yards.
Back in simpler times, these drawbacks could be mitigated. But now that stores are physical hubs for multi-channel commerce, the longstanding siloes must come down. If retail teams want to thrive in an increasingly complex store environment, they must embrace collaboration, both internally and externally.
The lack of connection among retail teams is not a culture problem; it's a technology problem. Most teams use disparate technology to carry out in-store execution, resulting in siloed data and lackluster communication.
In order to enable retail collaboration, teams need technology that can act as a bridge between various parties, a solution that facilitates shared data. Only then can they move at the speed of retail. Only then can they overcome the growing mountain of obstacles that are being thrown in front of frontline teams.
Where can such technology be found? As of now, only one place: right here.
We have a radical vision of a united retail ecosystem. Although it's radical, it's also necessary. In-store teams can no longer afford to stay disconnected. They must embrace collaboration. But don't just take our word for it. The experts over at IDC wrote a great brief that dispels any doubts about the importance of retail collaboration.
Read the full IDC report here.