Retail CIO Outlook

Retailers today are in constant search for ways to cope with increasing competition, operational costs, and mounting pressure. As always, most of the strategies towards achieving these are centered on enhancing the consumer experience at different levels. Category duplication is among the immediate concerns which act as a roadblock towards ensuring consumer satisfaction. It is a challenge for retailers to carry out rationalization of categories without negatively influencing a customer’s perception of options. Studies have observed that about 17 percent of items within a given category exhibit a duplicative nature in the retail sector. With these many items showing a duplicative tendency, retailers may be unintentionally leading to undue stress and confused shoppers. At times, presence of too many options, in-store or online, empowers customers not to choose. It is critical to optimize assortment offerings through an understanding of the customer’s perception of choice. However...

Retail Industry   experiences a paradigm shift with technology that retailers must keep an eye on to meet the growing customer expectations. Gone are the days when streets were crammed with small retail stores, with people overflowing and chasing their preferences across stores. While the consumers face issues with this brick-and-mortar shopping, they look for a better option that completes the task of shopping in the blink of an eye. In that way, online shopping serves better where consumers shop on their gadgets with just a click of a button instead of taking a trip down to the shopping mall. The advancements in the digital channels are leading to this explosive growth of online shopping. This shift attracts consumers a lot more than the traditional methods, and the retailers must adapt to the transformation to keep in pace with their consumers’ expectations. Here are some technology trends that retailers should keep an eye on to gain the competitive edge. Check This Out:...