By: Chetu Inc.
Retailers now use an increasing number of technology solutions to run their businesses, customer experience, inventory management, payment and reporting processes. These systems may provide value on their own, but can pose problems when used in isolation. Many retailers then strive to achieve integration projects to unite their technology landscape and advance data sharing throughout the company.
But not all integration projects are easy. Although the overall objective of integration is easy to understand (integrating systems and sharing data), a successful integration depends on careful planning and a clear understanding of the business goals. Before embarking on a retail integration program, retailers need to consider a number of factors to make the chances of success more likely.
Begin with the Business Goals, Not the Technology!
A common pitfall that retailers fall into is integrating as a technical task. Technology should be a means to the ends of the business, not the other way around.
Retailers should first understand the business issue they want to address before considering platforms, APIs, or integration techniques. Do they want to gain a better understanding of their stock? Streamline order fulfillment? Improve customers’ experiences on all channels? Minimize data entry tasks?
Strong business objectives guide efforts for integration and measure the impact.
Assess previous systems and processes
Numerous retail companies run a variety of on-premises applications, cloud platforms and third-party solutions that have been built up over time. Knowing how existing systems work and identifying where inefficient processes occur is important before integrating systems.
Retailers should complete a Technology Environment audit and ask themselves the following questions:
- What systems are essential to run the business?
- Where does duplicate data entry occur?
- What processes must be done manually?
- Do there already exist integration possibilities?
- This evaluation frequently uncovers opportunities and challenges that aren’t apparent.
Prioritize High-Impact Integrations
No system is required to be integrated all at once. Having to integrate all applications at once may create complexity, cost, and implementation risks.
Retailers, on the other hand, should seek integrations that will have the biggest impact on their operations. This can range from integrating Point of Sale (POS) systems with inventory management software to integrating eCommerce platforms with order fulfillment systems or connecting customer data across various touchpoints for many organizations.
A phased approach enables organizations to create tangible value and minimize project risk.
Make the decision to use Data Quality Early
Data problems are likely to be revealed by a project of integration. When data start to move from one system to another, there may be issues due to inconsistent product information, duplicate customers, and inaccurate inventory data.
Retailers should consider data quality requirements and define governance procedures for keeping accurate data, before implementing it. Having clean and reliable data helps to ensure accurate reporting, better customer service, and less disruption in operations.
It’s generally less expensive to deal with data quality issues at the start of the process than once data is integrated.
Plan for Future Growth
Retail technology environments are ever-changing as businesses embrace new sales channels, customer engagement tools and platforms. An integration plan must take into consideration not only current needs, but also future expansion as well.
Some questions retailers should ask themselves are:
- Will expansion be possible to other stores?
- Are there any new uses, which require significant redevelopment?
- Will more transactions have an impact on performance?
- Is the architecture able to accommodate future digital projects?
Designing with scalability ensures that costly rework is avoided due to changing business requirements.
Make sure Staff to be ready for change.
Despite a well-designed integration project, users may be unprepared for new processes and workflows, leading to challenges. Staff members are usually impacted by shifts in the way they access information, complete tasks and interact with customers.
Retail leaders need to ensure that project goals are defined and communicated clearly, and that important project stakeholders are engaged along the way. Training and continuous support is important to help employees adjust faster and decrease resistance to change.
There are technical readiness and organizational readiness for successful integration projects.
Identify the Success Metrics prior to implementation
Many organizations often work on the project without specifying what success will look like. Performance metrics will help guide implementation efforts and keep the integration on track with business goals.
These are just some of the metrics that could apply:
The reduced manual processing time is an additional benefit.
- Improved inventory accuracy
- Faster order fulfillment
- Increased reporting efficiency
- Lower costs for customers
By measuring outcomes, retailers can assess the ROI and determine what more they can do to optimize.
Integration Is a Business Strategy
Retail integration projects are often considered IT projects but they have much bigger implications than just the IT department. Effective integrations can optimize operations, enhance decision-making processes, and result in smoother customer experiences.
Retailers can ensure their integration initiatives achieve long-term success by focusing on business objectives, reviewing current processes, selecting the highest priority opportunities, ensuring that data quality is maintained, planning for future growth, preparing employees, and establishing success metrics.
When retail is becoming more connected, organizations that consider integration strategically will be better prepared to meet evolving customer expectations and future technology needs.
