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Data is your retail superpower – now, and in the future
What will you need to have in place to compete within retail – today and in 2030? A critical prerequisite for retail success is your ability to offer your customers what they want when they want it – or even before they know what they want. For that purpose, you need to be able to collect data from your customers; data gives you superpowers.
And the closer you are to your consumer data, thick behaviour data, and transaction data – the stronger you become. If you can analyse and understand the data, that is. Only then can you offer your customers relevant, tailored offerings.
You also need a real-time overview of your entire supply chain – from warehouse to transport. Putting real-time data to work and analysing it with AI’s help will be central to creating resource-efficient and sustainable operations. You can optimise your supply chain through data-based insights, predict demands, and precisely match buyers and products. In other words, predictive logistics.
Are you using a legacy ERP platform?
If your current ERP platform is of a legacy or on-premise type, you will unfortunately not have access to real-time data. To pursue supply chain management and predictive logistics, the basis for your retail ecosystem should be a modern, dynamic, cloud-based, and scalable ERP platform.
Having a cloud-based ERP platform in place lets you make AI-based forecasts – connecting the dots between patterns, trends, and historical data. It enables you to be proactive in responding to what may come; miscalculations, damaged goods, stock errors, et cetera.
More benefits of predictive logistics in retail
What will be in demand?
A vital attribute of an effective supply chain is forecasting customer demands accurately. With a clear view of demand, your suppliers and their manufacturers can ramp up their service levels without raising the cost after the initial sale of a product. Through predictive technology such as cloud-based inventory management solutions and machine learning, you will get rid of overstocking and make sure warehouses can operate collaboratively to meet customer requirements.
Improved customer personalisation
Utilising AI to gather and analyse unique customer data helps you uncover your customers’ behavioural patterns – do they like to buy big-ticket items or make many small purchases? Making predictions using AI can help you decide which product you should recommend to each customer to give them a better onsite experience and make them buy more? And when should you send customers a message to target them at the right moment in their purchase journey?
Before we had AI and Machine Learning, it would take us many hours to gather and analyse customer data. In a couple of years, AI will replace human analyses optimising logistics and other supply chain aspects. How far are you on that journey?
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Want to know more about retail in the future and how Nexer can help you connect all your retail systems into one “Digital Ecosystem for Retail”?