The objective is to consolidate the various points of contact with the customer (e-commerce, store…) in order to optimize the relationship and offer a smooth and consistent shopping experience. Omnicanal breaks down the company’s silos by relying on a single digital platform that centralizes in real time data from marketing, logistics management, commerce (web, mobile and physical), customer relations and payment transactions.

81% of retail brands plan to converge to a unified commerce platform by 2020 (Boston Retail Partners study).

Challenges:

• Anticipate the client’s request (for example, availability of products in-store)
• Speed up physical stores’ “phygital” transformation
• Manage the explosion in the volume of digital data to be processed

Brands and distributors rely on data and IoTs to recreate a direct relationship with the customer by becoming a preferred service provider: voice assistance, product/offer recommendation, item personalisation, etc.

According to the BCG, the companies that best implement customer customisation programs could generate $800 billion in additional revenue in the next 5 years.

Challenges:

• Reduce the cost and time-to-market of personalised products
• Identify the potential customer ahead of his or her purchase journey
• Know their client’s purchasing habits and behaviour

New consumer behaviour (for example, Click & Collect, Endless Aisles, faster range renewal, etc.) requires distributors to review their organisation and logistics chains to respect their promise to customers and stay competitive.

By 2019, 65% of retail brands will offer delivery in under 24 hours compared to 16% in 2016 (BRP). Today, if a product is not available in-store, 54% of consumers prefer to buy it immediately from an online competitor.

Challenges:

• Track the customer’s order in the supply chain in real time
• Integrate suppliers into this collaborative and agile approach
• Implement predictive analysis to anticipate stocks