Data drives results and revenue. Small retailers often struggle to get the right data and do not know what tools are out there that could help them. This is not an excuse to turn your back on technology. SMEs need to embrace the digital shift that has been happening and leverage on the unique position they are in. In a presentation Point PickUp’s CEO Tom Fiorita speaks about how data helps retailers and how it can be put to better use.
Controlling the customers’ experience is the key to making sure that consumers are happy with the brand. Very often smaller retailers lack the necessary infrastructure to do that and larger technology savvy companies take over the task. According to Fiorita that shouldn’t be the case and smaller retailers are capable of controlling the data. ‘We want to offer the ability to the retailer to compete on every level with companies such as Amazon,’ the expert explains.
Changing consumers
Fiorida echoes the opinion of many others in the industry by saying that Covid-19 caused an acceleration of trends in the e-com and last mile market. Different age groups joined the market that in the past didn’t think would be part of it. Older consumers turned to online out of necessity which caused a surge in demand in a market that was not fully ready to implement last mile and e-commerce deliveries as needed. Companies had problems with their supply chains and procurement and in addition didn’t have the capacity to cover the new demand. This led to limiting orders and unhappy customers. ‘Companies are catching up now and are realising this is a viable market to pay attention to,’ Fiorita adds.
The power of data
‘If you want to be better than another retailer it is not going to be because you have a delivery option they don’t,’ Fiorita continues. For him the advantage retailers should work on is efficiency and how well they can manage the logistics process and the related data. Data along the whole supply chain can help create a far more accurate delivery process that answers consumers’ actual needs.
Data can also shape customers’ behaviour to benefit the entire e-commerce ecosystem. Dynamic pricing is a way to stimulate demand and respond to consumers’ needs. In addition, the ability to analyse orders in real time could also push notifications to consumers about specific products or types of products that they might like to purchase. Brands would be ready to pay to be part of these positions and be recommended as a bundle to consumers at the checkout.
Technology & Retail
There are multiple factors that determine the success of a delivery and retailers would have to adopt technology to be able to better understand them. Machine learning, for example, can be used to increase profit, decrease wasted time, and improve performance.Learn more about data, retail and how drivers respond to technology in the video. ✷