With more customers making use of cross-channel shopping, conventional and e-commerce integration is key to improved customer service.
This is according to Ultimate Retail Solutions (URS) retail software development director, Deon Botha, who says just having systems that can cope at the point-of-sale is not good enough.
He says customers are not only making use of traditional stores, but are starting to develop 'cross-channel` shopping behaviour.
"Systems need to be integrated right across enterprises so that retailers can have a single view of their information, including keeping track of customer shopping preferences from a physical store, kiosk, interactive voice ordering, cable television and the Internet," says Botha.
"To understand customers better, retailers need to deploy computer systems that are able to track the spending habits of every customer so that service can be more personalised."
However, Botha admits there are not yet big profits being realised in retail Internet initiatives.
"The business-to-business marketplace witnessed an explosion of online marketplaces and suddenly they collapsed, thus retailers adopted a sceptical view of supply chain information management initiatives," says Botha.
He adds that as retailers learn to build effective Internet strategies and as more consumers begin to shop online, profits are sure to flow.
"The Internet will become a critical strategic component of any retailer`s 'arsenal`, especially if it is leveraged to build up a better understanding of customers," he says.
"While SA lags a bit behind the US and Europe, we will definitely see all these different shopping channels become more commonplace in the next few years.
"IT was once considered as a support function, a cost centre intended to deliver the required service level while minimising expenses; today it has evolved into a strategic business enabler and has a potential to become a profit centre," he says.
Share