So, what exactly is the business process of retail?
One thing shoppers of the 21st century usually expect is the same or next-day delivery. They want a real-time view of inventory levels. They also want to find what they need with just a few simple clicks of the mouse.
An inconvenient shopping experience is one top reason why customers abandon their cart. Today in the mid-part of 2022, the speed and convenience demanded by product-hungry shoppers cannot be achieved manually.
A good retail customer example is where customers no longer make shopping a leisurely weekend Activity. It has evolved into something far more different. Now we can wedge it between our other activities. We can shop online, at home, at work, or even on the train.
Now we can easily find whatever we want. Either by conscious effort or by chance, whilst browsing on social media. Because everything we want, we want it now.
The WHA business process of retail is one such technology. Helping retailers do this. Giving a fast-paced, easy, and engaging experience. These are the exact demands the online bread-and-butter shopper’s demand in 2022 and beyond.
The Business Process of Retail Automation
Retail automation involves a series of different technologies. Ones that transfer certain given tasks over to sophisticated software. Resulting in reduced human involvement in every department of your retail business. Including financial inventories, processing invoices, and sending out marketing promotions. All the way up to customer service and everything that entails.
Now with the advent of brand-new technologies, intelligent automation analyzes all retail strengths and weaknesses. Everything can now be done. Even the replacement of the faithful old-fashioned changing rooms. Now a modern clothes shop can offer something called smart mirrors. These let the shoppers virtually “try something on.” Resulting in faster customer buying, thus, leading to far higher profits.
What are the Benefits of Using Business Process for Retail Automation?
Our industry experts at Whitehawk Associates have come up with a calculated estimation. One of average automation across the in-store, supply chain, and headquarters. These functions can generate 300 to 500 basis points. This is a very good incremental margin for most retailers.
How the Business Process Automation Helps the Retail Industry:
- Reducing operational costs
- Boosting margins
- Substantially cutting manual errors
- Improving processing times
- Promotions and marketing
- Sales reporting improvement visibility
- Offering a high-quality customer experience outshining your competitors
Retailer’s Top Uses for Business Process
Large businesses use an estimated 90 different software tools. This is to conduct normal day-to-day business. This can incorporate warranty software, inventory trackers, and website content management systems.
Plus, a wide variety of social media analytical platforms. Incorporating, the processing of credit cards, and even buy-now, pay-later integrations.
Automation better connects important data and platforms. In turn helping retailers make more, profitable and informed decisions. Here’s how hi-tech merchants make use of the technology.
Tracking Inventory and On-Demand Forecasting
Long ago the tracking of inventories via spreadsheet would be carried out. But it would only take a few tiny errors to cause a devastating impact.
Online shoppers today really do want instant access to real-time inventories. Plus, the in-store staff need immediate answers to all product availability.
This is where the retail business process mode and automation comes in. Analyzing data from global warehouses, e-commerce platforms, high street retailers, and third-party marketplaces.
Product catalogue consistency
Today we live in a twenty-first-century digital tech-savy environment. This has created a need. One in which all product details and specifications must be highly consistent. This has to be across all shopping and retail sites.
Including data about sizes, colors, materials, and more. Automation tools can streamline your product information management (PIM) strategy. It does this over the whole of your marketplace. No matter when your workforce makes any design changes. Adding new colors, styles, sizes, products, and features.
Return processing
Last year, customers returned nearly $428 billion in products. In fact, to ease sizing doubts, many retailers now encourage this practice. Automation will do all the heavy administrative lifting. Sending out return labels, tracking incoming returns, and processing refunds without human interference.
Customer communication
Automation is a powerful tool for launching more successful marketing campaigns. You can track browsing behaviors and purchasing habits. Injecting insights into personalized marketing emails. These make them unique, targeting promotions for different customers and different groups. The use of automated marketing tools enables far more customized campaigns. Ones like time-based reminders.
Using retail supply chain process flow, a retail company for instance can very easily send a quick alert when a customer is nearing the wear-down date of their pair of sneakers or walking shoes. Or maybe even as soon as a customer uses up something like their laundry detergent.
Chatbots are also a form of automation that top retailers are making use of a lot. Especially when browsing online. Customers can now ask quick questions like “does this phone case come in blue?” or “what are your store hours?” Well-trained software bots can fire off fast answers without engaging a staff member.
Whitehawk Associates I.B.R.A.P.
Whitehawk Associates highly experienced team will incorporate into all aspects of your business, the WHA Intelligent Business retail Automation process (IBRAP). This will involve using Intelligent business automation software, Using artificial intelligence (AI), and other high-end technologies to automate all repetitive tasks.