De-mystifying retailers’ business readiness to digitally transform their stores
There are big benefits to launching digital capabilities in-store, however, retailers might have concerns about the feasibility of their business being ready to deploy these. Are the right backend systems in place and will it take a long time to launch?
Let us begin by explaining what we mean by In-Store Digital Technologies
The digitisation of the store is a process that connects your existing backend technologies (such as POS, PIM, OMS and CRM) with staff and customers in-store, through several different interfaces. Why? By bringing digital capabilities in-store, you connect offline and online channels, provide store associates with the information they need to deliver a faster and more personalised service and enable new in-store scenarios, such as Remote selling via WhatsApp or Self-Service.
The result is that these retail stores evolve from operating as simple sales channels into multi-purpose centres. Here’s a few examples of how these technologies are connecting stores to the digital world:
The result is that these retail stores evolve from operating as simple sales channels into multi-purpose centres. Here’s a few examples of how these technologies are connecting stores to the digital world:
The Connected Retail Store
There is a preconception that deploying these technologies requires the latest “New-Age” backend systems, will take a lot of resources
(both man hours and CAPEX) and will take months, if not years to deploy. This is simply not true. Scroll on to find out why:
Now, let us introduce you to Monolithic, API-Orientated and Hybrid Architectures and why it matters...
Ease of integration is one of the biggest priorities for retailers launching new technologies. You want it to be as quick and painless as possible, but from a technology vendors perspective, each retailer has a different architecture, compiled of different backend systems, APIs and data feeds to contend with. Typically, you will fall under one of the three categories of architecture below. When considering what digital transformation vendors to work with, you want to ensure that they can integrate with your existing architecture and not require you to change or have to launch an entirely new one.
When you approach your IT Team to discuss your transformation aspirations, find out what approach they take as this may limit the number of vendors you can work with. Mercaux, for example, has a composable architecture (see fact sheet below) that can deal with all eventualities:
When you approach your IT Team to discuss your transformation aspirations, find out what approach they take as this may limit the number of vendors you can work with. Mercaux, for example, has a composable architecture (see fact sheet below) that can deal with all eventualities:
Retail Architectures
How to Launch In-Store Digital Technologies
For in-store digital technologies to work you will need to “feed” them with the right content and data. You therefore need to understand what these are (for each solution type) and where they live in your existing infrastructures. See below for the most popular in-store solutions and the data required to operate.
At Mercaux, ease and speed of integration are top priorities. By integrating with a retailers’ existing systems and data formats (be they APIs, feeds or simple excel files), utilising pre-built integrations and plug-ins, our Connected Retail Solutions can go live in a matter of weeks - not months or years.
At Mercaux, ease and speed of integration are top priorities. By integrating with a retailers’ existing systems and data formats (be they APIs, feeds or simple excel files), utilising pre-built integrations and plug-ins, our Connected Retail Solutions can go live in a matter of weeks - not months or years.
Our Integrations
The Mercaux platform enables retailers to quickly implement and scale digital capabilities. Our platform is
highly configurable, allowing us to readily adapt solutions to accommodate retailers’ existing systems, while
retaining their brand image and DNA.
Launch, Track, Analyse and Grow over time
Digitally transforming the store can seem like a daunting challenge – to deploy all the technologies in a Connected Retail Store at the same time would likely be met with objections from the store teams. Therefore, a phased approached can ensure that store teams are not overwhelmed too quickly.
Begin with solutions such as Assisted Selling, Clienteling and Remote Selling before releasing more complex solutions in a phase 2, like Omnichannel POS.
Prioritising a quick and seamless integration doesn’t mean compromising on planning and support. As part of our low-risk approach, we offer retailers a proof-of-concept phase, as well as the ability to switch modules on and off based on business readiness and your current technical capabilities for integration.
Prioritising a quick and seamless integration doesn’t mean compromising on planning and support. As part of our low-risk approach, we offer retailers a proof-of-concept phase, as well as the ability to switch modules on and off based on business readiness and your current technical capabilities for integration.
Mercaux’s modular solution rollout process
Our configurable and flexible approach extends beyond the initial product launch; we provide ongoing product
& tech support in the form of 3 pillars:
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Monitoring & Alert System
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Analytics & Reporting
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HQ Content Management
If you would like to see how long a typical onboarding project looks like (and who needs to be involved), download our information sheet here:
