A white paper by PCMS, a proven global provider of grocery commerce solutions Winter 2017 To win over grocery shoppers, rethink your technology and embrace a unified commerce approach
Winter 2017 Introduction Unified Commerce, is a phrase we use more and more frequently instead of the often misused term Omni-Channel. Unified commerce is about putting shoppers first by leveraging the power of a single commerce platform. Individual channels will always exist, but even with all the focus on Omni-channel there are few grocers who have realized omni-success or who are ready to move away from multi-channel approaches. Especially in larger organizations, multi-channel approaches are necessary because of the complexity of moving the organization to a point where seamless commerce is the reality across all channels. Unified commerce recognizes that a rip and replace, end-to-end hardware/software/services approach may not be practical. Rather, it focuses on breaking down channel silos and integrating systems and data in a way that supports customer experience, looks to the future and recognizes the current reality of IT systems. Many grocers have a long list of things they d like to change about their business: physical store updates, equipment to replace, new inventory to bring in, innovative fresh food programs to test and new technologies to implement. But, how and what should you prioritize first? What gives you the most return for your effort? What most impacts your customers? And, how exactly would a Unified Commerce strategy impact you? Our goal in this paper is to look at unified commerce technology and what a unified strategy means specifically for the grocery industry. Moreover, how a unified commerce approach can create value and help support an improved customer experience, while also offering a strong ROI and security protections. It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. CHARLES DARWIN A white paper by PCMS, a proven global provider of grocery commerce solutions
To win over grocery consumers, reassess your retail technology and enable a unified commerce approach The Future of Grocery Technology Where We Need to Go and Where We Are Today In the near future, the grocery shopping experience will undergo some major changes. Those grocers who are best able to adapt will continue to be the most successful for the long-term. Can you see a grocery experience where your shoppers can receive personal offers as soon as they walk through the door, where they can check out in a flash, and pay without opening their wallet or even swiping a card? This technology is hardly some far away sci-fi fantasy. Rather, it is something we ll all start to experience in the near future. Furthermore, consumers will increase their online grocery purchases. And, trends clearly show that there will be a continued blurring of the lines between grocery, pharmacy, convenience stores, mega mass merchants, discount retailers and even restaurants. In fact, research released in 2015 by Nielsen indicated consumers shop in the channels that best meet their needs, meaning most shoppers mix instore and online purchases, and further highlighting the need for technology friendly and customercentered strategies. That same survey showed more than 50% of global consumers are willing to buy groceries online. Hence, it shouldn t be a surprise to see Progressive Grocer reporting 45% of responders to their 2016 Annual Report on the Grocery Industry indicating progress on omni-channel adoption. However, while this progress is encouraging, most grocers (and retailers in general) still have a ways to go before realizing a truly comprehensive and connected shopper experience. Many grocers have heritage systems that are simply not able to handle some of the scenarios described earlier. These systems tend to be older and often touch-points like Online and POS are totally separate systems. Again, some encouraging research from Boston Retail Partners (BRP) shows retailers are becoming more aware of the problems with siloed systems and of the need for a customercentric, single view of the customer. In BRP s recently released 2016 Customer Experience, Unified Commerce survey 25% of respondents indicated they had implemented a single unified commerce platform and another 52% were planning to implement unified commerce in the next three years, clearly showing unified commerce is a high priority for retailers in general. The priority on unified commerce for those in grocery should not be any different than for retailers in other sectors. Scalable, services-oriented architecture and the integration of channels will allow grocers to retain customers while also providing the stable yet flexible foundation needed as grocery retailing continues to quickly change.
Winter 2017 And, once the unified commerce approach has been implemented and the point-of-sale and order management system are part of your unified commerce platform, then things begin to get interesting and additional innovation is possible at a much faster pace. For example, if you are implementing a grocerant model you can begin to look at adding things like customer check-out for in-store food purchases at the food venue. Or, your point-of-sale could leverage interactive digital or multimedia technology to promote store events or personalized offers to drive return shopping trips and deepen shopper loyalty. And, ultimately, these types of technology enhancements begin to allow you to differentiate from your competition and win higher levels of shopper loyalty. Ready for a Unified Approach? Here are 5 Things for Grocers to Consider If you are interested in pursuing a unified approach, it is key to clarify corporate goals and to ask the right questions at the start of the process. The following topics, are ones PCMS feels are important discussion points as we plan and execute successful projects with our clients. 1 2 Spend Time Today Planning for Future Technology Needs Grocers should not just be looking for their next POS system, rather they should explore a unified commerce platform, well integrated with digital channel and order management, that will serve them for the long-term and that will adapt as the retail environment continues to evolve. Since there isn t a crystal ball into the future, grocers need agile, flexible and scalable solutions that are continuously improving, meaning the technology will remain relevant. Increasingly, and with proper security and data safety measures, grocers will become comfortable with deploying those solutions in the cloud in ways that connect data and allow for a single-view of the customer. Service Enablement Maintaining accuracy and consistency across channels for information including product details, pricing, stock availability and promotions is now more important than ever. The most successful grocers are embracing service enabled solutions with the power to connect systems together and the flexibility to enable business logic to run anywhere regardless of the device, hardware or sales channel for customer touch points like POS, Self-Scan, Mobile, Kiosk and Web. For example, using the same Promotions Engine across channels to provide consistent, personalized offers to the customer. A white paper by PCMS, a proven global provider of grocery commerce solutions
To win over grocery consumers, reassess your retail technology and enable a unified commerce approach 3 4 Using Technology to Build & Personalize Relationships Consumer engagement is critical for retail success. In today s world, retail brands have a huge opportunity around personalizing the shopper experience and building brand loyalty, particularly around the point of service, be it POS or mobile devices. We have seen clients do everything from providing a personal shopping history, to targeting product information and individualizing promotions. Recently, for example, we ve seen increased interest in using digital receipts to provide personalized content for each transaction and integrating to 3rd party social media and review sites so that purchase experience can be shared with friends. So far, clients who have invested in initiatives like the ones mentioned report boosts in sales and shopper loyalty. Integration The need to integrate disparate sales channels presents an architectural challenge for any organization striving to meet the demands of increasingly tech-savvy consumers who expect the same experience and service, no matter which shopping channel they use for their purchase. Implementing an IT solution that is scalable and can therefore work seamlessly across different devices is critical to enabling a unified commerce journey. Using a comprehensive multi-channel orchestration hub approach can simplify the integration process and route complex data and gateways with ease. With the streamlined IT administration and integration grocers can then react quickly to market changes and provide an improved customer experience. 5 Need for Actionable Data With an expanding multi-channel landscape it becomes increasingly difficult for grocers to manage large volumes of data. The best analytics are often graphical, quickly identify issues and opportunities, and interrogate data to the lowest level to enable timely responses to emerging trends. There is also a need for analytics to be accessible on laptops, smartphones and tablets for organizations with on-the-move operations. Grocers should look for analytics tools with the ability to be fed additional data from all business areas to gain a total view of performance in the multi-channel solution environment.
Winter 2017 Other Considerations for Grocers Pursuing A Unified Approach Consistency is a Big Hurdle Make sure you have a strategy to maintain your brand across all your selling channels. Each part of the shopping journey needs to be consistent. It s imperative that your brand, message, products, pricing, and promotions are all reflected to consumers in a way that supports a positive grocery experience. Data Centralization When customer data and applications are in one simple, dependable central data source, retailers are better able to keep their business ahead of the competition. Having data in a central location supports the seamless customer journey and allows for channel consistency whether in-store, on the web or via mobile. Think About Your Order Management Integration Strategy Once commerce and inventory systems are integrated, it is possible to gain operational efficiencies while offering a full array of customer ordering and delivery options, everything from ordering online and picking up in the store to ordering instore and delivery at home to things like return in-store and refund online. As online retailers like Amazon.com enter the realm of grocery delivery, it will be more important than ever for more traditional grocers to have these types of capabilities. Partner with your Technology Vendor & Ask Questions As you are talking with technology providers, ask plenty of questions. In particular, when you re evaluating technology, focus on a few key questions: How will this technology help us better serve our customers? Will this technology improve our bottom line? Will this technology serve our long-term strategy? A white paper by PCMS, a proven global provider of grocery commerce solutions
To win over grocery consumers, reassess your retail technology and enable a unified commerce approach Conclusion Grocers are being challenged to increase the business value of their IT investment and also to show impact on customer loyalty and the customer experience. Optimizing their commerce solution and adopting a unified commerce approach is a significant way to achieve these goals. CIOs and IT leaders who analyze both their needs today and the long-term needs of their organization will ultimately succeed in maximizing a return to the business and will win the competitive grocery landscape.
About PCMS PCMS is the leading independent provider of enterprise and store-level software solutions for retailers. A provider of POS solutions to grocers around the globe and the top provider of pharmacy POS solutions in the US, PCMS brings its proven technology to the US grocery industry. A sample of PCMS clients includes: Walgreens, Whole Foods Market, Waitrose, Pick n Pay and Auchan Drive. PCMS VISION Commerce Suite product portfolio offers a comprehensive set of software applications based on advanced Java-based architecture. VISION software delivers a unique and unmatched level of scalability and flexibility, which provides considerable cost-of-ownership savings to customers. For additional information visit: www.pcmsdatafit.com Copyright 2017 The PCMS Group plc. All rights reserved. This document may not be copied in whole or in part without the prior written consent of The PCMS Group plc.