Shifting from Customer Centric to Customer Integration
Not too long ago Customer Centric was the buzz word on every retailer’s pitch deck, staff meeting and vision board. As the benefits of digital transformation take shape and enterprises are positioning themselves closer to the hearts and minds of customers, a shift in approach is required.
Because we are moving away from Customer Centric towards Customer Integration. At the dawn of a new era in retail where your internal processes are no longer isolated from the customer experience. Instead, they are intertwined. This quest for combining operational execution with digital-first systems will propel your value propositions, market possibilities, and create a healthier, more prepared retail organization. With Yenloās expertise and technological knowledge, your core technologies will integrate seamlessly with the lives of your customers. Helping you achieve exceptional Customer Integration.
āShort time-to-market, innovation, margin control and flexibility, is key for the retail industry. Our Connext solutions (iPaaS) provide a full integration between all chain partners who are active in the retail sector, creating a smooth and efficient way of communication and sharing real-time data. The reciprocal exchange of information isnāt only faster, but also less error prone. Hence all Connext users save time and money!ā
RUBEN VAN DER ZWAN, FOUNDER AND CEO OF YENLO
A New Age of Digital First
It is no surprise that the pandemic has given rise to digitization. Physical shop visits have dwindled and online spending has grown tremendously. In order to transcend from relevant to indispensible in the lives of your customers, digital first is the way forward for future-oriented retailers. Because adaptation to cloud-first services opens the door to better partner integration, helping you optimize your omnichannel strategies. This in turn increases momentum and possibilities as you gather more data and insights on your customerās behavior and values.
Migration for better partner integration
Migrating from proprietary legacy technology to hybrid or cloud-first solutions, such as Yenloās Connext Platform, gives way to better partnerships. Why should you seek that? As any retail organization knows, it is a highly competitive industry. One where the real metric is customer loyalty. And when it comes to delivering value to retain customers, you need to be sure that your systems are aligned with your suppliers, buyers, payment providers, and third-party added value solutions to optimize the experience.
Legacy technology is less equipped for that task. At Yenlo, we offer migration services to your preferred cloud or hybrid integration technology, which is specifically designed to handle the complexity of operating in a new digital age.
Master Data Management
Another added benefit – of migrating to cloud-based or hybrid integration – is Master Data Management. Master Data comprises the core data sets that your business is operating with. Think of customer profiles, information on suppliers and partners, product spec sheets, and sales data.
A challenge for organizations with legacy systems is that their Master Data is scattered and siloed across departments. The underlying threat is using old or irrelevant data, possibly leading to pushing customers away rather than delighting them. You can prevent this by choosing integration technology equipped with Master Data Management features. Thereby helping you align departments and deliver omnichannel experiences.
Operational Excellence
Speaking of aligning departments, state-of-the-art technology only gets you so far. Retail business is by all means still a human-oriented business. And to take care of the people that youāre trying to reach, you need to take care of the people within your organization. Making their job easier and more fulfilling in order to achieve operational excellence.
Associate enablement
It is now more critical than ever to offer flexibility when performing work tasks, optimizing costs and delivering excellent customer experience. Digital investments in retail workplaces ā especially those in physical stores ā have been shown to grow sales and increase profits, creating an important competitive advantage.
Algorithmic fulfillment optimization
Algorithmic fulfillment optimization enables retailers to accurately pinpoint which items need to be displayed and stocked. As well as how they should be priced and promoted to maximize your sales, margin, inventory and customer satisfaction. A key component for improving inventory performance and intelligent decision-making is the use of sophisticated data and analytics tools. The 2021 Gartner CIO Survey shows that 63% of retailers expect to increase spending on business intelligence/data analytics, and 35% on artificial intelligence. When choosing your integration partner, make sure that data integration and data management is part of the solution.
Becoming Invisible, Indispensable, and Intimate
When it comes to Customer Integration, you can become an integrated part of your customerās life by focusing on solutions in these three areas: Becoming invisible, indispensable, and intimate.
Invisibility
Invisibility is about making life easier for your customer. Being the guide in the background to assist them through life. Whether that is AI technology helping them buy their groceries or loyalty programs that offer additional perks and deliver them in the moment they most need it. Invisibility is thus about assisting customers in the most convenient way for them imaginable.
Indispensability
Indispensability is about improving life, making it feel better for them. Loyalty for these costomers is based on how you help them optimize their lives. Think of identifying where they can save costs, or connecting them to trusted specialists, recommending tools, or giving access to video guides regarding your products and services. All these touchpoints can be mapped and operated with the help of integration platforms and services.
Intimacy
And finally,intimacy is about aligning values and creating rewarding experiences for interacting with your brand. Customer intimacy is achieved by prioritizing customer value over customer cost. Think of omnichannel shopping experiences, or in-store augmented reality (your customers envisioning your products in their home). The focus here is about making life more fulfilling.
Whichever technology is best fit for your purpose, keep in mind that your customers are always at the heart of it. From shaping your Enterprise and Solution Architecture to the actual implementation of APIs and customer solutions, it needs to be congruent. And we are here to help you achieve it. Get in touch with us today to start shaping the future of your retail enterprise.
How can we help you?
Software Development
Enterprise and Solution Architecture
Consultancy & Health Checks
Migration Services
Installation & Configuration
API Security via 42Crunch
Managed Services & Support
Integrate with the lifestyles of your customers
Get started today with customer integration and create a whole new playing field to deliver exceptional value.