“What CIOs Should Know” Six reasons why cloud is important in retail

In the retail industry, merchants must monitor competitors’ prices, anticipate repricing opportunities, and assess the impact on profit margins and sales. This goes hand in hand with converting data into in-store and online prices. 

The problem is that for many companies, this process remains manual. Information is scattered across different channels, making it difficult to obtain information quickly. Collaboration between merchants, IT departments, and analytics teams exists, but there are often delays in real-time data analysis. 

Cloud platforms provide a solution by collecting data from various sources, saving data professionals a lot of time and allowing them to focus on modeling. The cloud enables the integration of external data and facilitates deep insights through machine learning and analytics. 

Therefore, decision-makers should choose a cloud provider that can quickly set up a data platform and offer advanced analytics and machine learning tools. 

CMOs aim to not only attract new customers but also retain loyal ones. These customers typically make more purchases and have a higher lifetime value. Loyalty programs are essential for customer retention, but barriers exist. 

Identifying customers across channels is difficult. This is because data is often isolated at individual stores or not processed immediately. Mobile loyalty apps can help at the time of purchase, but CMOs want to engage with customers before, during, and after purchase. 

Cloud technology brings solutions that unify data for a consistent view of customers across different channels, including in-store, online, and social media. Supports both immediate and batch data processing. This solves key technical challenges faced by CMOs. 

④Real-time inventory monitoring

Real-time inventory views are critical to effective omnichannel retail, but they’re not a trivial problem. For example, an online customer may choose to pick up an item in-store, but the item may not exist even though it shows as available. This may be because your POS and inventory systems are slow to update, or your products are out of place in your store. 

Cloud platforms can establish a consistent, real-time inventory view across all channels, benefiting both consumers and employees. Enables stores to share inventory with third-party e-commerce sites and search engines to increase revenue. 

⑤ Omnichannel order support

Traditional retailers have one advantage over pure online stores: their vast network of stores. E-commerce professionals want to use this network to speed up order fulfillment and reduce costs. 

However, online platforms often cannot provide accurate in-store pickup times due to limited information about store operations and staff. 

The cloud platform allows customers to identify the closest store that has the desired item. You can calculate real-time margins by comparing in-store pickup and warehouse shipping, and accurately predict when your order will be ready based on a variety of factors. 

Given the rapid growth of e-commerce sales, using cloud platforms is essential for retailers to increase their online profit margins. 

⑥ Inventory optimization

Inventory management has become a complex process for merchants. Issues such as a lack of automated tools for CPG promotions, product seasonality, and unpredictable consumer trends may be to blame. 

This problem is especially noticeable during sales events, when you may have an overstock of one product and a shortage of another. Such mismatches can increase costs and create inefficiencies. 

To meet this challenge, store owners, data experts, and technology leaders must work together to use advanced cloud tools for better inventory forecasting. These modern systems take into account factors such as seasonal demand, sale events, shopper behavior, and product substitutions. Combined with promotional data from suppliers, it provides more accurate inventory forecasts and helps stabilize inventory levels. 

Interested in applying cloud to your business?

CMC Japan prides itself on its ability to provide superior cloud services that prioritize both quality and security. With prestigious certifications such as VB 100 Virus, ISO 27001, and cooperation with ISTQB as a Platinum Partner, we guarantee the safety of your data and systems.    

Please refer to our success stories here. 

Contact CMC Japan to provide high-quality, high-security cloud services to advance your business.