Five Key Elements for a More Intelligent Retail Enterprise
Last month, we discussed what quick wins are achievable for retailers in the final quarter of 2023. We still believe there is time for retailers to find some areas for improvement and make quick, impactful changes to enhance their year-end results. Additionally, as many longer-term initiatives are often paused or put on hold during the last quarter, now is the perfect time for retailers to begin assessing capabilities to plan and prepare for 2024. There certainly may be ongoing economic headwinds, but this is the perfect opportunity to be bullish on investments and competitive positioning.
In conjunction with process and organizational elements, forward-thinking retailers are including advanced analytics in their capability roadmaps, and focusing on what is needed for a more intelligent retail enterprise. This is not just a technological upgrade but a strategic move to harness intelligence across their enterprises.
You may have seen our recent press release about significant enhancements to Parker Avery’s Enterprise Intelligence analytics platform. This may be a shameless plug, but we are excited about how these enhancements have already driven collaboration and meaningful business results for several Parker Avery clients. (And if you ask Sam Iosevich about what impressive capabilities the hypercube holds, bring snacks—you may be listening for a while.)
In this light, we feel it is important to differentiate how Parker Avery views a total solution. Any technology provider will suggest their system is leading edge and encompasses many innovative and powerful features. And in some cases, that may be true. However, our definition of ‘enterprise intelligence’—indeed the definition of any solution—goes beyond a tool or an analytics platform (even our own).
The differentiator lies in the broad definition of ‘enterprise’ coupled with a comprehensive approach to implementing new capabilities. We strongly feel a solution that drives the intelligent retail enterprise is inclusive of world-class analytics, aligned business processes, engaged organization/roles, and decisive change management strategies—all with the requisite executive leadership and sponsorship.  Â
In that light, let’s highlight Parker Avery’s five key elements for a more intelligent retail enterprise:
There are a myriad of analytics platforms on the market today, with varying focus areas and capabilities. As with selecting any new retail system, it is important to thoroughly understand how well the vendor can meet your business and technology requirements. Further, they must be willing to work closely with your stakeholders and implementation partners in delivering a solution that drives meaningful value.
It is critical to align analytics with existing (or redesigned) business processes to ensure data-driven insights are seamlessly incorporated into daily operations. Modern analytics are no longer solely in the hands of data scientists; they are now rightfully in the hands of business people who are making decisions. Business processes must include this mindset and role change.
Tightly integrated with business process, an organizational readiness assessment will reveal where you need to invest in your people with training and upskilling so they can effectively use advanced analytics tools, understand the science (at a high level), and interpret the results to drive business decisions.
Adopting an intelligent retail enterprise is a transformational change that impacts many roles and business functions. To mitigate productivity loss and engage your people requires nurturing a culture that embraces change. Properly executed change management will create an organization that continuously seeks improvement based on data-driven insights and visibility across the enterprise, developing muscle in data literacy, and bringing others along by using data to tell a story.
Driving the adoption of advanced analytics and changes to traditional ways of operating throughout the organization simply cannot be done without first securing executive buy-in and leadership support. Moreover, you must ensure executives are up to speed on expected impacts and their role in leading the change.
Indeed, to truly embrace the potential of advanced analytics, retailers should consider it as a cornerstone of their intelligence-driven enterprise. It is not just about adopting a tool; the intelligent retail enterprise is about building a culture of data-driven and collaborative decision-making. Data by itself is just that…data. To be effective and bring value, data must enable positive actions and productive decisions.
As you begin planning your 2024 initiatives, we recommend that the ‘intelligent retail enterprise’ be a guiding principle, in terms of enhancing your organization’s overall and individual abilities to respond to market dynamics in a more efficient, collaborative, and intelligence-driven way. Â
Lastly, these waning months of 2023 are the perfect time for a rapid assessment of your current capabilities and the development of a strategy and prioritized roadmap for 2024 for improvements across the enterprise. We also recommend that you partner with a team that has decades of real-world retail industry experience and will work together with you to outline a realistic and optimistic roadmap that you can take into the new year with confidence. We would welcome the opportunity to be that partner.
The intelligent retail enterprise is about building a culture of data-driven and collaborative decision-making.
Contributors
The Parker Avery Group is a leading retail and consumer goods consulting firm that transforms organizations and optimizes operational execution through development of competitive strategies, business process design, deep analytics expertise, change management leadership, and implementation of solutions that enable key capabilities.
