Omni Channel Success Risk

Retailers must accept greater level of risk in technology and tools adaption in order to maintain their success in their omni channel activities.  This increased level of risk is related directly to their technology tools as they relate to  consumer interaction and collaboration.  In addition, it also relates to their processes and procedures as they relate to consumer and supply partners interaction and collaboration.  This change in acceptance level of risk is driven by new and discontinuous change demands from the consumer in how and where they interact and shop.  These changes in how consumers interact with the retailer are, in turn, also being driven by new and changing uses of consumer technology and especially mobile technology changes and usage combinations of technology.

This requires that retailers change their practice from a ‘follow the leader’ practice in technology and practice adaptation to a leader in technology practice adaptation.  This change to a leadership position in itself drives an increase in the level of risk required to succeed in omni channel shopping and purchasing.  These changes themselves are quickly becoming baseline, or business, requirements for the retailer as omni channel retail changes practices from a purchasing method to a shopping and purchasing destination.  In order for the retailer to maintain this destination designation they must embrace the quickly changing technology and practices as they are embraced by the consumer.  This requires adoption of a ‘turn and burn’ practice in capabilities and methods supported by the retailer in order to maintain success.  

This ‘turn and burn’ practice will initially cause the retailer a great deal of heartburn due to the unstable nature of the practice based on their current methods and practices.  This is especially true of large retailers that have built their omni channel practice a on base of complicated and integrated technology and business practices.  The first step to success requires a change in view point of the retailer to oneof flexibility in technology based on components that can be swapped as they are modified.  This is truly a much narrower view of the practices as they relate to the business and requires a technology practice of plug-and-play in order to support the level of discontinuous change that is being driven by mobile technology and consumer adoption of this technology.  

Retailers must change from a service provider viewpoint to a service collaborator viewpoint in order to maintain and even increase their success in the omni channel marketplace.  This increased focus on collaboration from the supplier through the consumer is necessary and even critical to developing the consumer relationship and maintaining success in the changing retail marketplace.  Retailers are no longer able to drive the market and therefore the response and purchases of the consumer, instead mobile technology is allowing the consumer to drive the market and the shopping and purchasing practices and retailers must collaborate with all members of the supply chain in order to meet these demands in the future.

And now for the audience participation portion of the show…

ECommerce will have wide ranging impacts on both the retail and manufacturing sectors.  How can you focus these abilities to improve the consumer's experience?  Improving the consumer’s experience will require a re-evaluation of the sales channels, the manufacturing channels and practices and the supply chain channels and practices from the raw materials to the consumers’ homes.  In order to ensure and maintain success in this new reality you must harness the tools and capabilities in many new areas.  How can you support these continuously changing requirements?