Crowdsourcing Retail Solutions

The collaborative network provides an opportunity to leverage the network partners to build and roll out solutions which should not be overlooked as a benefit of the network relationships.  The collaborative network allows the partners to effectively crowdsource solutions and and new features in a manner that allows these new features to be delivered more quickly and cost efficient and most importantly more robust than if the individual partner were to release on their own.  In a world of change at a high velocity that regularly disrupts the market the speed to delivery and flexibility are critical factors to meeting the demands. We have reached a point in the market where services and capabilities are delivered at an overall breakneck pace across the market and it can be very difficult to maintain the pace of change without continuously reviewing and changing with the market.  

The concept of competitive advantage takes on a new meaning though in the collaborative network model because the solutions are partnered and the collaborative network benefits from them as well.  This is not a bad thing because as a result of the collaborative network the partners should never fall behind the curve of change, requiring massive investment and delays in completing. In effect, the collaborative network becomes the market competitive advantage.  This is a very important concept and one that will carry the partners in the collaborative network to the next level in the retail marketplace.

The power of collaboration will deliver on the crowdsourcing promise to produce higher quality solutions faster within the collaborative network.  The network provides the connectivity and the means to support niche solutions that bring value to the network and the market that would require an unreasonable amount of research and development if any one retailer attempted to deliver.  There is no secret in the fact that retailers as a matter of course now will follow the leader and then use the solution in their offerings and this collaborative network provides the technical framework and the partner relationships to deliver on these specialty solutions more efficiently and quickly.

If you were to compare the actions taken by retailers over the last three or four years you would see that retailers have spent a great deal of time, effort and capital to acquire the eCommerce solutions offered by specialty providers.  Based on the common practice for these retailers to acquire the capabilities through acquisition or licensing you can see that the collaborative network partnerships could eliminate a great deal of the current activities and dramatically speed the solution delivery.  This, in a nutshell, is probably the greatest value to be achieved through the collaborative network partnerships.

The retail marketplace now is going through dramatic changes at an amazing velocity, driven by thought leaders and market disruptors such as Amazon.  In order for retailers to survive they must also increase both the velocity and capacity of change. The market disruptors have left a series of failed retailers in their wake as a result of either incapacity to maintain the change, or the market changes making them unnecessary.  It only makes sense now for retailers to take the next step to developing a collaborative network that will allow them to navigate the changes and disruptions successfully.