Boyd Chislett, Chief Business Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa

Boyd Chislett, CBO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa, explains that retailers today constantly examine how they run their business and determine whether it’s still the best way to do so.

“They are refocusing their energies on their core business, driving cost efficiencies through lean and more agile structures, automating business processes, and completing system modernisation programmes,” he says.

“The current economic outlook also requires that these businesses continue to optimise operating profits, whilst attempting to pass on as little of these increases as possible, to the consumer. To achieve this, one must look to technology and innovation to drive costs out of their business, in pursuit of operational excellence and price control, while still allocating capital to fund major investments.” 

Chislett points out that at the same time, IT is playing a crucial role in driving cost-optimisation in the core running of the business. By delivering business critical activities in the most cost-efficient manner and reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of IT services, technology is reassuringly enabling retailers to allocate a greater share of their IT budget towards innovation, customer experience, and business-growth strategies.

“There’s also a desire to see retailers become more nimble, and adopt innovative thinking, to stabilise price increases. Covid, and the resultant economic pressures, have forced retailers to pause, looking to morph into more agile and responsive organisations.

“To this end, data-driven decision models within the supply chain have optimised inventory management, reduced both stocks on hand, and transport and last-mile delivery cost, thereby alleviating the pressure to pass cost increases onto the customer.”

He notes that it has become increasingly important for CIOs to invest in data-driven decision-making capabilities and protect these investments with effective cybersecurity. “CIOs need to clearly articulate and demonstrate the value of the investment in enabling data-driven decision making, particularly in light of how it improves customer first business strategies,” he states. “Nonetheless, one must never forget that the IT mantra in retail is always: ‘do more with less’. This is why many are adopting cloud migration strategies, while others are examining the platforms they are using, the maintenance on their hardware, and the managed services they’re subscribing to. But it’s not just the technology that must be carefully considered, but also the methods and processes needed to extract value as quickly as possible.”

Asked about the particular ICT trends gaining ground in the retail sector, Chislett suggests that there is a continued shift towards hybrid and omni-channel customer journeys, creating a seamless retail experience.

“From the very basic buy-online-pick up-in-store model to bringing personalisation through customer insights, to offering everything from flexible delivery options to cashless and contactless payment options, and on to loyalty programmes - all of these ultimately require enabling technology. “At the same time, investments in mobility and data platforms are also rising. Sales associates are being empowered through mobile devices, to provide superior services to customers. Using a hand-held device, sales associates can process online orders, check in-store stock availability, and assist customers, all while never leaving the shop floor,” he suggests.

Chislett adds that investments into newer technologies will continue exponentially, enabling hyper-personalisation and omnichannel customer journeys. Advanced analytics will further enable the complex inventory management processes required to support the buy-online-pick-upin- store, buy-online-return-in-store, and buy-online-pickup- at-curbside fulfilment models. Next on the horizon will be new methods of autonomous delivery of goods to customers.

“Retailers recognise that their legacy enterprise resource planning platforms are not enabling the flexibility required in a rapidly changing market. The need for flexibility, coupled with the innovation brought by cloud-native platforms, has led to the adoption of composable architecture, a modular approach to solution design and delivery.

“Finally, we’re seeing the strengthening of the conscious consumer, where ethics, environmentalism, and sustainability have an increasing influence on consumer buying decisions. Clearly, CIOs will soon need to account to the board as to how their ICT shop promotes clean and responsible practices, if they are not expected to do so already.”

He notes that Liquid’s value proposition is that the company stays true to its core strengths and values. Customer feedback drives Liquid’s continuous service improvement plans, and he adds that the company is big enough to deliver while still small enough to be agile in the verticalized structures it has created.

https://za.liquid.tech/