5 Pillars of Success for Retailers
These extraordinary two years have accelerated conversations around the part technology plays in any business. They have shaken retailers out of any lingering complacency they may have had. It’s a common story right now – retailers on older, often unsupported platforms have hung on and made do for years, often imposing complex and not cost-effective workarounds and bolt-ons to their systems rather than having a clear plan and implementing a direction for the future. And they have hung in there – just about, except now they can’t put off big decisions about the future any longer and upgrading outdated systems has become inevitable.
In the middle of all this change, the irony is that no one can really say what the future will look like for retailers – by which I don’t necessarily mean the really big issues of how global consumer economies will fare, but more the considerations around which consumer lockdown habits will turn into long-term, permanent ones. Obvious examples include the rise in online orders and Click & Collect – the anecdotal evidence is that many shoppers won’t return to previous behaviours.
All of this taken together hugely underlines the need for retailers to get not just future-ready, but future-proof. And this means no more hanging on and making do, no more workarounds, no more riding of luck. Agility, scalability and speed have been the keywords for the success stories of the last half-year. Regrettably, not all retailers have survived. As things are starting to get back to the new normal - it’s the opportunity for retailers to upgrade and take control of their future.
Making the leap
The global lockdown has forced the world online and made it mobile. Retailers that have built their business on Oracle have done so with products that are often quite bespoke to their business. They have vast amounts of data and functionality that live on-premise, though they know it needs to start moving into the cloud.
It can feel like a ‘leap of faith’ for retailers whose perception of such moves and migrations amount to ‘giving up control’. This is where technology partners like OLR can provide invaluable help, support, and strategic guidance to retailers. OLR can take a retailer’s on-premise Oracle workloads and seamlessly migrate them, at a pace the retailer feels comfortable with while knowing they can keep all the existing functionality they’ve come to depend on. The result? Reaping the benefits of new efficiencies that come from the cloud and from digital transformation in general.
Experts in both retail and Oracle, OLR built its business on for this specific market. OLR has built its business on supporting retailers through thick and thin. From implementations to upgrades, OLR provides customers with the opportunity to go with Oracle on-prem, SaaS or cloud.
Time to accelerate
Supporting all versions of Oracle Retail and ATG / Oracle Cloud Commerce, OLR is a dedicated Oracle SI, a trusted and strategic provider that can keep retailers moving forward, helping them get the best functionality out of Oracle, and more importantly, keep them relevant and competitive, on their terms.
How exactly does OLR do this? In part, through a focus on five key pillars:
Operational efficiency, both from a front and back end perspective
Closing the digital gap between bricks and mortar and the digital pure-play
Improving customer experience
Lowering costs and maintaining fixed, predictable costs
Kickstarting projects and allowing for fast sprint transformations.
We explore these pillars - and more - in our concise and engaging eBook ‘Accelerate’ which all Oracle-driven retailers will find insightful and inspiring. And if you’d like to pick up the conversation directly about your specific challenges, contact Stephen Godman, our Sales Director.