OREANDA-NEWS. November 20, 2015. “We are witnessing a once-in-a-decade shift, driven by digital technologies that are putting industries and businesses at a crossroads,” says Prakash Balasubramanian. “With innovation cycles getting compressed dramatically, retailers are looking to reinvent and reimagine their businesses and build the skills and capabilities required to make digital come alive.”

He further adds that today retailers are much more focused on mobility, engagement with social media, along with ongoing investments in eCommerce initiatives that will drive IT investments further.

“In terms of technology trends, mobile adoption leads the pack,” he notes. “The mobile apps launched by all the big retailers are giving a tough competition to the mobile websites.”

According to Balasubramanian, one of the key technology trends is the “use of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to drive personalized and targeted marketing campaigns. Personalized, in-store marketing via mobile vouchers is also finding takers in the Indian retail market.”

Balasubramanian says there is growing use of a mix of both custom-built and commercial off-the-shelf package solutions in retail. “For mature areas such as supply chain planning and warehouse management, retailers are increasingly gravitating towards best-of-breed packages such as JDA or Manhattan,” he says. “Traditional enterprise packages such as SAP and ORACLE are also gaining ground when it comes to retail planning. An important functional area that has come to the forefront due to the new omnichannel imperative is order management. Packages such as Sterling Commerce and Manhattan hold the sway in this area.”

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