Digital Transformation 101: A Guide to the New Retail Revolution
Digital Transformation.
It sounds like an event of massive proportions — and it is.
The digital retail revolution taking place right now is a complete business transformation, a radical reassessment of how retailers apply technology to add value, improve efficiency and drive revenue. It involves fundamentally rethinking models, processes and environments that touch every area of a retailer’s organization, from supply chain to pricing to how a shopper gets her questions answered when she’s browsing the aisles. Already, worldwide spending on digital transformation technologies is projected to reach almost $1.3 trillion in 2018, an increase of 16.8 percent over the $1.1 trillion spent in 2017.1 In 2021, spending should nearly double to more than $2.1 trillion.2
Millennials are driving much of this shift. Weaned on technology, they expect digital conveniences to characterize almost every experience, including shopping. While traditional marketing vehicles like brochures and in-store ads may appeal to older consumers, millennials are plugged in to mobile and social shopping—not just for buying, but for making price comparisons, researching products and seeking others’ opinions. In fact, millennials are more than twice as likely to believe that user-generated content is authentic (53 percent), compared with brand-developed content (25 percent).3
Aperion and EnsembleIQ have partnered to provide the industry with a common lexicon, best practices, and case studies shaping the digital retail experience. This comprehensive guide to digital transformation explores how it can help retailers serve consumers faster, offer more choices and increase efficiency across every business juncture, along with specific applications being used to enhance in-store, online and omnichannel shopping experiences.