Leading the Way in Digital Transformation: Best Practices for the Retail Industry

There’s no denying that digital commerce is a significant and growing part of the retail industry. According to research completed by eMarketer and Statista, online retail sales will reach $6.51 trillion by 2023, with e-commerce websites making up 22.3% of that total.  

It’s easy to see why e-commerce continues to grow year after year since it offers numerous advantages that attract consumers, like the ability to shop anytime, personalized recommendations, and lightning-fast shipping options. These features are often needed to help traditional brick-and-mortar stores be competitive with larger digital platforms, but there’s even more to consider when shooting for success. 

Here are some of the most essential best practices CIOs should adopt within the retail industry as part of their Digital Transformation strategy. 

For Retailers, digital transformation starts with the cloud.

Digital commerce, or selling products and services online, requires more than just creating a website and adding new products. Retailers must also consider how they will host their websites and store data. One option is to use cloud hosting, which allows for more flexibility and scalability compared to traditional data centers. Major cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. While moving to the cloud can be beneficial, retailers should be cautious of potential issues and take steps to prevent them as they transition to digital commerce. According to a survey by Salesforce, 82% of customers said they expect a seamless experience across all channels, including online and in-store. The cloud can provide this capability while matching the costs to the size of your business. 

Reducing website downtime is critical.

Minimizing website downtime is essential for retailers, as it can lead to significant financial losses and damage brand reputation. According to a study by Akamai Technologies, even a few seconds of website downtime can hurt a retailer’s bottom line, with a one-second delay in page load time resulting in a 7% reduction in conversions, and a two-second delay leading to a 14% reduction. These statistics highlight the importance of investing in technologies and infrastructure to prevent website outages and ensure a fast and reliable online shopping experience for customers. 

Slow page load times lead to unhappy customers.

In digital commerce, slow is as good as down. A fair amount of research is available that correlates page load times with end-user satisfaction, loyalty, revenue, and traffic from organic search engines. 

If retailers want to avoid slow websites, angry customers, and lost revenue, they need to invest in technologies like content delivery networks (CDNs), content optimization tools, application delivery controllers (ADCs), and image management resources to ensure the lightning-fast experience customers expect. Web pages, content, and images should be optimized for both performance and experience. A survey by KPMG found that 75% of consumers are unlikely to return to a website after a negative experience, like a slow loading time or outage.  

Strategically investing in security to defend against cyber threats and bot attacks.  

The retail industry, including e-commerce, is particularly vulnerable to cyber threats and bot attacks, and these attacks can have significant financial and reputation consequences for businesses in this sector. A study by Accenture found that cyber-attacks cost companies an average of $13 million per incident in 2020, and this cost is expected to increase to $18 million in 2023. In addition, a National Cyber Security Alliance survey found that 60% of small businesses that suffer a cyber-attack go out of business within six months. 

In the retail industry, customers’ payment information is on the line, and one mistake isn’t likely to be easily forgiven. It’s essential for companies to invest in comprehensive security measures to protect this information, like web application firewalls, intrusion detection, bot management, and machine learning analysis tools. Patching security vulnerabilities in near real-time is also crucial, especially as your operations scale up. Having a team well-versed in these technologies can help businesses defend against bot attacks and other cyber threats, reducing the risk a successful attack poses to the customer and business. 

Digital skills and executive commitment to building talent pipelines are vital to success.

Finally, digital transformations can only be successful with executive commitment and the involvement of the right people. Sometimes, these may involve radical changes in the organizational structure of the company, or simply a rethinking of how certain teams are structured and function. 

Creating smooth, stable, and stunning digital experiences that acquire more customers and drive new revenue streams requires willingness, expertise, and experience. That means modern retailers need to hire digital transformation experts as employees, vendors, and consultants to build the next generation of e-commerce. 

SkillGigs can be your partner through your digital transformation prioritization with smart hiring practices. Learn more and schedule a demo to get started!

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