E-commerce sales have grown at an approximate rate of 15% since 2018, as the global retail e-commerce market is foreseen to reach $4.9 trillion by 2021. To fight stiff competition across the e-commerce industry, retailers need to leverage technologies like cloud and automation smartly
Retail is not the first thing that hits our mind while thinking about technological innovation, but the e-commerce industry has witnessed a mammoth technological transformation over the last five years. The market now offers an infinite amount of choices with thousands of online retailers with a mind-blowing array of choices and options just a click away. In this age of limitless competition, retailers realize the importance of using modern applications to ensure optimal customer experiences throughout the customer journey —online, in-store, or on social media.
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Delivering exceptional customer experiences is of paramount importance to build a loyal customer base. Though loyal customers may account for just 15% of a retailer’s customer base, they can potentially generate as much as 70% of targeted sales. Retailers are moving to hybrid cloud environments to meet customer expectations and ensure optimal experiences. A recent report identified that 21% of retailers already have hybrid cloud deployments, making them the second-highest adopters of such computing infrastructure.
93% of retailers consider the hybrid cloud as the best IT model because it helps them meet consumer demand for instant gratification and personalization while ensuring data security and consistent experiences across channels.
Why do retailers prefer a hybrid cloud?
Simplifies sales by reaching out to customers
Hybrid cloud infrastructure comes with knowledge of retail applications that can scale easily during high-traffic periods. A hybrid cloud makes it easier for retailers to optimize their websites for mobile — something that’s vital as the e-commerce market. Added up, this makes selling much easier on any device- the ultimate goal of all retailers.
Analyzing customer expectation and create products accordingly
A hybrid cloud infrastructure permits retailers to leverage data analytics that steers them to develop products that have higher market demand. Beyond that, retailers also use hybrid cloud environments to deliver personalized experiences to their customers.
Inventory management
A recent report suggests that 43% of retailers consider inventory management as their biggest day-to-day challenge. Hybrid cloud gives retailers more real-time visibility into their inventory levels, which help them solve cash-flow issues. More insight into inventory levels help increase sales, as customers continuously look for substitutes when retailers run out of stock.
Increased productivity and enhanced efficiency
The main drivers of hybrid cloud adoption are the efficiencies that these technologies possess. Retailers deploy their applications in hybrid cloud environments to save costs, increase accessibility, and manage availability, among other things.
Beyond that, the cloud makes it simpler to integrate workflows and tools, letting retailers enjoy additional productivity gains. It also allows data portability allowing enterprises to change cloud providers whenever they want, giving them competitive advantage by enabling them to be proactively ready to counter disruption promptly.
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Better control of data
In the age of data breaches with strict GDPR, no organization is entirely safe from the consequences of leakage or data loss. The hybrid cloud can help to allow organizations to store personally identifiable information safely on private cloud resources while the public cloud is suitable for comparatively less sensitive applications. Choosing where the data lives and gets categorized, is extremely powerful for retailers. Hybrid cloud allows retailers to easily comply with regulations while providing a low-latency experience for shoppers by placing data near.
Retailers realize that hybrid cloud is the ideal model for their IT infrastructures, though not all have fully taken the plunge into the hybrid cloud. All retailers are expected to adopt this technology soon to future proof their data management systems.
