Beyond cost, IT infrastructure rationalization and cloud are hurdles for retailers

New research from Ipanema Technologies reveals that most retailers (65%) struggle with getting the omni-channel right and cite underperforming technology, changing IT trends and the complex organizational infrastructure as the primary reasons.

The customer challenge
Retailers’ increasing focus on customers is driving the omni-channel challenge. They see the customer-centric experience as excellent customer service (58%), fast transactions (55%) and interchangeable purchase channels (49%) but with only 35% of respondents describing their customer experience as excellent, it is clear retailers are grappling with this challenge.

The technology challenge
Back-office technology underpins the delivery of the omni-channel experience but technology issues are hampering their efforts: a sprawling IT infrastructure (74%), business pressure to provide technology innovation (71%) and cost pressures.

In addition, companies are wrestling with a host of IT priorities such as cloud deployment (57%) and mobile application development (55%), supply chain optimization (54%), requiring network design changes:
· Increasing bandwidth (52%)
· Server virtualization (52%)
· Network architecture (47%)
· Content delivery (43%)
· Hybrid networking (39%)

The application imperative
The vast majority (76%) recognize the importance of excellent application performance but lack confidence in the ability of their IT infrastructure to deliver it (78%), roll out new applications (78%) or manage application SLAs (77%).

In addition, retailers believe that guaranteeing consistent and high levels of application performance can have a major impact on:
· Customer/shopper satisfaction (54%)
· Employee productivity (50%)
· Brand reputation (49%)
· Company financial targets (41%)

In fact, if retailers made significant improvements to their omni-channel approach by the end of the year, more than half would expect to see an increase in sales (55%), increased market share (47%), positive word of mouth (47%) and cost savings (46%).

“The ultimate shopping experience depends on a robust omni-channel that delivers speed, Quality of Service and a seamless channel service. Guaranteeing the performance of key retail applications is the surest way to close the gap and deliver that experience”, comments Béatrice Piquer-Durand , VP Marketing, Ipanema Technologies .