A wave of innovation is sweeping the retail sector, both abroad and in South Africa, and Deloitte is addressing this trend with the creation of a Connected Retail experience at its Deloitte Greenhouse innovation space in Cape Town.
According to Mike Vincent Consumer Industry Leader at Deloitte, the changes will manifest themselves in shorter queues at checkout, improved shopping experience, much better selection of goods and traceability thereof, personalised and relevant special offers and the ability to have out-of-stock items delivered to customers’ doors.
“Retailers globally are being disrupted by digital, yet less than one-quarter of retailers are actively doing anything about it,” Vincent reveals.
“The changing Retail landscape is driven by exponential changes in technology, innovative business models and changing customer expectations. This disruption is both an opportunity and a threat for retailers. Operating in South Africa does not mean that our industry will not be disrupted – digital disruption is already here.”
Deloitte has embraced digital disruption and has been working with retail clients to get the most out of digital – improving efficiencies, driving down costs and creating a better understanding of the entire value chain – from suppliers right through to customers.
“Digitalisation and the store of the future have been topics of discussion in various forums, but at Deloitte, we believe it’s now time to make the concept real for the clients in our market and link business value to practical solutions” says Neville Hounsom Director at Deloitte Consulting.
The Deloitte Connected Retail offering provides emerging market retailers with the opportunity to experience real-world digital solutions and explore the opportunities presented by digital transformation. To this end, the firm recently strengthened its South African retail team with the addition of a number of individuals with extensive expertise in the international and domestic retail sectors.
It has also established a physical Connected Retail experience at its Deloitte Greenhouse innovation space in Cape Town. This immersive, interactive experience allows visitors to gain practical, tangible insights into every aspect of the Connected Retail ecosystem, sampling proven solutions alongside brand new technology relevant to each of the touch points: consumer, store, workforce, supplier and supply chain.
“Here you can experience ‘1.0 of the art of the possible’ in your own business to understand the value of digital transformation – from enabling technologies to, store management, inventory management, connected supply chain, connected workforce and advanced analytics.
“It’s part of Deloitte’s new focus on ‘show not tell’ and we’re confident it will give our retail sector clients a significant advantage over their competitors as they position themselves to avoid the pitfalls and capitalise on the enormous opportunities offered by the Connected Retail wave.”
Corniel van Niekerk Senior Manager says Connected Retail technologies will not only make for a vastly improved shopping experience for customers, but retailers and suppliers who embrace and implement them effectively will see a significant boost to their bottom line. “In this sense it’s a genuine win-win situation.”
Provided by Deloitte
