This is evident from research commissioned by Conclusion MBS among more than 250 decision-makers in the fields of marketing, sales, IT, purchasing, and/or logistics at retail organizations.
Meeting customer expectations is becoming increasingly difficult
Almost three-quarters (74%) of organizations notice that customer expectations regarding the shopping experience are getting higher. Additionally, 45 percent indicate that due to high inflation, they are less able to respond to consumer demand. Costs are skyrocketing, while consumers expect extras such as fast delivery and discounts. 43 percent of decision-makers have to say no to their customers more often as a result of inflation, and half (49%) are afraid of losing customers to competitors.
IT hinders agility
Responding to market developments such as high inflation is not made easier by IT. Almost half (47%) indicate that their IT systems make it difficult to quickly respond to changes. 51 percent take responsibility and indicate that the organization does not innovate sufficiently in the IT field to keep up with the market. Working with insufficiently innovative systems costs business. For example, 38 percent say they are working with outdated systems and thus miss opportunities. The same group has sometimes lost a business opportunity due to a lack of insight into inventory. A lack of sales insight has cost 44 percent their business at some point.
Rene Altena, CTO at Conclusion MBS: "The soaring inflation is the challenge of the moment for retail organizations. The costs of, among other things, raw materials, transport, and rent for commercial properties continue to rise. It is important for your organization to be agile so that you can respond to significant, impactful market changes like these. IT is still too often the bottleneck in this, while with a well-designed system, you can arrange a lot of flexibility and switch quickly. Think of smart inventory management, purchasing at the right time, and making price calculations."
