Retail Thrives with In-Memory Capabilities
Blog: Software AG Blog - Reality Check
A retailers’ journey to all things digital is fraught with hurdles as it strives to deliver the omni-channel vision, know where its inventory is, reduce cart abandonment, deliver the store of the future and understand its customers’ behaviour.
In-memory technology is becoming a key component in addressing many challenges in retail and I am proud to be able to say that independent research firm Forrester Research has named Software AG a Leader in the Forrester WaveTM: In-Memory Data Grids, Q3 2015 category, for its Terracotta In-Memory Data Fabric platform.
In-memory capability has become the touchstone for processing blazing fast, high-velocity, high-volume data with low latency; and, with falling prices for random access memory (RAM), memory has become more affordable. And, with the explosion in Big Data, in no small part thanks to the Internet of Things, high-speed interpretation of this data is a key differentiator.
In-memory can help smooth the path to omni-channel, manage inventory visibility, avoid peak shopping delays, reduce abandoned baskets and gain a clearer view of customers. In-memory can help turn your brick-and-mortar store into a smart store, complete with monitoring for valuable insights.
Here are some examples of where retailers are using in-memory technology to drive visibility & control, reduce inventory and increase sales:
- Software AG has helped one of the world’s largest grocers achieve real-time inventory visibility using in-memory technology. This creates a constantly updated inventory record that increments and decrements across multiple inventory master systems (store, warehouse, suppliers, and other sources). This detailed visibility is essential for giving omni-channel customers the insight inventory levels they expect but also provides detailed insight to assist retailers looking to redeploy inventory across channels.
- Basket, or cart, abandonment rates are a major KPI for any ecommerce manager. Fully 67% of consumers cite slow website response as being a key reason for basket abandonment. This is a problem during normal trading but becomes much more challenging during peaks like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Software AG has accelerated the performance of many ecommerce installations to reduce basket abandonment and avoid down-time during peak shopping periods.
- A customer’s path to purchase has become more fragmented in recent years. Different systems that manage each step make getting a single view difficult. According to Experian, 80% of companies believe a single customer view will drive sales and cut costs. Software AG’s Real-Time Customer Insight leverages in-memory technology to bring together multiple customer perspectives and provide true actionable real-time customer intelligence.
- The role of the store is changing – becoming broader and more difficult to manage. As sensors are added to stores, real-time interpretation, insight and action of the data collected is key to improving productivity and increasing sales. Indeed Gartner have said that in the digital retail world being able to monitor stores in real-time is critical. In-memory technology is a key component of Software AG’s Smart Store Monitoring solution that many retailers are finding very exiting right now.
In-memory technology has becoming highly relevant in retail. With the advent of more real-time data that will come from Internet of Things initiatives this only looks to increase further. Are you ready?
The post Retail Thrives with In-Memory Capabilities appeared first on Reality Check.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
