By Julie Purves, Managing Director of B2M Solutions
The use of mobile technology in retail is growing rapidly – but few organisations have yet to gain a truly holistic view of their mobile operations and as such, have not yet realised the full potential that mobile technology has to offer.
Retailers face relentless pressure to reduce costs and deliver excellent customer service. Mobile technology is helping to lessen these pressures as it delivers competitive advantage to retailers through greater access to information, improved communications and increased productivity.
However, the use of mobile technology across the retail sector presents a very complex picture.
As in most other industries, the use of mobile technology in retail has historically been implemented as a niche solution to solve a specific problem. It is now common to see a wide range of handheld computers and scanning devices being used across the whole retail enterprise – by those in the warehouse, on the shop floor, through to those making the deliveries to the end customer.
Due to the considerable cost and complexity involved in managing mobile devices, much of the management is now being brought into the corporate information system. The IT department is extending its reach to the mobile front lines of the retail operation and beyond, even to the mobile devices used by third party logistics suppliers.
Whilst the enormous opportunity of having an integrated mobile enterprise is recognised by many, few have yet achieved a holistic management system covering the whole mobile infrastructure. This holistic view is vital if an organisation wants to integrate the information gathered from mobile equipment with their overall management solutions such as point of sale systems.
Most importantly, this combined population of mobile devices offers a vast source of untapped information. This data can deliver considerable opportunities including the ability to look at finite business processes.
Companies can monitor all aspects of how individuals are using a mobile application on a day by day basis. And they can capture vital information on how business processes are being undertaken. This process-level information can then be interpreted and enhancements made within a matter of days. The processes can be finely tuned to get the maximum value from them.
This is a very exciting area. Those managing the mobile operation can have a huge impact on improving working processes and customer service within their businesses.
The key is to look at how you can pull each element of the mobile enterprise together. It’s no use just thinking about isolated management solutions in the warehouse or in store – if you are not thinking about the whole mobile infrastructure, you are missing the point.