Digital Transformation of Retail Industry

These transformations are even more impressive when you consider the obstacles that had to be overcome. Retail is a fast-changing industry, so innovation is needed quickly. In addition, retail margins are low, so innovation has to be cost-effective.

In fact, these barriers always negatively impact quality. This degrades the customer experience, preventing digital transformation projects from reaching their full potential.

Factors that hinder successful digital transformation in the retail industry

There are many reasons why retailers' digital transformation projects do not achieve the desired results.

When approaching digital transformation projects, many retailers use the traditional waterfall approach that is often used for large projects. However, in today’s fast-paced world, sequential development simply doesn’t work. Modern businesses require frequent updates and continuous improvements to their digital data and workflows. Development cycles must be measured in days rather than months or years. The longer the project takes, the higher the costs and the lower the returns.

AI-powered technology can test POS terminals and connected physical devices, optimizing the in-store checkout experience.

With the waterfall method, retail quality assurance strategies are also affected, impacting the overall effectiveness of the project.

When time is running out, tasks at the end of the development process are often cut short. In a waterfall process, quality assurance tasks are often cut short, making it easier for defects to occur.

When cost is an issue, no one wants to sacrifice features or functionality. Instead, people cut corners on quality assurance to save money.

When development projects run overdue and products are launched later than expected, rapid changes in the retail industry can make the product irrelevant. As a result, the technology is poorly suited and does not have the impact it was originally intended to have. This reduces the motivation for continuous quality improvement to realize the full potential of the technology.

Pay Attention to the State of Retail Technology

Most retail companies operate on a network of hundreds of applications, many of which run on legacy mainframe systems that are 30 to 40 years old. Maintaining these legacy systems is a monumental task, made more difficult by the need to integrate modern innovations with outdated technology—all while improving functionality and user experience. In many cases, new tools require cumbersome workarounds to accommodate upstream or downstream processes that were overlooked during development. The net result is that digital transformation progress suffers.

So we’ve identified the challenges, but what are the solutions? Let’s look at how to reimagine and build retail improvement projects so that retailers can maximize the potential of digital transformation.

Ensuring quality in retail transformation

To understand the problems to be solved and the solutions required, it is essential to have accurate input into the business context at the scoping stage. This input also indicates the impact of new systems on upstream and downstream links. Effective governance in this area can prevent or significantly reduce the challenges of interfacing with multiple systems, including legacy systems.

In any approach, quality assurance must be a core focus. By integrating quality from the beginning – starting with defining the measurement requirements along with the initial business requirements – organizations can establish a solid foundation for delivering differentiated experiences that meet consumer demands.

This proactive approach becomes increasingly important as the retail industry sets specific success criteria for transformation, ensuring the integrity of the processes essential to achieving these goals and avoiding the impact of cost-cutting measures.

Nick Hudson is a seasoned product marketing professional with over 18 years of experience in software test automation, SaaS solutions, and employee engagement platforms.