When we think of industries at the forefront of technology, we may not think about retail. But retailers boast the second-highest rate of hybrid cloud adoption. DataStax explains why more and more retailers will follow suit.
Retail may not be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about technological innovations. But think about how much e-commerce has transformed the way we buy things just over the last five years and youll start to see the impact of technology in the retail sector. We now have a seemingly infinite amount of choices with thousands of online retailers and a mind-blowing array of options just a click away. E-commerce Sales grew by 15% in 2018Opens a new window and the global retail e-commerce market is expected to reach $4.9 trillionOpens a new window by 2021.
In this age of limitless competition, retailers increasingly understand how important it is to use modern applications to ensure optimal customer experiences in every interactionbe it in-store, online, or on social media.When customers have poor experiences, theyre four times as likely to look for substitutes.
On the other hand, deliver great experiences on a regular basis, and customers become loyal. This is a big deal. Though loyal customers may only account for 15% of a retailers customer base, they can be responsible for generating as much as 70% of your sales. To meet customer expectations and ensure optimal experiences, retailers are increasingly moving to hybrid cloud environments. In fact, a recent report found that 21% of retailers already have hybrid cloud deployments, making them the second largest adopters of this kind of computing infrastructure.
Whats more, 93% of retailers believe that hybrid cloud is the best IT model for them because it helps them meet consumer demands for personalization and instant gratification while ensuring data is secure and maintaining consistent experiences across channels.
There are five key benefits of hybrid cloud for retailers:
Makes it easier to sell by reaching customers where they are
A hybrid cloud infrastructure gives retailers the peace of mind that comes with knowing their applications can scale easily during high-traffic periods. Hybrid cloud also makes it easier for retailers to optimize their sites for mobilesomething thats critical as the e-commerce market continues to grow at a rapid pace. Add it all up, and it becomes much easier to sell to customers at any time and on any device, which should be the goal of any retailer.
Its easier to create products customers want
Having a hybrid cloud infrastructure allows retailers to leverage the kind of powerful data analysis that steers them in the direction of creating the products their customers are dying to have. One Berlin-based fashion startup, for example, uses data to identify new styles and trends their customers are most interested in. Beyond that, retailers can also use hybrid cloud environments to deliver the personalized experiences their customers expect.
Better control of inventory
According to a recent report, 43% of retailers say that inventory management is their biggest day-to-day challenge. Good newshybrid cloud also gives retailers more real-time visibility into their inventory levels, which can also help them solve cash-flow issues (i.e., having too much inventory on hand). More insight into inventory levels also helps increase sales, as customers quickly look for substitutes when retailers are out of stock.
Increased productivity and efficiency
Of course, one of the main drivers of hybrid cloud adoption are the efficiencies that come along with it. Retailers deploying their applications in hybrid cloud environments will enjoy cost savings, increased accessibility, and increased availability, among other things.Beyond that, the cloud makes it easier to integrate tools and workflows, letting retailers enjoy additional productivity gains. It also allows for data portability, meaning enterprises can change cloud providers whenever they want, which gives them a competitive advantage by allowing them to be proactively ready to counter disruption right when it happens.
Better control of data
In the age of high-profile (and costly) data breaches and regulations such as, the European Unions GDPR, no organization is completely safe from the consequences of data loss or leakage. The hybrid cloud can help here, too, allowing organizations to store personally identifiable information on private cloud resources while using the public cloud for less sensitive applications. Choosing where your data lives is extremely powerful for retailers, as it allows them to more easily comply with regulations while providing a low-latency experience for shoppers by placing data near where they are located.
For Retailers, Hybrid Cloud Is the Best Way Forward
Retailers are starting to realize that hybrid cloud is the ideal model for their IT infrastructures, but not all of them have fully taken the plunge into hybrid cloudyet. Still, nearly one-quarter of them have, and we expect more and more retailers to follow suit in the very near future. And thats a great thingthose that make the move sooner will sooner realize all of the above benefits while gaining a clear competitive advantage over their peers and delighting their customers in each interaction.