Retail revolution

Evolution in technology is revolutionising the retail industry. Itellium’s Jens-Uwe Holz explains how retailers can utilise technology to maximise turnover in today’s mobile market.

What are the everyday challenges for retail companies?

Jens-Uwe Holz. More than any industry, the lifeblood of retail is keeping a steady flow of goods and products moving along a highly complex supply chain. Forget about holding stock. Responsibility for the availability of goods is being pushed back up the supply chain to partners using a variety of different models. Macroeconomic performance, resulting consumer behaviour, competitive pressure and new technologies are all making themselves felt very strongly in the retail space. With this in mind, people are especially looking to IT to help retailers and retail managers handle the high speed at which they must respond to changes. This calls not only for an in-depth knowledge of IT, but also a proven business capability. Many of our 270 employees have spent over 20 years handling IT issues in retail and other sectors with complex supply chains. This knowledge - together with our focus on quality and proximity to the customer - are key enablers helping us win in a competitive world.

From the IT point of view, what are the most important issues for retailers at present?

JH. Pretty much every IT project is about boosting our customers' competitive edge. We're especially seeing this in Germany, one of the most demanding retail markets in Europe. If you can make it here you can make it elsewhere in Europe too. Itellium has been an established IT partner of the German retail industry for years. We have the benefit of really mastering the complex processes at work in the retail sector and, as a supplier of end-to-end services, delivering joined-up IT solutions along the full length of our customers' supply chains. As well as a full span of process capability, Itellium's strength also lies in our size. We're able to use efficient, slim line organisations to ensure our ability to deliver quickly. We also work closely with SAP and are involved in specialist retail development of SAP software as a special expertise partner, providing SAP with our market expertise.

What do retailers stand to gain from fully integrated IT processes?

JH. We're using fully integrated business process designs to lay the foundation for the retail industry of the future. Decisions on key strategic directions are being made here; in ten years' time the interaction of online stores and bricks-and-mortar retailing will have shifted fundamentally. High-street stores will be set up in such a way that their proximity to the customer will benefit online retailing, which will in turn contribute a greater percentage of a big retail company's total revenue. Equally, if the online retail outlet is positioned properly in the market, the high-street store stands to benefit too. In our IT projects, indeed, it's primarily about synchronising sales channels and optimising order logistics. In many instances we're seeing a lot of catching-up that needs to be done with regards to the use of online retailing. Other 'could do better' areas are proper use of mobile equipment such as smart phones and tablet PCs. Building intelligent applications around these tools as part of full-scale integrated solutions is the challenge we're addressing for several companies. These smart devices are where the future is because they're all about applications - from requirements planning at the point of sale through to ringing up sales both online and in the high-street - that can be opened up for mobile use.

What sort of technology will have an impact on retail business in the near future?

JH. I'm convinced that mobile payment methods are set to transform shopping behaviour. Retailers are looking for intelligent solutions built around this shift in user behaviour and expectations. Whoever can demonstrate the best prospects early in the world of mobile payments will enjoy the plum opportunities the market has to offer. That's why we unveiled our new mobile payment solution ItelliPay this year, to great interest and acclaim. It's a flexible, low-cost mobile payment method that doesn't require any special hardware investment, so it's a born winner for online and bricks-and-mortar retailing alike.

About

Jens-Uwe Holz is head of sales and product portfolio. He has more than two decades in the IT industry proving his credentials, among other things, as a CEO at EDS Germany and Gedas Deutschland GmbH, where he was responsible for entering new markets and establishing central business divisions.