engaged retailing

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Consumerization of IT has blurred the lines between the online and physical retailing. The focus now is on how technology like Mobility, Analytics and Social are best integrated on top of an Omni Channel Commerce platform by Retailers to engage deeply with their customer needs at every stage of the purchase cycle and across channels to drive business results. This article examines this theme, with added context of our own practical experiences in partnering Retailers who are translating the Engagement Retailing opportunity to reality.

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What is Engagement Retailing?Today’s connected world is about consumers hailing a cab to their exact location using a GPS enabled mobile app that not only saves them the trouble of having to make a call, but also lets them know where exactly that cab which is going to pick them up is in its journey to reach them! It is about going online to quickly check the best food and entertainment options within four blocks of where they are, reading reviews to check the best and inviting friends to join them – all in a few quick minutes that enhance their enjoyment of the day! Engagement Retailing focuses on how the shopping experience needs to evolve in this context of the customer’s life and maximize value for the customer and retailer.


Personalization, convenience and value continue to be the big pillars of retail consumer decision making, but the scope of technology to take each of these to the next level needs a well thought out roadmap. Emerging Omni Channel Commerce platforms offer a sound foundation in terms of enabling data capture, transaction and order interoperability across multiple interfaces such a web, mobile, POS and Kiosk, enabling a seamless cross channel connected environment. However, progressive Retailers need to go beyond this to integrate other technologies and applications such as Search, Mobility, Analytics and Social to enable a more complete customer engagement roadmap at each stage of the shopping cycle. Some of the key steps in this roadmap are – Seamless Shopping, Fulfilment Flexibility, Single View of the Customer and the Intelligent Enterprise. CIOs will also need to separately pay attention to the operations and technology issues that go to enabling a fast first time right enablement of the Engagement Retailing agenda!


Seamless ShoppingThe single most direct driver of enhanced shopping convenience, omni-channel platforms enable the store and customer to interact across devices, at various stages of purchase cycle seamlessly. Today consumer starts research on mobile, pursues on web, experiences at store and completes the purchase in any one of these channels. The expectation is to have seamless product info, availability, service, promotion and loyalty experience at all touch-points. A larger mobility strategy with the right platforms and apps portfolio is often integral to achieving the desired experience.

Fulfilment FlexibilityFlexibility of order fulfilment is now a must have. Consumers expect to order online, pick up from store or warehouse, buy at store, deliver at home or any combinations of these as suits that particular purchase occasion. Research shows that customers value convenience in terms of a preferred time or place of delivery more than even speed of delivery. Omni channel commerce platforms enable portability of orders and single view of inventory. However, often it also requires a clear shift in business mindset to achieve truly integrated operations.



Single View of CustomerAs customer behavior change rapidly to seek and transact across multiple channels, understanding this behavior and the underlying core values of the customer is even more important. Migrating existing customer data from independent multi-channel systems that often separate online and store led POS & CRM data, into a single customer data master and sustaining this in the new operating environment is a critical task, Extending the usage of this data thru Analytics and Search to aid product recommendations, offers and promotions relevant to the individual customer drives the key value lever of Personalization.

Responsive RetailerA key aspect of Omni-channel strategy is that the volume of data related to customer and operations increases significantly. The data also tends to have more real time actionable elements. It is critical for retailers to make them available for efficient processing for insights that drive business decisions. For example, even as retailers are going global, there is increasing demand to understand local needs and create a customer centric merchandising and promotion strategy even at the level of a single store. Store level self service BI to aid employee decision making can further enhance this approach.




The focus on customer facing systems needs to be matched with an effort to streamline internal operations and IT ecosystems. Retail continues to be a business driven by the need to maintain high levels of operations efficiency to ensure margins are sustained, especially in the face of price competition. Leading omni channel commerce platforms provide a head-start with built in content, catalog, master data and order management features. Once again, going beyond the standard out of the box solutions and ensuring effective management of the IT agenda ensures optimal costs and ROI.


Operations EcosystemThe content, catalog and campaign management features of Omni channel commerce platforms are often new applications that aid operations efficiency to retailers. However, further extensions and integrations into the wider operations footprint can add significant value. Including vendors in the commerce platform scope and supply chain innovations thru direct from vendor and ‘drop ship’ logistics partner systems can take the operations efficiency agenda further.

Technology BackboneOmni channel commerce platforms in themselves offer significant scope for simplifying the application landscape. Investments in the right vendor who can bring expertise to the table are critical to maximize value from industry segment specific solutions. Realizing enhancement thru value added new technology led solutions as outlined also places a higher emphasis on the applications strategy and IT operating model to ensure fast first time right implementation.




New technologies can help redefine the shopping experience. The experimental mobile based shopping assistance app outlined here is a proof of the possible.

Most leading Retail technology solutions companies are working on a range of next gen retail application platforms in the areas of Mobility, Analytics, Promotions and Social Sentiment Analysis that retailers can strap on to leading omni channel solutions to maximize their engagement quotient.

EXPERIMENTING WITH THE EXPERIENCE : A Mobile Shopping Application



Sonata Software : Retail Services OverviewSonata Software is a strategic IT solutions provider with a track record of powering business transformation initiatives of some of the most well-known Retail enterprises across the globe. The company specializes in applying technologies such as Omni-channel commerce and analytics driven insights to enhance customer engagement for Retailers. Sonata’s Retail services are anchored on deep technology expertise gained from long standing partnerships on class leading solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics AX Retail, hybris, Moovweb, Microsoft Business Intelligence, Hadoop and Azure to deliver superior solutions such Omni-channel revenue generation and fulfilment, e-commerce & mobile business enablement, dynamic promotions, personalization, loyalty and IT infrastructure & support services. These capabilities have seen Sonata emerge as a service provider of choice for Retailers across Mass Merchandise, Specialty, Apparel, Quick Service Restaurant and Transit Retail segments, including some of the largest global Fortune 100 and Indian brands. A unique Customer Specific Centre of Excellence model of delivering service to clients has seen Sonata significantly enhance the extent of strategic focus, collaboration, innovation and knowledge management impacting each relationship. A wide range of Retail specific solution assets, proven frameworks, methodologies and a large dedicated Retail vertical team, not only ensure quality and reliability but also reduce TCO for its clients. To Retail leadership seeking to drive strategic business advantage with IT, Sonata’s focus on the vertical, deep technology capability and commitment to customers make it a partner of choice for translating their vision to reality.