Retailers have their work cut out for them as they look for new ways to sustain growth and accelerate innovation without losing consumers to a pandemic that just won’t give up. Losing customers to competitors is another common fear for retailers that can only be overcome with a meaningful strategy focused on customer experience.
The Coronavirus has compelled organizations, businesses, retailers, and even consumers to improvise, adapt and overcome. As the customer purchase pattern evolves, perhaps shifting permanently towards the digital – the retailers who’ve embraced technology have better chances of succeeding.
In this hazardous landscape, Microsoft Power Apps has emerged as a survival kit allowing retailers to harness the benefits of low-code apps. Buckle up as we uncover some of these strategies and initiatives.
Microsoft PowerApps has the power to transform the retail industry with customer-centric initiatives.
1. Covid-19 – Shifting the paradigm
The retail industry's evolution has challenged conventional systems, paving the way for digital technologies. For example, after nonessential retail businesses were shut down in the wake of the pandemic, there was a drastic difference in how online shops and brick-and-mortar stores survived.
With added restrictions on store traffic, quarantining, and a shift towards online shopping, retailers are faced with numerous demanding challenges.
The situation remains volatile, pressuring the retailers to strategize for survival. As a result, many of them are looking for technological tools like Microsoft PowerApps to innovate, automate and create efficiencies in their operations.
2. Overcoming digital gaps in the Retail Industry
The digital gaps in IT models cause some of the biggest difficulties within the retail industry. For example, many retailers operate on disparate CRM, POS, ERP, and other paper-based systems. This makes it hard to manage, integrate and analyze data in a meaningful manner, preventing retailers from achieving digital transformation.
Retailers need more robust information technology strategies and capabilities to deliver a superior customer experience. In this case, PowerApps can modernize processes and solve tough challenges for the retail industry.
3. Microsoft PowerApps to the rescue
Microsoft PowerApps is a low code development platform designed by Microsoft, enabling even the layman to build customer-oriented business apps. They minimize the overall development efforts, cost, and time with less coding. In addition, this unique solution has opened a gateway to publish and share applications across the organization instantly.
PowerApps has offered flexibility to retail industry leaders with no code or low code development solutions. As a result, they can easily design their app dashboards, achieve efficient functionality flow and manage the data irrespective of location.
PowerApps: Unlocking retail innovation
PowerApps dramatically reduces the time, effort, and investment required to create a custom app. As a result, it cost-effectively solves retail challenges and leads to increased agility, unrivaled collaboration, innovation, and enhanced insights.
Innovation-driven platform – start innovating and maintaining your apps by employing an end-to-end low-code platform.
Build customizable role-based applications – with PowerApps, retailers can clear their production backlogs and take a fresh start towards digitalization. The role-based apps automatically process and collect data while solving administrative challenges.
Intuitive point-and-click approach – build and design applications quicker with the leading point-and-click approach or choose from a large selection of templates.
Develop low-code solutions – empowering retailers with a visual approach to building apps and converting their bright ideas into brilliant apps, leading to enhanced innovation.
Single source of data – ensure your data is up-to-date and secure by leveraging and integrating data at a single platform.
Achieve Retail Goals With PowerApps
PowerApps empower retailers to solve customer problems and minimize digital gaps with intuitive visual tools that don’t require coding.
Close digital gaps – retailers can build custom business apps faster than usual and close the digital gaps. Beyond this, it digitalizes business processes and information to achieve efficient operations. It also drives the retailers towards a single view of customers across in-store and online stores.
Improve customer engagement – customer engagement begins with understanding your current and potential customers. PowerApps provide support and integrate customer data in one place, allowing employees to easily access it. Because of it, retailers can deliver superior customer experiences.
Customized efficiency – PowerApps empowers retailers with valuable insights into improving processes and customer experience. Hence, allowing them to create new solutions via apps.
Secure and manageable solutions at scale – whether you are working with in-house teams, empowering remote employees, or global technology partners, PowerApps can help. These custom apps can be highly scalable, secure, and manageable.
Build Apps with ease – retailers can quickly build apps with pre-built templates such as inventory management, to-do list, and budget tracker. Consequently, they save time and keep your projects at a centralized location.
Greater collaboration among teams – PowerApps empower the team with channels to capture detailed customer feedback and automatically share it with the relevant teams within the business. It helps improve product features, higher competencies, and better innovation. In addition, it helps manage and accelerate marketing campaigns with an embedded approach.
Final Thoughts
When automating your retail business, opt for PowerApps for its ability to lead it towards a thriving online business. With proven customer satisfaction, data-driven and result-oriented solutions, retailers achieve effective digital automation and the modernization they need to thrive.
Learn how PowerApps can help your business transform digitally. Get in touch with the experts at Definity First.
