The cloud is a trending topic of conversation among retail IT teams worldwide – but many don't understand its full potential. McKinsey reported that the value in switching to cloud-based commerce was as high as $1 trillion in 2021 if retail IT teams take the full suite of benefits in stride.
With enterprise businesses dedicating as much as 80% of their IT budgets to cloud-supported infrastructure and the number of stores utilizing SAP's Commerce Cloud increasing by 7% year-over-year, it's never been more important for retailers to grasp the full potential of the cloud.
So what cloud benefits are retailers missing? And how can they make the most of the transition to the cloud? Let's dive in.
The Benefits of Switching to the Cloud
Retailers have a lot on their plates--whether it's restructuring their supply chain around the latest material shortage, implementing dynamic pricing to offset inflation or updating hiring processes to combat the labor shortage. They don't have time to waste on making sure new solutions are compatible with existing data or storage capabilities.
Prior to transitioning to the cloud, retailers had to host all relevant information on site, but it was expensive to store all the data needed to run a successful retail business. Now, the cloud can take care of that and bring every solution, every spreadsheet and every vendor together without the need for physical servers, and without threatening privacy.
This IT consolidation also enhances control and flexibility. By improving access to all retail functionalities, the cloud reduces operational, labor and hardware costs. It also reduces the risk of data loss thanks to high-end backup and recovery mechanisms.
With cloud-based infrastructure, retailers also benefit from improved time-to-market for new concepts, enhancements and functionalities. This gives retailers unprecedented flexibility when it comes to testing and implementing new solutions that meet today's industry challenges. By eliminating the need to monitor data storage and manually engage new solutions with old, IT teams can refocus their energy on how the new solutions will help achieve business goals.
In short, the cloud allows retail IT teams to enjoy greater flexibility and responsiveness without wasting time and resources scaling solutions.
Why CLOUD4RETAIL is the Best Choice for Cloud-Based Commerce
GK is proud to help retailers transition to the cloud and take advantage of all the benefits associated with cloud-based architecture through CLOUD4RETAIL by GK. In fact, GK's CLOUD4RETAIL solution was the first fully managed service designed to provide enterprise-class omni-channel POS capabilities through the cloud.
Now, GK customers can deploy CLOUD4RETAIL with any combination of GK's leading omni-channel applications while a reducing time and cost burdens for the retailer's IT infrastructure and staff. The platform delivers full unified commerce capabilities, including personalized recommendations, marketing automation, store merchandise management and dynamic pricing through a robust mobile architecture.
How CLOUD4RETAIL Engages GK's Other Award-Winning Solutions
The cloud produces cost-saving opportunities that greatly benefit a retailer's bottom line, but at the end of the day the cloud is only as great as the sum of its parts. Meaning that the solutions within the cloud must be optimized to achieve the full potential of transitioning to cloud-based architecture.
That's why GK offers a full suite of unified commerce solutions designed to optimize every aspect of a retail business from point-of-sale and merchandising to marketing and customer engagement.
These are just a few of GK's award-winning solutions that can be powered by CLOUD4RETAIL:
- OmniPOS® – This solution helps retailers manage all processes for omnichannel retailing in one platform, optimizing uniform data management and consistent communication structures across the business.
- OmniScale – This solution transforms scales for maximum agility and seamless integration with other enterprise applications, ensuring flexible and accurate pricing and inventory control.
- Artificial Intelligence for Retail (AIR)– AIR utilizes machine learning and visual computing to power dynamic pricing, real-time prediction modules, personalization and fraud detection.
- Store Inventory Management - The services package bridges the gap between the ERP system in the retail headquarters and store-level processes, enabling employees to handle all merchandising needs effectively and efficiently.
- Mobile Consumer Assistant (MCA) – This solution turns a shopper's smartphone into a personalized mobile engagement tool that improves long-term customer loyalty.
- MobilePOS – With MobilePOS, shoppers access the high-quality checkout experience they desire from anywhere with improved speed and security.
GK's CLOUD4RETAIL Gives Retailers Wings
It's time that retailers take full advantage of the cloud and GK is here to help. Reach out to us today to learn more about how CLOUD4RETAIL and GK's suite of unified commerce solutions can take your business to the next level.
