I recently found out that there are more than 10,000 SAP IS-Retail customers out there, and that more than 1,000 of them use SAP Merchandise Planning, which is basically a souped up procurement tool (think SAP MM (SAP Material Management) on steroids) designed to meet the needs of retail buyers, and presumably, the needs of retail customers (maybe).
I also found out that 57 percent of people over the age of 14 in Spain have made a purchase via mobile phone, and many of those have been done on a 'SmartPhone", i.e., iPhone or some sort of Android based phone.
Of these purchases, the vast majority have been for things like games, iphone apps and travel related purchases, such as train or hotel reservations or even car rentals.
As you drill down into the data, you find out that some purchases have been made for what you might know as traditional retail purchases, such as clothes, food or even durables goods, but not that many.
One other activity that mobile phones users have increasingly started doing is showrooming.
Showrooming
What profit looks like walking out your door
This is where, for those shoppers that must put their hands on the merchandise first, a smartphone is used in a store to look at an item and find out where it can be bought cheaper locally, perhaps at a competitors store, or to simply confirm a purchase online from an e-commerce site, not necessarily and most likely not, from the same retailer (otherwise, why buy it online if the price is the same).
For the 10,000 retailers who use SAP IS-Retail, and all the rest for that matter, this means their expensive real estate just got a lot less valuable!
How does the retailer offer more value and thus achieve more sales, than the online retailer can, who just got the sale, literally right out from under the physical retailers nose? As always, you must follow the consumer.
All the traditional retail methods still work, but now, they need to be infused with a rich content experience, fertilized with the results of real-time, deeply ingrained analytics driven by what is now called big data. That's a fancy way of saying you got to offer content.
Let's take an example of a barbeque. These used to be something most anyone could make; cut a barrel in-half, or dig a hole in the ground, and voila, you have or had a top of line the barbeque. No more, now you want the barbeque experience.
What sort of content might help both the barbeque supplier and the retailer to sell more barbeques? Of course, if I am a retailer who operates SAP, I will have access to SAP Retail Analytics and CAR or SAP Customer Activity Record. But that's just a start.
I think it helps to have been a publisher, so you learn to answer the who, what, why, when, where and how of things.
You might start by doing some research on the current search volume, using google trends, for "Barbeques", and as it turns out, right now, 'outdoor barbeque' has a fairly high search volume of over 300,000 a month with a nice seasonal trend, per google.
Now that we know there is substantial search volume, we need to design and develop content, if we don't already have some. Most likely we do, and we can make life a lot easier if we conduct a content audit.
Once we know what we have, content wise, we need to do some brainstorming to answer those publisher oriented questions, and try to put yourself in the shoes of your consumer when formulating those questions.
By the way, the content you have will no doubt influence the questions you develop and the content you decide to develop. Your goal should be to develop content that is driven by your keyword analysis.
As you can see, it doesn't take long to come up with a lot of questions that might be valuable to consumers to answer when making their purchasing decision. However, consumers are all different and not all consumers follow the same path-to-purchase or ask the same questions when making a purchase.
That is where the concept of Inbound Marketing comes into play. You see, today's 'always on' consumer still is asking those questions, but they are doing so while mobile, while cruising the web and while in the traditional retailers store.
You Need a Fully Integrated Inbound Marketing Platform
Though SAP CRM provides some of the functionality required to make the sale, such as sending out an e-mail, or interacting with the customer, the market now demands a fully integrated marketing platform which is integrated in a bi-directional (sends and receives) fashion to SAP IS-Retail.
The reasons for this are both technical and organizational.
Technical:
For many CIOs in the traditional retail environment, this is a radical change. Their typical questions about new systems are just that, systems oriented questions, versus "capabilities to deliver" questions.
For instance, though it may well be legit to worry about what backup strategy you have with the marketing platform, for the marketing department, it is far more important to know what content management capability is offered and how soon can they get a new landing page up-on their own!
Marketing now has to create much more content, across a much wider variety of domains, including Blogs, White Papers, How-To Guides, Points of View, Executive Overviews, Video, Social Media, Mobile Apps, Printed Material, Web Ads based on keyword analysis, and Broadcast Media, to answer questions consumers are asking 24X7.
Marketing is now not only capable of gathering deep analytical information from any/all campaigns across any/all media where their content is positioned, they must now be able to analyze it and prove their ROI to the business, in real time.
How about having Hubspot's iPhone app in a board level meeting and watching conversions happen across the website, no matter where or when.
Been there, doing that!
Integrating Hubspot with SAP CRM and SAP more generally is both a technical project with significant challenges as well as a project that implies deep business process changes in marketing, sales and procurement, and potentially in the area called Trade Promotion Management, which is used for developing a budget for trade promotion cross-channel.
The integration is also different depending on which version of SAP you are using, and may also involve changes to your MRP strategy settings, your budgeting process overall, and your pricing approach.
Artificial intelligence has already begun to impact retailers, with Hubspot leading the way in incorporating AI into its system to drive further process improvements within the entire retail value chain. In today's 'always on' consumer market, retailers must develop a deep understanding of their buyer's persona to provide contextualized content that answers the questions their prospects are asking. Hubspot's inbound marketing platform provides real-time analytics to adjust content delivery based on results, and its Smart CTAs send prospects to different content based on where they appear to be in the buying cycle. The integration of Hubspot with SAP CRM and SAP more generally implies deep business process changes in marketing, sales, and procurement, and potentially in the area of Trade Promotion Management. With the use of artificial intelligence, retailers can stay ahead of the game and provide their customers with the optimal buying experience.
Retail grocery stores can utilize Inbound Marketing strategies to drive more sales while also reducing food wastage, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. By developing a deep understanding of their buyer personas and creating a content strategy to answer their questions, retailers can engage with consumers both in-store and online. A context-aware content management system can present relevant answers to questions based on a consumer's location and buying cycle, while real-time analytics can adjust the content being delivered. By listening to and responding to consumers on social media, retailers can provide a better customer experience and ultimately drive more sales. Integration with a CRM system can also allow for additional offers and discounts to be delivered in real-time. While implementing Inbound Marketing may require significant changes to a retailer's business process, it can ultimately lead to a more engaged and loyal customer base.
Retail decision makers can make better decisions by utilizing the valuable insights provided by SAP and Hubspot. With the use of Hubspot's inbound marketing platform, retailers can gain a deeper understanding of their buyer personas and develop a content strategy to answer the questions their prospects are asking. The platform's real-time analytics and Smart CTAs can adjust content delivery based on a consumer's buying cycle and provide relevant answers to their questions. Integration with SAP CRM and SAP more generally can also lead to deep business process changes in marketing, sales, and procurement, ultimately resulting in a more engaged and loyal customer base. The incorporation of artificial intelligence into Hubspot's system further drives process improvements within the entire retail value chain, allowing retailers to stay ahead of the game and provide their customers with the optimal buying experience. By utilizing these insights, retail decision makers can make data-driven decisions that lead to long-term success.
Retail decision makers often need to compare the performance, by square footage of different retail locations, such as New York and San Francisco. To do this, they can utilize the SAP Data warehouse, which provides valuable insights into the sales and performance of each location. For example, decision makers can compare the sales per square foot of each location and identify areas for improvement. They can also run experiments, and have the New York location be configured different than the San Francisco location, and make a data driven evaluation of which works best.
In today's highly competitive market, new product introductions can make or break a business. By combining data-driven insights and inbound marketing, businesses can educate their consumers and create a more successful product launch. Understanding buyer personas and creating a content strategy that answers their questions is crucial. Real-time analytics can adjust the content being delivered, and integration with a CRM system can allow for additional offers and discounts to be delivered in real-time. Retail decision makers can also utilize the valuable insights provided by SAP and Hubspot, making data-driven decisions regarding the success or failure of a new product being introduced. Real-time offer management can also be used to run rapid promotional marketing experiments to test out consumer sentiment.
In the retail industry, complying with various rules and regulations is a must. One of the most complex compliance requirements is product labeling. Retailers must ensure that their products have the correct labeling, which can be a daunting task. Fortunately, SAP TPM and the SAP IS-Retail solution can help retailers comply with these regulations. By using this software, retailers can easily manage and monitor their compliance efforts, ensuring that they are always up to date with the latest regulations. This can save retailers a lot of time and effort, as well as mitigate the risk of non-compliance penalties. With SAP TPM, retailers can focus on providing the best possible customer experience while also ensuring that they are compliant with all necessary regulations.
By leveraging the data provided by SAP, retailers can make data-driven decisions that lead to long-term success. The integration of Hubspot with SAP CRM and SAP more generally can also lead to deep business process changes in marketing, sales, and procurement, ultimately resulting in a more engaged and loyal customer base. With the use of artificial intelligence, retailers can stay ahead of the game and provide their customers with the optimal buying experience. By utilizing these insights, retail decision makers can make informed decisions that drive performance and growth.
The retail environment is constantly evolving, with ecommerce competitors exerting pressure on traditional retailers to improve their performance. This pressure can create pain points for retailers, such as the need for sales staff to understand their customers' buying habits and work closely with marketing to convey this information effectively. Inbound marketing can help relieve this pain by providing real-time analytics to adjust content delivery based on results, allowing retailers to better engage with their consumers both in-store and online. Additionally, integration with a CRM system can allow for additional offers and discounts to be delivered in real-time, ultimately leading to a more engaged and loyal customer base. While implementing inbound marketing may require significant changes to a retailer's business process, it can ultimately lead to long-term success in today's 'always on' consumer market.
In conclusion, the retail industry has undergone a significant shift with the rise of mobile phone purchases and the practice of showrooming. To succeed in this new landscape, retailers must embrace Inbound Marketing and develop a deep understanding of their buyer personas to create a content strategy that answers their questions. This requires significant changes to business processes and integration with CRM systems. However, it can ultimately lead to a more engaged and loyal customer base. As experts in SAP Consulting Support and Hubspot Inbound Marketing Support, we can help retailers navigate these changes and stay ahead of the competition. Contact us today to learn more.
We can help.
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