Just 33% of retail decision makers report being extremely confident that their organization’s data reporting leads to a greater understanding of their users, according to a survey from PointSource.
Unfortunately, data reporting isn’t the only area where retail executives are apprehensive. For the most part, respondents said:
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They aren’t confident in internal stakeholders — Just 36% strongly agree that their internal stakeholders have goals that contribute to their organization’s strategic roadmap;
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Retailers have a poor user experience — Only 35% strongly agree that their users can move easily and seamlessly across devices; and
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Retailers lack direction and clearly defined business objectives — Less than half (44%) say they are extremely confident in their organization’s ability to achieve its vision for growth.
These stats show that retailers are struggling to make improvements with end users in mind, and must take major steps within four key areas in order to start a successful digital transformation:
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Direction: Create a roadmap with clearly defined business objectives to achieve incremental goals;
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Experience: Clearly define various audience segments and their expectations across each digital platform;
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Culture: Come to a consensus across key internal stakeholders that extends across lines of business and that facilitates collaboration; and
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Technology: Align data across all systems and services for better API management.
Supply chain execs deal with similar issues within their organizations, which can cause headaches for retailers seeking to get their merchandise in at a reasonable pace. Just 25% of supply chain companies have established both companywide and departmental KPIs.
Likewise, less than half (45%) of supply chain companies are extremely confident in the tools used to measure KPIs, and 20% find it difficult or very difficult to integrate third-party platforms with their organization’s existing systems.
To compile the report, PointSource surveyed 300 director-level marketing, IT and operations professionals across the retail, insurance and supply chain verticals.
