Cloud Use Cases in the Retail Industry
Forrester Research estimated that by 2017, 60% of retail activity will take place online. That very figure captures the widespread change that is underway in a very competitive retail landscape and the need to be more agile and technologically savvy in order to stay afloat.
In the retail industry you can leverage modern technology and cloud-based solutions to make your operation more nimble; and ultimately, to advance your business past the competition. In addition to the many benefits your organization can reap from cloud services, there are a number of ways you can apply the technology within your business.
App Publishing for Retail Business
With application use so prevalent in the retail industry, app publishing can have significant impact on your operation.
You can achieve the following benefits by hosting your applications out of our secure infrastructure:
- Avoid maintenance costs and save on rollout and upkeep
- Peace of mind with multiple security measures
- Turn-key service – dinApp is quicker to deploy than traditional methods
- Avoid compatibility Issues
From Point of Sale (POS), to customer/database management, to inventory tracking, to Quickbooks and other accounting applications; you can virtualize the business critical apps that keep your business running. When you do so, you can forget about compatibility issues, drawn-out app roll outs/updates, and inflated maintenance costs.
Lean Retail Operations Hosted in the Cloud
As reported by Accenture, one of the national retail giants announced in 2012 that it reduced the average number of servers in each of its locations from 7 traditional, on-premise servers to 2 virtual servers. In total the chain “retired 8,650 in-store servers, saving millions of dollars in hardware and electrical and maintenance costs, and now rolls out software upgrades to its stores in 45 days.”
Even if you are not operating at the scale, the gains in efficiency when moving from traditional on-premise infrastructure to virtual infrastructure are significant. Consider what your business could achieve with the cost savings offered by virtual infrastructure.
Improve Consumer Experience with Cloud-based Infrastructure
Recent shifts in the retail industry have led to strides in customer experience. One way cloud services can facilitate better customer service is mobile workstations. With dinCloud, you can deploy virtual desktops or applications to any mobile workstation – whether it is a tablet or mobile phone – so that your associates can interact with consumers throughout the retail floor and deliver a more streamlined experience. This can also apply to your back office operations. Roll out the tools your team needs to be productive quickly and efficiently – no matter where they may be located.
Additional Information about Cloud Services for Retail
If you would like additional information about our cloud services for the retail industry, request information from one of our cloud specialists below.
