At the same time, cost volatility, supply chain disruptions and workforce shortages further exacerbate these challenges for retailers. Moreover, the dual challenges of cost-push inflation and the shifting landscape of consumer behaviour represent a formidable test for even the most resilient players in the retail sector. The retail sector has seen tremendous change, with traditional brick-and-mortar retailers now facing fierce competition from their online retail counterparts.

This fierce competition takes place in a dynamic environment where consumer loyalty is influenced by rapidly changing customer needs and expectations. Customers today have a multitude of options, making it crucial for retailers to adapt swiftly to meet their demands. However, within all these challenges also lie unparalleled opportunities. The future of retail doesn’t have to be characterised by doom and gloom. Rather, it is a future in which cutting-edge technology can serve as a guiding beacon, illuminating untapped avenues for innovation, growth, and prosperity for retailers.

But how do听retailers deliver on these priorities?

To thrive in this dynamic environment, retailers must prioritise and excel in several key areas:

• Deliver differentiated customer experience.
• Build, and monetise new and innovative business models.
• Prioritise the sustainability imperative, while maintaining emphasis on profitability and financial sustainability.

To seize these opportunities, retailers must embrace technology and embark on a journey of digital transformation. This involves investing and adopting emerging and transformative technologies such as predictive data analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Simply put, retailers need to leverage technology to build robust customer relationships.

All of these are areas where technology can help close the gap; from leveraging the cloud to lower the cost of setting up and using technology, to leveraging digitalisation to better manage procurement and warehouse management processes, or Machine Learning to better manage and gain insights from customer data; one thing is certain: technology can play a significant role.

Innovation is no longer a nice to have.

Many retailers are aware that success is no longer solely about market share, competitiveness, and profitability. Success is directly linked to staying ahead of the curve, anticipating market shifts before they materialise, and designing retail experiences that deeply resonate with consumers. To remain relevant, retailers must surpass the conventional boundaries of commerce. They must prioritise innovation and evolve into more than mere transactional retail spaces, but rather, into centres of innovation and immersive consumer experiences.

Join us at the Africa Chapter of the

On October 11^th, in Cape Town, 51风流will host a retail event centered around the pivotal role of technology in the retail industry. We will unpack technology solutions and tools that can help retailers with omnichannel planning and optimisation, predict shifting consumer behaviours and needs, build, and run modern sustainable supply chains, automate inventory management, offer personalised and tailored shopping experiences.

At SAP, we believe in the power of collaboration, the strength of innovation, and the promise of a brighter, more connected future leveraging our purpose-built retail solutions embedded with emerging technologies such as AI, ML, and predictive analytics. Together with our partners, we look forward to welcoming you, and creating unique and profoundly impactful shopping experiences for your customers.

Are you ready to see Retail in Motion? Cape Town awaits, .

The post Retail In Motion: Driving Resilience and Adaptability In Modern Retail appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

This usually prompts me to reflect on the generational gaps that exist in the workplace today, as well as how the workplace has evolved in the twenty-five years that I have been in corporate.

A changing workplace

One of the most significant workplace developments is diversity and inclusion (D&I), which has become one of the most talked about phenomenon in the workplace today, alongside trends such as the use of technology, remote working, and the prioritisation of human resources as a strategic company asset.

The recognition that having people from diverse backgrounds helps to build stronger teams has prompted employers to pay close attention to how they engage and nurture diverse employees, particularly the younger generation, which is quickly becoming the majority in the workplace.

Given the emphasis on D&I and the value it brings to the workplace, employers must consider employee satisfaction from the perspective of each individual employee.

As a result, ensuring a personalised approach to driving employee engagement has emerged as a critical focus area for all businesses and leaders.

In the midst of all of these changes in workplace priorities, technology has become deeply ingrained in our daily lives, particularly over the last two decades.

For example, innovations such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have enabled people to work for companies located anywhere in the world from the comfort of their own homes.

As technology continues to shape society, it will undoubtedly play a key role in enabling future workplaces, particularly in empowering business leaders to better manage priorities such as tailored approaches to employee engagement.

Employee engagement is critical to achieving high levels of employee satisfaction, and technology can help make this possible.

Personalising employee engagement

One of the critical areas to ensuring a unique and personalised approach to employee engagement and satisfaction is talent management.

A 23-year-old graduate entering the workforce has very different career growth aspirations to a 55-year-old.

The younger employee is more likely to want to learn and advance quickly up the career ladder, whereas the older employee is more likely to be looking for stability as they approach retirement.

Managing this process successfully and ensuring a tailored and personalised approach to talent and career management for each employee鈥檚 specific needs, especially in large companies, can be difficult 鈥� if not impossible.

Employers can empower employees to reach their full potential by investing in tools and systems that automate learning and development, as well as enhance career planning and mapping.

Understanding employee sentiment

Employee feedback should be solicited on a regular basis to better understand employee sentiment and ensure that the company鈥檚 initiatives are aligned with employee expectations.

During the recent pandemic, for example, when most companies shut down and employees worked remotely, this became a priority.

Companies must invest in employee experience management tools to become better listeners.

This enables leaders to foster a listening culture and make decisions based on employee expectations, ensuring that each employee鈥檚 individual needs are well understood and met.

In conclusion, fostering a listening culture is critical to developing a purpose-driven approach that prioritizes diversity and inclusion, resulting in a committed and productive workforce that feels appreciated.

The post How Technology Drives Better Employee Engagement and Satisfaction appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

In 2022, the global community will continue to see significant changes in nearly every sector. Here, our EMEA team of experts will share their predictions for the new year ahead.

While it still seems like there may be some challenging times ahead, often this helps us to create new ideas and set up new processes that can help improve and benefit the world well into the future.

Here are the predictions from our team for 2022:

G枚tz Reinhardt, Managing Director at 51风流Concur MEE (Middle & Eastern Europe): Employees will have more choice and flexibility over their travel movements

鈥淢any employees have become accustomed to flexible, remote working hours over the past year. When we can meet and talk with clients via Zoom and other virtual platforms, employees would arguably now be more reluctant to travel across the world to do so, as they can perform a conference call from the comfort of their own home or office space.

Post-pandemic travel is demanding that greater employee flexibility is afforded, to encourage them to take more sensible trips. Additionally, the growing number of SDBs (Supplier Direct Bookings) we are seeing highlights travellers鈥� desires for more freedom of choice and the flexibility to choose the travel supplier they feel most comfortable with from a health & safety standpoint.

As a result, we predict that in 2022, businesses will allow employees greater flexibility when it comes to asking them to travel. Travel communities have become emboldened for their greater good and not just that of the company. So, travel will need to be done on the employee鈥檚 schedule and they need to be allowed to decide which hotels or flights they would like to purchase. Additionally, businesses will also need to evaluate in more detail whether travelling so much is worth the cost and sustainability risks 鈥� especially if alternative arrangements can be made to help reduce this.

Overall, travellers鈥� personalisation will now need to be considered first and foremost over cost鈥� as this will help improve compliance and the well-being and productivity of happier employees.鈥�

Pierre-Emmanuel Tetaz, EMEA SVP and General Manager: Businesses will need to become more honest and transparent about their carbon footprint

鈥淟ast year the Covid-related travel drop resulted in a significant reduction of CO2 emissions which the world environment has benefitted from 鈥� and this helped businesses with improving their sustainability movements. In recent years, sustainability has taken a lead position in the hiring and retention of employees. Many job seekers are evaluating a potential company鈥檚 commitment to environmental and social sustainability as well as the benefits the company offers. Companies that can adapt quickly to this new trend are more likely to attract and retain top talents.

However, with governments across the globe also setting new CO2 emission goals and criteria to meet, sustainable movements are not only critical for an organisation鈥檚 success, but also a top board priority.

Therefore, with business travel expected to start increasing next year, businesses in 2022 will need to provide their employees with greater visibility and informed choices about their sustainability movements and inform them re: how much of an impact their travel will have before booking any trips.

Business travellers will need to be more aware than ever of the carbon footprint they are creating, and if they are not aware, then they are simply not informed enough to make proper and responsible travel decisions. Employee movements need to be justified with travel options being chosen that are the most eco-friendly. To do this, we expect many companies to turn to technology tools which can help them manage their budgets and carbon footprints accordingly and plan the most eco-friendly and efficient routes to travel by.鈥�

Mark Cullen, Managing Director, EMEA South: Businesses will need to adapt technological processes to help solve regulation issues

听鈥淚 expect we will see companies embrace new corporate policies to help facilitate business travel while avoiding issues that could arise due to the complexity of today鈥檚 travel landscape. Unfortunately, there is no global standardisation when it comes to international travel –听 rules and regulations vary immensely by country. The policies will range from outright travel restrictions to ensuring employees have done their due diligence on what is required to travel to their destination before making arrangement and incurring expenses.

While corporate travel will continue to pick up in 2022 the landscape will remain complex, uneven, and confusing for both business and individual travellers; both will be in need of support and guidance to ensure they are aware and adhering to the various regulations to ensure smooth travel. 听We expect to see more organisations turn to technology providers to help address these complications.

Luckily, there are tools, resources, and vendors available today to provide the needed support. We are already seeing corporate leaders re-evaluate what they are doing today and considering how to re-engineer their organisations not only for the immediate future but for what may be waiting around the corner. To complement new policies and ways of managing business processes, we are seeing more interest from organisations in the broader eco-system and how new partnerships can add value and support听 鈥� providers that are best of breed in niche areas such as 鈥楧uty of Care鈥�. The beauty of the cloud is that it affords interoperability between providers, bringing unique sets of data together in new ways for companies and/or individuals to make better informed decisions.

In summary, COVID is not going away but we will continue to learn how to live with it and companies will continue to learn for themselves in 2022鈥�

听Ryan Demaray, Managing Director SMB EMEA at 51风流Concur: Virtual card payments will be used more to empower and manage employee spending

鈥淓ver since the development of cashless payments accelerated, particularly in the hospitality and retail sectors, finance teams across the board are looking for new ways to manage individual and company budgets鈥痮n the go.

With this in mind, we expect to see virtual cards used as a key solution in 2022 to help empower and manage employee spending. For B2B companies, where few payments are made face-to-face, this could potentially be game-changing.

Virtual cards offer significant benefits for travel managers and finance departments. They can be configured for spending limits, department codes, merchant category controls, and date specifications. They deliver this information to an organisation鈥檚 back-end accounting system in real time, making it easier to spot unusual activity, and because the numbers are unique for each transaction, it鈥檚 a more secure way to pay. Businesses can control how much is spent and what it鈥檚 spent on, so it鈥檚 easier to ensure compliance with the company听听and expense policy. It鈥檚 also ideal for employees who don鈥檛 travel often, and for vendors who will be incurring expenses over a limited period for the company in question.

This solution will also help smaller businesses who don鈥檛 want to invest too much and would prefer a simple solution instead. With virtual cards, multiple employees can use different card details, without any extra costs 鈥� and they can easily access the card through a mobile app, where they can also upload receipts for claims. We expect to see this technology take off for businesses in the next year ahead.鈥�

听Rob Harrison, MD EMEA North at 51风流Concur: Additional challenges will arise around data privacy

鈥�With the world slowing opening for business, and more people feeling confident about travelling, we can expect to see an increase around duty of care regulations for 2022 and the future. With individuals now expected to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, or confirmation of their vaccine status, businesses will want to make sure that everyone is compliant and travelling with caution and care.

Having said this, while these regulations are still being adopted by many businesses and governments, there are still some concerns around the data privacy of these new procedures 鈥� which we expect to see as a key talking point in 2022.

For instance, the 鈥榲accine passport鈥� will hold sensitive information on health data 鈥� which is crucial to keep secure. There are several challenges and additional obligations that will apply under GDPR and UK GDPR 鈥� including obtaining the correct consent to any transfer and providing the right privacy notice. Any privacy notice must be specific to the processing in question.

Therefore, for vaccine passports and other data and regulation requirements, businesses will need to be responsible for keeping on top of this with travelling employees. Therefore, we would advise that they work with trusted travel providers, who can take on the heavy workload of making sure their travel actions and documentations are compliant, so they can be confident they are travelling securely.鈥�

The post 51风流Concur 2022 Predictions appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Although product recommendations by eCommerce sites have become a familiar sight to online shoppers, it seems many of these retailers are still missing the mark. A recent global survey by 51风流has indicated that three out of four online shoppers worldwide fail to regularly see product recommendations that interest them.

There are numerous reasons why so few shoppers receive meaningful referrals, but perhaps the single biggest one comes down to personalization , according to Amrish Singh, customer experience solution architect at SAP.

He explains that true personalization is all about the brand connecting with the customer on a personal level. It is about understanding their past, knowing what they are doing now and, most crucially, how to influence their future through personalized messages and recommendations.

鈥淭he vast majority of marketeers believe that personalization is the key to customer experience (CX) success. After all, it is believed that at least two thirds of online customers prefer to buy from brands that deliver relevant recommendations. Of course, the challenge is to do this without invading the customer鈥檚 privacy,鈥� he says.

鈥淚n fact, there are three challenges to be overcome to ensure that you have the right customer and are targeting them correctly. Firstly, the data needed to achieve true personalization is found in different systems and departments, so it is essentially siloed. Therefore, it is necessary to find a way to integrate this or to create a centralized data management platform to provide a true 360-degree view of the customer.鈥�

It is important to know your customer at every possible touch-point, in order to deliver personalization that creates lasting loyalty. This, in turn, boils down to the company鈥檚 ability to collect customer data effectively and then to analyse it to gain deeper insight, suggests Singh.

鈥淩emember that when you have information silos, you will always have a fragmented view of the customer. Without a single view, your customer engagement strategy will miss critical opportunities 鈥� basically, you won鈥檛 know when the exact right time is to market something to them.鈥�

鈥淭he second challenge is data privacy, as regulations governing this are very strict and any failure on your part here exposes you to legal and brand reputation risks. The way to solve this is to give the customer the tools needed to manage their own data. That way, they can tell you what products they would like to have marketed to them.鈥�

Finally, there is also the issue of the inability to manage data volumes. Singh points to a plethora of touchpoints that exist, which create vast amounts of information. However, many organisations don鈥檛 have the flexibility or agility to manage these many and varied touch-points properly.

鈥淭here is one other important part of personalized CX, and that is to ensure that you keep the promise you offer to customers in terms of the service or delivery you are supplying. You need to understand the back-end processes 鈥� such as invoicing, delivery schedules and what is available in the warehouse – and connect this expertise to the front end. In this way, you can ensure the customer receives the product that they ordered or a suitable replacement, and delivered according to the estimated delivery time or quicker.鈥�

CX is all about creating a living, breathing customer profile that delivers a 360-degree view, adds Singh. For this you must gather three forms of data: first party, where the customer tells you about themselves; second party, which is about what they are doing; and third party, which is more in-depth data from social media platforms.

鈥淭rue personalization is about much more than sending a client an automated 鈥榟appy birthday鈥� message. It is about knowing specific details so you can deliver a specific service. A good example might be knowing the client recently bought a new phone from your store, because you have that data, so send them a personalized birthday voucher offering them a discount on a new phone cover. This is the ultimate aim of CX 鈥� to create hyper-personalization, or the so-called 鈥楽egment of One鈥�. Remember the key to engagement: the right content at the right time via the right channel at the right price,鈥� he concludes.

Amrish Singh is customer experience solution architect at SAP.

This article first appeared on .

The post Customer Personalization Remains Challenging appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Despite the shock to the banking system, South Africa鈥檚 banking sector performed well and are currently sufficiently capitalised to withstand short term shocks. According to a report by PwC released in June, measures implemented in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis have helped banks absorb some of the initial shocks from Covid-19.

The Reserve Bank also cut rates by 300 basis points this year to bring the prime lending rate to historic lows. It has relaxed some banking rules to support local efforts providing relief to businesses and consumers, including easing liquidity requirements for restructured loans and rules for when such loans attract additional capital charges.

And in a rare relaxing of regulations, the trade and industry minister also exempted banks from some provisions in the Competition Act to allow them to come together to find joint solutions to the current crisis.

Race for customers is on

However, the speed at which things are changing and the pressure on consumers and businesses mean banks are in a race against time to refine their delivery, streamline their service, all while developing new products and services so that they can easily retain their existing customers and attract new ones.

Finding good new customers in a post-Covid-19 world will be tough. Banks need to minimise reasons for customers to defect to other providers.

Digitisation is the top priority. Banks need to deliver products, services and experiences tailored to customer needs enabled by a 360-degree view of each customer. Banks that struggle to digitise processes and give customers value in more convenient, personal and cost-effective ways will risk losing their customers to competitors that do.

The problem statement for all banks is similar: deliver integrated, data driven products and services uniquely to customers seamlessly through digital processes. South Africa鈥檚 banks have largely the same proporrtion of spend on technology, but some consistently deliver better, more integrated seamless offerings to the market, and maintain momentum doing it.

The challenge is to close the gap between investment into new technologies and the impact they have on the customer experience. In general, money spent doesn鈥檛 move the business far enough into the future for the money spent.

Consumer behaviour has also not been static during this year鈥檚 events; in fact, it is shifting in dramatic and consequential ways as customers exercise their choices from the comfort of their homes on digital devices. Banks need the analytical power to track and measure consumer behaviour in real time and at an individual level, and the agility to maintain and introduce new products and services at speed and scale.

To achieve this, banks need to develop streamlined and automated banking operations that seamlessly integrate finance, risk, and compliance across their retail and banking operations, coupled with individualisation and compelling offers, delivered in real time This is all enabled by a business technology platform that integrates operational and experience data for a holistic view of the organisation.

While banks continue to face pressure from upstart fintech innovators and non-traditional competitors such as telco companies, they remain in a uniquely powerful position. With access to customers鈥� most private financial information, banks could analyse and leverage both the operational data as well as new forms of experience data to better serve customers and win in the experience economy.

To enable this, banks should prioritise investment in four strategic areas, namely:

One: Seamless connectivity

Consumers are so used to the convenience of digital services that they now expect immediate fulfilment of their needs from their service providers. Banks are not designed for this: product systems, channel partners, risk and compliance – all these departments operate separately in a traditional bank setting, with little in terms of a total view of each customer, and limited integrated delivery

Banks need to transform their end-to-end processes across departments and lines of business to analyse each customers鈥� behaviour at an individual level. Using these insights, banks should design and offer personalised products that directly address a customers鈥� needs.

Two: Data-driven intelligence

This level of personalisation requires that banks collect and process operational data as well as experience data. Banks should build intelligent enterprise capabilities that can seamlessly integrate all data and apply machine learning and AI to create and simulate various business scenarios to understand how new products and services could impact their customers and operations.

This can deliver value across four key areas, namely faster time to market; lower research and development costs; an increase in revenue from new products; and a better understanding of their customers鈥� experiences and needs.

Three: Operational effectiveness

Banks need to break down data silos and become more connected to their customers through personalised services and consistently-positive experiences. Using customer and employee insights, banks could anticipate opportunities for new products or services that can create loyalty, boost retention and increase revenue.

Core to this is the automation of low-value manual processes to free up valuable internal skills for higher-value, revenue boosting tasks. Ultimately, banks can leverage their data further by opening it up to trusted external partners in an open banking ecosystem that radically improves opportunities for customer-centric innovation.

Four: Financial insight

Banks are subject to immense regulatory oversight. Remaining compliant to regulatory requirements can be costly and resource-intensive. Current processes are often overly manual and reactive, with entire teams dedicated purely to compliance. However, marrying operational and experience data in a business technology platform that delivers real-time insights can be a game-changer.

Banks can use operational and experience data to simulate financial market conditions in real time, allowing decision-makers to forecast various business scenarios and their financial impact. With more seamless risk and compliance management, banks could be better placed to enable third parties such as fintechs to share data and control via APIs, thereby accelerating the development of customer-centric and compliant product innovations.

The post Four Ways Banks can win the Customer Affinity Battle appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.