Mobile data capture enables connected retail supply chain
Retailers are only too aware that it is much harder and more expensive to secure new customers than it is to retain existing ones.
This fact is especially pertinent to the omnichannel retail environment, where customers are more demanding than ever and do not respond well to being told that the item they want is out of stock. The likelihood is that they will abandon their online basket, or leave the shop and seek that item from a competitor.
Of course, it would be almost impossible for a single store to carry a retailer’s full inventory, and even a dedicated eCommerce fulfilment centre may not contain a complete product assortment. So, how do brick-and-mortar retailers meet omnichannel customer expectations?
One answer lies in the retail supply chain, which needs to become responsive to real-time shifts in demand. Total supply chain transparency and improved back-end functions, including warehouse management, have to be performed with great efficiency and operational insight so retailers can track and trace all products at all times.
This seamless approach is enabled by mobile data capture. Standard mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, using dedicated barcode scanning software can retrieve data from product barcodes. Every time this action is taken along the extended supply chain, a retailer can instantly know where inventory is located. From source to shelf, the current location of each product and its accessibility to fulfil specific customer requests is readily available.
If a customer visits a local shop and finds their desired item out of stock, they can be given options such as reserving the product at another nearby store or having it delivered to their home from a regional distribution centre. Online purchases can be fulfilled from stores, shortening delivery times and reducing strain on distribution depots.
There is a benefit when it comes to stock losses, too. By scanning goods before and after delivery, retailers can quickly identify and investigate shipment inconsistencies. Barcode scanning at other key intervals in the supply chain can provide further insight into potential instances of theft, damage or other loss prevention events.
Real-time inventory location data gives retailers the flexibility to move stock around to meet demand from different geographical locations. Furthermore, employee inventory throughput can be improved with real-time operational insight provided by barcode scans.
Retailers who want to incorporate mobile data capture into their supply chain workflows can ease the process with cloud connectivity. Cloud platforms allow retailers to centralise the collection, storage, and analysis of barcode data.
Traditionally, barcode scanning has been carried out using dedicated devices, which have been proven to have a total cost of ownership over five times higher than smartphones or tablets. However, the other disadvantage to dedicated devices is that they must be manually upgraded. Conversely, smartphones and tablets using dedicated barcode scanning apps can be upgraded and customised from the cloud just once and distributed to all enterprise devices. The cloud also offers retailers the ability to scale bandwidth as needed, with flexible pricing.
Since retailers now typically operate most or all of their IT architecture on the cloud, barcode data captured with cloud-based mobile apps and software is easily integrated into the rest of the enterprise.
Cloud-based mobile data capture enables retailers to realign their entire back- and front-end operations seamlessly around the real-time needs of their digitally connected customers. It is the “glue” that binds all the components of a seamless retail strategy together from the warehouse through to the shop floor.
