Lorsque nous échangeons avec les enseignes de grande distribution sur le pilotage du pricing, un sujet transversal à de nombreuses équipes au sein de l’organisation, les problèmes de communication et collaboration dans la prise de décision revient systématiquement.
Whether open concept, cubicles or offices, coworkers are typically a few steps away from each other.
It reminds us of how inter-connected we are and that:
« Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people. »
Steve Jobs
2020 has thrown a wrench into the collaboration mix and most knowledge workers in retail organizations have been forced to work remotely due to social distancing recommendations regarding the Coronavirus pandemic. There are benefits and drawbacks to this situation, but one thing is clear: organizations must have tools that facilitate collaboration because that’s one thing that will never change. The need for people to connect and solve problems together will always remain a constant.
Before we get into how teams can collaborate better during this time and going forward, let’s take a look at how workers view collaboration tools:
59 % des professionnels déclarent rencontrer des difficultés avec leurs outils de collaboration, 82 % des professionnels se sentiraient impactés si leur technologie destinée à la collaboration était perdue, 83 % des professionnels dépendent de la technologie pour collaborer.
Courtesy: Dimensional Research
Overcoming silos between internal teams
“In the Midst of Chaos, There is also Opportunity”. This quote is attributed to Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher. It highlights how just because brick-and-mortar stores have been closed temporarily, it doesn’t mean that merchandising, marketing, planning, pricing, analytics and a host of other teams can’t work together to keep retail organizations afloat. On the contrary, it may be an opportunity to strengthen their bonds and help everyone get through those trying times on a professional and personal level.
In many organizations, teams operate independently and use analytics tools specific to their functions and/or department goals.
That can be extremely detrimental to the company as a whole.
Les entreprises comptant parmi les Fortune 500 perdent environ 31.5 milliards de dollars par an faute de parvenir à suffisamment partager les connaissances en interne.
Courtesy: Forbes
Often, this is the result of housing data in several systems, creating a skewed view of a retail business depending who is looking at the data found therein. While this is a problem for teams when they are in the office, the issue is amplified when they are separated physically and cannot interact as smoothly as usual.
Mercio’s pricing solution offers a way to solve this issue efficiently. Its aggregation engine is flexible enough to integrate data from a multitude of sources and to filter and slice-and-dice is any which way is relevant to business so that every department has their own view but all work with the same data. It offers a “single point of truth” that makes it much easier to spot and reconcile any inconsistencies or divergence of interpretation. Furthermore, users can share views and bookmarks easily to steer the business forward together.
Real-time analytics and data visualization allows teams to shift focus from channel to channel (primarily e-commerce currently), monitor inventory, plan promotions, and test various pricing strategies before implementing them so they can make better, more informed decisions. Even if those decisions are being made from a running train or a dining room table.
Capitalise on the value that your external stakeholders bring
“We Rise by Lifting Others”. American writer Robert Ingersoll coined this phrase, reminding us that we cannot only focus on the bubble we are in. This holds true for teams within an organization. While it is important for internal teams to collaborate, you cannot forget two very important groups outside of your organization – your suppliers and your customers.
Due to social distancing, retail organizations need to convince customers to purchase products that they cannot touch. The best way to do this is through a collaboration with your suppliers, remembering that it needs to be a two-way street in times like these. By working with suppliers to understand how to best communicate the experience that the product/brand will give the customer, it will be easier for retailers to close sales. On the flip side, using data analytics tools to slice and dice your data to create easy-to-understand visualizations of what is selling and what isn’t can be a huge benefit when shared with suppliers to fine-tune inventory shipments that result in a win-win situation for everyone.
84 % of companies that work to improve their customer experience report an increase in their revenue. Companies that excel at customer experience have 1.5 times more engaged employees than less customer-focused companies. American consumers will pay 17% more to purchase from a company with a reputation for great service.
Courtesy: Forbes
Enfin, il est important de garder à l’esprit que les clients sont une priorité pour les enseignes de grande distribution. Comme dans toute bonne relation, la communication est essentielle, en particulier dans le contexte anxiogène actuel, où les gens ont plus que jamais besoin de connexions. Utilisez tous les moyens pertinents à disposition pour créer des interactions, via les réseaux sociaux, les e-mails, les applications, etc. pour comprendre ce qu’ils veulent et comment ils veulent le recevoir. Faites confiance à leurs commentaires et assurez-vous d’exceller pour répondre à leurs attentes. Afin de compléter les informations que vous recevez de vos clients, profitez de solutions, comme la solution de pilotage du prix de Mercio. En tirant partie de la data science et de l’IA, vous pourrez mieux comprendre vos clients, par exemple en identifiant les articles qui, systématiquement, attirent les clients vers les magasins, ceux qui sont achetés de manière indépendante, ainsi que ceux qui sont achetés en complément d’autres produits. Gardez à l’esprit que plus vous simplifiez le processus d’achat de vos produits et en faites une expérience agréable, plus les clients seront fidèles à long terme.
Go further with Mercio:
La solution de pilotage du prix de Mercio permet aux différentes équipes d’enseignes de la grande distribution d’accéder aux informations les plus fraîches, fédérées en continu sur la plateforme. En ayant le même niveau d’information et les données les plus fiables à disposition, elles pourront communiquer de manière fluide et renforcer les liens entre les collaborateurs. La visualisation de toutes les étapes de calcul du prix permettent aux organisations de dépasser les silos en interne et faciliter l’adhésion aux recommandations de prix.
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