Four important retail questions are answered for a happy holiday season for both consumers and retailers
Solace By Ush Shura, Distinguished Engineer at
The retailer’s top wish for the holiday shopping season is that the supply matches the demand. This is especially true as the holidays are rapidly approaching and there will be five fewer days of shopping than in previous years. Retailers are already promoting early holiday sales to encourage customers. Early promotions, seasonal spikes and an unreliable global supply chain combine to create the perfect storm of outages and logistical problems in the lead up to the holiday shopping season.
Retailers must have an infrastructure to ensure that critical information is readily available in real time. This will allow them to match the customer’s demands with the supply chain and keep consumers happy during the holiday season.
The holiday season has been shortened, and promotions have begun earlier. Is your business ready to adapt?
In 2024, the holiday season in the United States will be shorter. There will only be 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This means that five days of shopping are cut off, and many retailers will have to launch early promotions to drive sales. We’ve seen retailers like Walmart, Target and Amazon launch early deals in order to beat the rush.
Retailers in the U.S. are optimistic about retail sales growth this year despite the shorter holiday season and higher inflation.
Early promotions will certainly pull sales ahead, so it is important to have the correct products at the right price and in the right time early in the season. Retailers need data to ensure that they can meet demand and supply. Retail success will come down to the underlying system architecture.
How can we meet the needs of our customers by keeping all eyes on them? Experience seamless omnichannel experiences.
2024 was a year full of disruptions. The year 2024 has been a year of disruptions. Retail operations are still affected by all of these factors.
Customer service is still a priority as we head towards the holiday season. This means managing spikes in volume, minimising waste, preventing stocksouts and optimizing supply-chain operations. It’s not a solution to spin the plates, but it is a solution to provide a seamless shopping experience across all channels. This is crucial to customer satisfaction, business success and loyalty. A successful omnichannel strategy requires a new look at the business’s infrastructure.
The backbone of true omnichannel integration is an event mesh, supported by event-driven architectural principles. It captures events from different touchpoints such as website clicks and mobile app usage. These events are processed in real time, allowing AI agents build and update comprehensive customer profiles.
The mesh follows a customer from one channel into another. If a customer leaves an online shopping cart and then enters a store, the system will notify the sales associate of product recommendations based upon the customer’s browsing history. This allows for a more personalized experience in the store.
Is personalized pricing possible? The digital price tag
Even prices are becoming more personalized. It’s a huge deal for retailers. It’s much more likely that customers will take advantage of product promotions as they browse the aisles, than wait until they get to the checkout.
Also, there is the possibility of fully-connected and personalized pricing. Digital price tags can take into consideration events that occur in the supply chain of a product, like cost price, availability, etc., and combine them with data about customers’ behavior or their purchasing habits to provide personalized offers to consumers in real time.
According to 76% of retail executives who are in the industry, consumers value lower prices more than brand loyalty. Retailers must create personalized omnichannel experiences to stand out in an environment that is value-driven.
Why should you be responsible for someone else’s problems? Welcome the Event Mesh
In the future, we can expect to see exciting possibilities in the integration of physical robots and AI. An event mesh combined with agentic AI is also a possibility. As automated guided vehicles revolutionized warehouses so could similar technologies transform the in-store shopping experience.
To create a seamless retail experience, the entire business must be involved: employees, suppliers and customers. A powerful event mesh powered by AI agentic is uniquely positioned for the holiday retail season. It enhances the supply chain’s visibility and agility by creating a real-time, unified data network.
The event mesh is a flexible and responsive retail ecosystem which adapts to changes in market conditions, consumer preferences and technological advances. It allows for real-time decisions, enhanced personalization and a holistic view across the entire organization. It is dynamic, open and simple, and accessible everywhere.
Shopping personalized means that the products are in the best place, at the perfect time and at the most affordable price. This is what will ultimately make this holiday season a time where all consumer wishes are fulfilled!
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