Top 5 Reasons
Retailers Go Google
CONTENTS
Executive Summary
Analyzing and Leveraging Dispersed Data
Engaging with Customers
Strengthening Collaboration
Streamlining Operations
Innovating for the Future
Conclusion
Executive Summary
“We will see more disruption in the next ten years of retail than
we did in the previous one thousand.” – Doug Stephens, founder
of the website Retail Prophet and author of “The Retail Revival:
Re-imagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism” 1
Transform Your Retail Enterprise And
Customer Experience With Google
To Stephens’ point, the retail industry is not only undergoing
significant changes, but it’s also doing so at a rapid-fire pace.
These changes are taking place across all aspects of the
business. As Gartner notes, “consumers are continuing to
use the power of digital technologies to redefine the way
in which they interact with retailers.”2
Similarly, independent research firm Forrester writes, “Empowered
consumers and connected employees are interacting and
collaborating, using millions of apps and ubiquitous, rich social
connectivity to do business in ways we simply could not conceive
of just a few years ago.” 3
Today, customers are often more educated on products than welltrained store associates. At their fingertips lies a window into any
competitor’s pricing, promotions and loyalty programs. For brick and
mortar retailers, the key to staying relevant in this dynamic market
is twofold: To engage customers and to merge online and offline
shopping and engagement into a single, seamless experience.
In addition to improving the customer experience, retailers must
also transform their internal operations in order to thrive in
the 21st century. While the customer experience is becoming
increasingly important, retailers must also focus on improving
traditional capabilities around internal operations in order to power
the modern shopping experience.
Gartner contends: “Critically, digitalization is enabling consumers
to instigate transformational change in retail businesses, and
there is no doubt that this will mean a transformational change to
retailers’ application and technology infrastructures.”4
Through our work with leading retailers like Jordache, Design
within Reach, Woolworths, Perry Ellis International and many more,
we have learned the key focus areas that retail leaders consider
when moving to the cloud and going Google. Based on these
priorities, here are the top five reasons that retailers go Google:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Analyzing and leveraging dispersed data
Engaging with customers
Strengthening collaboration
Streamlining operations
Innovating for the future
Analyzing And Leveraging Dispersed Data
“The use of flexible processes, more data, and better analytics
means that leading firms can: 1) provide intelligent products and
services that are of more value to consumers and provide more
information on their usage; 2) plug into their ecosystem better
by tapping data from partners, government entities, and data
marketplaces; and 3) make better strategic decisions by anticipating
and detecting shifts in their market.” 5– Forrester Research, Inc.
In today’s world, data is everywhere. From individual shopper
profiles and aggregated revenues to competitors, demographic
patterns and even the weather, data is present across all aspects of
the business. And the ability to make sense of that data is key to
making good business decisions.
In its 2013 report “Top Technology Trends to Watch: 2014 to 2016,”
Forrester writes: “Firms that embrace big data concepts, open data
and adopt new adaptive intelligence approaches are creating nextgeneration smart systems that overcome limitations and create
disruptive business innovations.” 6
Google BigQuery and Maps for Work allow retailers to do just that
by using the same technology and power that Google uses to make
sense of the entire internet. In this example you can see all your
store locations displayed on a map:
firm continues, achieving this level of personalization is difficult,
as “the magnitude of data – both consumer and transactional –
has increased significantly as a result of technology and customers
increasingly shopping across channels.” 7
Given this warning, it becomes clear that the retailer’s most
essential tool for successful omnichannel engagement is data and
analytics. It’s the raw material that gives a retailer the insight into
customers and the confidence that reaching out across both the
physical and digital channels will be effective.
For example, retailers can use big data to deliver more effective
support by segmenting high value, low service customers to create
a single view of these customers. Specifically, using big data with
Google BigQuery to analyze sales and assortments at the SKU level
makes it easier to stock popular products, while leveraging Google
BigQuery and Google Prediction API to respond to external factors
and gather data from multiple sources allows retailers to measure
the impact on sales.
Retailers can also use BigQuery and Google Maps Engine API to
stay ahead of competitors by analyzing the effect of opening or
closing a store, visualizing competitors’ locations and proximity
to customers and making more informed decisions about how to
invest in new channels (e.g. catalogs, stores, websites).
To see how this plays out in a real-life scenario, let’s take a look at
recency, or the idea that customers who bought from you recently
are more likely to buy from you again than those who purchased
a long time ago. Retailers can take this very old concept, run it
through the big data machine and use the results to target the
right customers on the right channels.
Engaging with Customers
“Customers and partners drive the pace of change, and the only
way to keep up is to engage with them. This increasingly requires a
compelling digital experience that adds value to people’s lives, in their
context and at their moment of need.” 8 – Forrester Research, Inc.
As illustrated by this example, tools like Google Maps allow
retailers to visualize data and even overlay multiple levels of data –
such as CRM data, competitor data, weather data, average income
data – and look for trends or correlations. Having this insight into
the business and its customers is critical for success.
At the same time, the boom in online shopping has led to more
choices and power for customers and increased competition for
retailers. In the face of these changes, brick-and-mortar stores
need to introduce omnichannel engagement to stay relevant.
That means taking their greatest competitive asset – the physical
store – and pairing it with new, online initiatives to engage with
customers in more personalized and compelling ways.
According to Gartner, “Retailers that are able to execute offers
to the right consumers at the right time will gain a competitive
advantage with receptive consumer segments.” But, the research
Shoppers use smartphones to check competitors’ prices, look for
coupons and deals and measure shipping costs down to the penny.
If they’re standing in the aisle at your store and they find a better
deal, they will walk away. Yet it’s hard to compete on price alone in
a world full of discount sites. So what’s a retailer to do?
Most retailers are used to decades of push advertising: Telling
shoppers what to look for, what’s in season and where to buy it,
but push advertising isn’t enough anymore. Today, retailers must
take a look at the other side of the coin and begin to engage in
pull advertising, as well. The way retailers advertise at the Zero
Moment of Truth must be completely different, because every lead
is now initiated by the consumer, not the business.
As UK retailer John Lewis writes in its 2013 report “How We Shop,
Live & Look,” “Consumer expectation is changing at pace. Shoppers
are demanding – and being given – a growing pool of channels
through which they can buy the brands they love.”9
While e-commerce has changed retail, nothing replaces an
in-person experience. Retailers need to evolve traditional store
concepts by taking some of the best in e-commerce, like better
data and feedback mechanisms and more prompt customer service,
and applying it to the overall customer experience. Innovative
retailers are achieving this goal and improving the customer
experience – both in stores and online – by using Google solutions
to deliver enhanced mobile and search capabilities for customers.
According to John Lewis, “Technological innovation has transformed
what it means to shop. The omnichannel experience will continue
as the driving force behind this change, with more accessibility via
smartphones and tablet computers complemented by an ongoing
commitment to customer service in-store. While technology allows
customers to ‘grab and go,’ people visiting shops increasingly
demand a more interactive and immersive experience.”10
Many retailers are using Google App Engine and Maps for Work
to create native mobile apps, complete with geo store locators
and geo fencing, to build an amazing, immersive mobile presence
through interactive apps that match the brand and help customers
locate stores. Additionally, these solutions help stores recognize
customers across all channels, making it easier to provide a
seamless shopping experience and more personalized offers.
As Gartner writes in its 2013 report on what digitalization means for
the retail industry, “the exponential rise in mobile usage, the growth
in the use of social media, the increasing use of cloud computing
and the growing strategic nature of information are converging to
enable consumers to demand personalized and customized shopping
experiences. For example, the convergence of cloud and mobile has
enabled acceleration of data synchronization and access to real-time
contextual information and can be used to deliver mobile coupons in
real time as a customer is shopping in a store.”11
Retailers are also using Google App Engine to build dynamic landing
pages that are increasing engagement and delivering better search
results. When coupled with Google Search Appliance, these solutions
are even improving the relevance of on-site search results.
The most innovative retailers are taking this online engagement a
step further and continuing the experience offline. As discussed
above, omnichannel engagement is becoming increasingly
important for retailers, and a key component of this type of
engagement is ensuring that customers can seamlessly transition
from online to offline engagement and vice versa.
Google for Work solutions like Map Engine, Google Cloud Platform
and Chrome devices are making this seamless, omnichannel
experience attainable for retailers. With Map Engine, retailers can
not only provide customers with directions to nearby stores, but
they can also help customers find what they’re looking for quickly
once they get to the store by creating indoor maps. Meanwhile,
many retailers are also adding Google Chrome kiosks in their stores
to make it simple for customers to find information like price and
availability. Chrome devices also make it possible to introduce
reliable, lightweight and maintenance-free digital signage.
Previously, this type of engagement was limited to marketing
teams with big budgets, as signage could cost thousands of
dollars per node, but Chrome is cutting those costs and making it
attainable for organizations of all kinds.
Large retailers like Best Buy, Dixons, Currys and Dillard’s have all
introduced Chrome kiosks over the past few years.12 Woody Chin,
Dillard’s CIO, says the devices are key for his stores: “We have
many more employees than computers at our retail stores, so
being able to share devices is key. With Managed Public Sessions,
employees can walk up to any machine and get immediate access
to their corporate email and important internal systems. And since
Managed Public Sessions wipes all data at logout, it supports our
PCI compliance requirements.”13
Strengthening Collaboration
“In retail, things change all the time and emailing about employee
schedules, promotional timelines or new merchandise availability
meant that the information was quickly out of date and risked
employees having inaccurate information. Google Apps changed
all that. Easily collaborating across headquarters and all our store
locations helps us provide a much more consistent and inviting
experience for our customers, and that’s really important to us.” –
John Edelman, CEO, Design Within Reach 14
One thing every retail business — and every business, for that
matter — has in common is the need to have employees work
together to get things done. We are all accustomed to office
applications like word processing, spreadsheets and presentations
that help us work together as well as the endless email chains,
attachments and version control problems that go along with
those applications. But Google for Work solutions are changing all
of that, introducing applications that keep everyone on the same
page and providing new tools for collaboration like video chat
and shared files that update in real-time. The result is increased
efficiency and fewer headaches.
Similar to Design Within Reach, global retailer Perry Ellis
International was also able to foster a more collaborative and
connected environment for its employees by implementing Google
Apps for Work. Says Ronen Lapidot, Senior Vice President of
Information Technology at Perry Ellis International: “Now our
global teams are able to connect through Gmail’s video chat
feature to meet ‘face to face’ about upcoming projects, designs
and merchandise. This has been especially helpful for offices with
eight or ten hour time differences between them and has made us
feel more like one cohesive team instead of siloed offices.” 15
In addition to improving collaboration, retailers can also leverage
Google for Work solutions, including Google Apps, Google App
Engine and Google Chrome devices, to foster a more connected
environment. As part of this effort, Google has developed its
cloud solutions to help users “work the way they live.” This mantra
has led to the created of a better mobile experience that makes
working on the go easy and allows organizations to easily embrace
the BYOD culture that many of today’s professionals are seeking.
For example, retailers are helping associates work more effectively
by giving them access to information from any device, anywhere or
showcasing knowledgeable specialists via Google+ Hangouts on Air.
Many retailers are also building intranets with Google Sites and
Google App Engine to disseminate critical information to store
associates, share planograms more efficiently across stores and
standardize the communication between individual stores and the
corporate headquarters.
Woolworths, Australia’s largest retailer with more than 3,000
stores across Australia and New Zealand, introduced Google
for Work solutions in 2013 and has since seen significant
improvements in its ability to share information with employees.
Although Woolies started off with a Google Apps migration, it
quickly realized the potential of other Google for Work solutions
and, not long after the initial migration, introduced multiple
custom intranets built on Google App Engine.16
Woolworths introduced these new intranet solutions to improve
communications between its headquarters and numerous retail
locations. With the solutions in place, users can now send
targeted communications – for example, to a certain region or a
specific store – so as not to bombard the entire organization with
messages that are only relevant to a small percentage of people.
This ability to send messages to select groups has significantly
improved communication within the Woolworths organization.
Now, Woolies’ intranet users pay closer attention to the messages
they receive because they know the message is important and
relevant to them, since they wouldn’t be receiving it otherwise.
As a result of the custom intranet with targeted communications,
users can spend more time on what matters to them and less time
filtering out irrelevant noise.
Streamlining Operations
“Google Apps is built for team collaboration, which makes so many
business processes easier. For example, reviewing job applicants
used to involve emailing each reviewer for individual feedback.
With Google Groups, we can post the resume to a group and
people can provide feedback and discuss it so that we interview
the best candidates for the team. We also use Google spreadsheets
to track supply orders and Google Docs forms to distribute quick
inventory surveys and aggregate data from our retail stores.” – Ezri
Silver, SVP Operations, Jordache 17
In addition to improving collaboration among employees and
simplifying the process of accommodating high turnover
rates, going Google can also help retailers streamline various
operations. This streamlining is important because it provides
retailers with the tools and time they need to focus on
innovation, engagement and personalization.
For example, retailers can more efficiently and effectively launch
and promote products with Google+ Hangouts and pages, and
even promote products via contextual offers created using
Google Maps and BigQuery.
Google for Work solutions also help retailers streamline the
onboarding process, which is a critical process across the entire
industry. Retail has one of the highest turnover rates across all
industries and, coupled with seasonal hiring, this rate requires
retailers to constantly recruit, hire and onboard new employees.
As a result of this high turnover rate, it’s essential for retailers
to make the onboarding process more efficient. Recently, many
retailers have done just that with the help of Google Sites,
Forms and Hangouts on Air. These solutions not only automate
a previously manual, time consuming process, but they also
allow retailers to deliver on-demand training available anywhere
on any device. Overall, these solutions simplify the onboarding
process and make it more convenient for both the business and
its new hires.
Lapidot shares: “Usually I travel to each location for weeks at a
time to interview and hire employees and oversee the regional
office openings. With Google Apps, we were able to interview job
candidates via video chat and work with regional managers on
important policies and resources that needed to be in place for
these new offices and associates. I was elated to discover that
what normally takes significant travel time and costs could be
done right from my desk.” 18
Innovating For The Future
“Going Google will transform the way our employees interact with
technology and collaborate with each other at every level of the
organisation. We’re looking forward to providing our staff access to
intuitive consumer technology at work and see the move to Google as
the beginning of our journey towards a more efficient and innovative
style of working.” – Dan Beecham, CIO, Woolworths Unlimited 19
For those retailers who have gone Google, making the move was
about much more than improving current processes. Of course
that is a critical part of the transition, but it’s only one piece of
it. The other reason that these retailers are introducing Google
technologies is to “future proof” their organizations.
Since its 1998 founding, Google has built an impressive track
record of innovation, disrupting everything from search and
email to maps and, of course, how we work. And with new
projects always under way and existing works in progress like
Glass and self-driving cars, Google shows no signs of stopping.
Sure, Google’s self-driving cars may not be ready for the public
quite yet, but imagining what will be possible when they are
has retailers itching for more. Just think about the potential for
efficiently delivering online orders and moving inventory. The
possibilities are really endless.
Equally as important, Google’s constant innovation isn’t limited to
larger scale projects like these. With its regular, incremental updates
to Google Apps and more, Google ensures that businesses are always
evolving and able to keep up with the latest technology.
Given how fast technology continues to change and how rapidly the
retail industry is transforming alongside it, the ability to keep pace
with – and even get ahead of – these demands is critical. Retailers
who are stuck on out-of-date technology, whether it’s two years or
two months past its expiration, won’t be able to keep up with their
evolving customer-base and stand to lose out to competition. With
Google, however, retailers can be sure that the latest technology is
always within reach, giving them the confidence they need to meet
even the loftiest of their customers’ expectations.
is an increase in customer expectations, which is a direct result of
the rise in mobile and social technologies. Today’s customers are
looking for a personalized shopping experience that can seamlessly
transition between on and offline channels, and the retailers that
can provide these experiences will come out on top. However,
providing this customized, omnichannel experience is easier said
than done. Nevertheless, many retailers are achieving this goal
and taking it a step further to plan for the future with the help of
Google for Work solutions.
Conclusion
From making sense of big data and analytics and powering innovative
customer engagement to improving collaboration and streamlining
operations behind the scenes, Google for Work solutions are providing
retailers with the tools they need to meet – and even exceed – the
expectations of modern (and future) shoppers.
By helping retailers take advantage of data, better engage with
customers, improve collaboration and streamline operations,
Google for Work is allowing for true innovation.
The retail industry is evolving at a rapid pace, and retailers need to
embrace these changes and stay ahead of new trends in order to
remain competitive. One of the main factors driving these changes
The advent of digital solutions are changing the way people
work, live and interact, and the effect on how people shop is no
exception. For the retailers who understand this shift and are
innovating and evolving early, Google’s suite of business tools is
quickly becoming the solution of choice.
Resources
1.
Lutz, Ashley. “10 Predictions for How Shopping Will Completely Change in the Future.” Business Insider.
http://www.businessinsider.com/predictions-for-the-future-of-retail-2014-1. January 2014.
2.
“Predicts 2014: Digitalization in Retail Means M-Commerce Grows, E-Commerce Slows,
Personalization Misfires and 3D Printing Transforms,” Gartner, November 2013.
3.
“Top Technology Trends to Watch: 2014 to 2016,” Forrester Research, Inc., November, 2013.
4.
“Predicts 2014: Digitalization in Retail Means M-Commerce Grows, E-Commerce Slows,
Personalization Misfi res and 3D Printing Transforms,” Gartner, November 2013.
5.
“Top Technology Trends to Watch: 2014 to 2016,” Forrester Research, Inc., November, 2013.
6.
“Top Technology Trends to Watch: 2014 to 2016,” Forrester Research, Inc., November, 2013.
7.
“Predicts 2014: Digitalization in Retail Means M-Commerce Grows, E-Commerce Slows,
Personalization Misfires and 3D Printing Transforms,” Gartner, November 2013.
8.
“Top Technology Trends to Watch: 2014 to 2016,” Forrester Research, Inc., November, 2013.
9.
““How We Shop, Live & Look.” The John Lewis Retail Report 2013. 2013.
10.
“How We Shop, Live & Look.” The John Lewis Retail Report 2013. 2013.
11.
“Predicts 2014: Digitalization in Retail Means M-Commerce Grows, E-Commerce Slows,
Personalization Misfires and 3D Printing Transforms,” Gartner, November 2013
12.
“Google Is Poised To Revolutionize Consumer Retail.” Forbes. September 2013.
13.
“Chromebook Kiosks for Customers and Employees.” Official Google for Work Blog. April 2013.
14.
Edelman, John. “Google Apps is the Perfect Fit for Design Within Reach.” Google for Work Blog. September 17, 2012.
15.
“Lapidot, Ronen. “Perry Ellis International brings their global team together with Google Apps.”
Google for Work Blog. September 20, 2012.
16.
Beecham, Dan. “Report from Down Under: Woolworths goes Google.” Google for Work Blog. April 16, 2013.
17.
Silver, Ezri. “Innovation is in their jeans: Jordache moves to Google Apps.” Google for Work Blog. February 13, 2012.
18.
Lapidot, Ronen. “Perry Ellis International brings their global team together with Google Apps.”
Google for Work Blog. September 20, 2012.
19.
Beecham, Dan. “Report from Down Under: Woolworths goes Google.” Google for Work Blog. April 16, 2013.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global
professional services company,
providing a broad range of services
and solutions in strategy, consulting,
digital, technology and operations.
Combining unmatched experience
and specialized skills across more
than 40 industries and all business
functions—underpinned by the
world’s largest delivery network—
Accenture works at the intersection
of business and technology to help
clients improve their performance
and create sustainable value
for their stakeholders. With
approximately 373,000 people
serving clients in more than
120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the
world works and lives. Visit us at
www.accenture.com.
Copyright © 2016 Accenture
All rights reserved.
Accenture, its logo, and
High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.