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Retail
Consolidating retailers data exchange technologies and addressing growth-driven decline in data maturity
Retail Overview
The retail industry is undergoing significant change, driven by the rapid evolution of consumer behaviour and technological advancements. The increasing importance of eCommerce, the demand for personalised experiences and the need for businesses to optimise their operations for speed and efficiency have reshaped the way retailers operate.
At the heart of this transformation is the ability to create agile and scalable systems that support innovation and respond to evolving market demands. This is where Claria steps in, offering the expertise to help businesses navigate these changes and stay ahead in a competitive landscape.
Key trends in the retail industry
AI-driven decision making and Automation
AI is being adopted across the retail sector to support personalised recommendations, improve demand forecasting, automate routine tasks like customer service and restocking and help teams make better use of data.
Rise of eCommerce and omnichannel retail
As eCommerce continues to grow, retailers are adopting omnichannel strategies to meet customers wherever they are, whether online or in-store.
Increasing consumer expectations
Customers now demand real-time updates, such as live stock levels, instant order tracking and prompt communication, expecting a consistent experience across all touchpoints.
Real-time inventory and supply chain pressure
The need for real-time visibility into inventory and supply chain operations is more pressing than ever to keep up with customer demand and ensure product availability.
The need for Agile, Data-Driven Operations
Retailers are increasingly relying on data analytics to drive decisions, optimise operations and deliver personalised experiences, while adopting agile methodologies to keep pace with the fast-moving market.
Trusted by leading organisations
Key challenges facing Retail
Siloed data and lack of real-time visibility
The need for real-time data exchange, with increasing demands for omnichannel capabilities and data-driven decisions.
Resource management
Deciding between investing in physical infrastructure or migrating to flexible cloud solutions.
Data localisation & regulation
Ensuring compliance with data residency laws and maintaining control over where data is stored.
Disconnected systems
Legacy systems that are siloed, leading to inefficiencies and poor integration between critical systems like POS, ERP and CRM.
Acquisitions
Managing technology stack mergers, data security and system integration during acquisitions.
Integrating AI effectively
While AI offers valuable applications, many retailers face challenges in selecting the right tools, accessing quality data, aligning teams and measuring impact. There are also concerns around cost, transparency and responsible use.
How Claria can help
Claria offers a broad range of services designed to meet the diverse needs of the retail industry. These services focus on providing retailers with the technology, systems and support they need to stay competitive and grow. Our services include:
Enterprise Architecture & Integration
We design and implement integration solutions that connect your disparate systems, making sure that your technology infrastructure supports your retail business goals. We help create a coherent architecture that aligns with your operational needs, from in-store systems to online platforms.
Legacy System Modernisation
Many retailers still rely on legacy systems. We help businesses modernise their legacy infrastructure, migrating to cloud-native applications and microservices architectures, ensuring they can stay competitive and cost-effective while improving their agility.
API Management
Managing APIs effectively is essential for modern retail systems. Our services include API design, development, security,and governance, enabling you to securely expose data to customers, partners and internal systems while maintaining compliance and performance.
Data Governance & Sovereignty
Retailers need to comply with regulations like GDPR. Our data governance services ensure your data is properly managed, secure and complies with both local and international standards. We also ensure your data is stored in compliance with data residency laws.
Data & Analytics
Data is one of the most valuable assets in retail. We help you implement data governance frameworks, clean and optimise your data and build analytics models that offer insights into customer behaviour, sales patterns, inventory trends and operational efficiency.
Cybersecurity & Compliance
As retailers handle large amounts of sensitive customer and transaction data, security is paramount. We implement robust cybersecurity strategies to safeguard your systems and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
AI Readiness & Adoption
We help retailers optimise their technology landscape for the adoption of AI by focusing on data quality, integration and governance. This includes improving data structures, implementing governance frameworks and ensuring APIs are well-managed and secure. We also work with platforms that incorporate AI features, helping you make use of existing capabilities while laying the groundwork for more advanced AI use cases in the future.
Team Augmentation
Our team can support your internal teams with skilled professionals, whether you need developers, architects, or project managers. We provide flexible resourcing to meet your project needs, ensuring fast delivery and continuous support.
DevOps & Automation
DevOps helps retailers streamline operations and speed up delivery of new features. By implementing continuous integration and delivery pipelines, we ensure your applications and services are always up-to-date, highly scalable and easier to maintain.
Integration Strategy & Planning
We help retailers define clear integration strategies that align with their business objectives. By evaluating your existing systems, we help design an integration roadmap that delivers long-term value and scales as your business grows.
Cloud & Hybrid Infrastructure
With cloud adoption on the rise, we design cloud-based infrastructures and hybrid systems tailored to your needs. We work with platforms such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud to help you scale your infrastructure without compromising on security, performance, or availability.
Custom Development
Our development team builds custom applications and services that meet your specific business requirements. We work with a wide range of technologies to create solutions that integrate with your existing infrastructure and processes.
Our Technology Partners
At Claria, we work closely with leading global technology partners to deliver state-of-the-art solutions that drive success in the retail sector.
Get in touchOur trusted partners include:
As a Boomi partner, we help retailers manage their data integrations and automate workflows, enabling smooth communication between on-premises, cloud and hybrid systems. Boomi’s platform ensures that your systems are consistently updated, making it easier to manage vast amounts of data across multiple channels and touchpoints.
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Through our partnership with Microsoft Azure, we offer cloud solutions designed to scale with the needs of the retail industry. Azure's capabilities in data management and application hosting allow retailers to optimise their infrastructure and ensure high performance, whether on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments.
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As a certified partner, we assist retailers in optimising their API management and system integration. WSO2's open-source solutions provide the flexibility needed for retailers to integrate systems and ensure efficient communication across platforms, improving overall operational efficiency.
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As an AWS partner, we assist retailers in taking full advantage of AWS's cloud solutions, which are ideal for data storage, computing and analytics.
Read moreConnected Ecosystems
At Claria, we specialise in integrating the most widely used platforms and technologies, ensuring your systems are connected and working together effectively. Here are some key technologies we focus on. Don’t see your technology on the list? No worries, our experts are here to assist with any integration needs.
ERP Integration
We integrate SAP with eCommerce platforms, POS systems and customer service solutions to streamline inventory management, enhance order tracking and improve financial reporting.
We connect Microsoft Dynamics 365 with eCommerce and CRM systems, centralising data management and improving order fulfilment, customer service and inventory updates across all sales channels.
We help integrate NetSuite with your existing retail systems, simplifying financial management, order processing and inventory tracking. Our integration ensures a consistent, streamlined flow of data across your operations.
We enable the integration of Workday with your other retail systems to automate HR, finance and operational workflows, improving efficiency and ensuring data consistency across your organisation.
eCommerce & Retail Platforms Integration
We integrate Shopify with your inventory, payment and CRM systems, enabling real-time updates on stock levels, streamlining order processing and customer experience management.
Our integration of Magento with back-office systems like ERP and CRM ensures a smooth and efficient flow of data across all retail touchpoints, helping optimise both front-end and back-end operations.
We help integrate WooCommerce with your back-office systems like ERP and CRM, providing real-time data updates on stock levels and customer information. This cost-effective solution enables small and medium-sized retailers to manage eCommerce operations effectively while scaling up their business.
eCommerce & Retail Platforms Integration
We connect Salesforce with your retail systems to manage customer relationships, track sales and optimise marketing efforts. Our integration ensures that data across customer touchpoints is consistent.
We help integrate HubSpot with your retail systems, enabling you to track leads, automate marketing workflows and optimise customer engagement. This integration helps your business deliver targeted campaigns and strengthen relationships with customers.
We integrate Marketo with your CRM and retail systems to streamline marketing automation, personalise campaigns and optimise lead nurturing. By connecting your sales and marketing efforts, we ensure that customer data flows smoothly to create more personalised experiences and increase conversions.
Avoiding the Pitfalls: Common Mistakes in Retail Integration Projects
Retail integration projects come with their own set of challenges and mistakes can lead to significant delays, increased costs and a fractured tech environment. Here are some of the most common pitfalls retailers face during these projects:
Fragmented data ownership
A common problem that is experienced with many growing businesses is fragmented data ownership. As business increases and department sizes increase to match new workloads, it’s common to see responsibilities of system & data ownership to be broken down into more manageable sizes and allocated to smaller workgroups. This practice does lead to easier management of those systems, but creates a division in the business where each department with their own budgets end up purchasing different solutions to perform similar functions. To maximise cost reductions and integration efficiency, it’s important to understand and combine all similar data sets where possible.
Choosing the wrong Integration Platform
Another mistake is choosing an Integration Platform without taking the time to truly understand the business vision and the desired business state after project completion. Some solutions are better suited for different scenarios. Worse yet is that the impact of choosing the wrong integration platform is not usually recognised until a reasonable amount of progress has been made. If it turns out the chosen solution is completely unsuitable, it can turn into a large amount of money wasted to rip out that solution and start again from scratch. We will always recommend taking the time to properly assess your business needs.
Underestimating the complexity of Omnichannel Integration
Retailers need to connect multiple touchpoints and provide a unified experience across various channels. Omnichannel integration is complex and failing to account for the full range of customer interactions can cause gaps in service delivery. It’s essential to understand the specific needs of each channel and plan integration carefully to ensure smooth interaction across online, in-store and mobile platforms.
Ignoring Data Governance and Compliance needs
With increasing regulations around data protection, such as GDPR, ignoring compliance during integration projects can lead to legal and reputational risks. A common mistake is failing to implement proper data governance and security policies during the integration process. Ensuring that your integrations meet data protection standards and comply with relevant regulations should be a key focus from the outset.
Why leading retailers trust Claria
At Claria, we have built a reputation for delivering exceptional results across the retail sector. Leading retailers trust us because we offer more than just solutions, we provide tangible value that drives business growth. Here’s why our clients choose us:
Tailored solutions for retail success
We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all. Our services are designed specifically for your business needs, ensuring that we address your unique challenges and deliver the most effective solutions.
Deep expertise in retail technology
With years of experience in integrating complex retail systems, we understand the intricacies of the industry. From eCommerce platforms to supply chain management and everything in between, we provide integration solutions that support and elevate your operations.
Scalable, future-ready solutions
As the retail landscape continues to evolve, so do we. Our solutions are built to grow with your business, adapting to new challenges and opportunities as they arise, ensuring long-term success
Commitment to data security & compliance
Retailers trust us to protect their most sensitive information. With our expertise in data governance and regulatory compliance, we help you stay ahead of changing laws and ensure the security of your customer and business data.
Proven track record of success
Our clients have experienced improved operational efficiency, faster time to market and increased customer satisfaction thanks to our tailored, technology-agnostic approach.
Certified for security and compliance
We are accredited with ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, giving retailers confidence that their sensitive data from customer information to transaction records is protected under internationally recognised information security standards.
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