Member Article

Why a lack of integration risks holding back the retail and hospitality sectors

The retail and hospitality industries have been through a number of technological changes in the past few years. New technologies and strategies such as omnichannel retail, click and collect and the in-app order and purchasing, have now emerged and generally helped improve the customer experience. However, while new technologies are aiding businesses in interacting with customers in new ways, they have also caused problems due to a lack of integration.

To highlight the need for integration, a new independent research study was carried out with IT decision makers in the hospitality, retail and travel and tourism sectors that looked into customer payment systems, as an example of the challenges facing the wider industry. One of the key findings of this study was the reason behind the growing need for integration, as it was found that there is significant demand from consumers for more payment solutions. In fact, the research found that 40% of IT decision makers surveyed had felt increasing levels of pressure to deliver new payment solutions over the past 12 months. This problem is set to only increase as it is expected to grow by a further 16% in the next 12 months. This groundswell of demand is clearly causing problems for many retail and hospitality businesses that operate in a bricks and mortar environment.

As a result of this pressure, businesses are finding increased levels of complexity with their operations. As an example of this complexity those who were surveyed reported back that on average, they were managing 6 user-facing payment solutions, which is set to further increase to 7 in the next two years. All of these different systems adds extra complexity and is leading to a lack of faith from IT decision makers in their businesses ability to deliver new payment solutions. In fact, only three out of ten respondents expressed that they had complete faith in their company’s ability to deliver new payment systems.

A lack of faith is also being further compounded by a lack of access to the right resources and difficulties in securing internal buy-in. This is especially true where new technologies such as mobile app payments are concerned, despite their expected growth over the next few years. In fact, survey results found that 57% of the respondents are planning to deploy a mobile app that allows for cashless app payments to be made in a physical location in the next two years. This level of interest should come as no surprise given that 100% of those who have either deployed or are planning on deploying a mobile app reported that there are advantages to offering customers this type of payment system. Advantages of this type of technology include areas that are fundamental to a business’s success such as an improved customer experience and the potential for reduced operating costs.

Nonetheless, while new payment systems such as in-app payments offer a lot of advantages, they also add to the continued need for greater integration. The lack of integration in the systems and technologies that retail and hospitality businesses implement is not just limited to prevent the rollout of new services and customer-facing services. As well as the growth in customer demand for more payment options, established businesses are also under threat from able, nimble start-up businesses. Due to their lack of legacy hardware and expensive systems, these start-ups are able to quickly and easily install new payment systems, and better keep pace with customer demands and the latest technologies.

For large, well-established retail and hospitality businesses it can, therefore, be much harder to operate in this way, without focusing on integration. Connecting multiple systems together, into one single location makes it not only easier to manage, but also greatly shortens the time needed to set up and install new services, such as a mobile app payment system.

By utilising new integration technologies, hospitality and retail businesses can not only install these new services but also connect multiple payment platforms together. In doing so both large and medium-sized business are able to operate in a similar way to their start-up competitors, but with their existing advantages of scale and established reputations still intact.

Furthermore, the latest integration platforms should be viewed as a more than just a way to connect systems together. For instance, once an integration platform is installed, businesses can then look to add analytics tools to better understand customer behaviours and patterns. These can then go towards further improving business operations and product development. It is hardly surprising then that 100% of respondents to the survey agreed that their company would consider trying more innovative system solutions to analyse customer data if they were easier to connect with their existing platforms. With improved insights and analytics, businesses are better placed to plan and implement changes into how they operate.

All of this, however, is only the start of what is possible. Businesses who select the right integration platform will be able to enhance their operations and deliver a better customer experience. Therefore for companies in the hospitality and retail sectors to succeed, it is vital that they focus and work with experts in integration. Failure to do so could put them a long way behind competitors.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Flyt .