“How can I help you?” Ah yes, the yesteryear introduction made by shop assistants in retail outlets for generations.
However, in today’s world the thought of cold-approaching customers in this way should cause hairs to stand on end.
This time has gone. The customer of 2018 requires, quite rightly, a bespoke experience.

An approach by retailers that has already taken into account not only their purchasing and browsing history but
that meets their related needs in the weeks and months following their last venture into the company’s waters.
Thanks to Connected Commerce approach and omni-channel capabilities enabled by itself, customers no longer have
to enter a strange environment with salespersons skilled at guesswork.

The customer of 2018 is now met, either online or offline, by a marketplace that is laid out according to their
needs and preferences. These needs are considered, weighed and quality products that meet them placed conveniently
for their consideration. This is not the realms of fantasy, reports tell us that 54% of consumers would
consider ending their relationship with a retailer if they are not given tailor-made, relevant content and offers
(1). This is a very real expectation of the current consumer. Companies that can provide this by employing cloud supported,
connected-commerce solutions, are drawing away from the their traditional, quaint, contemporaries.

Connected Commerce lets you gather data and organize this into various relevant information in smooth interfaces
and enables a continuity between different sales channels ensuring enriched customer experience and high levels
of customer satisfaction.

Much as the independence of limbs and a nervous system allow functionality for the human body yet require a single
command centre to manage them, a brain is required to manage and translate the terabyte of information that
regularly turnover in the average retail company into meaningful output.

What is the brain?

Shopicloud provides the solution for this by integrating all of the retail systems into one simple package. It is a
cloud-based unified commerce platform that meets consumer expectation by receiving and managing incoming and
constantly changing retail data and shaping this data to provide a custom shopper experience. It further provides
a single point of contact for retail management and key decision makers to access information regarding sales,
orders, favorite products and retail trends.

Shopicloud can receive data from sources such as eCom, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Product information
management (PIM), Customer relationship management (CRM), Media Server and Point of Sale (POS) through it’s unique
integration capabilities. Products such as Shopisign and Shopiconnect communicate with the cloud and display
beautifully illustrated real-time information regarding products, stocks and services, in-store insights and
analytics that relate to the both retailers’ and customers’ real needs and expectations.

What do customers think?

The impact of customer satisfaction by their experience cannot be underestimated. It has been reported that up to
89% of consumers began doing business with a competitor following an unsatisfactory customer experience (2).
Shopicloud enables retailers meet their customers’
expectations. Further it avoids a less than optimal experience for the customer since interfaces such as
Shopisign communicate directly with the Shopicloud rather
than with an online website. Pristine images and video streamed from this cloud location display in high
resolution. Meaning that the customer experience is not impaired by external factors such as internet speed,
compression of images or other limitations.

Shopicloud provides an opportunity to access previously untapped data and crucial information regarding what
consumers like or dislike in your physical store and then lets you respond appropriately. Happier customers,
greater profits. Using the analytics tools that Shopicloud provides, you identify the holes to fill in your
processes and expedite the onboarding of the solution. Loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much
as their first purchase – learn what drives this loyalty by understanding the customer journey from their
first browse to their purchase. (2)

As Bill Gates included in his customer relations policies that

“your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning…”

These words served well the business that once amassed $93.580.000.000 billion in a single year. His words
timeless. Once. The time has changed. learly, with good data management unhappy customers are no longer the best
source of learning. All customers are the best source of learning. And by using connected commerce methods to
mould their shopping experience into one that is truly relevant, they need not be unhappy. There is no need for
customers to reach unhappiness regarding choice or experience. Cloud-based solutions such as Shopicloud
can adjust seamlessly and in real-time around them to provide the bespoke shopping experience they expect.