Omni-channel Retailing: When it

becomes a commodity, what then?

White Paper | January 2014

Author: Rajat Mishra

With the changing landscape of the customers buying

habits and the expectation of consistent brand
experience across channels, retailers need to plan/review
their technology and business roadmap for addressing
tomorrows potential changes. This white paper looks at
factors that will help retailers differentiate when being
Omni-channel will become more of a hygiene factor.

Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

Omni-channel Retailing Its here to stay

Omni-channel Retailing is catching on fast across the customer landscape, as retailers are realizing the
potential of new models and the inevitable end of retailing as we have known it. The industry has evolved
across single-channel, multi-channel, and now on to omni-channel retailing. Todays customer expects a
convenient experience and the objective of retailers has been to create a seamless experience across all
touch-points. The rate of technology change has ushered in a revolution, with new and existing retailers
constantly disrupting the play through innovative offerings.
From a customers perspective, the change has led to increased service, and ultimately increased
expectations. Without getting into all of the various permutations and combinations made possible by
these technical advances, customers can use one channel to surf, another to scrutinize for touch and
feel, and yet another to actually make the payment and record the decision about when and how the
order should be fulfilled. From a retailers perspective, this presents the highly challenging requirement to
provide an always-connected experience that seamlessly integrates the various front end and back end
systems. To enable this experience, retailers must collect customer data from all touch-points and share it
across channels. This also involves a change in the mindset and operational models in terms of aspects
such as sales share and promotional consistency across different channels (traditionally brick and
mortar vs. online) for the same retailer.
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Based on a survey conducted by Maxymiser in July 2013, 56% of American adults own a smartphone
and 34% already own a tablet. This number is growing and customers are engaging with brands and
products on the go. According to the report, around 58% of smartphone users leverage their devices
while on the way to or while shopping in the stores. Showrooming/web-rooming is another challenge to
conquer, and leading retailers are implementing different strategies to address that. One example would
be free Wi-Fi in the store and store personnel with iPads ready to show customers that the store has the
best price for the desired items. With an increasing number of retailers getting on the omni-channel grid,
the market is only going to get more and more competitive.
This white paper presents some possible scenarios a few years from now when omni-channel retailing
will be a commodity, and attempts to address how retailers can improve their bottom line when that time
comes.

Omni-channel Retailing What does it take?

The term omni-channel has been around for quite some time, but the
Retailers lose 6.5%
traction has increased only in the last few years. Various elements are
of potential revenue,
inherent in implementing an omni-channel strategy. Some of these are
challenging, especially for retailers who have invested heavily in back end
because of not being
systems designed for one particular channel. With the increase in the
on the omni-channel
number of ways customers interact with a retailer, order execution
wagon
presents its own challenges. This is especially in terms of real time
inventory visibility, where one channel might be used to initiate a sale, another one to complete it, and yet
another to return-to-stock.
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According to a research report from Research Info Systems (RIS) , retailers miss 6.5% of potential
revenue because they are not on the omni-channel wagon. This could be a result of their processes and
technologies not being up to date, or could even be due to inflexible corporate structures. Todays omnichannel customer experiences the brand at every touch-point, irrespective of the channel. That makes it
even more difficult to provide a consistent, zero downtime, and high quality brand message.
The figure below depicts the omni-channel view for todays customer, and some of the aspects that a
retailer needs to address to become successful in this journey.

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Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

Order Management System

Our omni-channel customer expects consistency in pricing, promotional discounts, product assortment,
availability and payment options, among other parameters. An optimal Order Management System (OMS)
is the bedrock of an omni-channel offering. The OMS is an intertwined network of various systems that
give a single integrated view to both the retailer and the customer. While the front end is the face to the
customer and delivers the value, the back end systems are the backbone that supports that value. The
perfect OMS receives the order, stores customer data, makes real time inventory visibility possible,
optimizes order distribution and fulfillment options across all scenarios, maximizes return-on-inventory
and ensures that the customer gets a seamless experience while it executes the order from end to end.
One of the key stumbling blocks that retailers currently face is, integration with other investments that
they have made recently. Although this is a key decision parameter, retailers must see it from the
perspective of a how-the-customer-buys scenario a few years from now. The OMS capabilities of a
standalone back end Inventory Management System or that of the e-Commerce front cannot provide the
real time integration capabilities needed for an omni-channel experience.
A typical user scenario for benefitting from an efficient omni-channel OMS can go as follows. Ms. Alicia,
an avid shopper, needs to get new footwear for her party in the evening. She opens the website of her
favorite retailer on her iPad and browses through the styles and colors. The OMS ensures that the
options available on the iPad are a comprehensive list of all shoes (and styles/colors) that the company
carries across its extended network. Alicia chooses a style and sees that it has received 680 Likes on
Facebookinformation which is displayed next to the pricing details. On selecting the item, the website
gives her various options from stock availability through to payment options, active promotions, delivery

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Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

time, and delivery channel. Behind the scenes, the OMS provides input based on real time stock
availability across channels. It informs the customer of pricing discounts that might be applicable based
on the product, time of purchase, loyalty programs, etc., and integrates social-media-based product
campaign results. Finally, it identifies the best options for order fulfillment (the nearest store based on
Alicias current location, warehouses, direct-from-supplier, etc.). Alicia chooses the reserve online
option, and is satisfied to know that her order is ready. She drives to the nearest store to pick up her order
on the way home from work. While in the store, she also purchases a matching wallet and belt to go with
the new shoes. Before heading for home, she tells her friends via a social networking site about the
awesome stuff she just bought so conveniently.
Retailers will need to have a robust OMS in place that supports their omni-channel strategy. This will
involve some major investments, such as implementing a Distributed Order Management (DOM) system
to cater to order management across channels, including both fulfillment and returns. Some of the key
features that an efficient OMS will need are order fulfillment based on cross-channel algorithms and
business rules; integration with all disparate systems across the supply chain and front end; unified
customer data updated and shared across all touch-points; accurate inventory visibility; and integrated
promotion/marketing tools.
Customer Experience Management and Seamless Integration
Given the range of options and relatively insignificant switching costs available to todays customers,
giving them a consistent and seamless experience across every channel becomes imperative for a
successful omni-channel retailer. The average customer understands that it is practically impossible to
have an identical experience across all touch-points, but they do expect consistency in pricing and
discounts and in the brands messaging (as compared to other retailers across the same channel). They
also expect personalization and to be treated as a valued customer. This also means that if a customer
sees an advertisement on the TV screen, looks into it further on his
Siloed, channel-based
desktop screen, and ultimately makes the purchase on-the-go (picking
up from where he left off) on his smartphone screen, the transition needs
promotions can lead to
to be in real time and seamless (through a responsive web design). If
cognitive dissonance.
there is a hitch while using one channel, the customer might see it as an
exception and complete the transaction through another channel without
opting for another retailer. If the customer sees such exceptions becoming the rule, however, that will hurt
the brands image (as an omni-channel player). For robust and seamless integration across channels,
there needs to be strong visibility and information sharing across channels (negating all inter-channel
conflicts). As a customer moves across touch-points, siloed, channel-based promotions can lead to
cognitive dissonance. In a few years, this will become outdated.
From an in-store experience management perspective, it will entail establishing a strategy to incentivize
stores to support the brand-level omni-channel strategy. This in turn will imply that store employees need
to be equipped with Tablets (this is already being done by many retailers) to leverage integrated customer
data, fulfill online orders providing the same brand experience, and be instrumental in sales that start at a
store and finish on a Laptop at home.
Unified Customer Database
Another key element of an omni-channel experience is a Unified Customer Database that enables a
single view of all data regarding a customer across channels. The system enabling that needs to provide
both read and write permissions across all touch-points, which poses its own challenges in terms of real
time integration. Moreover, compared to the online channel where the system collects data points by
default, getting the same data points often becomes a challenge when the customer makes a purchase in
a physical store. Some retailers address this by incentivizing the store associates for capturing customer
information at checkout points. Nevertheless, for a seamless transition across channels during a
purchase cycle or even before, it is imperative that all channels have the same view of the customer
profile, history data, etc. A store associate should thus be able to have access to a customers last
interaction with the brand (type of channel, products, purchases, feedback on social media, etc.), and
leverage that for cross selling/upselling other products. The image below depicts a typical user scenario.

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Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

Retailers that continue to have business units running independently of each other, with disparate targets
(for example online vs. brick and mortar) that typically do not share data need to rethink their strategy
and look at the bigger picture.
Integrated Omni-channel Marketing/Sales approach
In an omni-channel environment, an integrated marketing and sales approach is necessary for every
channel and this needs to come top-down from the retailers management team. Many retailers have
different business units for various channels that run independently of each other, typically competing for
the wallet share. In the desired state, retailers will see the profitability and success of such business
units in conjunction with the support provided to other channels that might not directly result in sales.
Through a typical sales cycle, a customer might use the online channel only for survey and comparison,
get clarifications from the call center and end up buying only after getting the look-and-feel at the store.
Similarly, that same customer might visit the physical store to look at another product, but end up buying
it on his smartphone or on the website at a later point.
The sales associates at the stores thus need to be incentivized and assessed not only for generating
sales, but also for adding value to the sales cycle of the product. This also means that a retailer that
offered a customer a 15% discount over the web should make the same offer when the customer visits
the store. From a personal experience with a store associate, to the user experience on the mobile
website, to the interaction with the call center associates, through to the feedback on the brand on social
networking sites, every touch-point has the potential to change the brand image.

Commoditization is inevitable
Already, retailers are making critical decisions to become successful omni-channel players. Tesco, for
example, is testing a mobile application called MyStore (currently on iOS only), which will enable a
shopper to prepare a shopping list at home and then direct him to the items in the store (among other
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functionalities) . Walmarts ship-to-store model is already running successfully, with Walmart now
shipping more than 10% of online orders to a store and successfully delivering more than 50% of those in
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two days or less . The Target Cartwheel mobile application (Android, iOS) launched in May 2013 allows
users to select offers across a wide assortment of products, share with friends on Facebook and redeem

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Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

them with a quick scan in physical Target stores . Retailers are stepping up their technology investments
and innovations to retain their current customers and increase their market share through a more
integrated experience. The market itself will increase in size as newer technologies emerge, that address
the core need: convenience (discussed below).
ii

According to a recently published research by RIS , Nordstrom and Apple are currently the top two omnichannel retailers, followed by Macys, Walmart, Target and Best Buy (in that order). While the big players
take new steps to meet the omni-channel expectations, it is only a matter of time (probably another few
years) before this becomes a commodity. At that point, expectations will rise and omni-channel retailing
will become the new baseline. In that world, retailers must face the challenge of what they must do to
remain significant and profitable.

What next, when it becomes a commodity?

With customers buying habits a continually changing landscape, retailers need to plan their
technology/business roadmap not only for addressing todays challenges, but also tomorrows potential
changes. The industry is moving more towards empowering the customer every day. Recently, Amazon
announced the successful testing of its Octocopters, or drones, that it will use to deliver within a 10Kms
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radius of its numerous distribution centers within 30 minutes . Although the planned launch is by 2015,
this technology still has to pass Federal regulatory approvals. The point, however, is that companies are
changing the rules of the game and even, at times, changing the game itself.
So where should retailers focus, given that being omni-channel will not be a differentiator in the years to
come? Since the propensity of customers to switch channels will only increase as newer channels
emerge, retailers will need to innovate constantly while ensuring that the key elements of their brand
message continue to stand true. To remain competitive and successful in the new environment, here are
some of the areas where retailers can potentially focus.
Focus Areas
Strong Fundamentals
Once omni-channel becomes a Me-Too strategy, many areas that now seem to be challenging
(mentioned above) will become a hygiene factor. One of the core aspects that will then drive profitability
will be a focus on the fundamentals of the business. Below are some of the aspects that retailers need to
consider:

Inventory Management: In the future, all key retailers will have an omni-channel Order Management
System and integrated inventory visibility across channels in place. What will make the difference,
from an inventory management perspectiveall other things being equalis how the retailer makes
a higher margin and saves costs by optimizing the supply chain players from end-to-end (and of
course taking into account a high customer experience factor). This entails such things as managing
supplier relationships and pricing (manufacturers and suppliers thus streamlining their own supply
chain), continually identifying and plugging in gaps from placing an order to returns (if any), and
addressing inventory shrinkage.

Customer experience and Loyalty: Customer experience will always be a significant differentiator in
any new environment. With the reach of Social Media in this connected world, people convey
opinionsespecially if they are negativeat hyper speeds. Customers are invariably going to go
back-and-forth across channels as convenient to them, and will expect the same experience on all
channels. With a higher number of channels meaning more ways that a customer can reach out to
gain information and to solve problems (post sales), brands will have to ensure consistently high
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service levels across channels. According to a recent study by Zendesk , 73% of shoppers believe
that brands currently pay more attention to generating sales across multiple channels than they do to
providing seamless customer service. Given the current image of retailers approach towards
customer experience, there is much room for improvement. Retailers will build omni-channel loyalty
when they ensure that they are practically omnipresent, whatever the situation a potential buyer might
be in, to provide the same top-notch experience from the search/survey point until after the sales are
completed.

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Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

Productive Technology investments: In the journey to becoming omni-channel, all retailers will make
relatively significant technology investments to put the backbone in place for their services. However,
not all decisions are necessarily correct, and with the constantly changing pace of the game, not all
systems will prove to be as scalable or pliable as change demands. It is critical for retailers to
collaborate with the right set of vendors that integrate the solutions with the DNA of the organization.
The product chosen for implementation also needs to be futuristic in nature, to provide optimal ROI
several years after implementation.

Employee Management: Since the physical store is the actual face of the brand when customers walk
in, a different set of metrics will define the assessment parameters for these stores and store
employees. In the new environment, a store might not generate direct sales, but might contribute
significantly by acting as part of the ship-to-store model, or as a showroom where customers come for
the experience factor and physical touch-and-feel (vs. virtual in some
Store employees will
scenarios). The performance metrics will differ across a customers
thus serve more as
buying cycle since a store associate might provide information for one
product (for purchase through web channel later), carry out actual sales
consultants, and
for another, and be on point for a smooth goods-return experience for
the way they
yet another customer. These potential metrics could include contribution
perform this role, will
to dollar sales per hour (based on the channel used for survey vs. actual
be the differentiator.
sales), customer satisfaction scores on the respective touch-point
experiences (based on feedback), updating the integrated customer
database and others. Store employees will thus serve more as consultants, and the way they perform
this role will be the differentiator for a retailer (having associates that meet customer requirements
vis--vis trying to make a sale).

Customer Retention: Retain the customer by establishing inconspicuous switching costs. Retailers
can do this through the Loyalty Rewards route, providing privileged service to loyal customers,
differentiated customer experience with the brand, or additional benefits tied to the same brand/store
purchases in a given span of time (Amazons Subscribe and Save program, for example, which offers
viii
price discounts to consumers who purchase from Amazon at pre-set intervals .)

Continuous Innovation - Business

Continuous Innovation is the way forward, and will be the customers expectation as well. To stay ahead
of the game from a business perspective, retailers need to think of strategies to constantly differentiate
and innovate. Social Media (and the retailers responsiveness to changing trends) will continue to make a
significant impact on the customers view of the brand. Following are some things to keep in mind:

Acting on integrated data: Optimize customer data analytics to provide personalized messages
across the channels in real time. Many retailers such as Catalina Marketing are already doing this.
With an OMS in place, retailers willideallyalready have an integrated database and a single view
of the customer. What will differentiate a brand is, how efficiently all of the channels and the
employees (in the physical stores) interpret and utilize the information that technology provides to
give a wow experience to customers right when they want it. Imagine the interesting conversation
that might take place in the following scenario. As soon as a lady walks into the Leather section and
looks at a couple of handbags, the store associate presents her with the 7-8 design/color
combinations that she had earlier viewed for quite some time while on their website (based on data
captured on the website, mobile site, etc.). To delve into the next level of personalization, inferences
from data points need to evolve continually.

Price comparisons: It is always better to leave pricing wars untouched. According to a release from
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Profitero , a global provider of competitor pricing data, Amazon.com implements more than 2.5
million price changes every day. This number, compared to approximately 50,000 price changes in
the month of November 2013 by some other leading retailers, shows the extent to which omnichannel pricing wars might go in the future. Yes, it is a best practice and a necessity to use price
points to keep a constant check on the market and be competitive. Price will be one of the key
parameters across time and circumstances, but it is best to focus on other aspects of the
service/product offering that portray distinctive value, such as features (tangible differentiators),
shopping experience and loyalty comparisons, and the bundling of logically grouped products.

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Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

The role of Brick and mortar: Physical stores will always play a significant role. Over a period, eCommerce has slowly increased its share of the market in retail sales. However, retailers need to
continue to focus on optimizing their retail stores, because customers will continue to go there. A
x
recent study by AT Kearney shows that from
Millennials to Senior Citizens, physical stores
remain the channel of choice and customers
spend about 61% of their time shopping in stores,
as opposed to 31% online. Retailers need to
consciously decide how to maximize their ROI
from physical storesnot only from direct sales,
but also from an overall revenue-per-customer
perspective. Even with augmented reality playing
a major role in the years to come, the customer
will definitely continue to want the touch-andfeel of the product as part of their buying
experience. Retailers are already utilizing stores
across their cities for running efficient ship-from-store models. However, physical stores haveand
will continue to havemaximum impact in the following areas: impulse purchases (refer the adjoining
bar chart showing that customers are more likely to make more than planned purchases in physical
stores); brand-to-customer relationship management; experiencing the brand (in-store entertainment
initiatives, for example); and increased wallet share.

Pliable and evolving strategy: Business strategy has to be flexible and agile enough to respond to the
customers changing usage patterns. This also ties in to the technology decisions, in light of the
requirements of the next-gen customer experience. It is clear that as different channels play different
roles across the buying cycle, retailers need to continuously incentivize those channels and measure
their performance to support the omni-channel model. In the end, from the perspective of an internal
business unit strategy, institutionalizing the culture of one Company, one Team, one Brand would
be the way forward.

Continuous Innovation - Technology

Technology is continually changing not just the way we shop, but also the way we live. Only a few years
ago, shopping and paying through our mobile phones did not exist, for example. Innovations in the way
new technologies affect our lives are creatively conceptualized and later
The core need for
commoditized. These innovations address one inherent core need: the need
convenience and
for convenience and a better life. This core need will always remain and will
a better life will
continually evolve as new trends become baselines and the bar continues to
rise. To stay ahead of the inexorable force of innovation, retailers must listen
always remain, and
to their customers, observe, and consciously analyze user scenarios that
continue to evolve.
make the customers experience better.
Following are some of the many potential opportunities in this area:

Interpreting what-is-next: Retailers today already have a lot of data points on their customers, and
retailers of tomorrow are going to have even more intricate levels of detail, shared across platforms.
Big Data and Analytics solutions will use algorithms to understand a single customers buying chain,
letting retailers know just when to intervene with an offering (predictive analytics). In the future, a
customer who has posted on her social media network that shes planning a weekend party, for
example, might get a personalized message on the latest trendy season offerings in skirts (based on
her purchase history) with just the size and colors that she likes. When retailers are able to integrate
all the touch-points of a customers world so that they speak to each other (not disturbing those
customers who choose to opt-out), using that information to provide a solution to a customers
problem right before it even arises will be the wow factor that makes the difference.

Sustaining vs. Disruptive Innovation: Innovation in the way customers live, work, purchase, and
get entertained are going to be the game changers. Sustaining innovations do not create a new
market and its relatively easy to catch up with a me-too strategy. Disruptive innovations, however,

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Omni-channel Retailing: When it becomes a commodity, what then?

are the ones that retailers need to watch carefully. With their potential to change the market itself,
failing to adapt to and addressing these potential threats can have a significantly negative impact on
their market share. While implementing every good technology innovation that makes a difference is
definitely not the right strategy (given the initial IT investment before the idea breaks even, targeted
niche markets, etc.), identifying the need that each of these innovations identify and addressing
them by other means (if required) is where retailers should focus.

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Pure Technology play: Cognition-as-a-Service (CAAS) integrated with third party, cloud-based
cognitive platforms, will soon become part of everyones daily life (as the technology matures further
and costs diminish). Consider this scenario: a person going on a weekly shopping trip goes to his
smart fridge (this technology has already been in the market for quite some time) and presses finish
adding to cart for the items identified. He then goes to his car and drives to the grocery store since it
is on his way to the Golf club. While waiting at the traffic signal, he
Cognition-as-a-Service
clicks a button on the dashboard of his car (integrated through a
(CAAS) integrated with
next-gen network) which brings up a thin-client application with the
third party cloud based
updated shopping list and he makes an edit to the list. After
reaching the store, he simply goes to the counter to pick up his
cognitive platforms will
items, since he sent out the order and made the payment through a
become part of our daily
mobile application before he even reached the store. Augmented
lives xi
reality-based solutions are already providing customers the touch
and feel factor with a personalized experience. The potential for this field is immense and it is only a
matter of time before such solutions are no longer cost prohibitive (note the journey of cell phones)
and deliver tangible value to the customer buying cycle.

Competency and Consistency

Laying aside possible future changes that we cannot possibly envision or cater to today, the focus comes
back to the fundamentals. Being known as a brand that is competent (in other words, for doing omnichannel well), optimizing a customers experience from pre-sales to post-sales, maintaining the gross
profit margin, and being consistent throughout may seem to be an enormous task, but it will be absolutely
necessary. Here are some of the steps that retailers can take to address this:

Addressing precognitive user dissatisfaction scenarios: When a brand speaks for Quality and claims
near 100% uptime in any channel, it has to make sure that it has thought out all of its what-if
scenarios and put in place all of its mitigating strategies. A bad experience in the store, for example,
might be assuaged by a couponpushed to the customers mobile on a real-time basiswhich can
be redeemed across any channel.

Retailing is the core competency: Platforms will continue to change, newer channels will emerge,
products will change, just-in-time strategies may go to the next level, customer expectations are sure
to go up several notches, and retailers strategies will continue to evolve. As the Greek philosopher
Heraclitus said, Change is the only constant. In the race to leap the hurdles and stay up to speed
with the latest innovations and the business and technology trends, the focus on the core
fundamentals of the business should remain unwavering.

Consistency without exception: Consistency will be a prerequisite for success, both across the factors
of time (yesterday, today, and tomorrow) and across the various channels. Some of the areas where
consistency will be expected are brand messaging and positioning, look and feel (customized to the
channel being accessed), pricing and discounts, stock availability, and a retailers knowledge about a
customer across channels that enables a personalized experience (see the example quoted earlier
about web research realized into an in-store sale).

Future Scenario
In the age of well-informed customers where the world is at their fingertips, retailers will have to ensure
that they have an established spot in the customers minds to take advantage of that top-of-the-mind
recall. The image below depicts a typical impulse purchase scenario in the not-so-distant future. Emily
sees a woman wearing a new shoe style and wants to buy a pair for herself at her earliest opportunity.
With one glance and a touchusing Google Glass or something similarshe quickly takes a photo of the
shoes. The inbuilt application reaches over to the cloud at the back end, determines the style type of the

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shoes and the color code, then populates the list with brands and retailers that carry this model. For a
larger view she opens the Google Glass (or similar) application on her smartphone which is already insync. Emily chooses her favorite retailer from the list and sees that the item is not in stock at all. She is
surprised, but quickly chooses the next favorite retailer and sees the display for the item. The display lists
the availability in stock in the nearest retail store to where she is standing (through GPS location services
integrated with inputs from OMS) or through any other channel. It also displays the delivery time in case
of a web/mobile purchase and the social media statistics on the model. In other words, how others feel
about it in terms of likes/dislikes (probably a next-generation, leading shopping-focused Social Media
website called, let us say, BuyingHaven). She then uses an augmented reality feature in the application
to see how it looks on her, and sends it to her friends for feedback. Her friends give a positive review and
she places the order online, to have it delivered to her home in the next few hours.

Conclusion
As more retailers begin to adopt omni-channel into their business strategies, the industry will reach the
inflection point beyond which differentiating the brand and retaining customers will be an uphill task. As
they say in strategy discussions, what brought you here will not get you there. While focusing on the
fundamentals and looking at the changes in the metrics, retailers will need to establish their
omnipresence with the emerging touch-points for customer interaction. To summarize at a very high
level, a few of the focus areas that will help retailers succeed are consistent brand messaging, continuous
engagement and seamless experience across channels, innovative consultative solutions, and the
insightful application of data.

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About UST Global

UST Global is a leading provider of end-to-end IT services and solutions for Global 1000 companies. We
use a client-centric Global Engagement Model that combines local, senior, on-site resources with the
cost, scale, and quality advantages of offshore operations. Our business model is based on the premise
of fewer CLIENTS, more ATTENTION. In every business engagement, we seek the opportunity to build
long-lasting, strategic relationships.
UST Global is proud to have celebrated more than 14 years of excellence and leadership in enabling IT
services for leading retailers across the globe. Our Retail practice provides cutting-edge technology
solutions and our Innovation gym, The Apple Tree, continually focuses on innovation in line with the
latest retail trends, which add business value to our leading retail clientele across the globe.
For further information on UST Global, visit our website at www.ust-global.com/

About the Author

Rajat Mishra is a Business Development Manager and has been part of UST Globals Retail practice for
the last five years. An ex-Army officer, he holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad (IIM A). His current role entails building consultative solutions to address our clients
business problems.

Acknowledgement
The author is grateful to Mani Subramaniam, Vice President, UST Global Retail Solutions, for sharing his
inputs for this White Paper.

References

Maxymiser, Mobilizing the retail shopping experience, August 28, 2013

ii

Retail Info Systems (RIS), Omnichannel Readiness Report, Aug 8, 2013

iii

Marketing Week, Tesco eyes further omni-channel steps with in-store app, Oct 22, 2013

iv

Walmart, Walmart Announces New Large-Scale Centers Dedicated to Filling Online Orders, Oct 1, 2013

Target, Target Unveils Holiday 2013 Initiatives, Oct 24, 2013

vi

Bloomberg, Amazon Tests Drones for Same-Day Parcel Delivery, Dec 03, 2013

vii

Zendesk, The Omnichannel Customer Service Gap, November, 2013

viii

MIT Sloan, Competing in the Age of Omnichannel retailing | MIT Sloan Management Review, May 21, 2013

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Profitero, Amazon.com Makes More Than 2.5 Million Price Changes Every Day, Dec 11, 2013

AT Kearney, Recasting the retail Store in Todays Omnichannel World, October, 2013

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Gigaom, Why Cognition-as-a-Service is the next operating system battlefield, Dec 7, 2013

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