Retail assortment management applications (RAMAs) are a foundational component of modern category management solutions for long life cycle products. Using data & analytics and AI technology, RAMAs can curate targeted assortments to create compelling customer experiences, leading to an increase in sales conversion. Long life cycle products in retail include categories such as grocery, consumables and hard goods. The long life cycle retailers’ traditionally broad approach to assortments is not satisfying customers’ demands for more curated assortments to match their lifestyles. Local trends mean that even more granular store-specific assortments are necessary. Advanced analytics, algorithms, AI and automation will play pivotal roles in driving this transformation through better customer understanding and alignment.
Gartner defines supply chain planning (SCP) solutions as platforms that provide technological support to enable a company to manage, link, align, collaborate and share its planning data across an extended supply chain. An SCP solution supports planning, ranging from demand planning through detailed supply-side response planning and from strategic planning through execution-level planning. It is the planning decision repository for a defined end-to-end supply chain. It is also the environment in which end-to-end-integrated supply chain decisions are managed. It establishes a single version of the truth for planning data and decisions, regardless of the underlying execution technology environment. Organizations use SCP solutions to improve their supply chain planning decisions and reach higher levels of maturity.
POS solutions have moved beyond an integrated solution in a multichannel network. Digital business POS solutions now have become the anchor in the unified commerce platforms in which they are included. In addition to the expected functions to complete a transaction (sales or returns) and the associated reporting (such as transaction logs), these solutions are now centralized to facilitate key unified commerce activities. These activities include “endless aisle,” click and collect, store fulfillment of online orders, clienteling and loyalty, as well as other functions that allow customers to search, transact, acquire and consume products across a retailer’s ecosystem. The market has traditionally been split into Tier 1 or Tier 2 retailers