High consumer spend pushes retail ecosystem to digitize faster

While retail has been slower to adopt automation than sectors such as autos and electronics, it has been picking-up the pace. We can see that in the form of basic self check-out tills in stores to the use of robots and AI in supply chains. Now tight labor markets, rising wages, and consumer spending pressure are forcing the industry to go further into digitization.

For instance, in March, Snapdeal child Unicommerce and Delhi based Shiprocket Arabia announced an integrated platform offering to enable sellers to manage every aspect from buy-button to delivery through a centralised panel. This will allow retailers using either platform to integrate both solutions to optimise costs while improving operational efficiency and faster order processing.

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This means retailers using Unicommerce for order management can use Shiprocket Arabia for logistics, and vice versa. Such integration of technology is poised further to accelerate retail growth in the Middle East.

Kapil Makhija, CEO Unicommerce said, “This offering is a great example of using technology to offer easy-to-use and high-efficiency solutions.”

Similarly, in May, Tradexa, a full-stack commerce enabler with Virat Kohli as its Athlete-Investor and global brand ambassador, tied up with Hyperice, a global wellness brand to manage its entire commerce ecosystem including offline and online across all their channels, starting from marketing and advertising to technology and product listing support.

According to Juniper Research global spend on asset tracking by enterprises will increase from US$16 billion in 2022 to $45 billion in 2027 – a substantial growth of 184%. Reason, the management and security of high-value assets are becoming significant for many stakeholders, and demand for technologies that provide real?time monitoring within the supply chain are ever more.

The research predicts that the growing availability and affordability of asset-tracking solutions will drive adoption of managed services amongst the largest enterprises that operate their own supply chains for high-value assets. It envisages that the most sought-after solutions will be those that show a return on investment by minimising theft and loss of assets during transit.

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Technologies like real-time GPS tracking will enhance asset-tracking capabilities. Widely used today, GPS is a cost?effective technology, however, the comprehensive network capabilities of 4G and 5G must be implemented to monitor assets with the highest values.

5G networks are becoming a must for high-value assets, a reliance that will present significant opportunities for hardware vendors. The report anticipates that the growing demand for ‘always connected’ supply chain solutions will drive the interest in 5G-enabled asset-tracking hardware.