Deloitte establishes connected retail experience in Cape Town
Global professional services firm Deloitte has become one of the first to bring the much anticipated phenomenon of digital retail to the South African market, through the establishment of a ‘connected retail experience,’ situated at its Greenhouse innovation space in Cape Town.
Digital disruption has gradually permeated nearly every industry. In the retail sector, digitalisation has largely come about in back-end operations – a situation that is now set to change with the advent of connected retail, which seeks to leverage technological tools to enhance the overall shopping experience.
According to senior executives at Big Four accounting and advisory firm Deloitte, enhancements will be made to improve a number of aspects of shopping, including a lower waiting time at the cashier, a wider and more refined variety of products on offer, special offers customised to individual tastes, and the home delivery of select goods.
In South Africa, the retail sector is one of the few industries that has remained relatively stable throughout the economically turbulent years since 2014, when a worldwide dip in oil and commodity prices dented revenues in some of the country’s most crucial economic segments.
The sector grew by an impressive 5% over the last year, and is therefore in a position to implement state-of-the-art enhancements – a trend that will presumably be led by the largest players in the sector. Deloitte is set to support this drive in the country, and is now giving customers a taste of the digital retail experience through its new establishment at its Greenhouse innovation space in Cape Town.
At the centre, customers can now try the latest in the technological implements that are set to become a major part of their shopping experience in the near future. As explained by Neville Hounsom, Director at Deloitte Consulting, “Digitalisation and the store of the future have been topics of discussion in various forums, but at Deloitte, we believe it’s now time to make the concept real for the clients in our market and link business value to practical solutions.”
“Here you can experience ‘1.0 of the art of the possible’ in your own business to understand the value of digital transformation – from enabling technologies to store management, inventory management, connected supply chain, connected workforce and advanced analytics,” he added.
Commenting on the position of the South African market in the global context, Consumer Industry Leader at Deloitte Mike Vincent added, “Retailers globally are being disrupted by digital, yet less than one-quarter of retailers are actively doing anything about it. The changing retail landscape is driven by exponential changes in technology, innovative business models and changing customer expectations. This disruption is both an opportunity and a threat for retailers. Operating in South Africa does not mean that our industry will not be disrupted – digital disruption is already here.”
