31st January 2023 will mark the third anniversary since Covid-19 arrived in the UK, a period which was one of the toughest that modern businesses have ever had to face. Many are emerging from the slump with new-found lessons about how technology can foster business growth and sustainability.
If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s that innovation is at the heart of survival. Companies that couldn't adapt and move their services online during periods of isolation sadly suffered the consequences and those that did often flourished.
We are quickly approaching one of the busiest periods in retail: the festive season. This time last year, many people in the UK were awaiting their booster vaccination and still relatively wary about mixing in large crowds when shopping or dining out.
Now things have returned to normal for most people, they may want to make the most of the physical shopping opportunities they missed out on last year: crucially, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the January sales.
The retail industry will need to prepare for what lies ahead. Ingram Micro UK offers a range of solutions to help businesses remain efficient, sustainable, and secure during quiet and busy periods alike.
In most situations, the retail industry moves fast - this pace becomes especially noticeable during times of high footfall, such as the lead-up to and aftermath of Christmas. For instance, a customer could be asking several questions at once about things like stock availability, online purchases, and returns.
Similarly, in restaurants, employees may be under pressure to deal with multiple demands like questions about dishes or drinks, meal issues, and table booking requests.
Retail businesses can’t afford downtime or misconfigured devices so auto-installed software on devices such as tablets and computers enables instant use and a smoother transition to new technology.
Ingram Micro UK can assist this sector by providing equipment with company software pre-installed. Whether it’s Windows Autopilot or Apple DEP, these services facilitate a quicker and easier set-up with new products and offer a simple process in any environment.
The configuration and deployment of these devices are one thing, but what about ongoing management? Our maintenance services have this covered - so whether you’re looking for product updates or tweaks to ensure your equipment is functioning to its highest capability, we can help.
The climate crisis is becoming increasingly unavoidable. We are more aware of our planet’s condition than ever before - research shows that 80%* of American consumers keep sustainability in mind when making purchases, and 70% would choose to shop elsewhere if they knew a company was operating unsustainably.
If the retail industry wants to continue growing and appealing to its customers - and protect our planet - it must weave sustainability into its operations and keep one eye on the future.
There are a few simple ways businesses can minimise the number of materials they use to preserve our natural resources: replacing menus in restaurants with scannable QR codes or using E-receipts instead of paper copies.
Sustainability is always front of mind at Ingram Micro - we consistently look for ways to improve our services and help clients to operate as sustainably as possible. For example, we work closely with our partners to utilise eco-friendly packaging where possible, making it easier for businesses to reuse or sustainably dispose of them after their purchase.
Product life cycles are an essential part of sustainability. We're a leading global provider of IT Asset Distribution (ITAD), a service which helps our clients avoid risk, complexity, and cost when disposing of assets that have reached end-of-life.
We follow detailed data destruction and e-waste processes that meet the highest environmental and legislative standards, so councils can rest assured they’ve disposed of their items correctly.
So, we’ve covered efficiency and sustainability - but there’s another crucial obstacle left, which poses an immense potential threat to the retail industry.
The question on many lips over the last few years has been, ‘how can we keep our physical assets and data safe?’. As cyber criminals become increasingly sophisticated, the latter is becoming more fraught with risk than ever before.
Almost a quarter of cyberattacks target retailers, which makes sense when considering how much personal information they have access to, such as customer card details, addresses, emails, and phone numbers.
Luckily, innovative technology is keeping pace with the evolving skill set of cyber criminals, and Ingram Micro UK offers a range of solutions ideally suited to the retail industry, such as security software for endpoint protection, email encryption, data loss prevention and compliance, aswell as physical security with network cameras.
One innovative solution is body-worn cameras, an effective tool for security guards to record all the daily events that happen whilst they protect the store.
If you work in the retail industry, you’ll likely be familiar with all these issues. Ingram Micro UK would love to help - our expert team can talk through your specific requirements and find a solution so that you can focus on doing what you do best.
If you want to learn more about how we could help you navigate these obstacles, or anything else, contact us via phone at 0371 973 3000 or through our website: uk.ingrammicro.eu/contact
*The Data That Can Drive Sustainable Retail – Forbes.com