Thursday 21 March 2013

How Retail IT Investments Capitalized Last Holiday Season

By Joseph B. Kappernick


It has been a few months since the last holiday season, can you recall the holiday rush? How did you shop last Christmas? Just like people around the world, you probably overspent and you just realize it now. If you're a mere consumer, you benefitted from enjoying yourself and buying something you deserve. But for the retail IT department, they enjoyed the increase in profits more.

Did that come as a surprise to you? The retail IT department took advantage of the crazy holiday sales ad increased their profits before the year ends. And why not? IT budgets rose from 3 to 5 percent since 2011 while retailers had a 5 percent budget increase.

It's about time retailers utilize their IT department especially in a digitally driven world. With consumers split between mobile shopping and traditional shopping, retailers can earn more by tapping into both. Increasing the budget for IT projects will be beneficial in the long run. However, retailers should also be cautious with their budget.

* Retailers are always pressured to upgrade their e-commerce platforms. The upgrade is needed to accommodate more traffic as well as meet the demands of consumers for mobile shopping convenience. Investments should be made.

The decision for the upgrade should be thought about thoroughly. Retailers should search for upgrade packages that have fair market prices and this will continue to affect the budget in the next years.

* Retailers should avoid overspending on wireless networking. Retailers can overspend by 20 to 50 percent which can be better used for other company expenses. While retailers cannot opt out of wireless and data networking services, they can still avoid overspending. They can try to negotiate for incentives or change plans more suited for their needs. Vendor lock-in is another cost of overspending.

They can try to negotiate for incentives or change plans more suited for their needs. Vendor lock-in is another cost of overspending.

* Retailers may rush into paying for cloud hosting and computing. Rushing their decision results to not being able to get the best pricing model appropriate for their business. Because of this, retailers are trapped paying annual costs, portability limitations and vendor lock-ins which will affect their budget in the next years when cheaper models come out.

Investing in IT projects will not only guarantee you returns during the holidays, but it will help you earn more profits throughout the year. However, don't make hasty decisions. Spending on IT is not cheap and any expenses incurred today will affect your budget in the following years.




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