The Gap in Retail IT Visibility : Why Retail IT Needs to Be Seen Now
In today’s market, retail moves quickly, that’s the truth. Contactless checkouts, apps that show real-time inventory, and hyper-personalized offers are all making the front of the house move quickly. But the back-end infrastructure is often out of date and needs to be fixed. A lot of stores still use old, broken phones and other communication systems that were made for a time when business was very different.
Not having this technology is more than just a pain; it’s hurting performance, lowering profits, and making the customer experience (CX) worse. In fact, 49% of retailers with stores in more than one place say that having different systems makes it much harder to help customers and make decisions.
Your competitors won’t wait for you to catch up. The market’s signs are very clear:
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Gartner says that by 2025, more than half of all phones in the world will be able to connect to the cloud.
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According to Cavell (2024), 64% of people in the U.S. already use UCaaS.
You should be awake by now. Right now, the market is changing a lot. Every IT investment must help with better customer service, operational intelligence, and lower costs by 2025. It’s not just “nice to have” to be able to see all of retail IT anymore; ensuring retail IT visibility is necessary for survival.
The Visibility Gap : Not Being Able to See What’s Happening in a Quick Market
This “visibility gap” is one of the biggest problems that stores have to deal with every day. The problem is that things that look smooth on the outside often have big cracks on the inside.
Everything looks good at first. The store is open, the phones are ringing, and the lights are on. People are looking at stuff. But IT leaders can’t see the whole picture because true retail IT visibility is blocked when important information is kept in different places out of sight.
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The store misses an important stock update because the network is slow.
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When it’s busy, another place gets 20% fewer customer calls.
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Headquarters can’t help or get involved because they don’t have access to data in real time.
There is a dangerous gap between what IT thinks is going on and what is actually going on because retail IT visibility is low. When that gap gets bigger, it’s hard to miss the signs:
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Store workers have to wait on hold with internal help desks instead of helping customers.
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It shouldn’t be necessary for district managers to go to HQ for simple updates.
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IT teams are still in “fire-fighting” mode, which means they aren’t making systems better.
If you don’t have unified communications and analytics, these blind spots can turn into bottlenecks that slow down response times, raise operational costs, and hurt your CX over time.
The price of having retail systems that don’t talk to each other
These problems with your retail IT visibility won’t stay small for long. They quickly turn into measurable business costs that have an effect on every part of the company.
Does this ring a bell?
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Operational Delays: Store teams waste a lot of time going in circles when they talk to each other.
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Cost Creep: When you have to deal with a lot of vendors and service contracts in your area, your costs go up.
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Missed Insights: Old systems are keeping important communication data that could help with hiring or running the business.
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Scaling Drag: It’s harder, not easier, to open a new store.
The answer is to put everything in one place. Putting all of your communication tools in one cloud platform can save you 56% on the total cost of ownership and make your customers 57% happier.
That number shows that putting retail IT visibility first is the right thing to do. When everyone is on the same page, IT can work faster and smarter to keep the front of the store strong, which is where it matters most.
Why Retail IT Is Afraid to Move Forward
If better retail IT visibility is such a good thing, why haven’t all stores switched to it? Fear is often the answer. Modernisation isn’t just about new technology. It’s also about finding a balance that makes the whole experience better for the customer.
When things are busy, there’s no time to waste. IT teams are already busy with tickets every day. What about the systems that are still being used? They’ve been here for a while and seem “good enough.” It seems safer to keep fixing old hardware than to risk changing it.
But the truth is that the worst thing you can do is not move. When you don’t connect all of your tools together, your chain becomes weaker, it costs you more money, and your security becomes weaker. If you’re okay with “good enough” in a market that changes this quickly, you’ll be stuck.
Connect In Cloud can help you fix the base
The good news is that you don’t have to start over to make your retail IT visibility better.
Connect In Cloud and smart stores are working together to make things better. We help you move to a connected communications platform that keeps all of your messaging, phone calls, and work in one safe place. It’s a smart choice that gives IT leaders control, visibility, and flexibility without the hassle of a painful rip-and-replace migration.
You can see right away how Connect In Cloud will help you:
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Faster Store Activations: Stores can open in days instead of weeks.
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Centralised Analytics: IT can spot network or communication issues before they get worse.
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There are fewer vendors, so you have more control over your data.
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Your team can plan more and do less, which makes it easier to manage IT.
Gartner (2024) says that 72% of successful businesses with more than one location use a hybrid approach, which means they use both cloud and on-premise systems to make modernising easier. You don’t have to do something crazy to make things more modern on your own terms.
The Benefits: customers have a better experience, costs go down, and you can see what’s going on in real time.
Not only does improving retail IT visibility make things run more smoothly, but it also changes how your business works. You can get the kind of clarity that leads to long-term growth when you let IT teams see what’s really going on.
With Connect In Cloud, your IT department can see things clearly. This helps everyone in the business work faster, make better choices, and treat customers better.
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You can see everything at any time and from any place.
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To save money, combine vendors.
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The front line and headquarters talk to each other, which makes it easier for customers to get help.
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Infrastructure that can expand without causing issues in the future.
Metrigy (2024) says, “The best thing about using the same vendor for UC/CC is that it lets agents and other employees talk to each other to help customers.”
You might want to check out stores that aren’t connected. When your stores are linked, you can be sure that you can grow. It’s time to find out what you’ve been missing.
Check out the infographic “From Blind Spots to Retail Clarity.” With Connect In Cloud, you can help your IT team understand what’s going on in retail and gain true retail IT visibility so they can do well in every conversation.
out what you’ve been missing.
