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Cloud computing could offer bright future for retailers

May 13, 2013

With the growing popularity of mobile, social and e-commerce, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are turning to the cloud to optimize the in-store experience, according to an article on wired.com. Cloud computing offers retailers a way to upgrade their technology without expanding their budgets.

The following is an excerpt from Wired:

Perhaps most important, clouds offer retailers a way to explore the potential of big data analytics to understand their customers better. In order to compete with e-tailers, retailers are tapping social networks to learn what customers are saying about them and about their competitors. Weather data is being used to influence product purchasing decisions, and merchandise promotions are organized around social events.

In many cases, brick-and-mortar retailers are even finding new data sources. Some companies are tracking movement of customers within stores and analyzing how many stop at displays to improve the effectiveness of merchandising. Others are considering installing license-plate cameras in parking lots to find out which customer is about to walk into the store.

All of these innovations make use of massive amounts of data. A cloud based solution, with elastic storage, computing and analytics capability, can make it economically viable for retailers as they dabble with these nascent approaches.

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