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According to OSF Digital, Leading Retailers and Brands Step Up Omnichannel Investments, But Majority Still Fall Short

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According to OSF Digital, Leading Retailers and Brands Step Up Omnichannel Investments, But Majority Still Fall Short

OSF Digital releases its 2022 Omnichannel Retail Index with insights for retailers and brands to accelerate growth

OSF Digital, an award-winning provider of digital transformation services to companies worldwide, announced the release of its 2022 Omnichannel Retail Index (Index) findings. Launched in 2015 by FitForCommerce (now OSF Digital’s strategic consulting division) in partnership with The National Retail Federation (NRF), the Index is widely recognized as the industry’s most comprehensive omnichannel and digital best practice benchmark study.

The 7th annual study found that top-scoring retailers and brands are aggressively increasing adoption rates of omnichannel and digital capabilities, such as optimized content, frictionless checkout, and cross-channel capabilities, to meet rising shopper demands. Despite this, most companies in the Index have implemented less than 61% of best-practice capabilities, sometimes struggling to deliver seamless shopping experiences. 

The highest-ranking company in the Index had implemented 85% of the Index’s designated best practices, which is a significant jump from 2021, when the highest score was 72%. This increase is a sign that digital investments are paying off. Another sign that retailers and brands are prioritizing omnichannel and digital investments is that this year, 12 companies have outperformed last year’s leader with scores ranging from 73%- to 85%.

The Omnichannel Retail Index interactive digital report outlines key findings on the state of omnichannel and digital best practices, offering insights on investment trends and customer demands. Some of the key findings include:

  • The implementation of Buy Online Pick-Up In-Store (BOPIS) curbside pickup has increased significantly, accelerated by the pandemic. BOPIS has become table stakes, offered by 84%; however, the cross-channel experience leaves much to be desired. The adoption of supporting functionalities that enable frictionless experiences has mainly remained flat in the past years, including the ability to schedule pickup times, filter by store availability, etc.
  • 74% of the loyalty programs are based on a typical “earn & burn” approach. Only 49% allow shoppers to redeem points for product discounts, and even fewer allow shoppers to redeem points for “experiences.”
  • From fast fashion to home improvement, sustainability is in focus. 67% promote sustainable products or sustainability programs.

“Retailers and brands have quickly adopted new capabilities driven by the pandemic, but the necessary customer experience continues to evolve,” said Bernardine Wu, Executive Managing Director of Digital Strategy at OSF Digital. “The latest Omnichannel Retail Index provides meaningful and actionable insights to help retailers and brands prioritize investment decisions and focus staff and capital on growth accelerators.”

“The Omnichannel Retail Index is a critical tool to help retailers and brands navigate the market volatility they face today,” said Gerard (Gerry) Szatvanyi, CEO of OSF Digital. “This year’s report shows an enormous opportunity for the industry to meet customer demands and provide a seamless and memorable customer experience. OSF Digital is committed to providing this comprehensive study to serve the industry best.”

The Omnichannel Retail Index takes the pulse of digital commerce and omnichannel retail. The Index examines how 100+ leading U.S. and global retailers and brands perform against 250+ criteria across web, mobile, and in-store capabilities. The Index examines how these companies deliver on the omnichannel promise through detailed and extensive mystery shopping conducted by OSF Digital’s strategy consultants. For the first time, this year’s report also shares consumer research and data by GfK to understand where retailers and brands are delivering or falling short of consumer expectations. Gfk is a consulting service and always-on, AI-powered intelligence platform for the global consumer products industry. Also new this year is the analysis of these companies’ sustainability practices and programs.

To view the full findings, please visit: https://osf.digital/omnichannel-retail-index

About OSF Digital

OSF Digital is a global commerce and digital transformation leader with expertise in connecting technology and strategy to drive business goals. With expert status in B2C and B2B commerce and several Salesforce awards for multi-cloud innovation, OSF Digital seamlessly guides enterprises through their entire digital transformation journey. With customers in various industries around the globe, OSF Digital provides personal attention and the highest level of connection with a local presence throughout North America, Latin America, APAC, and EMEA.

SOURCE OSF Digital

Acquisition

KaarTech Expands Digital Transformation Footprint with Acquisition of Dunn Solutions Group Inc.

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KaarTech

KaarTech , a global Digital Transformation Consulting company, is excited to announce its latest strategic move in the world of digital transformation. The company has broadened its’ capabilities and geography by successfully acquiring Dunn Solutions Group Inc. , a leading Customer Experience Solutions Consultancy headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Founded in 2006, KaarTech has solidified its position as a key player within the SAP ecosystem. With a proven track record of delivering digital transformation success across various sectors, including Discrete Manufacturing, Process Manufacturing, and Consumer Packaged Goods, KaarTech has carved a niche for itself. The company has also developed proprietary intellectual property, KEBS for Professional Services and KTern.AI for SAP Digital Transformation , reinforcing its reputation as a formidable force in the Digital Transformation Arena.

Founded in 1988, Dunn Solutions is headquartered outside of Chicago and has offices both in Minneapolis and Bengaluru. The company has carved its niche as a Digital Commerce and Business Transformation Consultancy. Their core mission revolves around delivering unmatched velocity and transformative solutions to their clients.

This strategic acquisition facilitated by Eiliant Advisors, a Bangalore based Investment Banking Firm, marks a watershed moment for KaarTech as it combines its extensive SAP domain expertise, especially in SAP S/4HANA, with Dunn Solutions’ prowess in Digital Customer Experience.

Speaking about the acquisition, Mr. Maran Nagarajan, CEO of KaarTech, says, “We are excited to join forces with Dunn Solutions to accelerate our vision of redefining Digital Transformation. This partnership brings together the best of both worlds – our SAP expertise and Dunn Solutions’ prowess in Customer Experience – to create a transformative force that will deliver exceptional value to our clients.”

This union not only broadens the horizontal scope of KaarTech’s services but also strengthens its commitment to providing cutting-edge digital solutions that drive business growth and competitiveness. With this partnership, KaarTech solidifies its position as a true leader in the Digital Transformation Arena.

Mr. Bill Dunn, CEO of Dunn Solutions, says “KaarTech has earned a reputation as a key driver of SAP innovation across a number of verticals over the years globally, and we are excited to join them as we look to leverage the assets and experience of Dunn Solutions to continue building on KaarTech’s success in the Digital Transformation Space.”

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Insurtech

Cortical.io Named Among Most Innovative Insurtech Companies by FinTech Global

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Cortical.io

Prestigious InsurTech100 List for 2023 Recognizes the Austrian AI Pioneer’s Contribution to Transforming Insurance Processes

Cortical.io today announced that they have been named to FinTech Global’s Sixth Edition of its prestigious InsurTech100 list for 2023. The ranking celebrates the groundbreaking tech companies that are developing solutions to the insurance industry’s most daunting challenges.

Our approach to intelligent document processing paves the way for insurers to explore a wealth of new opportunities, differentiating them from competitors in the digital transformation journey.

Over the last couple of years, insurance firms have faced an uphill battle to rapidly digitize their services and meet the evolving customer demands, nurturing a competitive landscape of Insurtech companies. This meant this year’s battle to earn a spot amongst the 100 InsurTech visionaries was intense. A select group of analysts and seasoned industry specialists sifted through a list of over 1,900 contenders presented by FinTech Global. The chosen few were acknowledged for their inventive technological applications either to solve a major industry challenge or to bolster efficiency throughout the insurance value chain.

“FinTech Global acknowledges for the second consecutive time Cortical.io’s role in revolutionizing document-centric processes within the insurance sector,” said Rainer Kegel, CEO of Cortical.io. “It’s incredibly gratifying to be recognized for our efforts in addressing a significant industry challenge, namely reducing the need for human intervention in the document review process. Our approach to intelligent document processing paves the way for insurers to explore a wealth of new opportunities, differentiating them from competitors in the digital transformation journey.”

Quoting group benefits is probably one of the most challenging insurance processes as it requires the analysis of many documents of variable types and structures. Cortical.io’s intelligent document processing solution extracts, interprets and classifies complex information found in terms and provisions and is for example able to detect the best plan matching a competitor’s policy. “Large insurance carriers employ hundreds of people to manually review policies before submitting a quote for group benefits,” said Kegel. “Our solutions help them prepare more accurate quotes faster, and consequently close more deals.”

Cortical.io’s Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) solutions leverage a unique approach to natural language understanding called Semantic Folding to reach unmatched levels of accuracy with unstructured text. Cortical.io’s solutions automatically search, extract and classify complex information from various documents such as insurance policies and emails with attachment, helping insurance companies eliminate quoting errors, improve customer response times and reduce labor intensive processes.

FinTech Global director Richard Sachar said, “The widespread availability of generative AI capabilities has opened the doors for even greater innovation within insurance. We’re entering a new wave of digitalization and insurance firms need to be prepared. The InsurTech100 will help top-level insurance executives in discerning the tech pioneers revolutionizing key areas like underwriting, pricing, distribution, and data analytics.”

About Cortical.io

Cortical.io delivers highly efficient AI-based solutions that help enterprises unlock the value of unstructured text by leveraging a game-changing approach to Natural Language Understanding (NLU). Cortical.io SemanticPro is an intelligent document processing solution that accurately extracts, analyzes and classifies information based on meaning and builds the basis for document workflow automation. With more than 10 years expertise in implementing NLU solutions in the enterprise, Cortical.io has demonstrated its ability to solve the challenges of language ambiguity and variability across many use cases and verticals for Fortune 500 companies.

Cortical.io has offices in the U.S. (New York and San Francisco) and Europe (Vienna).

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Funding

Boston based Startup Mona Lee Secures $3.25M Seed Round to Redefine the Clean Energy Experience for Consumers

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Converting to sustainable energy can be a costly and confusing process for consumers. Mona Lee is moving the clean energy industry forward with its innovative and customer-centric approach, allowing homeowners to install solar panels and storage for 40-50% lower costs than what the competition offers.

Mona Lee, a Boston-based startup founded by former Tesla employee Walid Halty, has announced the successful closure of a $3.25 million seed funding round. The round included investments from prominent players in the technology and consumer sectors, such as Ludlow Ventures, Shrug VC, Palm Tree Crew (founded by Norwegian DJ Kygo), Coalition Operators, Plug and Play Ventures, and The Pags Group, owned by Boston Celtics’ owner Steve Pagliuca.

“Residential clean energy is a massive opportunity and we are excited to be redefining the buying and installation experience for eager consumers,” said CEO and Cofounder Walid Halty.

Mona Lee is on a mission to make solar, storage and EV charging installation for homes affordable and hassle-free. Since its launch, the company has experienced remarkable growth, installing in over 7 states with over 150 new customers per month and an average cost-per-order of $28,000.

The potential for growth in the home solar and storage industry is staggering, with an estimated $250 billion opportunity over the next six years alone. With 142 million homes in the U.S. and only 2 million having switched to solar in the past two decades, Mona Lee aims to tap into the remaining 140 million homes expected to adopt solar power alone by 2029.

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act has fueled consumer interest in clean energy in recent years and Mona Lee has met the moment. The company’s unique selling proposition lies in its AI-powered buying experience. Mona Lee’s technology demystifies the process of designing and purchasing a complete solar panel and storage system for homes, while cutting costs for consumers by 40-50%.

Mona Lee’s CEO, Walid Halty, shared his excitement about the company’s recent funding success, stating, “This funding round is a testament to the need for Mona Lee’s innovative approach in the home solar and storage industry. We are committed to making solar and storage installation a no-brainer for all homeowners, and this investment will allow us to further accelerate our growth and expand our reach.”

With its innovative technology and commitment to bringing affordable and seamless solar and storage installation to homes across the country, Mona Lee is poised to redefine the clean energy experience for consumers.

About Mona Lee

Mona Lee is a Boston-based startup co-founded by Walid Halty, an ex-Tesla employee. The company is focused on making solar installation affordable and hassle-free for homeowners. With its AI-powered design and buying experience, Mona Lee aims to simplify the process of purchasing and installing a complete solar panel system–enabling every home to fulfill its own energy needs, while contributing to a more sustainable future.

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