The Role of Intelligent ERP in Retail Industry
Radical change in the retail industry is occurring at a rapid pace – sometimes in ways no one can predict. Retail is one of the industries most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; the entire industry was affected overnight. Fashion, luxury, and beauty sectors have come to a crushing halt as stores were closed, while grocery and other sectors were overwhelmed with sometimes irrational demand and struggled with disruption, shortage of supply, and the practical challenges of serving shoppers. However, in the eye of the storm, Intelligent ERP at the core of the enterprise has stood the test, supporting value creation and business continuity.
SAP S/4HANA® is today’s Intelligent ERP, reinvented to help organizations meet new business priorities. It is the digital foundation for key industry processes while allowing companies to adapt quickly to new opportunities, regulations, and the challenges of a global crisis for which there is no precedent. What will matter is the speed at which companies can change and swiftly adopt innovation as well as business automation. SAP S/4HANA can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on embedded intelligent technologies such as machine learning, blockchain, and RFID.
Leaders in retail are adopting SAP solutions to meet these five strategic priorities and get ready for future requirements as an intelligent enterprise:
- Be customer centric across the value chain
- Serve the segment of one
- Implement digital supply chains
- Redefined stores
- Create new business models
Solutions to Meet New Business Needs of Intelligent Enterprises
The portfolio of intelligent applications and technology from SAP provides a comprehensive set of solutions to help you meet today’s and tomorrow’s business needs. The movement to SAP S/4HANA will represent your first act in becoming an intelligent enterprise.
With SAP S/4HANA, combined with our other intelligent solutions, you can:
- Accelerate new business models and deliver the best customer and consumer experience by connecting the front office to the back office
- Realize a significant reduction in cycle times and build a more adaptable supply chain, unleashing significant savings and responsiveness
- Engage the workforce with a better user experience and by automating high-volume, repetitive tasks
SAP has launched the SAP S/4HANA Movement initiative to guide and directly help our customers using the SAP® ERP application to accelerate their movement to SAP S/4HANA. The initiative offers a comprehensive choice for the highest outcome, letting you pick your:
- Movement scenario: Enterprise transformation, extended enterprise core, new enterprise core
- Consumption model: Cloud, on premise, hybrid
- Deployment option: Conversion, new implementation, selective data transition
- Partner: SAP’s ecosystem of partners, SAP Services and Support
Our offerings to help you start your journey to SAP S/4HANA include the following:
- For business: Intelligent ERP value paper for Retail outlining the value of becoming an intelligent enterprise
- For IT: “Mapping Your Journey to SAP S/4HANA”
- For business and IT: SAP S/4HANA Value Starter to quickly identify the business and IT value
We recommend setting up a meeting with your SAP account executive to better understand your strategic priorities and needs.

Bringing a New Core for the New Reality

Technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, the cloud, and predictive analytics are all new enablers to achieve the strategic priorities for retail companies. SAP S/4HANA, today’s Intelligent ERP, is designed to meet new core needs:
- Proven capabilities and best practices for your industry
- Personalized, consumer-grade user experience
- Embedded intelligence and analytics
- Choice between public cloud, private cloud, on premise, or hybrid
- In-memory database and simplified data model

Source: SAP Performance Benchmarking
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