Digital Transformation—buzzword, marketing ploy, or the real deal? And I totally get it if the answer doesn’t come easily. But the good news is that Digital Transformation is very real, very needed, and luckily not as hard to achieve as one might think.

Like any good business, a plan is needed to achieve anything. Whether it’s sticking to a defined product / solution without deviation, knowing who your target is and not swaying away at a moment’s notice, or simply putting in place a framework as to how, when, and where your best customer interactions will take place—it’s all about planning, and sticking to it.

So it goes without saying that Digital Transformation should be approached the exact same way—if you don’t have a strategy for digital transformation you’re going to find it not just overwhelming, but downright impossible. But again, it’s not as difficult as you might think. Sometimes, retailers simply don’t know where to start, or they feel they have to accomplish substantial goals without delay, finding themselves without direction and without a roadmap to follow.

The best way to get the ball rolling is as simple as conducting a strategy session—one that will enable you to set out your goals, gain an understanding of the tools and technologies required, and have a clear direction with the phases you need to achieve Digital Transformation.

First, given everything that has transpired thus far in 2020, I would highly suggest a strategy session to define your contactless shopping approach. New digital contactless tools and technologies require little upfront investment in infrastructure or platforms, nor do they require complete reorganizations. Best of all, these new contactless tools and technologies enable you to implement a phased approach—one that can be easily started today with little costs associated and completed only when you are ready to move to the next phase.

These phases offer the opportunity to build only the pieces and components needed, when needed. All while boosting sales, enabling you to strategically repurpose staff, and most importantly give customers the digital tools they want, as well as the sense of safety they must have to do business with an organization.

And if this still sounds a little too lofty, we’re here to help. In fact, we are currently offering free strategy sessions as a way of helping to kickstart our economy. We can easily work with you to develop your strategic plan and lay out everything you need for a smooth path to Digital Transformation initiatives. And again it’s all done with a phased approach—one that won’t overwhelm you and won’t lead to missed opportunities.

The reality is that digital transformation has been on the back burner for many retailers for a long time. The key driver is that implementing a strategy now—regardless of how small—is the only way to survive moving forward.

For instance, as we all know there has been a massive shift in customer behavior. Even aside from the impacts of COVID-19, the modern shopper expects and needs to be able to shop anytime, from anywhere, on any device—and they expect that to be seamless across all channels—online, in-app, and in-store. Add the “new normal” to that equation and the imperative nature becomes highly apparent.

Then, of course, there is the issue of the stickiness of the new engagement models. Customers have become accustomed (how new habits form quickly) with features such as Buy Online & Pickup In-store (BOPIS), Curbside Pickup options and contactless payment technologies such as Tap&Go. In addition, there are Scan & Pay and Scan & Learn technologies with customers using their own mobile devices.

Because of these shifts in customer behavior, there is more urgency than ever before to digitally transform. Simply put, now is the time to establish a direction that clearly defines your organization’s purpose, providing a base from which progress can be measured; areas of priorities both for the medium and long term with the ability to focus on what needs to be done and when; and a targeted approach to guide your business decisions, resulting in increased profitability and market share.

I get that the realization is tough, and that external forces such as a pandemic are never the best time to embrace change. But something as simple as a strategy session paired with a few new tools isn’t about reaction, it’s about clarity of vision for a bright and promising future. So, are you ready?