Managing customer and vendor master data across the retail industry and facilitating business process optimization across your organization can be a daunting ask for an understaffed or underprepared team…
Read on to learn how SAP Retail software solutions can help identify and navigate challenges in the retail industry and improve experiences for all stakeholders across the supply chain, as well as where our team of senior-level SAP consultants can fit in your organization.
Typical Challenges Across the Retail Industry
- Retailers with highly seasonal merchandise experience rapid market changes
- Complex supply chains can cause slower collaboration among vendors, retailers, customers
- Grocery retailers often struggle with managing catch-weight products in terms of inventory, management, and valuation
- Pressure on supply planning and omni channel fulfillment process to have the right product at the right quantity and time
- Stark mix of different tech, navigation schemes, and user interfaces to manage business processes
How Does SAP Play a Role in Retail Operations?
SAP Retail is a fully-integrated retail management system designed to help companies map their competitive assortment strategies, manage retail formats, assess ECR-driven logistics, and facilitate the distribution of products to customers.
SAP’s retail business solutions provide the tools needed for companies to properly manage retail operations, model business processes more efficiently, and maintain a competitive edge in an ever-changing retail environment.
Main processes involved in SAP Retail operations include…
- Calculation of sales prices
- Assortment management
- Resource allocation
- Requirement planning and purchasing
- Warehouse and distribution center management
- Goods receipt and billing functions
The solution also allows retail businesses to model the entire value chain involved in optimizing retail operations, conducting control checks to manage the flow of merchandise through the entire supply chain, and transmit information between vendors, retailers, and consumers.
Core Components of the SAP Retail Solution
1) Merchandising and Inventory Management
This component allows retailers to manage their merchandise and inventory across all channels and locations. It includes features such as purchasing, pricing, promotion planning, allocation, replenishment, and demand forecasting.
2) Point of Sale (POS)
This component enables retailers to manage their sales transactions and customer interactions at the store level. It includes features such as barcode scanning, cash register management, customer loyalty programs, and real-time inventory updates.
3) Store Operations
This component helps retailers manage their store operations efficiently. It includes features such as workforce management, task scheduling, store communication, and reporting.
4) Demand Management and Forecasting
This component enables retailers to forecast demand for their products and plan their inventory levels accordingly. It includes features such as demand planning, promotion planning, and sales forecasting.
5) Analytics and Reporting
This component provides retailers with real-time analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing them to make data-driven decisions. It includes features such as dashboards, data visualization, and predictive analytics.
Can SAP Retail Integrate with Other Solutions?
When it comes to making the most out of your SAP Retail solution, integrations with other SAP applications, platforms, and resources can help your company enhance digital transformation efforts, improve customer engagement, and optimize business functions.
Here are a few of the main SAP solutions that SAP Retail seamlessly integrates with…
SAP HANA Cloud Platform
- SAP Cloud Platform Integration: Provides pre-built integration framework, including pre-built integration content for various business processes such as order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, and inventory management, to integrate SAP Retail with Cloud Platform.
- SAP Cloud Platform Open Connectors: Offers a set of pre-built connectors used to connect SAP Retail with SAP HANA Cloud Platform and provide a standardized way to connect with various external cloud applications and services across the industry.
- SAP Cloud Platform API Management: Delivers a comprehensive API management solution designed to manage APIs exposed by SAP Retail and consumed by the SAP HANA Cloud Platform, including advanced features such as API design, data security, reporting, analytics, and monitoring.
- SAP HANA Cloud Connector: Provides a secure and reliable way to connect SAP Retail with SAP HANA Cloud Platform by establishing a secure channel between on-premise SAP Retail systems and the SAP HANA Cloud Platform.
SAP Ariba
- SAP Ariba Network: Offers a cloud-based business network that can be used to connect SAP Retail with SAP Ariba by leveraging standard integration protocols such as cXML, EDI, and OCI.
- Integration Toolkit: Provides a set of pre-built integration scenarios, including those that cover various business processes such as procurement, invoice management, and supplier management, to integrate SAP Retail with SAP Ariba.
- Cloud Integration Gateway: Delivers cloud-based integration solutions built to connect SAP Retail with SAP Ariba through pre-built connectors and adapters that support various integration protocols across the SAP Retail system.
- SAP Process Orchestration: Provides a comprehensive integration platform and a set of pre-built integration scenarios and system adapters used to orchestrate integrations between SAP Retail and SAP Ariba.
SAP Point-of-Sale
- SAP Retail API: Delivers APIs that can be used to integrate SAP Retail with SAP POS, enable real-time data exchange between SAP Retail and SAP POS, and cover various retail business processes (i.e., pricing, promotions, inventory management, and order management.)
- SAP Point of Sale Data Management (PDM): Provides a pre-built integration framework and advanced data mapping capabilities to enable seamless data exchange and integrations between SAP Retail and SAP POS.
- SAP Retail Store Device Control (SDC): Offers a framework used to manage and control devices used in the retail stores (including the POS devices), leverage pre-built integrations to connect various hardware devices, and enable seamless data exchange between SAP Retail and SAP POS.
Main Advantages for Retailers Using SAP S 4HANA Retail
- Adapt to evolving conditions and requirements throughout the retail industry and respond quickly to changes in consumer behavior and preference
- Use data-driven insights and improves inventory accuracy to manage product lifecycles more efficiently throughout each operational season
- Leverage user-friendly interfaces and improved data accessibility to increase user adoption and allow users to access data whenever and wherever it’s needed
- Streamline supply chain operations and leverage tools needed to improve shop-floor efficiency, customer service initiatives, and customer satisfaction
- Integrate retail components across systems to improve performance and reduce inventory costs, revenue losses, and total cost of ownership (TOC)
How Can We Help?
Whether you need help implementing a new SAP solution across business units, additional support outlining plans to integrate SAP ERP solutions throughout the retail sector, or just an extra hand creating a merchandise category hierarchy to maximize business process efficiency in your retail company, Surety Systems is here to help.
Our team of senior-level SAP consultants has the technical skills and real-world experience needed to lead you to success, regardless of the complexity of your SAP environment or the nature of your SAP project needs.
Even better, we’ve included a sample profile of one of our top-notch SAP consultants to give you a better idea of what to expect when partnering with us…
Surety Senior SAP Retail Consultant
- US Citizen
- 20+ years of SAP experience; Senior SAP S/4HANA Fashion OTC / Store Operations Consultant
- Specializes in SAP S/4HANA Fashion, SAP AFS, SAP IS-Retail, SAP SD, and SAP MM
- SAP Certified in Sales Order Management
- Deep knowledge of SD Pricing, Order to Cash, and Supply Chain
- Expert in AFS Best Practice
- Completed over 10 Full Life Cycle Implementations; Multiple SAP S/4HANA Fashion Implementations
Getting Started with Us
Your SAP system. Your priorities. Our expertise. That’s just how we roll at Surety Systems.
Interested in learning where our SAP consulting services can fit in your organization to help manage master data within your SAP system, optimize retail business operations, and improve customer loyalty and satisfaction?
Contact us today to get started on a project with one of our experienced SAP consultants!
