NTT Data, in its first major strategic play following a rebrand from Dimension Data in April, has launched an industry-specific end-to-end offering aimed at the South African retail sector.
The retail practice, led by Tony Nugent, is grounded in NTT’s Syntphony platform, the company’s digital asset and intellectual property (IP) portfolio through which other industry-specific practices focusing on financial services, life sciences and healthcare, and manufacturing are being built.
“In the move from Dimension Data to NTT Data, there are probably two key elements that are important for our staff and our clients,” said NTT Data Middle East and Africa CEO Alan Turnley-Jones in an interview with TechCentral on Wednesday.
“The first one is the digital assets that we now have as an organisation via the Syntphony suite. The second is the global nature of the business, along with the depth of experience and the ability to leverage case studies and skills from around the world.”
Turnley-Jones said NTT Data is now able to leverage IP built by Dimension Data over the years and combine it with NTT’s global expertise to offer new services to the local market.
From a retail perspective, NTT Data is drawing on the group’s experience from more digitally mature retail markets such as Brazil and Europe to bring new solutions in customer experience, artificial intelligence, employee training and gamification to its South African clients.
Focus area
“Retailers globally in the last decade have built robust transactional systems that deal with sales and logistics. The investments in the next three to five years are going to be in customer-facing innovations. A big focus area for retailers is analysing customer behaviour, and many South African retailers are still behind the curve in this area,” said Nugent, who is the retail practice leader for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at NTT Data.
The range of digital assets in the Syntphony suite can be purchased as standalone solutions – like payments, for example – that integrate with existing front- and back-office retail management systems. Alternatively, clients can opt for platform solutions that offer end-to-end integration across payments, loyalty, customers and the point of sale “to give a holistic view of the store”.
According to Turnley-Jones, one of the drivers towards sector-specific IT solutions with “end-to-end scoping” is that it gives NTT the ability to accelerate time-to-market for customers. Another driver is that engagements are increasingly taking place with both business and IT.
“Clients are exciting about having people in the room that speak their language and understand merchandising, for example, along with the IT skills,” said Turnley-Jones.
One of the key trends driving faster time to market in the retail sector is the ability to deliver training using “gamified toolsets” via various channels including desktops, point-of-sale devices and even smartphones.
Gamification is also playing an important role at the customer end of retail operations, where it improves platform stickiness by increasing the time spent on a particular channel and also increases the amount of data collected by the retailer, which can be used to create personalised offerings that drive sales and improve customer experience.
“A lot of retailers have made investments in their core technologies; Syntphony is going to give them the ability to grow on the edge where the customer interaction is. That is where the innovation is going to happen,” said Nugent. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
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