Ade Sun-Basorun, the Chief Executive Officer of FoodCo Nigeria, has said digital technology will help enhance efficiency and diminish operational costs in the retail sector.
A statement by the organisation quoted Sun-Basorun, as saying that digitisation was key to closing the depletion gap between the supply of modern retail and demand for the service among the country’s rapidly growing young, urban, and sophisticated population.
He said, “The global retail industry has been transformed by digitisation, and it is expected to continue to evolve in the years ahead. For instance, Walmart, the biggest retailer globally, is significantly up-scaling its brick-and-mortar operations to integrate digitisation, and Amazon, the world’s most valuable retailer, is already a digital native.
“In Nigeria, Jumia, the retailer with the highest Gross Merchandise Value, is also a wholly digital player. So, we can see that digitisation has a critical role in the future of retail, both in Nigeria and the wider globe.
“While we are excited about the potentials of technology in facilitating the inclusion of underserved communities as well as catering to the needs of GenZ who are active consumers of digital technology.
“The reality is that building a sustainable digital infrastructure calls for huge investments, whether in developing and operating an effective social media-based selling platform, successfully managing a customer service framework across a variety of digital platforms or, as in the case of FoodCo’s omi-channel model, seamlessly integrating the different touchpoints with the brick-and-mortar stores.”
He added that a 2019 Omnisend Research showed that integrating technology into marketing campaigns led to a 90 per cent customer retention rate and 250 per cent higher engagement and purchase rates.
