The retail industry is experiencing a beneficial yet challenging transition. With more retailers going digital, online shopping has become more competitive. This means knowing a little bit about everything in the digital space and going beyond what it traditionally means to be a retailer. Some of the most successful companies today see what it means to adapt current business trends to their advantage. They know how to make the most of their business without spending too much.
This is where offshoring comes into play. With more retailers looking at a bigger global presence in today’s online landscape, staying with the trend has become more important than ever.
What Retailers Need To Know
Many retailers may be thinking that offshoring roles are the typical ones that appear in the news. It’s true that retailers can benefit from offshoring their customer service and administrative tasks. Delegating these functions will certainly contribute to further productivity and efficiency in their operations.
However, offshoring is now not just limited to these roles. With the ever-changing business landscape, the need for more specialized, highly trained roles has become a priority. This has resulted in wider markets, better brand awareness, and a stronger presence online for many retailers. Through proper implementation, many in the retail industry have become aware of the potential offshoring teams have as they take on important roles and collaborate with their local teams.
In other words, if you still haven’t considered offshoring to help your retail business, there’s no better time to start than now. Let’s look at some of the roles that you will be able to offshore.
Finance Roles
More and more finance roles are being sent to offshore teams. These roles have ranged from accountants, analysts, bookkeeping and overall financial administration. Whether they’re a medium, large or listed business, the retail industry can take advantage of offshored financial roles. The cost savings incurred would be significant compared to what they would hire locally. The most experienced retail companies today see where the current business trends are going, including offshoring.
The very idea of offshoring such vital roles would have been unheard of only a few years ago. Letting an offshore team handle a company’s financial responsibilities might have even been seen as taboo. However, offshoring has shown that any of the roles listed can be handled at very high levels. Today’s technology has made it easier for people to communicate and collaborate better regardless of where they are in the world. That is to say, if you haven’t thought about hiring an offshore accountant, your competitors may already have.
IT Roles
When you think about the retail industry, you don’t normally associate it with IT roles right away. In fact, many retailers would probably say that handling the backend of their website isn’t in their priority. However, this line of thinking needs to be changed, especially in the current business environment.
A strong back office is vital for any retail business to succeed online.
Part of the success of retailers like Amazon and Loblaws is their understanding of ecommerce’s impact in today’s society. They see the real value of establishing a strong online presence that allowed them to scale their businesses based on consumer demands. In order to do this, they needed a strong back office support from an IT team to handle different channels of their businesses. Through regular maintenance and data handling, an offshored IT team allowed them to stay competitive at a lowered cost.
Marketing Roles
With your website in place, your retail business will no doubt need leads and traffic that will direct people to it. This is where a smart marketing team becomes effective. Their understanding of trends and consumer behavior shapes the strategy and direction your business should take. This is especially important in the retail industry, where there are numerous specialized interests that can be catered to. Through smart content distribution, your marketing team can be a dedicated source of asset creation that ranges from blogs, research papers, infographics and even short video presentations. In turn, you retailers can turn browsers into potential buyers.
The content and direction online that a marketing team can create are vital to any retail business. Working with them also does not need to be a costly endeavor. Many industries have espoused their satisfaction of working with an offshore marketing team, and these benefits can also be carried over into the retail industry.
Working With The Right Provider
It’s certainly an exciting time to be in the retail industry. With more tools and technology in place, businesses can reach more customers than they previously could. We’ve seen already how major companies have utilized offshore teams to their advantage by assigning them mid to high-level functions they can manage.
HGS continues to work closely with clients in the retail industry and we understand their different needs. Through a collaborative process with us, our clients have produced strong results and have been able to free up resources for further ventures. Drop us a line today to start your offshoring journey.