Flexibility within a Value Chain is essential. Increasing global competition, accelerating technological change and expanding customer expectation are creating a turbulent environment. Today organisations source supplies and products from around the world and the need for flexibility as they choose the appropriate supplier are essential. Flexibility enables organisations to cope with change in a timely manner. By adopting an API lead approach an organisation optimises flexibility allowing it to adapt…
Read MoreThe Value Chain and Your Data
APIs add value to a business. They facilitate exposing the value in one organisations data to be re-used in another organisations applications to benefit the Value Chain. An API is a powerful connection between a wide variety of business assets; systems, partners, suppliers, and customers. By creating re-usable APIs, organisations take advantage of the API economy. To benefit from this economy, you must implement a platform that can develop, organise,…
Read MoreChaos or Calm in the Value Chain?
Having determined that APIs play a major role in your organisations Value Chain it is important that a structure is put in place that can fully manage this strategy. APIs need to be managed; versioned and secured. If you want to meet the demands of your organisation. You will want to make sure that duplication of effort is avoided by being able to search available APIs. You will probably want…
Read MoreBuilding Bridges to Digital Islands
Collaborative working relationships are the reality for any industry. By building closer partnerships up and down the supply chain with suppliers, distributors and customers, organisations improve performance, reduce time-to-market and costs, thus improving profit, providing room to innovative. Your suppliers, partners and customers are all critical to your business success and profitability. They require immediate and secure access to relevant data to help them make important decisions on your behalf, to maintain…
Read MoreHow black was your Friday?
From being a purely American phenomenon, the idea of Black Friday sales has rapidly caught on elsewhere in the last few years. 2016 saw Black Friday sales in the UK reach their highest level for two years (AUTHORITY URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4007712/Black-Friday-sales-reached-highest-level-two-years.html) with more than £1.2 billion being spent online alone) Black Friday represents a pre-Christmas boost for retailers and a useful extension to the holiday shopping period. But the success of their…
Read MoreUnlocking data to provide customer insights
Information has always been key to understanding customers. In the days before information technology this manifested itself in the business owner knowing his or her clients and their tastes, asking after their children and generally building a positive relationship. In the information age things are, perhaps, a little more removed, but businesses have the potential to know more about their customers than ever before. Every transaction leaves a trail and…
Read MoreHow Data is transforming the retail landscape.
With the collapse in the past few years of many household names, most recently BHS and Austin Reed, it’s easy to conclude that the traditional high street retailing model is broken. Yet there are traditional Bricks and Mortar organisations that have been able to transform the shopper experience, through the use of technology to both boost their sales online, but more importantly and often crucially, to drive shoppers to their…
Read MorePayment Service Directive (PSD2) and what it means for retailers
The revised Payment Services Directive ( PSD2 ) was adopted by the European parliament in the final quarter of last year. Yet many retailers remain unclear about what it actually means for them or for their businesses. Let’s take a look at what changes it will make, why they’re important and how developing strong API’s will be key to implementing this new directive. Background The idea of the original Payments Services…
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