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Top 16 Retail Workload Automation Benefits in 2024

~43% of infrastructure and operation leaders use workload automation (WLA) tools to execute infrastructure operations.1 However, many retail executives are unaware of WLA’s current capabilities.

Workload automation (WLA) tools can help retailers orchestrate back-end operations. WLA tools can schedule, initiate, and trigger retail operations from a single platform. This article will explore the benefits of WLA in retail and structure those benefits according to the business domains they contribute to:

Data services

Retail data, such as inventory and sales, is used in data analysis and forecasting critical for supply chain management and customer satisfaction. However, the retail industry produces over 2.5 billion GBs of data yearly, and retailers must combine these large datasets to use them. 2.

ETL Pipelines

WLA tools provide automated ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) pipelines that can merge large data sets across systems. WLA tools can automate data integration based on preset timers and event-based triggers. The automation of ETL processes with WLA tools:

  • Facilitates access to data
  • Increases data quality by reducing errors
  • Saves IT teams’ time for data analysis and forecasting in domains such as:
    • E-commerce analytics
    • Customer behavior analysis
    • Social media trends analysis
    • Processing data from sensors and IoT devices
    • Inventory forecasting and management

ERP integration

Integrating accounting and supply-chain applications in retail can be crucial. With enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, accounting and supply-chain applications can be tied together. For example, invoice management and demand planning can be tied together. However, ERP implementation can be costly, and about 72% fail.3

WLA tools can increase the chance of ERP implementation success.

For example, WLA tools can schedule SAP ERP and Business Warehouse (BW) jobs with event-based triggers. Without WLA, basic jobs on the SAP ERP and BW systems are scheduled on time-based triggers (see Video 1). For time-based job scheduling, you need time buffers to keep workflow from going wrong because of “wonky” job completion times. Time buffers, on the other hand, can cause time loss. 

As a fix, WLA tools use triggers that are based on events. Event-based triggers can start operations across SAP ERP and BW when jobs are done. This can cut down on, or get rid of, time buffers to save time.

Video 1: Why use WLA for SAP?

Accounting

Using WLA tools has specific benefits for retailers in accounting as well. Case studies indicate that using WLA tools in accounting can:

  • Shorten the time it takes to make master reports on sales and inventory

Data center management

Servers with missing patches can:

  • Cause companies to get low audit scores and hurt their reputation
  • Cause security problems for companies
  • Cause server outages
    • Server outages can cause a negative customer experience

Working in data centers can improve customer happiness.

WLA tools can:

  • Reduce server downtime to improve the customer experience.

What are other areas of WLA benefits?

We enumerated the benefits of WLA in domains that are specific to retail businesses. There are also common business domains like accounting where WLA tools can contribute. Like other industries, retailers can benefit from WLA tools in IT and other departments in WLA use cases, such as:

  • Accounting:
    • P&L creation
    • Billing
  • Finance:
    • Financial planning
    • Client onboarding and offboarding
  • HR:
    • Payroll automation
    • Hiring

If you have any further questions about best practices for workload automation, please get in touch with us at:

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Access Cem's 2 decades of B2B tech experience as a tech consultant, enterprise leader, startup entrepreneur & industry analyst. Leverage insights informing top Fortune 500 every month.
Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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