Into the future of commerce with S/4 Hana

In recent months, retailers in particular have discovered how important it is to have interlinked sales channels supported by correspondingly flexible IT solutions in order to be able to react quickly to new and unexpected developments. During the Corona lockdown, stores were closed from one day to the next, while at the same time higher volumes had to be served via the online sales channel - or an online store with connected logistics processes had to be set up in a hurry in the first place. One or the other retailer had to expand its business model at lightning speed in order to survive at all.

With real-time inventory transparency down to the store level, some companies succeeded in quickly installing a ship-from-store concept, while others failed due to a lack of transparency about availability or the possibility of delivering parcels directly to customers instead of first to the store as is usually the case. If you don't have an integrated process and IT landscape, you can't react flexibly and quickly: What is needed are end-to-end processes linked across different platforms and the synchronization of all goods and customer movements in real time.

Companies that continuously drive innovation must provide processes and suitable technologies on a future-proof platform, drive efficient and integrated management of master data, and be able to process and analyze enormous volumes of data in real time and use it for customer acquisition and retention. To do this, every company needs a reliable partner at its side. As an SAP Gold Partner, KPS has put together a suitable transformation scenario and package that enables even very large companies to convert to S/4 Hana in six to nine months, thus laying the foundation for the digital platform of the future.

Unite different worlds

In a first step, KPS compares the strategic business model of its customers with S/4, works out - supported by process mining - the potential of the new platform and combines customer-oriented applications for new and optimized business processes.

Then, similar to a modular system, the future system architecture is determined - S/4 in combination, for example, with the Qualtrics market research solution, the SAP Marketing Cloud, the Annex Cloud loyalty program, or even an existing CRM solution. Even at this early stage, all activities to leverage the innovation potential after the migration are planned.

With acquisitions of Ariba, Hybris, Callidus and Qualtrics, among others, the SAP universe is growing steadily. SAP is expanding its portfolio to offer retailers new opportunities in the supply chain, but especially in the direction of e-commerce and customer experience. SAP's acquisition of Qualtrics, for example, perfectly brought together two (data) worlds: Facts and Feedback.

Experience data from surveys and customer feedback at various touchpoints merge with operational data to provide a holistic view of customers. This enables retailers to make the shopping experience even more attractive and individual for their customers and to optimize customer service.

The increasing integration of Qualtrics with S/4 products such as SAP Marketing, SAP Service and Sales Cloud, and SAP Commerce enables a seamless transition between processes - and marketing or service campaigns are triggered fully automatically: For example, if customers provide feedback on the product after a purchase, appropriate marketing campaigns can be played out automatically, or tickets can be opened for customer service if the purchase was not completely satisfactory and personal contact is desired.

AI is used to ensure that customers not only receive content tailored to them individually during campaigns, but are also not "flooded" with offers during campaigns played out in parallel. The possibilities are many, but one thing is clear: the future of commerce goes far beyond a functioning online store. It requires an integrated digital platform that maps processes end-to-end and can respond to changes flexibly and in real time.