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Why using a retail technology provider might beat an in-house team
Although using an in-house team initially seems the right decision for retail tech, outsourced retail technology providers tend to have much more benefits.
Developing solutions in-house vs. using a retail tech provider has always been a difficult question to answer within retail technology. As technology changes, it remains a constant debate whether going in-house is better than outsourcing. However, there are multiple reasons why outsourcing retail tech is the best solution in the long run. Below are the key reasons why using a retail technology provider remains a much better retail decision than building a retail tech platform in-house which we have split into 3 key areas: resources, expertise, and time.
Resources
- Building roadmaps, auditing your existing systems and evaluating the new technologies required to realise your retail ambitions costs both money and time whereas it is second nature to successful retail technology providers. Leaving it to an in-house team can lead to major disruption to the business and result in costly software that does not provide the required output you need.
- Creating and maintaining your retail software is a costly endeavour. Due to the nature of their business, a retail tech provider will be better placed to provide your brand with the bespoke tools and software needed so you don’t need to bear those costs.
- A proper in-house retail tech development team would require multiple employees, including full stack engineers, product testers, solution managers, plus more. The cost of hiring and maintaining a team of this magnitude would put a strain on resources and become rather costly.
Expertise
- Creating a completely omnichannel solution means understanding the entire process of what it entails. The right retail tech provider has people working in every area of building an omnichannel platform. Experienced in every area, a successful retail tech provider has a team who knows how to solve an unexpected problem when it arises as efficiently and quickly as possible to get your retail operations running smoothly without a hitch.
- An outsourced team has more specialised skills, whereas in-house teams tend to be generalists in IT systems. They may therefore struggle to have all the necessary skill sets to improve retail capabilities to the necessary standard. Additionally, if an in-house team member decides to leave the company, they may also take away important knowledge of how the software works which leads to lost knowledge whereas losing a member within a retail tech provider should have little effect on a client.
- Tech providers work with multiple companies which means they are more likely to provide creative solutions to retail challenges based on previous solutions that worked for other clients.
- Retail tech providers have already built lasting relationships with a plethora of trusted software and commerce companies that can be integrated into their platform right away. These partnerships are invaluable in creating leading retail software and can be difficult to acquire for in-house development teams without that pre-built relationship.
Time
- Using the software from a retail tech provider means that you have access to several dedicated developers to fix any issues that may occur in real-time. They will be keen to sort out any errors as efficiently as possible as well as implement the latest updates when available saving your tech team to deal with other operational jobs.
- Technology built by in-house development teams tends to be slower to create. Any new changes made will need to be signed off and agreed which will create a string of delays. Outsourced teams tend to deliver to market much faster as the team is dedicated, there is less red tape, and workflows and processes have already been optimised and pre-established to make the rollout more streamlined.
- In-house teams also tend to follow retail trends rather than leading them, meaning your clienteling and retail capabilities will always be trailing behind competitors.
Which retail technology provider is best?
One of the most important elements to take into account when searching for the right retail technology provider for you is how invested they are in helping your brand succeed. At Red Ant, we view our clients as partners. We are invested in helping their stores flourish rather than just selling them the software to do so. As an employee-owned company, we do better if our clients do better, guaranteeing our commitment to helping your stores succeed.
At Red Ant, we believe in the quality of our work. Our team is always looking to improve the solutions we can provide which means we are continually at the forefront of retail change. In fact, Red Ant's retail technology advisors have been delivering innovative technology for some of the world’s biggest retail and lifestyle brands for the past 20 years. Our award-winning tech is proven to maximise sales, deliver exceptional customer service and drive operational performance.
If you are looking for a retail tech provider that has the knowledge and experience to grow your brand in store and online, get in touch with our team to tell us more about your retail goals today!
