Technology. The ultimate oxymoron. It destructs but also builds. It smashes down barriers, but it also enables the construction of ecosystems. As technology is breaking down these barriers to market entry, it is unlocking a huge number of opportunities for those who are ready. These opportunities are vast in scope and are there for the taking, across all business functions. Those who are winning and leading the way in digital commerce realised this a long time ago and are already thinking about the next steps in terms of leveraging the right technology and the right skillsets across their businesses. Technology is the ultimate enabler and these companies that are empowering and enabling their staff across all teams to use technology to leverage their specific skillset and expertise and drive efficiencies are going to survive the next wave of the digital revolution. Those who keep technology investment concentrated to one or two teams, rather than as a holistic approach, will miss out on this opportunity and will lose out to these winners.

Using technology and the right skills are vital for the future of the industry – across everything from operations, logistics and supply chain, merchandise management, IT, HR, finance, customer experience, marketing, store operations and of course, more holistically, for realising a company’s overall strategy. Technology breaks down barriers within businesses and removes silos, meaning that businesses are enabled to function as efficiently as possible.

In order to achieve this, and indeed sustain this, it is vital for all teams and departments to be thinking ‘digitally’ so that they can work seamlessly together to achieve something great for the customer.