15-Year Recap of Digital Transformation Success with 42Gears – Retail

The 2010 decade was a historical period of time for digital transformation. 

Technology trends like AI, IoT, Blockchain, Wearables, Data Analytics, etc., became prominent and helped drive digital transformation across industries, transforming the way we work and live. Digital transformation also opened up B2B opportunities by implementing innovative solutions to streamline operations and transform. 

Mobile device management was one key breakthrough solution that enabled companies to embrace BYOD strategies and adopt mobility-based solutions for empowering the next generation of the workforce. Mobile devices rapidly evolved into handheld computing powerhouses that could not only make calls, but run an array of applications, and this opened the door to many possibilities, especially for e-commerce providers and retailers in optimizing operations and enhancing customer experiences. 

42Gears is proud to be a part of this initial group of companies to offer UEM capabilities to enterprises and businesses. As we complete our 15-year anniversary, we would like to take this opportunity to reflect and recap our achievements in the retail domain. 

42Gears launched with a single focus in mind - to help people and businesses leverage mobile devices as the primary tool (for work and communication) for the present and future. To achieve this, we knew from the start that enabling customers to innovate and operate with maximum efficiency was key, and our mobile device platform had to evolve as per our customer’s needs. This 15-year journey has been dynamic, as 42Gears kept up with technological breakthroughs and serviced over 18,000 customers worldwide, across multiple industries! 

In this series of blogs, we’ll take a look at how 42Gears became a mainstay in mobile device management, how we helped companies achieve their digital transformation objectives, and explore the impact we made on each industry.  

Exploring the Retail Boom Through the 2010s 

A couple of decades ago, customers had to physically walk into stores, browse through products placed on shelves, carry a physical cart with all the items that needed to be purchased, wait in a queue at the billing counter to make payments, and then walk out of the store. 

Today, this entire buying experience has become digital and is mostly done through a mobile app. For the modern buyer, it’s inconceivable to think of a shopping life without e-commerce applications like Amazon, Walmart, Carrefour, Target, NEXT Retail, etc. 

So what has changed? Buying habits have shifted from ‘buying from one major store’ to ‘choosing between different e-commerce stores for the best deals’. The modern buyer has a plethora of options to choose from, and as a result, retailers have transformed their customer experiences through digital innovation. Additionally, convenience is a key factor that helped redefine the customer experiences, with all major retailers and e-commerce providers integrating fast delivery services. 

The Retail Industry Evolved, So Did Our MDM Solution

Due to this massive shift in customer buying habits, retail and e-commerce companies were the first ones to adopt digital transformation initiatives. As a result, the retail industry has seen rapid growth and massive changes in the way they operate and service their customers. 42Gears has a rich history of enabling major retail names to achieve their digital transformation objectives; however, catering to these unique requirements helped us evolve our solutions as well! 

Here’s a snapshot of our major wins in our 15-year journey. 

TD Shop

Challenges
To digitize their payment activities, TD Shop distributed PoS terminals to local retailers in Thailand. However, TD Shop needed a reliable partner that could help them monitor and manage these devices remotely. 

Solution
TD Shop was introduced to 42Gears through their partner, with SureMDM and SureLock suggested for remotely managing and locking down their PoS terminals. SureMDM provided TD Shop with a way to remotely manage their lifecycle of applications, track device locations, remotely troubleshoot devices, and prevent device tampering. 

MRF

Challenges
MRF Tyres was on the lookout for a partner that could help modernize their customer experience by setting up tablets in their office locations. One of their key objectives was to drive customer engagement and they needed a reliable solution that could lock their tablets to one application and restrict access to other websites or applications. They also wanted to maintain connectivity when users shifted between Wi-Fi networks. 

Solution
42Gears supported MRF Tyres by implementing SureMDM for managing their tablets, and SureLock for locking down their tablets to one application. With SureMDM, MRF Tyres’ IT teams could deploy and manage tablets remotely from the central console. IT admins could also set up SureLock and SureVideo on their tablets, and ensure connectivity when moving between Wi-Fi networks. 

A Leading Middle Eastern Telecommunications Provider

Challenges
As part of their digital transformation initiative, the customer (a leading Middle Eastern Telecommunications provider) required a solution that could play promotional videos on their devices located in their retail stores. Since the customer leveraged both Android and iOS devices in their stores, they needed a solution that could manage both these platforms, and utilize their existing digital infrastructure setup.

Solution
42Gears helped the customer overcome these challenges by implementing SureVideo to loop promotional videos on their Android and iOS devices, and SureMDM for remotely managing all of their retail store devices. Both these solutions were able to leverage existing digital infrastructure setups and on-premise servers, making them a perfect “plug-and-play” solution that did not disrupt existing setups. 

Our Journey with Retail continues

Consistent innovation is key in empowering our retail customers to achieve their objectives by streamlining operations and improving ROI. 

Today, our solutions for the Retail industry offer the following capabilities:

1. Device Management and Data Security:

   Our latest feature SureMDM MTD combines our industry-leading mobile device management capabilities with proactive device and application security features. Click here to learn more. 

2. Self-service Options (Kiosk mode):

   SureLock, SureFox and SureVideo offer a host of kiosk features for all types of business requirements, and for all major operating systems. Our kiosk offerings have a proven track record of enhancing customer experiences and boosting employee productivity, and we will continue to innovate in this space. 

3. Indoor Location Tracking:

   This year, we unveiled SureMDM InLocate at the NRF event in January, and we’re excited about the possibilities it offers for Retailers in particular. You can check out our SureMDM InLocate blog on how it can simplify and streamline retail operations. 

4. Customized Branding:

   Retail customers can personalize their SureMDM web console by adding their company logo and other relevant information. This provides employees with a truly personalized experience, while retaining their company’s brand identity. 

The retail industry will continue to transform at the speed of now, which requires technology service providers to be flexible and empathetic to every retailer’s unique requirements. For our current and future customers, we will continue to develop our offerings based on the industry demands. Our rich history of accommodating custom feature requests and adding new features has helped us evolve our platform to meet tomorrow’s demands. 

We’re excited to see how the retail space develops, and we’re all geared up to empower our customers’ digital transformation initiatives.