Technology is, without doubt, perpetuating change in retail, but it’s an ever-spinning wheel that cannot – should not – displace the role of humans. Whether it’s helpful customer service staff, knowledgeable experts or just good, old-fashioned shop assistants there remains a place for people to enable the sector to gradually build consumer trust in its use of data.

Nearly three-fourths (74%) of respondents in a recent AVEVA channel survey said end customers are seeking technologies that provide predictive analytics to support sustainability goals.

Spire Data, an emerging data analytics and governance provider in the Middle East and Africa region, has partnered with Krista Software, an AI-led intelligent automation solution provider.

To succeed in promoting data sharing and increasing access to the right data aligned to the business case, collaborate across business and industry lines. This will accelerate buy-in for increased budget authority and investment in data sharing. In addition, consider adopting data fabric design to enable a single architecture for data sharing across heterogeneous internal and external data sources.

Inaccurate address is a critical challenge in the Middle East that advanced technologies can help address. A report highlights that last-mile delivery failure rates range from 15% in the UAE to 40 per cent in Saudi Arabia leading to poor customer satisfaction and lost revenue. This means that more than USD 7.42 billion in e-commerce revenue in the Middle East could be affected by inaccurate addresses.