Black Friday through to Cyber Monday has overtaken Boxing Day as Australia’s biggest shopping event. With nearly half of Australians planning to shop over these four days, retailers must deliver a flawless end-to-end customer experience to keep up with demand.

However, success on Black Friday requires much more than just stocking up and hoping for the best. By leveraging AI-driven analytics for proactive monitoring, real-time insights, inventory management, resilient IT infrastructure, automated response, and quick resolution of potential issues retailers can be ready to handle peak sales events.

A major part of this includes reducing supply chain complexity and optimising performance across all channels. Retailers that implement an AI-driven platform can experience benefits such as:

1. Proactive IT infrastructure monitoring
Proactive monitoring ensures IT infrastructure, such as payment systems, websites, and mobile apps, remain stable under increased traffic. Automated alerts can trigger incident responses to resolve issues quickly. With comprehensive infrastructure visibility, retailers can monitor systems in real time during peak events like Black Friday, providing immediate notification of bottlenecks or identification of potential issues or failures.

This proactive approach not only safeguards against downtime but also provides retailers with the insights to make quick, informed decisions to ensure smooth operations and minimal disruptions.

2. Reduced downtime and enhanced system performance
Website and mobile app performance are crucial during events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as ultimately slow-loading websites or downtime can drive customers away. Retailers need an AI-driven platform for continuous monitoring of all system components, from load times to third-party integrations like payment processors or shipping services.

With real-time analytics, retailers can identify performance bottlenecks and provide insights for making quick decisions, ensuring a seamless customer experience. This capability enables proactive adjustments and lets retailers maintain high performance levels to meet customer expectations, even during peak shopping times.

3. Predicted demand and optimised load management
Accurate demand forecasting is vital for Black Friday, or any key sales event, inventory management. Retailers can’t rely solely on historical data. An AI-driven platform uses high-resolution data from past events to easily forecast resource requirements for the next year. It analyses variables like buying patterns, regional demand shifts, customer browsing behaviour, and real-time sales velocities, as well as historical trends in network and system performance.

By integrating these data points, the platform can provide retailers with a comprehensive view of potential demand fluctuations. This ensures efficient scaling of infrastructure, optimal resource allocation, and uninterrupted performance during high-demand periods so retailers can be well-prepared to handle peak traffic periods.

4. A seamless end-to-end customer experience
Minimising supply chain complexity and maintaining system stability leads to one key outcome: a seamless customer experience. Shoppers expect fast, reliable transactions and timely service. Any delays in browsing, payment, or fulfilling their order can result in lost sales and a negative brand perception.

An AI-driven platform provides real-time monitoring and insights to optimise IT infrastructure to ensure the best experience on the retailer’s website or app for customers. It can also help with proactive issue detection and efficient system management, reducing the risk of slowing down customer browsing or checkouts even in high-traffic times.  With a clear view of system performance, retailers can maintain customer trust and satisfaction, even during the busiest shopping periods.

Get ahead of the rush
Black Friday is an opportunity for retailers to maximise sales and build customer loyalty; however, only if they’re prepared. An AI-driven platform that provides real-time visibility, predictive analytics, and system optimisation can minimise supply chain complexity and deliver a seamless customer experience from start to finish, a much-needed advantage during these high-stakes shopping periods.

By leveraging AI-driven technology, retailers can not only anticipate demand but also respond swiftly to any challenges that arise. With this proactive approach, retailers not only have the data and IT infrastructure monitoring on hand to ensure customers receive the best service and experience possible during peak-traffic times, but it also helps to build a relationship with the customer as a reliable, easy-to-buy-from retailer which sets the stage for beyond the sale season.

Richard Gerdis is vice president for APAC at LogicMonitor.