Most retail companies have multiple distributed stores, offices, and pop-up shops that require fast and reliable WAN connectivity to ensure customers and employees can efficiently work with their applications. A retail company’s ability to provide great customer service, and support their employee’s needs, can mean the difference between success and failure. But if a network outage or slow WAN connection frustrates customers and remote employees, they can lose revenue and jeopardize their brand.  

Employees and customers accessing applications from corporate data centers, cloud, and SaaS-delivered services need fast, reliable and secure connectivity. IT needs the WAN to be agile, for easy deployment and management, and to have visibility to respond to dynamic network changes.

Today’s WANs need to be flexible, as they support discrete network architectures, including data and wireless network traffic. Retail companies also need to be PCI-compliant, with secure network connectivity. Network connections need to support a retailer’s business objectives and mobile strategies, while ensuring customer data is kept secure and confidential. The WAN also needs to perform optimally to maintain a user quality of experience.

Retailers rely upon the WAN to deliver POS and CRM, digital media, inventory systems, Wi-Fi, and many other applications that are critical for their success. They rely upon an omnichannel approach for a seamless consumer experience, whether online from any device, or physically in the store. Omnichannel can strengthen a retailer’s brand, and positively affect consumer behavior by nurturing the buying process.

WANs are an integral part of a retailer’s communications, as applications and services are dependent upon them. For decades MPLS circuits have been used to support these applications and services. Yet, many retailers are now replacing or augmenting MPLS to lower costs, simplify deployments for new stores, and increase bandwidth, while ensuring security, reliability and performance.