The ever-changing world of retail management solutions

Not just the store – today’s retail management systems are not just for transacting in the physical store during opening hours. A retail management system brings together brick and mortar stores with online shopping; it combines front and back of store operations. Customers interact with it at a wide range of different touchpoints.
This means that a retail management system is intrinsically linked to the customer’s experience of your brand. Your retail management platform is a brand interaction, and colours your customers’ impression of your entire business. Your retail management system can help you win, retain or even lose customers without them ever setting foot in your brick and mortar store, based purely on their interactions with your brand through your retail management platform.

Integrated platforms – today’s retail management solutions integrate a wide range of functions into a single platform. As well as in-store point of sale, a true retail management solution incorporates your online store, customer profiling and loyalty management, promotions, retail data analytics, inventory management, mobile POS, accounting, and links to an ERP back office system.
Having all data and functions within a single platform gives retailers the opportunity to do more and do it smarter. For example, using loyalty data to design and target a personalised promotion, and using in-built data analytics tools to measure the impact. Above all, these platforms deliver online offline integration, which is the fundamental enabler of omnichannel retail. Retailers can offer the cross-channel^* shopping journeys that customers demand, such as click and collect/BOPIS, curbside pickup or Buy Online, Return in Store (BORIS).

Cloud based – one of the most significant changes to retail technology in recent years is the way that fast, reliable internet has enabled a move to the cloud. Rather than having their retail point of sale system installed on the hardware in every store, retailers can simply access the full suite of retail management solution services online.
Cloud-based retail management solutions bring multiple benefits for retailers:

• Cloud is the enabler for Mobile POS, providing an easy to use system to engage with customers. Via a user interface and mobile POS device, associates can check online orders, confirm pricing, see inventory information and complete the sales transaction. Mobile POS, which is growing at 15.5%⁺⁺ per year, helps to save sales, upsell, reduce checkout queues and engage customers.
• A cloud-based retail management solution enables ‘always on POS’, with instant ‘anywhere, anytime’ access to operational data. Store managers or head office can see sales information, inventory and promotion results in real time, and take swift action, such as dynamic pricing^**, to respond in a way that maximises value and revenue. They no longer have to wait for overnight downloads, or work with week old data⁺.
• From an operational point of view, a cloud-based retail point of sale system places fewer demands on IT resource – reducing time spent managing software, security and updates. Staff can focus on other, revenue generating or cost saving projects, making a positive contribution to the bottom line.
• Cloud-based software enables the as-a-service financial model, allowing retailers to pay for what they need, when they need it and eliminating large upfront capital expense. This frees up cash, and gives you the flexibility to expand your systems as you grow – rather than having to purchase hardware and licences before they are needed. The point of sale-as-a-Service model also makes sophisticated systems, which were once the preserve only of the ‘big players’ available to smaller, more niche retailers, giving them the same levels of efficiency and service as their larger counterparts.