Lengthy checkout traces. Stock gaps. Dissatisfied prospects. Because the Principal Director of Retail Consulting at Accenture, I’m all too accustomed to the challenges of in-store procuring, particularly throughout peak durations like seasonal gross sales or the vacations.
Right here’s the in-store expertise retail leaders need to supply:
Your buyer, Kate, finds a pair of denims on-line and needs to strive them on for dimension and match. She notices your model has a retailer close by, so she reserves them. When she arrives, Kate expects one-on-one service and a quick checkout. It ought to be a fast journey to the store, proper?
Right here’s what truly occurs:
The denims Kate reserved are out-of-stock in your retailer as a result of inaccurate stock knowledge, although they seemed to be accessible on-line. Whereas your retailer affiliate can suggest the same model, they’ll’t entry the real-time stock of close by retailers to find the denims Kate truly desires. Sadly, Kate is simply too annoyed to browse different merchandise. She leaves the shop dissatisfied
It doesn’t must be this manner.
A contemporary point-of-sale (POS) system can differentiate your model and get your retailer seen for all the best causes. I’ve seen fashionable POS techniques change the sport for a few of my greatest shoppers with regards to gross sales affiliate productiveness, retailer operations, and shopper conversion.
How are you aware it’s good to improve your POS? These are essentially the most salient challenges I’ve seen. When you’ve skilled a number of of those points in your shops, it’s time to contemplate an replace.
Problem #1: Stock
Clients can’t discover the merchandise in inventory in your retailer. Your retailer associates aren’t geared up with the instruments to assist them.
When retailer associates have entry to real-time stock knowledge, they’ll present the net to in-store experiences prospects count on from fashionable retail retailers. These are the sorts of procuring moments made potential by fashionable POS:
- Don’t have the best dimension for a buyer? No downside. As an alternative of dropping the sale, associates can test product availability throughout your bodily shops and digital catalog — and supply to order or ship the merchandise.
- Associates could make knowledgeable product solutions based mostly in your present stock knowledge
- Clients can reserve or buy gadgets on-line and decide them up in-store. Your associates can settle for in-store returns of on-line purchases. And your retailer stock updates in real-time after each transaction.
A contemporary POS that mechanically updates stock throughout all channels, each in-store and on-line, would have given Kate correct particulars about which close by retailers had her desired denims. The consequence? Buyer belief and model loyalty, earned. Out-of-stock disaster, averted.
Problem #2: Personalization
Your most loyal, high-value prospects are handled like strangers. Your retailer associates lack the context and knowledge to tailor their service.
Traditionally, gross sales associates have needed to handle numerous instruments and techniques for in-store operations, typically logging in to as many as eleven techniques a day. Even with that many instruments, solely 17% of retailer associates have entry to buyer knowledge. When retailer associates have to handle that many techniques, inefficiency rises and productiveness falls. Because the frontline (and sometimes the face) of our manufacturers, it’s essential to produce workers with intuitive, easy-to-use instruments to allow them to deal with what issues most: the shopper.
With a contemporary POS system, retailer associates can:
- Entry buyer info, together with loyalty standing, buy historical past, want lists, and procuring preferences, to ship a customized procuring expertise
- Seize buyer info straight within the POS system and signal consumers up to your loyalty program, notifications for in-store occasions, offers, promotions, new arrivals bulletins, and extra
- Entry wealthy product particulars, specs, and descriptions — turning each affiliate into an immediate product skilled who can reply even essentially the most advanced questions
Think about Kate is again in your retailer, in search of an outfit for her birthday celebration. A contemporary POS offers your retailer affiliate entry to Kate’s profile, to allow them to suggest merchandise comparable and complementary to her previous purchases. The affiliate may even alert her to a BOGO birthday supply for loyalty insiders that Kate qualifies for. Kate chooses a gown, and the loyalty supply seals the deal for a pair of footwear she had her eyes on. Entry to buyer particulars by a contemporary POS successfully helped the affiliate up-sell, foster a stronger connection, and improve Kate’s procuring expertise (and her birthday!) together with your model.
Problem #3: Lengthy traces
The traditional conundrum for retail retailers: Excessive visitors results in lengthy traces, and impatient prospects don’t convert.
Is there something extra irritating for patrons than ready in a protracted line? Based on a current research from Waitwhile, 80% of shoppers keep away from going to a enterprise due to traces. Frustration grows when a buyer is pressured to attend in a protracted line for a easy transaction – like shopping for or returning a single merchandise, making an change, or buying a present card.
A contemporary, mobile-friendly POS can assist retailer associates:
- Wipe out lengthy traces by enabling checkout from anyplace within the retailer.
- Help elevated buyer visitors and gross sales quantity throughout busier durations
- Present personalised companies by accessing buyer info, product particulars and scheduling appointments
Your loyal buyer, Kate, is again in your retailer on Black Friday to complete up her vacation procuring. Usually, Kate wouldn’t step foot right into a retail retailer on such a busy day. However she is aware of from expertise that the wait isn’t lengthy, and she will benefit from mobile-friendly checkout at your store.
Kate mentions to the shop affiliate that she desires to discover a reward for her sister, who has the identical model and product preferences. The affiliate can suggest gadgets based mostly in your model’s reward guides, together with buyer profile particulars that record Kate’s product affinities. Kate finds the right reward in underneath 10 minutes, and she or he completes the acquisition proper from the associates cell, handheld POS — with out ever getting in a line.
Problem #4: Information gaps
Clients count on each gross sales affiliate to be a product skilled. However that’s unimaginable once they don’t have the best info at their fingertips.
Typically the reply to a single query is the one factor holding somebody again from making a purchase order. Clients need to find out about product particulars, supplies, and specs to assist them make knowledgeable shopping for selections. When retailer associates can’t present the best info, you threat dropping a sale. Fashionable POS techniques can assist by:
- Giving retailer associates entry to even essentially the most granular merchandise particulars to your complete stock, turning every affiliate right into a product skilled.
- Cellular gadgets and tablets are intuitive and broadly adopted — particularly for digital natives — which minimizes the training curve that was as soon as steep for retail new hires.
- Fashionable techniques, like Retail Cloud POS, guarantee enterprise continuity even in periods of downtime or intermittent connectivity, so retailer associates can supply stellar service and checkout experiences — it doesn’t matter what.
Kate is searching your store, in search of new pair of leggings to put on for an upcoming marathon. She desires to verify she’s as comfy as potential throughout the race, so she has just a few questions. A seasonal worker gives help. When Kate asks whether or not the material is sweat-wicking, the shop affiliate appears up all of the product particulars immediately. These leggings had been made for efficiency — the material is breathable, light-weight, and sweat-wicking. Fashionable POS made it potential to offer real, significant assist.
Problem #5: Unmet expectations
Clients are used to sturdy, handy procuring experiences together with your model on-line — however your in-store expertise doesn’t measure up.
New retail improvements and complicated omnichannel capabilities have modified buyer expectations for your complete procuring expertise, together with at brick-and-mortar shops. Clients count on the comfort and ease of online-to-offline companies like return anyplace and in-store pickup. Clients additionally count on versatile fee choices and the flexibility to make use of their loyalty factors in your shops.
A contemporary POS system helps you meet and exceed buyer expectations, and ship versatile experiences that unite digital and in-store transactions:
- Purchase on-line, decide up in-store
- Reserve on-line, buy in-store
- Purchase on-line, return in-store
- Ship from retailer
- On-line appointment reserving for in-store companies
Kate must return a jacket she purchased on-line, so she brings it again to one in all your nearest places. Your retailer affiliate, geared up with a contemporary POS, can immediately entry Kate’s unique on-line order and course of her return shortly. As quickly as she completes her transaction, your retailer’s stock stage updates in actual time to replicate the brand new merchandise in inventory. On-line to offline transitions are simpler (for patrons and retailer associates) with a contemporary POS.
With Retail Cloud Fashionable POS, retailer associates acquire real-time entry to stock, buyer, and order knowledge. Now, in-store workers can present stellar service with experiences like mobile-first checkout and clean mixed-cart transactions (in-store and on-line, multi functional). This unified point-of-sale system may enhance retailer operations with capabilities that allow you to show shops into success facilities. One of the best half? You are able to do all of it with a single app.
