Many of today’s leading retailers and franchises are embracing multichannel retail with a store estate that may even cross international borders, not to mention online channels, social media, mobile apps and marketplaces. Managing this modern retail ecosystem is certainly becoming more complex and challenging than ever before. Having the correct tech stack in place is therefore essential to being able to effectively manage your retail estate and ensure that customers have a favourable brand experience which is both responsive and consistent. That’s why retailers often invest in comprehensive retail ERP software to serve as the ‘backbone’ of their retail system.
Here Eurostop offers a guide on how to best manage your retail estate and multichannel offering.
1. Always Strive for a Consistent Brand Experience
Using consistent standard operating procedures across your business is one of the best ways to ensure things are running smoothly at every one of your stores and channels. In your brick and mortar stores,this should include work schedules, product return processes, and customer service procedures such as communications and complaint management. You may vary some of the processes for online channels, but the overall brand experience should be consistent, always placing customer convenience at the forefront. It’s worth bearing in mind that shoppers will likely have many touchpoints with your brand on the path to purchase and these will cross multiple channels, however what they will expect is that the process is convenient and as seamless as possible. Employing the right retail ERP software is a great way to provide a core system which facilitates a single view of truth to power the staff and business with the right information and tools.
2. Select Reliable Staff Members for Your Retail Stores
Having reliable team members at each one of your retail locations is key for a smooth customer experience, in addition to making certain each store and channel is running as it should be. Investing in the proper employee training, as well as providing the correct technology to make your staff members’ lives easier is key. It’s no secret that in a competitive landscape, customer service will always be a true differentiator, and the right technology can make it easier to provide the best service across the board. The importance of customer reviews and word of mouth can’t be underestimated and are powerful marketing tools, so it is important to invest to impress.
3. Enhance Internal Communication
With multiple stores, retailers need to do their best to improve internal communication by making it easy for teams to coordinate with each other. Although team members might not be in the same location, a reliable ERP software platform will provide a centralised head office system that’s synched with all of your retail stores and your POS estate, providing a single point of reference.
4. Automated Inventory Tracking
The best and most effective way to stay on top of inventory and stock control is to automate such processes to ensure you’re never left with overstock or run out of popular items or product lines. Managing such processes through a single system will allow you to accurately and efficiently keep track of all your stock and inventory. Then, for example, if a customer enters a store that doesn’t have the item they’re looking for, another store that does can easily be found. Not only that, but having the right information on customer preferences, products and stock can enable your staff to make the most of any opportunity to cross sell or upsell.
5. Centralise Your Sales Data
Your sales data is incredibly important, which is why all of it should be stored in a secure and central database, with which you should be able to gain valuable insights. Regardless of the number of stores you have, retail software and an advanced EPOS system can help collect all of your business-crucial data under one umbrella. Not only will having such tools eliminate the need for staff members from different locations to provide sales data that needs to be compiled, but it also makes it easy and importantly accurate to generate in-depth sales reports and metrics about your business.
6. Regularly Assess All Your Retail Stores
Although implementing automated solutions and innovative software will certainly help provide much-needed insight into all of your retail sales and operations, they will still need to be regularly assessed. Visit stores and fulfilment warehouses when you can to monitor operations and make certain that all staff members are following the standard operating procedures you’ve set down. Additionally, if there’s anything noticeably wrong, you can find a solution as soon as possible before it becomes a problem and begins affecting your customers, and profits.
In the case of online, there are tools with which you can assess the effect of marketing campaigns, promotions and website and app design. Minimising any friction points, which could lead to a customer looking elsewhere, can really make a difference in driving up sales.
Contact us today for advanced retail ERP software and more
Investing in Eurostop’s best-in-class retail ERP software can help solidify your customer relationships, improve staff and customer communication and optimise your sales. With the right reports, you can find out what’s working and what isn’t, and align your offerings and marketing tactics accordingly.
In addition to our ERP software, we also specialise in mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solutions that provide you with the freedom to sell from anywhere, as well as fiscalisation services, tenant management systems, and more.
Contact us online today or call +44 (0) 208 991 2700 for a no-obligation demonstration.
