Operating a retail business can be a daunting task, especially in an omnichannel and connected world where a brand’s touchpoints extend across multiple brick-and-mortar locations, internationally, online and on social. However, there are always ways to improve processes. In addition to implementing today’s leading retail ERP software, our team of experts from Eurostop has collected a few more tips, so you can get the most returns.
5 Retail Optimisation Tips
1. Centralise Your Company’s Inventory
One essential requirement to improve your retail processes is to centralise your company’s inventory. What this means is having a comprehensive, accurate and single view of all your stock, especially if you manage multiple locations, channels or online stores. This includes knowing what stock, at micro and macro levels, you have available across your entire business and also where exactly it is located. This can be a complex process easily prone to error if you don’t invest in the the correct technology. Without the right system in place you risk having excess capital tied up in dead stock or losing potential sales and disappointed customers.
2. Conduct Regular Inventory Counts
Although you may be automating inventory tracking with ERP solutions and implementing other best practices, don’t overlook the importance of conducting a physical inventory check, or stock take, on a regular basis as well. This is required to double-check the actual numbers match with your stock control software and can helps to identify any issues with your processes or sources of shrinkage as soon as possible. There are two ways of performing a physical inventory count, full or perpetual. The former is a full count of everything in your store while the latter is counting small amounts of products on a continuous basis.
3. Inventory Management & Replenishment Processes
Implementing efficient inventory management including allocation and replenishment processes will make the most of your valuable stock. Retailers will want to ensure that their product lines, variants as well as units are allocated and later replenished across channels and locations according to demand, so that every single potential sale is maximised. Again, this is where having reliable retail ERP technology is a must because it will also provide you with all the necessary reports and metrics such as KPIs like items sold, product performance, general sales reports, etc. to manage these processes with the correct insights. There are a host of inventory management/ordering tasks you can automate with the right stock control solutions that can help you build your bottom line and even thrive during off-seasons. Additionally, the more processes you can automate the fewer chances of human error and the more efficient and streamlined your business. The investment in the right technology stack soon more than pays off.
4. Focus on the Customer by Automating Key Processes
All retailers know that the customer is always the most important person in the room. With empowering technology and automation in place, they can focus better on providing a superior customer service.
5. Ask Customers for Feedback
Keep the focus on the customer further and foster meaningful relationships by asking them for feedback via surveys or other communication channels. Not only does this make them feel a more personal connection with your brand, but also provides insight into smoothing and streamlining the in-store (or online) experience. Product reviews are another great way to gain insight and customer feedback, as well as talking to them face-to-face while they’re shopping.
Contact us for cutting-edge retail ERP software and more
Implementing today’s leading retail ERP software can help boost sales and enhance the customer journey. If you want to explore your options Eurostop would love to speak more about them with you, so contact us online today or call +44 (0) 208 991 2700 to speak to a retail expert.
