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Unified Commerce

Seven things to look for in a retail technology partner

Can your retail system keep up with customer demand for omnichannel experiences?

Consumers now see both the online and offline shopping experience as part of the same buying journey and not one versus the other.

This is introducing more complexity into the business, with channels becoming less physical and more digital. And that’s why unified commerce is now retail’s top priority, with 88% of retailers investing in unified commerce or considering doing so to build a customer-centric approach to retail.  

But at a time when 2 in 5 retailers (40%) lack in-house expertise to make the most of new technologies, and only 25% of retailers can connect online and store data, many retailers are looking at how to rebuild their businesses from the bottom up for their unified commerce business model.

They know that working with the right people and the right technologies will make the roll-out of new customer experiences much easier and deliver results much faster.

If you’re developing the roadmap or requirements for your next point of sale or retail platform, start here.

There are seven important indicators of a good technology partner:

1

Maturity and market responsiveness

With a mature platform you can focus on delivering innovation because the critical functionality you need already exists.

Look for a partner who’s been around retail for a while, with a platform built on a modern architecture and sound business model and proposition. They’ll need to understand your fast-paced, data-intensive environment where any significant level of downtime is unacceptable.

Their people will have the capability to help you plan and implement your projects so that they work for you now and into the future. When you choose a partner with a mature platform, they can focus on delivering innovation because the core functionality you need already exists.

2

Real-world customer experience

A strong track record and referenceable customer base means less risk.

Make sure your partner has a recent and proven success record for planning, implementing and managing complex, large-scale deployments across multiple stores, multiple formats and multiple geographies.

Have they implemented unified commerce systems or are they just unifying digital commerce channels? Ask for evidence of the relationships, products and services that help their clients to be successful, including the consultancy, customisation, integration, training and support services you’ll need.

3

Flexible and innovative mindset

Seek a partner that can pivot quickly as markets change.

You want a partner who’s got the people and processes to move fast, while cultivating an environment where innovation flourishes.

Check that they have a history of responsiveness and the ability to assess and quickly correct any unforeseen issues. Can they change direction, be flexible and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act and customer needs evolve.

4

Broad product capability

Choose a partner that can give you a holistic portfolio and expansive retail ecosystem.

Offering a unified experience means unifying all the backend systems that run POS, inventory, customers and loyalty, pricing and promotions, analytics and fulfilment. You don’t want to be tied to a point player that can only provide portions. You’ll need all your core requirements out-of-the-box plus the ability to customise and easily add new functionality.

Your partner should let third parties connect via APIs and cultivate a vendor ecosystem to reduce risk and increase flexibility. You also need to know that your partner has a strategic roadmap and investment committed for new capabilities. 

5

Consulting and market understanding

Ensure your partner can translate your business needs into functional solutions.

Find a partner that will guide you in the right direction and tune technologies to fit your individual business needs. Do they have consultancy skills that span business and technical knowledge? Can they advise you on business processes as well as how the software works? Make sure they understand your wants and needs (as well as those of your customers) and can translate them into products and services.  

6

Exceptional operations

Make sure they combine experience, processes and systems for faster ROI.

Check that your partner can meet their goals and commitments, and that they have the organisational structure, skills, experiences, programmes and systems to operate effectively and efficiently. That includes agile — make sure they’ve done the training and really understand agile principles, methods and practices.  

7

Local and committed to your success

A local partner means you can have more influence on the product roadmap and expect faster turnaround.

Retailers are developing a customer-centric mindset and building new skills and capabilities to compete with new competitors. They recognise the risk that comes with global vendors with an indirect model of engagement and support.

A local business means you can enjoy direct engagement with on-the-ground people focussed on your needs, and not distracted by offshore business activity. With direct access to second and third level support and simple processes, you’ll enjoy leaner, faster support services.

Biggest isn’t always best. A mid-sized company will have fewer layers of bureaucracy, giving them more agility and responsiveness. It also means that you’ll be an important customer of influence to your partner - they will value your business and work hard for it.

This blog was originally published on 21 January 2019 and updated 07 October 2024.

Want help to innovate and scale new services, faster?

Triquestra has been delivering retail management systems in multiple industries and geographies for more than 25 years. Our product and people are supporting award-winning retailers delivering disruptive, world-first customer experiences that build loyalty and grow sales.

 If you’re experiencing technology challenges that prevent you from unifying your physical and digital channels, get in touch. We’d love to help you digitise your business to create the unified experiences your customers now expect.

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

Turbocharging delivery: why you start with unified inventory

How well is your business geared to deliver the fast fulfilment options consumers now expect? Retailers with a single view of inventory across all locations can slash delivery times, profitably.

Over recent years, retailers have adapted to changing consumer demands, evolving channels and rising customer expectations around convenience, choice and speed.

And now they’re turbocharging their digital and physical fulfilment to help differentiate the CX.

Why is delivery speed so important?

Customers now expect retailers to provide multiple fulfilment options, ranging from same-day shipping (for a fee) through to free delivery over a longer timeframe and everything in between.

They consider reliability to be just as important as speed when it comes to delivery, preferring their orders to arrive when they expect them, rather than promised a same-day or next-day delivery that never appears.

And the time is right to use stores as mini-distribution centres. Soon, up to half of all online purchases are expected to be fulfilled directly from physical stores, and up to 50% potentially being returned to these locations.

The challenges of omnichannel delivery

However, omnichannel fulfilment can be the source of many inventory optimisation challenges.

Compressing delivery times and introducing store-based fulfilment means adjusting inventory management, allocation and replenishment strategies. It requires careful analysis of the destination of products, distinguishing between those that will be sold on the shop floor and those designated for fulfilment, and adjusting replenishment processes to ensure optimal stock levels for both.

In addition, many retailers can only access rudimentary sales and inventory positions, and have complex systems that are fragile, inefficient and costly to integrate.

So, what is required to compress delivery times and introduce omnichannel fulfilment?

1. Real-time inventory visibility in every location

To provide the speed and convenience consumers expect, retailers are moving from multichannel silos to unified commerce platforms that provide a unified view of inventory across all stores and DCs.

 Real-time data on stock levels can benefit your business in many ways:

  • Reduce inventory costs by ensuring you’ve got the right inventory available in each location, without carrying the cost of overstocking or ‘buffers’

  • Optimise your product range by matching stock to each store’s location and demographics

  • Create dark stores for online order fulfilment, turning physical locations into temporary or permanent fulfilment nodes to enable faster delivery and keep retail staff working

  • React to trends quickly and forecast demand based on historical data, sales forecasts and seasonal variations

  • Extend your range across more sales channels such as in-store kiosks, shoppable screens, pop-up stores, concessions and mobile devices.

2. Optimise store fulfilment processes

Once your inventory is under control, you’re free to extend your omnichannel delivery.

By using your stores for fulfilment or pick-up, you can increase the amount of inventory for sale while reducing inventory cost and slashing delivery times. Many potential online sales previously lost to inventory shortages can be saved when stores also function as fulfilment centres. And the return on investment can be spectacular. With endless aisle fulfilment, our clients have achieved a 200 to 300% growth in online revenue.

Target USA is one high profile example. It consistently fulfils the majority of its sales, including online orders, directly through its physical stores. In Q2 2024, 97.9% of Target’s orders were fulfilled by its stores, which are a ‘one-stop’ for fulfilment, including returns in store, kerbside returns and even kerbside returns and pickups.

Store-based fulfilment also presents a unique marketing opportunity. Consumers are more environmentally conscious, and using stores as hubs allows customers to make more sustainable choices in the way they purchase products. Store fulfilment allows retailers to streamline packages for more efficient last-mile delivery - minimising the numbers of trucks on the road, reducing environmental impacts, boosting profit margins and enhancing the overall customer experience.

And even better, store fulfilment doesn’t demand that eco-conscious consumers pay extra. Retailers just need to guide customers toward using the more sustainable and, importantly, often faster fulfilment options that are already accessible through their stores.

This post was originally published on 15 December 2021 and updated on 19 September 2024.

If you’re urgently revamping your omnichannel delivery capabilities and want advice on which projects to tackle first, our checklist could help. It will let you assess where you are at against retail leaders and decide what you need to improve. Download it here. 

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

Changing your POS? 7 critical tests your software must pass

Is your point of sale system good enough for today’s omnichannel environment?

In a recent blog, we talked about how changing consumer expectations are disrupting legacy point of sale technology and shared five areas to focus on to differentiate the store customer experience.

If you want to ensure your next retail platform will grow and evolve alongside your needs, here we look at the challenges retailers experience when making the shift to a new POS, and the important tests the new tech needs to pass.

For many omnichannel retailers, the rise of online shopping has set higher expectations for in-store experiences.

Physical stores now play a key role in driving demand and profitability - even when the final purchase happens online.

Shoppers today view their online and in-store interactions as part of a unified buying journey, not separate channels. And by speeding up delivery, increasing share of wallet, and providing hands-on product experiences, stores are enhancing and differentiating the overall customer journey.

Yet, a significant challenge persists: many retailers find that their outdated point of sale systems are unable to meet the needs of today’s omnichannel shoppers, especially with the ‘phygital’ experiences that tech-savvy consumers now expect.

And making the shift to a new point of sale is complicated:

  •  Many retailers defer upgrades because of concerns about potential disruption to current operations, the resources required for successful implementation and the task of staff training.

  • Compatibility issues with existing and future systems can make the transition to a modern POS seem a daunting task. 

  • This can be amplified by a fear of not achieving the anticipated return on investment, especially if they’ve previously been burned by failed tech projects.

  • In the past, retailers who got behind on their store technology investments frequently focused on catching up to current standards. However, now the focus is on future proofing – choosing platforms that speed up innovation, with the flexibility to change direction as opportunities develop, competitors act and customer expectations evolve.

You don’t want a project that fails to deliver the desired returns because the wrong product was selected.

So at a time when point of sale software is undergoing a surge of disruption, innovation and investment, how do you select the right system for your business requirements? 

Here are the 7 tests a point of sale purchase must pass, with the first being the most crucial of all:

Test 1. Can it be rapidly implemented and deployed?

The number one priority for most of the retailers we speak with is speed of deployment.

The complexity of upgrading legacy POS infrastructures can present significant operational challenges. This means you need a platform built on a modern architecture, with all your core requirements out-of-the-box plus the ability to customise and easily add new functionality.

When you choose a partner with a mature platform, they can focus on delivering innovation because the core functionality you need already exists.

Check the provider has recent and proven success planning, implementing and managing complex, large-scale deployments across multiple stores, multiple formats and multiple geographies. They’ll need to understand your fast-paced, data-intensive environment where any significant level of downtime is unacceptable. And their people will need the capability to help you plan and implement your projects so that they work for you now and into the future.

Our client GAS took only 10 weeks to rollout Infinity across 127 stores – a masterclass in POS deployment. GAS now has a modern retail system that supports its retailers to provide great customer experiences and drive growth.

“That is what Infinity point of sale system is able to deliver to us, a system which is fast, reliable, secure and on a modern architecture and platform.”

Nahid Ali, GAS General Manager

Test 2. Will it support your unified commerce business model?

Today, the store is mission control for a seamless omnichannel customer experience, making the POS the anchor for unified commerce.

That means you’ll want a point of sale system that will not only work with your existing systems, but also provide an end-to-end solution for a unified commerce business model.

The POS needs to be the hub for unified experiences spanning endless aisle, click and collect, store fulfilment, pricing and promotions, clienteling and loyalty, as well as functions that allow customers to search, transact, acquire and consume products across all your channels.

You don’t want to be tied to a point player that can only provide portions.

“The reason unified commerce resonated with me is that it would give us one core platform do the heavy lifting and a single source of truth to manage the customer data, inventory and order orchestration, rather than relying on too many systems to push and pull data everywhere.”

Shane Lenton, previously Cue’s Chief Information and Digital Officer

Test 3. Will the system work offline?

No matter how exceptional your retail customer experience is, it becomes irrelevant if you're unable to complete a sale.

When inevitable network outages happen, you need to trust that your POS will keep all your stores operational without any disruption.

When implemented correctly, the offline POS experience should be so seamless that your staff may not even realise the system is offline.

Though some features may be limited, it's essential to know what transactions can still be processed during the loss of connectivity. For example, the system should handle card and cash payments, process returns, capture customer data and link it to profiles, and continue scanning products for smooth checkouts. 

Test 4. Can it grow with you, and adapt to change?

Whether you're expanding into new locations or launching pop-up stores, it's crucial to ensure your POS system can scale quickly and adapt to changes in customer expectations. While it might seem obvious, scalability can easily be overlooked in the excitement of cutting-edge technology.

Your growth plans should account for how your physical stores can complement your online presence - not just to drive online sales but also to strengthen customer loyalty. Your POS solution must be able to function anywhere your ecommerce platform can.

POS adaptability means having a system that can quickly adjust to evolving customer preferences. It should operate seamlessly across tablets, phones and fixed tills, allowing transactions to flow between devices effortlessly. This flexibility not only opens up possibilities for innovative store layouts and experiences but also provides the practical benefit of better backup strategies for your devices.

Your partner should let third party solutions connect via APIs so that you are free to focus your development efforts on the front-end. You can be more agile and create a community of third-party apps and systems that work together in an ecosystem. As a result, you’ll reduce integration and maintenance overheads, increase real-time accuracy and enjoy virtually limitless scalability and agility. 

Test 5. Does it have an intuitive UX for a better EX?

Today, any innovation within the store must minimise friction for store teams because this directly contributes to delivering a superior customer experience. The focus is now on speed and simplicity to maximise staff productivity, no matter where they are in the store.

An easy to use UX and straightforward setup will enable new employees to quickly learn the system and begin selling almost right away. By removing the frustrations caused by complex technology, you'll also help lower staff turnover.

In addition, many retailers run multiple systems within stores, forcing their teams to juggle between different apps and screens as they serve customers. By consolidating store technology onto a single POS-based retail system, your teams can do everything in a single view, from sales transactions, customer loyalty, pricing, product and promotions through to virtual appointments and endless aisle access to stock. 

Test 6. Will it make complex sales simple?

For enterprise retailers with multiple brands, B2B operations or franchises, you’ll need a POS system that makes complex sales simple.

You’ll want to control everything from either head office or at store level to set pricing and promotion rules, permissions, return and refund validation, discounting and cash management.

 And ensure it supports complex sales like charge-to-account, quote management by channel, debtor management, loyalty and all types of pricing, including retail, trade, contract, promotional, project, customer-specific and rules based.

“Infinity is one of the few platforms able to accommodate our diverse business model, with both retail and wholesale customers requiring multiple volume breaks and bulk purchasing. And Infinity’s New Zealand presence gives us an out-of-the box solution with local capabilities that can be customised to our requirements.”

Amanda Thompson, General Manager of Moore Wilson’s

Test 7. Can you rely on the vendor for new functionality and ongoing support?

Working with the right people and processes will make the roll-out of your new point of sale much easier and deliver results much faster.

A local partner means you’ll have direct access to second and third level support, with direct engagement with people on the ground committed to your success (and not distracted by offshore business activity).

It means you can have more influence on the product roadmap, with fewer layers of bureaucracy giving them more agility and responsiveness. And a mid-size partner is more likely to view you as an important customer of influence.

“As a Kiwi owned and operated business, we really pride ourselves on supporting local businesses and communities. The Triquestra team’s responsiveness and flexibility gave us the confidence that we’ll get the swift, on-the-ground support and reliability we need.”

Louise Mitchell, NPD’s Senior Category Manager

Want help to modernise your point of sale? 

As you transform your customer experience to deliver the seamless and personalised buying journeys your customers crave, your point of sale system must transform as well. If you’re looking for help to shape your strategy and extend your omnichannel capabilities, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop the solutions you need now and guide you to where you’re headed next.

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

How the move to ‘phygital’ is disrupting point of sale technology

Retailers are shifting focus from ecommerce to their stores to better serve omnichannel customers. Here's how changing consumer expectations are transforming in-store technology and disrupting legacy point of sale (POS).

For most omnichannel retailers, the growth of ecommerce has meant boosting their investments in physical retail.

That’s because the store is essential to creating and satisfying customer demand - even if the customer ultimately transacts online. Consumers now see both the online and offline shopping experience as part of the same buying journey and not as one versus the other.

With the ability to see, touch and feel products and assess alternatives, stores are important for marketing and customer acquisition. Store conversion rates are typically 20-40% - around ten times more than ecommerce channels (only 2.5-3%). The store remains the dominant sales channel, still generating more than 70% of sales. and continuing to grow at 4% year on year.

And with pressure on consumer spending plus inventory, pricing and interest rate uncertainty, retailers want to leverage their existing investments in stores and staff - 71% cite store operations as top-three driver for their tech investment strategy. 

As the store shifts to become the hub of the omnichannel customer journey, the point of sale must shift as well. 

But many retailers have hit a wall because their POS technology can’t support their customers’ current omnichannel demands, let alone the ‘phygital’ shopping journeys now expected by digitally savvy consumers.  

They’ve been focussed on ecommerce initiatives, delaying important POS hardware upgrades and the shift to modern operating systems. Some retailers have POS systems that are end of life and about to be sunset, and others are hamstrung by legacy in-house solutions that require custom integrations with modern technologies or are no longer supported. 

And at a time when 75% of retailers can’t connect their online and in-store transaction data, they struggle to deliver the cohesive, consistent unified experiences customers now expect.

If you’re upgrading your point of sale to modernise your customer experience, here are the important shifts in functionality to consider: 

EX aligns with CX  

Today, any store innovation must reduce friction for the store teams, which in turn will drive a great customer experience. Speed and simplicity are now the priority to help people be as productive as possible, wherever they are in the store. 

However, many retailers run multiple systems within stores, forcing their teams to juggle between different apps and screens as they serve customers.  

Retailers are consolidating store technology onto a single POS-based retail system that lets their teams do everything, from sales transactions, customer loyalty, pricing, product and promotions through to virtual appointments and endless aisle access to stock. 

Clienteling gets personal 

Clienteling is becoming more sophisticated as consumer expectations for a frictionless ‘one brand’ experience rise. However, many retailers still have channel silos that mean any interaction or activity that the customer had with them online is not available to the customer or staff within the store. 

Leading retailers are helping their in-store teams deliver more personalised experiences by using AI and data from across online and offline channels to create timely and relevant communications, recommendations, offers and rewards.  

Initially provided for customers visiting stores during click-and-collect pickups, retailers like Cue Clothing are extending customised recommendations into other communications with customers, such as e-receipts and shipping notifications. 

They’re taking advantage of the unparalleled knowledge of their store staff to boost digital sales and service by giving in-store teams the tools to connect with shoppers virtually. By integrating video commerce platforms with POS solutions (like Infinity) they’re automating the end-to-end process, from customer communications and data insights to seamless sales transactions and fast delivery. 

Store experiences go digital 

Retailers know that consumers now expect more from stores and are working to match those expectations with new experiences – such as events, service offerings, customisation, resale, repairs and so much more. 

That also means extending digital experiences into stores, such as the ability to look up loyalty points, explore product information or browse and order from the entire inventory. 

Mobility is a high priority and retailers are providing fast and flexible self-service checkouts, mobile point of sale and contactless payments everywhere the customer is - in the store, out in the yard, at trade shows and pop-up stores.  

They’re using multichannel wishlists to let customers add items to wishlists in stores. By capturing both in-store and online shopper interactions they’re able to retarget customers with personalised marketing campaigns that build engagement and grow sales. 

Fulfilment a competitive advantage 

Today consumers make their purchasing decisions based on shipping costs and timings.  They expect options – from slow to fast, and everything in between – plus visibility, communication and tracking, no matter the fulfilment solution. 

However, most retailers struggle to quickly deliver new fulfilment experiences via their POS. 

With modern point of sale systems, retailers are using their stores to support the fulfilment options consumers now expect and positioning inventory closer to customers – the source of demand.  

Endless aisle access to all inventory via the POS lets them offer the fulfilment options consumers expect – such as click-and-collect, store-to-door and scheduled delivery, plus innovative new delivery solutions, such as 1-hour delivery via Uber and Shippit. 

Future proofing an imperative 

In the past, retailers who got behind on their store tech investments frequently focused on catching up to current standards.  

Now, the focus is on future proofing – choosing platforms that speed up innovation, with the flexibility to change direction as opportunities develop, competitors act and customer expectations evolve. 

When it comes to POS solutions that can support omnichannel experiences, look for a platform that provides a unified hub for all your channels – reducing integration, complexity and overheads, and increasing efficiency and accuracy.  

With agile methodologies and APIs to easily plug-in new apps and systems, your new POS will be your platform for innovation – a springboard for adding new channels and services at a speed and scale that would be unachievable within a traditional omnichannel model. 

This blog was originally published on 28 Feb 2023 and updated 7 August 2024

Want help to modernise your point of sale?  

As you transform your customer experience to deliver the seamless and personalised buying journeys your customers crave, your point of sale system must transform as well. If you’re looking for help to shape your strategy and extend your omnichannel capabilities, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop the solutions you need now and guide you to where you’re headed next. 

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our new ebook: 

Why unified commerce is the nirvana of omnichannel

There’s a profound shift unfolding right now in the way retail technologies are assessed, implemented and integrated. And the primary force behind this upheaval is changing consumer expectations for a “phygital” shopping experience.  

Many retailers have had to take a ‘just get something done’ approach to creating seamless customer experiences that span digital and physical channels. Now they’re struggling with omnichannel set-ups that only link systems together and can’t keep pace with changing consumer behaviours.   

Many also face a technology cliff, with legacy solutions so old that they’re no longer fit for purpose or unable to support their phygital ambitions.  

In addition, around 2 in 5 retailers (40%) lack in-house expertise to make the most of new technologies, and only 25% of retailers can connect online and store data to create the omnichannel experiences consumers now expect.  

But omnichannel should not be the end goal. It’s just one approach to getting a single view of your customers that will help you deliver unified experiences.  

Instead, a unified commerce approach will break down your channel silos and move your retail business toward the holy grail of holistic, real-time, personalised customer experiences spanning in-store, online and everywhere in between.  

To help explain why unified commerce is the nirvana of omnichannel, here’s a look at where we are now and where we’re going. 

Infinity-Omnichannel-versus-Unified-Commerce.jpg

Multi-channel

To keep pace with new technologies and changing consumer demands, retailers are giving customers access to new mobile and online channels. In a multi-channel approach, each touchpoint and channel operates independently, with separate people, processes and technologies existing in functional silos.  

But when you only add and don’t actually integrate new channels with the rest of your organisation, you create bad service experiences that frustrate internal teams and customers.  

Silos mean that your customers have to deal with inconsistencies and gaps, such as incomplete sales histories, different tones of voice or having to start conversations afresh in each channel. These silos inevitably lead to disappointment and frustration, a lack of trust and even a sense that your organisation is incompetent. 

Omnichannel

Infinity-omniichannel.jpg

With an omnichannel approach, you’re connecting numerous backend systems so that customers can seamlessly interact with your brand. However, your channels are still operating in functional silos.  

That means most attempts to offer unified experiences fall short.   

You’re likely to be struggling with legacy technologies that have been customised and are infrequently updated, and then you bolt on new solutions that don’t easily integrate. These omnichannel systems are fragile, inefficient and costly to maintain.  

And things can easily unravel. Adding new channels and tools requires additional custom integrations that are complex and slow, adding significant costs and curbing the agility and scalability you require. 

Unified commerce 

Infinity-unified-commerce.jpg

Unified commerce provides a central hub that breaks down the silos between channels and backend systems to deliver truly seamless experiences, while also solving omnichannel’s biggest weakness – operational complexity. Rather than building custom integrations to unify different systems, you can easily use all the tools and services within a single unified platform.  

With a unified commerce approach, you can achieve retail nirvana by creating immersive and frictionless experiences for customers across all channels, touchpoints and locations. It gives you a single source of truth for inventory, order and customer data. With this one view of the customer, and all channels and engagement points connected in real-time, you can deliver a personalised and consistent customer experience.   

You can also quickly respond to changing customer expectations and new technologies by using microservices and APIs to expose data and connect third-party services.  

Unified commerce has been a game changer for our clients.  

It eliminates the customer journey pain points and amplifies the ‘wow’ moments. Now you can treat each customer as an individual, all the time – one person with one account, interacting with one brand.    

Unified commerce can benefit your business in many ways:  

  1. Simplify your technology 

    A single commerce platform gives you a leaner and more flexible architecture to deliver greater agility, increased efficiency, more control and cost savings.  

  2. Accelerate speed to market  

    These improvements in IT efficiency and flexibility let you launch new tools and services to meet business demands and start seeing revenue benefits faster.  

  3. Optimise inventory and availability  

    Your most significant benefit will be increased sales generated by ranging and fulfilment capabilities that enable you to sell products across channels (and even sell products not normally stocked within any channels).   

  4. Boost in-store productivity and sales  

    By arming your store staff with the right customer data and tools, combined with AI-driven recommendations, they can more easily make decisions, provide personalised upselling advice, sell inventory at any location and serve customers faster, anywhere in the store.   

  5. Personalise your customer experience  

    With a holistic view of your customers, you can better plan your pricing and promotion strategies and get the right offer or message to the right customer, at the right time and right place.   

  6. Create relevant and agile experiences 

    With a single source of truth and powerful analytics, you can turn large amounts of data from disparate sources into insights that help you to attract and engage customers in new ways and improve your bottom line.  

The result is the ability to deliver the personal, ubiquitous and unified experiences your customers expect, fostering loyalty, driving growth and improving profitability. 

This post was originally published on 3 March 2020 and updated on 08 August 2024.

Want help to plan your next steps? 

We can help you define your goals, develop a business case and create your roadmap to deliver the unified experiences that are best for customers, and most profitable for you. Get in touch. 

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:  

From bland to demand: 6 opportunities from increasing your IT spend

Are you confident your next tech investment will help achieve your strategic business goals by solving the challenges you face and creating new opportunities? 

In recent blogs we asked if retailers were spending enough on their IT and, if not, how to make the case for increasing spend. We also shared retailer’s top spending goals for 2024 and three investment priorities. 

Now we’re looking at the metrics retailers have set themselves to gauge their success in 2024, and the opportunities unleashed by increased IT spend.  

Even though it’s tempting to press pause during another challenging year, the most successful companies will be those that find ways to differentiate to meet changing customer demand.  

Retailers that are aggressive on growth – creating distinctive omnichannel customer experiences and expanding their product offerings, while also reducing costs over time - are the companies that will create value, meet customer needs and head off the competition.  

The most progressive and driven retailers know that they need to do it quickly. But at a time when only 25% of retailers can connect their online and in-store transaction data, many retailers struggle to create a unified user experience that traverses easily between online and offline channels.  

That’s why unified commerce is now firmly established as the dominant modern retail strategy, with 88% of retailers investing in unified commerce or considering doing so to unify online and store experiences and make their businesses stronger, smarter and ready for the future.     

Making investments count 

So how do you ensure your next investment will drive growth in a muddled economic environment?  

As retailers ramp up their technology investments this year, they’ve put in place critical metrics to measure the value: 

  • Customers at the centre: Most retailers (94%) ranked new technology as a significant driver for drawing in new customers, with 35% citing it as their main driver. The metrics they’re using this year include increasing new customers numbers (54%) and retaining existing customers (47%). The amount customers spend is also scrutinised, with retailers looking for increased sales (48%) or cost savings (48%) that can be attributed to their tech investments. 

But, despite customers being at the centre of ROI metrics, nearly half of organisations invest in technology without thinking about the customer experience (48%). 

  • Empowering employees: Employees are also at the centre of what makes technology work: 61% of retailers ranked well-prepared and well-informed staff equipped with new technologies as the most important factor for a successful in-store experience.  

However, more than 2 in 5 (41%) do not seek or consider employee input for these same technology investments, despite the impact this tech will have on them and the valuable insight they have into how it affects customers.  

  • Demanding more from partners: As they put the pressure on themselves to make tech investments count, retail execs are also putting pressure on their partners. Their top expectations of tech vendors include accessibility of solutions (50%), the ability to build long-term partnerships (48%) and ‘cutting edge’ technology (46%). Unsurprisingly, they also demand retail industry expertise (45%) and use cases for technology solutions (42%). 

But 2 in 5 retailers (40%) lack in-house expertise to make the most of these new technologies. 

As you build your foundation for modern retail, are you confident your next tech investment will deliver REAL value for your business?  

There are six important opportunities your retail business can unleash by increasing its investment in IT:  

1. Simplify technology and improve business agility 

A modern infrastructure gives you a leaner and more flexible architecture to deliver greater agility, increased efficiency, more control and cost savings: 

  • Scalability: third parties can easily plug in, building the ecosystem of retail software, tools, resources and devices you can add and change to match your business needs.  

  • Accuracy: exposing data and functions via APIs (rather than moving and replicating them) makes integration faster and standards-based, improving efficiency, decreasing errors and increasing accuracy.  

  • Easier to maintain: a central platform reduces the need for reconciliation and manual processes to maintain and manage data and functions, and there is only one system to secure.  

  • Reduced costs: Reduced maintenance, fewer developer hours, faster integration and scalable infrastructure decreases your overheads.   

2. Meet changing customer expectations  

Changing consumer preferences and rising expectations for omnichannel experiences are creating new growth opportunities. The retailers that deliver a personalised and memorable CX are best positioned for long-term growth and loyalty. With a holistic view of your customers, you can better plan your pricing and promotion strategies and get the right offer or message to the right customer, at the right time and right place. By creating remarkable customer experiences that meet or even exceed consumer expectations, customers will return again and again.  

3. Accelerate speed to market  

Improvements in IT efficiency and flexibility let you launch new tools and services to meet business demands and start seeing revenue benefits faster. There’s less work required to plug in and implement new functions across channels, test cycles are reduced, and you’ll use development capacity more effectively. You can run experiments to test new customer experience innovations, easily move the successful experiments into enterprise-wide operations and adapt to new market demands. You’ll innovate quicker, increase speed to market and build your competitive advantage.  

4. Better data insights for relevant and agile experiences 

A single, unified platform gives everyone across channels and stores the ability to view all customer touchpoints and react to potential issues in real time. With a single source of truth and powerful analytics, you can turn large amounts of data from disparate sources into insights that help you to attract and engage customers in new ways and improve your bottom line.  

5. Optimise inventory and availability  

With a unified retail platform that gives you a single view of stock across all locations, plus the ability to easily move it around the business, you’ll improve inventory accuracy, reduce stock requirements, minimise fulfilment costs and get products to customers faster. Your most significant benefit will be increased sales generated by ranging and fulfilment capabilities that enable you to sell products across channels (and even sell products not normally stocked within any channels). And by giving customers a range of purchasing and fulfilment options, you’ll enhance your service and increase customer satisfaction.   

6. Boost employee productivity and sales  

By arming your store staff with the right customer data and tools at point of sale, combined with AI-driven recommendations, they can more easily make decisions, provide personalised upselling advice, sell inventory at any location and serve customers faster, anywhere in the store. You’ll enhance customer interactions, improve the employee experience and increase conversions.   

Want help to build your foundation for modern retail? 

We can advise you on the key technology investments creating differentiated customer experiences and business agility. Just contact me at kelly.brown@triquestra.com or get in touch. 

For insights into how a unified commerce approach gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing need, download our ebook:

Real-time inventory, stores and loyalty: Where retailers are investing in 2024 

Do you have a plan for technologies to invest in this year? And do you know where to focus your IT budget for maximum ROI? 

In our recent blogs, we asked if retailers were spending enough on their IT and, if not, how to make the case for increasing spend. 

If you’ve successfully navigated these stages to secure new budget and are now wondering where to start, here we look at retailers’ top spending goals for 2024 and the building blocks they’ve prioritised for maximum returns. 

We know that retailers are increasing their investments in new tech this year, with research showing that virtually all retail execs – an incredible 99% - predict increased spend. The growth in spend is sizable, with a 10% increase on average and nearly a quarter (23%) predicting 15% or more. 

When asked about their goals for their spend, most retailers (94%) ranked new technology as a significant driver for drawing in new customers, with 35% citing it as their main driver.  

And while ROI has always been important, these new tech investments are being held to an even higher standard. Enterprises now rank the ability to receive ROI within 6 months their second highest consideration (after ease of implementation). 

The metrics they’re using this year to gauge their success include increasing new customers numbers (54%) and retaining existing customers (47%). The amount customers spend is also scrutinised, with retailers looking for increased sales (48%) or cost savings (48%) that can be attributed to their tech investments.  

So we know that retailers are significantly increasing tech investments this year to create fresh, value-added customer experiences, but where are they focusing?  

There are three investment priorities in 2024: 

1. End-to-end inventory transparency 

Inventory visibility has always been important in retail. But with the proliferation of touchpoints and channels – both online and in-store – retailers now need to see a real-time view of all their inventory, right now.  

Without an accurate view of inventory, retailers are virtually guaranteed to interrupt the flow of an omnichannel shopping journey. If you don’t know the quantity of an item, where it is located, its current price nor status, you can’t offer the ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ options that are best for customers and most profitable for you.   

With the average retail inventory accuracy at only 63%, that can mean problems with a whopping 2 in 5 orders. And as the customer journey continues to evolve to meet changing consumer demands, providing a seamless omnichannel experience will only get more difficult.  

The solution: Real-time inventory 

A unified commerce platform gives you a single, accurate and up-to-date view of all your inventory so you can be sure that you have the right product at the right place at the right time. 

That means you can quickly see where inventory is and make better decisions about what stock to order and how to make it available in your physical, mobile, online stores, DCs and call centres.   

You’ll improve inventory accuracy, reduce stock requirements, minimise fulfilment costs and get products to customers faster. And you’ll increase sales by using ranging and fulfilment capabilities that enable you to sell products across channels (and even sell products not normally stocked within any channels).   

2. Unleashing omnichannel experiences through stores 

For most omnichannel retailers, the growth of ecommerce has meant boosting their investments in physical retail. That’s because the store is essential to creating and satisfying customer demand - even if the customer ultimately transacts online. Consumers now see both the online and offline shopping experience as part of the same buying journey and not as one versus the other. 

With the ability to see, touch and feel products and assess alternatives, stores are important for marketing and customer acquisition. Store conversion rates are typically 20-40% - around ten times more than ecommerce channels (only 2.5-3%). The store remains the dominant sales channel, still generating more than 70% of sales. And while the shift towards online retail is real, physical retail is going to continue to grow at 4% year on year.   

But at a time when 75% of retailers can’t connect their online and in-store transaction data, they struggle to deliver the cohesive, consistent unified experiences customers now expect.  

The solution: Point of sale  

As you transform your stores to be the centre of your omnichannel experience, your retail systems must transform as well. POS systems are now the anchor for unified commerce platforms that unify online and store experiences with back-end systems so you can create holistic experiences across all customer touchpoints.   

That lets you create the elevated experiences customers now crave, by bringing digital convenience to stores, fulfilling orders via stores to increase profitability and delivering personalised and tactile in-store experiences.    

Unified commerce is now retail’s top priority, with 88% of retailers investing in unified commerce or considering doing so to make their businesses stronger, smarter and ready for the future. Retailers who used unified commerce in 2022 saw a 7% revenue boost over those who did not.    

3. Attracting, scaling and earning more from loyal customers 

As inflation and cost-of-living increases put pressure on consumer spending, shoppers are becoming more discerning and deliberate, rapidly switching between brands in the search for bargains. That’s why customer retention has become an important strategy for retailers wanting to capture market share and maximise profits. Retaining customers costs less than acquiring new ones - customer acquisition costs have increased a whopping 222% in the past decade - and returning customers are more likely to spend than new customers.  

As more customers opt out of being tracked, retailers also need a compelling reason for consumers to be willing to identify themselves when they approach from different channels or touchpoints.  

On average, nearly two-thirds of US consumers belong to one-to-five loyalty programmes. However, most consumers use 50% or less of their memberships. So the challenge for retailers is developing engaging programmes that convert members into users and, in turn, create profitable loyalty.   

The solution: Loyalty 

With customer details captured and stored in single unified commerce hub, you can recognise customers consistently, wherever they shop with you. You’ll know which customers are most profitable and what their preferences are. Your store teams can view this information to offer personalised service and encourage conversion at point of sale. 

Looking ahead, large retailers are learning to drive customer loyalty and growth by pooling data within an ecosystem of brands. Multiple companies are tapping into their complementary product and service offerings to develop a joint loyalty programme around a unifying customer value proposition.  

Consumers will receive heightened experiential benefits in addition to faster loyalty rewards growth, more flexible redemptions and an unmatched simplicity and daily relevance. Retailers and brands will see a rise in reach and frequency of usage. They will gain access to richer, more privileged consumer data, shared infrastructure and cross-marketing opportunities.   

Want help to decide which tech innovation projects to tackle first? 

We can advise you on the key technology investments driving growth and customer loyalty this year. Just contact me at kelly.brown@triquestra.com or get in touch.   

For insights into how a unified commerce approach gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

Triquestra joins the Vela Software Group family

With access to knowledge, investment and a vast peer network, 2024 marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the growth of Triquestra. 

We’re thrilled to share that we have been acquired by Constellation Software through its operating group Vela APX, part of Vela Software Group.  

The acquisition will strengthen our value proposition for retail brands and partners by tapping into Vela’s best practices, deep expertise and capital resources.  

As a New Zealand-based company, we're proud to be globally recognised for our product, culture and performance and are excited about this next step in our journey.  

“Infinity has a rich history of providing cutting-edge and frictionless retail experiences to leading brands across multiple industries and segments,” says Ian Whiting, CEO of Vela APX. “We are confident that our unique model of connected autonomy will give them the capacity to continue to grow and achieve new levels of success.”  

A partner committed to our vision 

Vela is the perfect match – providing access to a global peer network with the tools and talent to support the growth of our people, products and customers.  

“It was critical for Triquestra to find the right partner to support our focus and expertise in delivering world-class unified commerce solutions,” says Kelly Brown, CEO of Triquestra.  

“That is why we have chosen to join Vela APX – they are best positioned to help us on our growth journey. Another important factor that drove our decision is that we still get to do what we love with autonomy, while benefiting from the strong backing of our parent company.”  

By joining forces, we will funnel our collective efforts into the success of retailers, leveraging Triquestra’s modern Infinity unified commerce platform, broad partner ecosystem and proven customer implementations to deliver the unified experiences consumers now expect.  

A new chapter, a bigger stage 

For the Triquestra team, this marks an exciting new chapter. We continue to be relentlessly focused on our retail clients and our valued partners. Our name stays the same. Our leadership remains the same and remains committed to continuing to grow our business.   

What does change is that we’ll be doing this on a bigger stage, with many new partners and colleagues to work with.  

We’re looking forward to working alongside the Vela team to help our retail clients transform their businesses using technology and experiences to create value, meet consumer needs and drive profitable growth.  

About Constellation and Vela 

As part of Vela Software Group, Vela APX acquires, manages and builds vertical market software businesses that provide mission-critical software solutions. With a vast portfolio across multiple industries, Vela provides software expertise, operational support and capital to help businesses like Triquestra grow organically.   

Vela is an operating group of Constellation Software, a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange with over 125,000 customers in over 100 countries.  

Retail reboot: How to shut down budget blocks and reset your tech spend

Can you keep up with stakeholder demand for innovation projects? And is your retail business scaling up IT spend to ensure the business is stronger, smarter and ready for the future?  

Last month we asked if your retail business is spending enough on IT. We shared the critical indicators that can mean you’re underspending, tips on what you should spend and when it’s the right time to ramp up.  

But of course, any increase in IT spend must be paid from somewhere. In this blog, we look at what gets in the way of scaling up investments and how to make the case for increasing spend.  

While retail has traditionally lagged in IT spend as a share of revenue compared to other sectors, retailers that are aggressive on growth realise they need to harness new technologies for a customer-first experience.  

The shift towards technology and innovation is critical for survival, especially as the industry becomes increasingly competitive, and the gap between winners and losers widens.   

Today technology is not just for “keeping the lights on”, but a crucial driver for efficiency, customer satisfaction and sustainable growth.  

So what’s stopping retailers from upping their spend?  

There are five challenges that prevent retailers from making the decision to adopt new technologies:   

Challenge 1: Money’s tight and many priorities to juggle 

Retailers often face tight budget limitations and the need to prioritise expenditures that seem crucial for immediate survival, such as inventory, rent and staffing. Plus, there's often a real temptation to take a short-term focus, with execs opting to chase quick wins instead of playing the long game with IT investments. It’s all about juggling priorities, and sometimes tech just doesn’t make it to the top of the list.  

Challenge 2: Understanding the big picture and shaking off old habits 

A lack of understanding or awareness about the transformative potential of IT investments is another major hurdle. Sometimes the obstacle is an organisational culture resistant to change, where IT is viewed as a mere cost centre rather than a growth enabler. Traditional mindsets and the "if it ain't broke, don’t fix it" attitude hinder the adoption of new technologies.  

Challenge 3: Playing it safe and doubting the hype 

Retailer hesitation towards IT spending is frequently due to risk aversion - fear of not achieving the anticipated return on investment, especially if they’ve been burned by failed tech projects in the past. This skepticism is fuelled by rapid technological changes and a market flooded with new solutions, making it difficult to tell whether the investments will achieve the touted benefits.  

Challenge 4: Old systems, big headaches 

The complexity of upgrading IT infrastructure, especially for retailers with established legacy systems, presents significant operational challenges. Concerns about disrupting current operations, the resources required for successful implementation, and the task of staff training deter retailers from undertaking comprehensive IT upgrades. Compatibility issues with existing and future systems can make the transition to a modern IT infrastructure seem a daunting task.  

Challenge 5: Keeping up with the competition 

Highly competitive market conditions force retailers to focus on immediate competitive tactics, such as price wars, often at the expense of strategic IT investments. The pressure to maintain low prices and manage operational costs can leave little resources for innovation IT spending. Plus, the emergence of new consumer needs and technology changes can be overwhelming and create a sense of inability to keep up, leading to decision paralysis.  

So how do you navigate the budget blocks to start over?  

Making a business case for increasing IT spend involves a mix of strategy, foresight and clear communication.   

Here's how to justify the investment:  

  1. Show real ROI: Demonstrate how the investment will help achieve your strategic business goals by providing a solution to challenges you face or taking advantage of new opportunities. Illustrate the benefits it offers with concrete data and case studies. Show how a modern tech infrastructure increases revenue, reduce costs over time and enhances operational effectiveness.  

  2. Check out the competition: Highlighting what others in retail (and other sectors) are doing is a powerful motivator, especially if they're gaining a competitive edge through technology. Show how changing consumer preferences and rising expectations for speed and convenience are creating new growth opportunities, with retailers that deliver a personalised omnichannel CX best positioned for long-term growth and loyalty.  

  3. Include a roadmap, and a plan for dodging trouble: Present a clear, phased plan for how the IT investment will be rolled out. This should include timelines, milestones, budget requirements and expected outcomes. Define the risks associated with inaction, including cybersecurity vulnerabilities, operational inefficiencies, and the threat of falling behind in a rapidly evolving retail landscape. Show you know how to select the right technology that delivers the expected returns for your retail business, and that you have a plan for what to do if things go wrong. 

  4. Highlight operational savings: Detail how IT investments will streamline day-to-day operations, improve inventory management, point of sale transactions and overall productivity, while also ensuring compliance with increasing data security and privacy standards. Demonstrate the operational necessity and legal imperatives for the IT upgrade.  

  5. Showcase scalability and sustainability: Explain how investing in IT is not just a short-term expense but a step towards making the business scalable and future-proof. Modern technology means you can easily adapt and grow by staying relevant and adaptable with technological advancements.  

  6. Get everyone onboard: Be ready to address any concerns or objections. This involves understanding the perspectives of different stakeholders and directly addressing their individual concerns, using data, visual aids and storytelling to make your case compelling and relatable. 

  7. Present data-driven insights: Show how a better IT infrastructure can lead to more effective data collection and analysis, which can shift your business strategies from guesswork to smarter, data-driven decisions. You’ll have insights that allow you to predict trends, deeply understand your customers' behaviours and optimise your operations for efficiency and satisfaction.   

  8. Boost working capital and get smart with stock: Demonstrate how a modern tech infrastructure improves visibility into stock levels and sales patterns, allowing for better demand forecasting and inventory allocation, and minimising stockouts and markdowns. This optimisation leads to a reduction in tied-up capital, freeing resources for other strategic investments. 

By focusing on these eight strategies, you can craft a compelling case for increasing investments in IT, showing it’s a crucial driver for efficiency, customer satisfaction and sustainable growth. 

If you want to ensure your retail business accelerates innovation while lowering costs and risk, get in touch. We’d love to help you navigate the budget blocks and craft a compelling business case. 

For insights into how a unified commerce approach gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

How a single view of customer and inventory data translates to happier customers

How do you keep up with customer expectations when consumer demands are rising – and often shifting?  

As inflation and cost-of-living increases put pressure on consumer spending, shoppers are becoming more discerning and deliberate, rapidly switching between brands in the search for what they want. 

That’s why customer retention has become an important strategy for retailers wanting to capture market share and maximise profits. Retaining customers costs less than acquiring new ones, and returning customers are more likely to spend than new customers.  

By taking the time to develop relationships with customers, provide excellent service, reward loyalty and stay connected, businesses can retain customers and drive sustainable growth.  

But at a time when only 25% of retailers can connect their online and in-store transaction data, many retailers struggle to deliver the unified experiences they need to meet customers where they are now.  

Unified commerce solves this by unifying online and store experiences with back-end systems so you can attract, scale and earn the most from loyal customers. It’s now retail’s top priority, with 88% of retailers investing in unified commerce or considering doing so to make their businesses stronger, smarter and ready for the future.   

So how does a single source of truth translate to better customer satisfaction and retention?  

If your retail management system has been built up organically and relies on complex dependencies, you’ll know how difficult, slow and expensive it can be to integrate with modern technologies and create new customer experiences.  

A unified commerce platform can take that pain away. It bypasses the limitations of legacy and omnichannel systems by breaking down the walls between internal channel silos, using a centralised commerce platform that combines point of sale, inventory, ordering and fulfilment, loyalty, pricing and business intelligence.  

With one platform, you gain the single source of truth that gives you real-time visibility of your customer, inventory and fulfilment data across all your stores and channels.   

You can offer customers the easy purchase, convenient delivery and stress-free return options they want, while recognising and rewarding the shopping they do with you.   

Here’s how: 

Optimise inventory and availability 

Infinity lets you consolidate your inventory from all locations – warehouses, call centres and physical, mobile and online stores – and make it available for customers to buy anywhere, at any time. You can extend your range across more channels - marketplaces, in-store kiosks, shoppable screens, pop-up stores, concessions and mobile devices. And you’ll reduce costs, cut stock requirements and increase margins. 

Fulfil orders the way customers want 

When your data is unified, you can offer a range of fulfilment options no matter what channel an order comes in from. Click-and-collect, store-to-door delivery, drop shipping, returns anywhere and ‘endless aisle’ fulfilment are all possible. You get to choose what’s best for customers and most profitable for you. 

Reward customer loyalty 

It’s getting harder and more expensive to get a clear picture of customer activity and behaviours as more customers opt out of being tracked. However, loyalty programs offer a compelling reason for consumers to identify themselves in-store and online. With customer details captured and stored in single unified commerce hub, you can recognise customers consistently, wherever they shop with you. Using that data and Infinity’s loyalty capabilities, you’ll know which customers are most profitable and what their preferences are. Your store teams can view this information to offer personalised service and encourage conversion at point of sale. 

 

Localise pricing and promotions 

Pricing is shared across channels so customers can trust that they’ll see the same price whether they shop with you in-store or online. You can make better decisions about store product assortments, by matching breadth and depth to demand, trends and local demographics. And by customising products, prices and promotions nationally, regionally and even by individual sites, you’ll increase conversions and maximise profits. 

React smarter and faster to demand changes 

Using APIs on an open platform, you can expose data in real time, rather than replicate or move it. That lets you add specialised functionality across various systems and provides a fast and easy way to plug in and deploy new services, channels and devices. You’ll innovate quicker, keep up with customer demands and build your competitive advantage.  

This blog was originally published on 17 March 2020 and updated 28 February 2024

See what a single source of truth can do for your customer retention!  

If you want to unify your data to offer a seamless blend of physical and digital customer experiences, contact us to get started. 

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook: