Unified Commerce
Greg Cantlon
Changing your POS? 7 critical tests your ...
Changing your POS? 7 critical tests your software must pass
Customer Experience
Greg Cantlon
From points to personalisation: Five steps to ...
From points to personalisation: Five steps to galvanise the liquor retail loyalty experience
Team
Carmela Salisbury
Kelly Brown steps down as Triquestra CEO
Customer Experience
Triquestra
6 omnichannel retail painpoints ...
6 omnichannel retail painpoints unified commerce solves
Customer Experience
Triquestra
Delivering a unified CX: liquor retail's new ...
Delivering a unified CX: liquor retail's new priority

culture

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:

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:

Retail remix: Six moves to make to match unpredictable consumer behaviours 

There's been a significant upheaval in the approaches retailers take to attract, retain and incentivise their loyal customers. And the catalyst for this change is the increasing volatility in consumer behaviours.

Consumers are defying economic predictions by behaving in unconventional ways. They’re more selective, preferring experiences over products, while also looking to get maximum value from their dollar. And even if something's made sustainably, it must be priced competitively or they're not buying. 

This is keeping retailers on their toes, because all the old approaches for keeping customers coming back just aren't cutting it anymore. 

The retailers that build a clear picture of customer activity, behaviours and preferences – to deliver more personalised and seamless experiences - will be best positioned to succeed. 

Here are six strategies to help your retail business meet the demands of today’s and tomorrow’s consumers: 

1. Adjust inventory based on anticipated demand  

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. Now’s the time for retailers to refine their strategies for inventory management, allocation and replenishment. 

Consider lowering your safety stock levels, while still complying with existing merchandising rules and practices. Implementing this one change alone can lead to considerable savings on inventory costs. To optimise your inventory effectively, focus on the destination of demand rather than just the fulfilment of demand. This ensures that your initial stock placements mirror historical buying patterns as closely as possible. And transform selected stores into mini-distribution hubs. By choosing a handful of well-positioned stores that have the right storage capacities, you can streamline the pick, pack and ship processes which help to maintain profit margins and adapt to the fluctuating demands of omnichannel retailing.

2. Revamp pricing and promotion strategies  

Most shoppers are concerned about costs and heavily influenced by promotional strategies when making their purchasing decisions. However, with rising input costs many retailers are finding it necessary to increase prices to protect margins. And despite price sensitivity now at an all-time high, 35% of retailers have inconsistencies in their pricing across channels. In addition, few retailers integrate their loyalty programmes and pricing strategies and are missing out on opportunities to create a cohesive and distinct customer experience.  

There are simple ways to provide value to customers while also managing costs. Implementing value promotions can provide compelling reasons for customers to make purchases more frequently. Price pack architectures can be changed to align what consumers want with what they’re prepared to pay. By synchronising loyalty and pricing strategies and developing tailored pricing tiers and product assortments specific to local and channel needs, you can not only address cost of living pressures but also enhance overall value perception among customers. 

3. Maintain commitment to brand loyalty  

It might seem appealing to dial back brand marketing efforts to focus on performance marketing where results are directly attributable. However, it's crucial to keep investing in strategies that enhance consumer acquisition and foster brand loyalty. Cultivating brand advocacy is critical for standing out from the pack and encouraging wary shoppers to direct their purchases your way.  

Increase your loyalty programme's membership by introducing rewards and experiences that not only retain current members but also broaden its appeal. Implementing exclusive pricing promotions, such as discounts for loyalty members, can significantly boost customer retention. These loyal customers are typically more inclined to make frequent and larger purchases compared to their non-member counterparts. 

4. Enhance microtargeting capabilities  

Retailers are moving away from putting consumers in predefined and sometimes outdated segments and adopting microtargeting strategies to gain a deeper insight into individual consumer preferences.  

This approach uses detailed consumer data to pinpoint very specific groups of customers with similar shopping behaviours and preferences. Using generative AI, retailers can efficiently scale these efforts, boosting the creativity of their campaigns and automating much of their marketing outreach. By connecting with high-value consumer demographics, such as millennials in emerging markets or affluent seniors, retailers can deliver highly personalised experiences that foster brand affinity, enhance loyalty and encourage repeat purchases.   

5. Elevate the social-digital connection  

It's critical to actively engage customers via social media and other digital channels. This strategy requires choosing the most effective channels and platforms, crafting compelling content and adapting these strategies to keep pace with consumer needs as they evolve. This is becoming increasingly vital as boundaries between industries blur - for instance, when retail ventures into services such as consumer finance - and as cross-industry ecosystems gain importance.  

We are seeing innovative clients experimenting with new approaches to social commerce to forge deeper local connections. For instance, Cue Clothing is at the forefront of 'contextual commerce', integrating buying options into regular daily activities and settings to make shopping a seamless part of life. And using social media and private messaging platforms like WeChat, retailers can maintain constant interaction with their customers, enhancing engagement and loyalty. 

6. Refine product assortments  

As consumers preferences become more thoughtful, reassess your product lineup and investment strategies. Consider phasing out products that no longer align with consumer demands or intensifying focus on categories that are seeing increased interest.  

This strategy might involve broadening your range within certain price brackets or popular sectors like health and wellness. In addition, introducing high-end items for consumer segments that indulge in impulse purchases can be beneficial. You could also explore exclusive online merchandising options that vary in size or packaging compared to their in-store counterparts and cater to a distinct online market segment. 

Want help to modernise your ability to match unpredictable consumer moves?  

As you transform your customer experience to attract and retain loyal customers, your retail systems must transform as well. If you’re looking for help to meet the demands of today’s and tomorrow’s customers, get in touch. We’d love to help you keep pace with changing consumer demands.  

If you’re driving the CX transformation at your retail business, our unified commerce maturity model is the perfect tool to create your roadmap. Learn about the capabilities you need to create a rich mix of omnichannel experiences. 

Mine the loyalty gap: Four steps to take to improve customer retention and boost profits

How do you drive growth in a muddled economy? Kelly Brown explains why customer loyalty is the best path to capture share of wallet, the biggest hurdles to anticipate and how to overcome them.

The modern shopper is calculated, prudent and detached. They expect more from their favourite retailers, demanding consistency across your channels, efficiency from your service and a relationship with your brand.

But with bargain-hunting consumers hopping from source to source, and a retail recession on the horizon amid inventory, pricing and interest rate uncertainty, retailers are looking for new ways to go above and beyond to stand out in a crowded market.

So, it's no surprise that retailers’ most cited growth opportunity for 2024 is strengthening loyalty programmes.

Customer loyalty and retention is the best path to capturing market share and maximising profits because:

  • 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 need a persuasive reason for consumers to readily share their details when engaging with different channels or touchpoints.

  • In return, retailers get a clearer picture of customer activity, behaviours and preferences, and can deliver more personalised and seamless experiences.

However, it’s a challenge to develop engaging loyalty programmes that attract and retain loyal customers while still ensuring you deliver customer value and drive profit margins.

Here are the four biggest challenges retailers face as they build customer loyalty and how to overcome them:

1. Creating a customer service mentality

One of the most significant shifts that retailers must take to retain customers is creating a strategy and culture that thinks about how to best serve them.

It’s about investing in the things that make their customers happy. It’s about addressing and resolving customer issues or concerns quickly and effectively. And it’s about going the extra mile for customers to maintain good relationships, with an extreme service mentality deliberately designed into your culture, hiring processes and business model.

But it’s a challenge to bring together the customer-centric view of marketers and customer service teams, with the product-centric view of sales and merchandisers. To deliver a truly unified customer service, these teams need to be deeply integrated and connected.

The solution: Create cross functional teams and provide the tools they need to provide exceptional service

To integrate and connect these functions you’ll need a unified platform that gives you a single source of truth for all inventory, order and customer data. With all your customer details captured and stored in single unified commerce hub, you can recognise customers consistently, wherever they shop with you.

Your marketing, sales, merchandising and customer service teams can build a unified strategy and bridge the functional gaps traditionally limited by different tools, technologies and approaches.

Your store teams can view this information to offer personalised service and recommendations that encourage conversion at point of sale. And by providing an exceptional customer service, you’ll strengthen relationships with happier and more loyal customers.

2. Delivering greater value through integrated loyalty, pricing and promotions

Most retailers already provide value to customers through loyalty tactics, pricing strategies and promotional offers. However, with ever-increasing channels and customers demanding more from their favourite brands, many can’t integrate these activities for a unified CX.

While 94% of retail leaders are deploying multi-channel strategies, only 65% say their pricing and promotion strategy is consistent across all the channels. That leaves a significant 35% with inconsistencies in pricing and promotions. And few look at combining their loyalty and pricing tactics to create a unified and differentiated customer experience.

This lack of a unified value proposition can lead to disjointed experiences for customers. At worst, it results in consumers spending less when they shop or switching to a competitor.

The solution: Unify your customer data and inventory for a differentiated CX

To integrate your loyalty, pricing and promotions, you’ll need a unified commerce platform that combines data from every system and channel across your organisation.

You can then start increasing your numbers of loyalty members by offering rewards and experiences that improve and expand the reach of loyalty programmes. Exclusive pricing promotions - such as percentage or cash discounts for loyalty programme members – can create more loyalty customers, who often make more frequent or larger purchases than non-loyalty members.

3. Unleashing omnichannel experiences through stores

With the ability to see, touch and feel products and assess alternatives, stores remain the dominant sales channel, still generating more than 70% of sales and expected to continue to grow at 4% year on year. Stores are also the best channel for driving loyalty. Store conversion rates are typically 20-40% - around ten times more than ecommerce channels (only 2.5-3%).

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.

And despite stores being the most preferred medium of engagement, they have lower trust scores then digital channels, indicating a significant opportunity for retailers to use stores to boost customer trust.

The solution: Modernise your point of sale for elevated in-store experiences

To transform your stores to be the driver of customer loyalty and retention, your store retail systems must transform as well. A modern point of sale is now the anchor for a unified commerce platform that unifies online and store data with back-end systems so that you can create a cohesive and consistent omnichannel experience.

These systems let you create the personalised and tactile experiences customers now demand, such as accurate stock positions by store (including out of stock, in stock and on order), in-store pickups, fast fulfilment via stores and staff recommendations based on wish lists and order history.

They not only elevate the overall shopping experience to increase customer retention and loyalty but also equip you with a more nuanced understanding of shopper profiles, and a competitive advantage by offering a personalised and complete omnichannel experience.

 4. Driving personalisation at scale

Today consumers don’t think in terms of channels. They now expect a “one-brand” experience that lets them shop at any time, using any channel, from any device, at the best price.

And with consumers today also wanting more bespoke experiences, retailers are looking for ways to personalise at scale. They are transitioning from mass-market approaches to strategies that delight consumers with personalised product recommendations and tailored interactions.

But if you’ve got siloed backend systems and processes that mean your customers must deal with inconsistencies and gaps, you simply cannot offer a seamless and personalised customer experience.

The solution: Combine mass, at-scale touches with micro, personalised experiences

The ability to see each customer’s shopping preferences and purchase history across all channels is critical for building personalised shopping experiences.

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

These personalised messages and offers should supplement mass, at scale touches to keep customers engaged. By balancing strategies across occasions (such as mass-market events like Click Frenzy and Black Friday) plus personalised messages (such as a birthdays) you can keep customers engaged. By creating remarkable customer experiences that meet or even exceed consumer expectations, you can ensure customers return, again and again.

Want help to modernise your loyalty programme? 

As you transform your customer experience to retain loyal customers, increase market share and maximise profits, your retail systems must transform as well. If you’re looking for help to develop your loyalty and personalisation capabilities, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop more meaningful relationships that deliver profitable growth.  

If you’re driving the CX transformation at your retail business, our unified commerce maturity model is the perfect tool to create your roadmap. Learn about the capabilities you need to create a rich mix of omnichannel experiences.

The perfect blend: Four capabilities to look for in a liquor retail tech partner

Can your liquor retail business keep up with customer demand for new digital experiences?

Brick-and-mortar sales still dominate the liquor retail sector, with online sales languishing at single-digit percentages of total sales.

However, the move to online is real, with liquor online sales globally estimated to grow 4.5% between 2022 and 2027, reaching nearly US$40 billion by 2027.

This growth in online sales is introducing more complexity into the business, with channels becoming less physical and more digital. And that’s why everyone’s focussed on finding the right systems to rebuild their businesses from the bottom up for omnichannel 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, 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.

So, how do you evaluate a new retail platform provider?

There are four important capabilities they will need to provide:

1.    Expertise across all retail, not just liquor

You’ll want a mature retail platform that supports liquor and convenience, rather than a narrow, liquor-specific POS system.

A partner with experience in highly competitive retail industries - like fashion and big-box retail - will have expertise in disrupting the customer experience, with APIs and a retail ecosystem few can match.

They’ll bring best practice ideas and capabilities from other retail sectors - not just liquor retail - and have POS omnichannel expertise distilled into all the essential modules you need to deliver seamless and differentiating experiences in stores, online and on mobile apps.

And with all the core liquor features you need out-of-the-box - plus localised functionality and the ability to customise – you’ll achieve a faster return on investment.

2.    Real-world customer experience

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

You’ll want a partner with recent and proven success in liquor and convenience retail, with a track record of complex, large-scale deployments across multiple stores, multiple formats and multiple geographies.  

They’ll need to understand your environment where fast service is non-negotiable, staff require specialist knowledge and transaction volumes are highly variable. Make sure they have people who can help you plan and implement your projects, so that they deliver now and well into the future.

Their experience in the liquor sector will give them a deep understanding of the trends changing mobility and convenience, and bring you the best of consumer, retail and CX applications and technologies.

3.    Broad product capability and innovation mindset

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

Offering a unified customer experience means unifying all the front- and back-end systems that run POS, inventory, ordering, customers and loyalty, pricing and promotions, analytics and fulfilment. You don’t want to be tied to a point player that can only provide segments.

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

An open architecture and APIs will let you cultivate a modern retail and CX ecosystem that reduces risk and increases flexibility.

And with agile methodologies plus experience working with agile retailers, they’ll have the ability to move to fast and change direction as opportunities develop, competitors act and customer needs evolve.

4.    Local and committed to your success

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

Liquor retailers are creating distinctive omnichannel customer experiences by developing strong brands, offering tailored convenience, expanding the breadth of their product offerings (or moving into specialist categories) and generating new revenue streams.

They recognise the risk that comes with global vendors that have a narrow focus on liquor POS or 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.

Want help to deliver a personalised, fast and seamless CX?

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 to deliver every customer a personalised, fast and seamless experience, download our ebook:

6 omnichannel retail painpoints unified commerce solves

With rising customer expectations for a cohesive and consistent shopping experience, many retailers have hit a wall because their omnichannel efforts can’t meet today’s retail demands. Here Kelly Brown describes six major challenges you will face in omnichannel retail, and how to solve them.

Customers today are delightfully unreasonable, and expect to transact when, where and however they want. They don’t care how you achieve it and will reward you if you have it - or shop elsewhere if you don’t. 

Retailers are responding by building a customer-centric approach to retail, using technology and experiences to enhance the brand, drive sales and grow loyalty.  

However, it’s complicated.  

Many omnichannel retail solutions can look smooth on the surface but have rough patches underneath. They include legacy solutions that are no longer fit for purpose, and channels operating in functional silos. Things can easily unravel.  

And when 75% of retailers are unable to connect their online and in-store transaction data, most struggle to create a unified user experience that traverses easily between online and offline channels.  

If you’re looking at how to keep pace with changing customer expectations, here are the most common challenges retailers face as they build their omnichannel systems, and how they can be remedied with a unified commerce approach. 

1

Inventory that isn’t real time

Managing inventory is a retailer’s biggest challenge — no matter their size. It’s also the biggest cost. Many retailers launched digital commerce channels without getting their inventory right and can only access rudimentary sales and inventory positions. That prevents them from offering the ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ options that are best for customers and most profitable for them.  

The solution: Optimise inventory and availability  

One of the most compelling benefits of unified commerce is a single view of stock across all stores and DCs. This means you can quickly see where inventory is and therefore the fastest place to fulfil from. 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

Blending physical and digital experiences 

Services such as click-and-collect, ship-from-store, find-in-store and returns anywhere are all just table stakes today. Many retailers implemented quick-fixes to swiftly get new capabilities up-and-running, but now need a long-term unified solution to connect backend systems and deliver the omnichannel experiences customers expect. 

The solution: Create relevant and agile experiences 

With a unified inventory you can increase your purchasing, ordering and fulfilment options to provide customers with frictionless experiences and access to your entire range from any location. A single platform gives everyone across channels and stores the ability to view all customer touchpoints in real time. And you can extend your range across more sales channels such as in-store kiosks, shoppable screens, pop-up stores, concessions and mobile devices. 

3

Obtaining a single view of the customer  

Today consumers don’t think in terms of channels. They now expect a “one-brand” experience that lets them shop at any time, using any channel, from any device, at the best price. But if you’ve got siloed backend systems and processes that mean your customers must deal with inconsistencies and gaps, you simply cannot offer a seamless customer experience.  

The solution: Personalise your customer experience  

The ability to see each customer’s shopping preferences and purchase history across all channels is critical for building personalised shopping experiences. With a unified commerce platform providing 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, you can ensure customers return, again and again. 

4

Integrating data silos

Retailers use multiple customer-facing and back-office systems, spanning POS, mobile apps, inventory management, ecommerce, CRM, fulfilment, finance, marketing and more. Often loosely connected with manual processes and custom integrations, these omnichannel solutions are fragile, inefficient and costly to maintain. 

The solution: Lower cost of ownership 

A single commerce platform gives you a leaner and more flexible architecture that reduces the need for reconciliation and manual processes to maintain and manage data and functions, and there is only one system to secure. Exposing data and functions (rather than moving and replicating them) makes integration faster and standards-based, improving efficiency, decreasing errors and increasing accuracy. 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.  

5

Adding modern technologies and capabilities  

To keep pace with consumer demands for omnichannel services, retailers need to create and deploy new apps, services and channels. However, connecting legacy systems with modern technologies requires custom integrations, and creating new brand experiences is complex, costly, time consuming and risky.  

The solution: Accelerate speed to market  

With a single platform, 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 and easily move the successful experiments into enterprise-wide operations. These improvements in IT efficiency and flexibility let you launch new tools and services to meet business demands and start seeing revenue benefits faster. 

6

Unifying employee experiences 

After years of underinvestment, many retailers are playing catch-up with the employee experience. Their stores often lack the tools and systems that enable their people to deliver the relevant and personalised customer experiences that match online shopping’s price, speed and convenience.  

The solution: 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. You’ll enhance customer interactions, improve the employee experience and increase conversions.  

This blog was originally published on 13 December 2022 and updated 20 May 2024

Can you keep up with your customers’ expectations? 

Retailers are unifying their backend systems to create the seamless and convenient experiences customers now expect. If you’re experiencing technology challenges that prevent you from unifying your physical and digital experiences, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop the ability to create a compelling in-store experience harmonised with a digital offering for competitive advantage.

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:

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. Kelly Brown explains how changing consumer expectations are transforming in-store technology and disrupting legacy point of sale (POS).

The boom in ecommerce has had a profound effect on how retailers deploy in-store technology. 

Today consumers expect a consistent customer journey across every physical and digital touchpoint. With shoppers returning to physical stores in full force during 2022 and ecommerce growth slowing, retailers are doubling down on their in-store innovation projects. 

While ecommerce sales grew 6.2% in the last quarter, this is a dramatic drop from the double-digit growth during the previous five years and the slowest growth rate since 2009.  

Retailers know that despite forecasts for ecommerce to total 24% of global retail sales by 2026, a massive 76% of sales will remain in stores. 

And with pressure on consumer spending, plus store rents, labour and utilities all on the rise, retailers now want to leverage their existing investments in stores and staff.   

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 post-pandemic, digitally savvy consumers.  

With stores periodically closed during the pandemic and ongoing supply chain disruptions, many focussed on ecommerce initiatives, delaying 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. 

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.  

This year, 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. 

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: 

How new customer loyalty programmes fuel the c-store retail experience

Fuel retailers now realise there is enormous untapped potential to revamp their loyalty programmes to drive customer engagement and expand share of wallet. Kelly Brown explains how to elevate fuel loyalty solutions to create more relevant and personalised experiences that grow customer value and differentiate the business.

For many years, fuel retail loyalty programmes were an easy way to drive customer engagement and revenue. However, with changing consumer behaviours and formidable new competition, few meet the needs of today’s retailers or consumers. 

Most are simple “earn-and-burn” transaction or discount-based programmes that extend the same set of outdated offers to all customers, regardless of their different behaviours.   

They typically relinquish ownership of customer data and relationships to third party coalition loyalty providers who can’t differentiate retailers from their competition. 

And, crucially, with no access to their customers’ preferences, purchasing behaviour or communications, retailers can’t assess what their customers care about to provide the fast and easy personalised services they increasingly expect. 

The reality is, today customers don’t just compare your service to that of your competitors, but to the best service they’ve ever received, anytime and anywhere. At a time when digital technologies allow companies to ‘hyper-personalise’ to serve each individual customer, fuel retail loyalty programmes are well overdue for an overhaul. 

Leading fuel retailers are investing in innovation, digitisation and branding to launch new loyalty solutions that deliver a complete view of customers’ preferences and purchasing behaviour, with the ability to create fast and memorable experiences. 

If you’re looking at how to develop your loyalty and personalisation capabilities, here are the steps to take to deliver an exceptional CX: 

  •  Take control with a standalone loyalty programme  

In contrast to the coalition loyalty programmes, modern loyalty systems give you a 360-degree view of all retail and trade customers, with their entire purchasing history and preferences captured and centrally stored in one database.   

 By reclaiming ownership of your customer data from all channels and touchpoints – ranging from fuel selections to coffee preferences and convenience items within stores - you can recognise customers consistently wherever they shop with you. 

  •  Extend your loyalty programme to your mobile app 

Today loyalty programmes are an integral part of a smartphone app: loyalty mobile app users typically spend 10-20% more a month, and visit 20-30% more frequently each month

When you create your loyalty app, ensure you include features that save customers’ time, increase convenience and turn purchases into a fun and engaging experience. And to really differentiate your offering, make it a game-changing experience by enabling both fuel and in-store transactions. 

  •  Apply analytics to create more relevant and personalised offers  

The next stage is to use the data-driven insights to create cluster- or even site-specific offers. Tailor your offers for local buying opportunities and use your customers’ transaction histories to customise product bundles, pricing and promotions to increase sell-through without compromising margin. 

 You can then capitalise on opportunities to craft offers that feel personally relevant to each individual in your database by combining internal data (such as transactions and location) with external data (such as competition, weather, traffic conditions and demographics). 

  •  Use AI-driven marketing tools to hyper-personalise the CX  

AI algorithms let you analyse customer preferences, predict many aspects of customer behaviour and develop personalised communications, experiences and offers. 

By interacting with customers at the right moment, with the right offer and in the right channel, you can drive behavioural changes in customers and multiply the lifetime value of loyalty customers. 

  •  Ecosystem loyalty programmes are next 

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

While still in their early stages, these ecosystem approaches promise many benefits: 

  • 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.  

 As you look at how to modernise your loyalty programme, ensure you focus on the end-to-end customer experience. You have a fantastic opportunity to leap-frog your competition by taking an ecosystem-centric approach that gives your customers a ‘next-generation’ experience. . 

Z Energy fuels more sales and repeat visits

Z Energy, New Zealand’s largest fuel retailer and part of Ampol Australia, developed Pumped to replace a third-party loyalty scheme and create a more seamless mobile and in-store customer experience.

Built using Infinity’s Loyalty module, Pumped uses a QR barcode on Z’s mobile app to identify the customer at point-of-sale or self-serve online payment terminals and add any relevant offers to their transaction. It also lets them consume any offers they have earned, such as free coffee, carwashes or LPG bottle swaps.

Z can now create new offers that help engage customers, offer them valuable rewards and encourage repeat visits. And Pumped is now Z’s cornerstone for innovation, with the ability to deliver the unified and personalised experiences its customers expect.

“With a single view of the customer we are right in the middle of the transaction with the customer in real-time. We know where, when and how they shop and, over time, will find new ways to interact, personalise and reward each customer’s experience.”

Andy Stewart, Head of Digital & Operations – Low Carbon Futures, Z Energy 

Want help to modernise your fuel loyalty programme? 

As you transform your customer experience to deliver the seamless and personalised buying journeys your customers crave, your retail systems must transform as well. If you’re looking for help to develop your loyalty and personalisation capabilities, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop more meaningful relationships that deliver profitable growth. 

For more on how to deliver every c-store customer a personalised, fast and seamless experience, download our new ebook:

6 omnichannel retail painpoints unified commerce solves

With rising customer expectations for a seamless ‘one-brand’ experience, many retailers have hit a wall because their omnichannel efforts can’t meet today’s retail demands.

Here Kelly Brown describes six major omnichannel retail challenges and explains how a unified commerce approach helps to create the relevant and tailored omnichannel experiences your customers now expect. 

Customers today are delightfully unreasonable, and expect to transact when, where and however they want. They don’t care how you achieve it and will reward you if you have it - or shop elsewhere if you don’t. 

Retailers are responding by integrating their physical and digital channels to deliver new omnichannel experiences that align with customer expectations.  

However, it’s complicated. 

Many retailers have taken a hard look at their ecommerce capabilities over recent years, but most are still searching for ways to create connected and adaptable experiences within stores. They have legacy solutions that are no longer fit for purpose and have bolted on solutions for the digital space that don’t easily integrate.  

And they struggle to support their customers’ current omnichannel demands, let alone the ‘phygital’ shopping journeys now expected by post-pandemic, digitally savvy consumers.  

If you’re looking at how to keep pace with customers, here are the most common challenges retailers face as they build their omnichannel systems, and how they can be remedied with a unified commerce approach. 

1

Inventory that isn’t real time

Managing inventory is a retailer’s biggest challenge — no matter their size. It’s also the biggest cost. Many retailers launched digital commerce channels without getting their inventory right and can only access rudimentary sales and inventory positions. That prevents them from offering the ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ options that are best for customers and most profitable for them.  

The solution: Optimise inventory and availability  

One of the most compelling benefits of unified commerce is a single view of stock across all stores and DCs. This means you can quickly see where inventory is and therefore the fastest place to fulfil from. 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

Blending physical and digital experiences 

Services such as click-and-collect, ship-from-store, find-in-store and returns anywhere are all just table stakes today. Many retailers implemented quick-fixes at the start of the pandemic to swiftly get new capabilities up-and-running, but now need a long-term unified solution to connect backend systems and deliver the omnichannel experiences customers expect. 

The solution: Create relevant and agile experiences 

With a unified inventory you can increase your purchasing, ordering and fulfilment options to provide customers with frictionless experiences and access to your entire range from any location. A single platform gives everyone across channels and stores the ability to view all customer touchpoints in real time. And you can extend your range across more sales channels such as in-store kiosks, shoppable screens, pop-up stores, concessions and mobile devices. 

3

Obtaining a single view of the customer  

Today consumers don’t think in terms of channels. They now expect a “one-brand” experience that lets them shop at any time, using any channel, from any device, at the best price. But if you’ve got siloed backend systems and processes that mean your customers must deal with inconsistencies and gaps, you simply cannot offer a seamless customer experience.  

The solution: Personalise your customer experience  

The ability to see each customer’s shopping preferences and purchase history across all channels is critical for building personalised shopping experiences. With a unified commerce platform providing 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, you can ensure customers return, again and again. 

4

Integrating data silos

Retailers use multiple customer-facing and back-office systems, spanning POS, mobile apps, inventory management, ecommerce, CRM, fulfilment, finance, marketing and more. Often loosely connected with manual processes and custom integrations, these omnichannel solutions are fragile, inefficient and costly to maintain. 

The solution: Lower cost of ownership 

A single commerce platform gives you a leaner and more flexible architecture that reduces the need for reconciliation and manual processes to maintain and manage data and functions, and there is only one system to secure. Exposing data and functions (rather than moving and replicating them) makes integration faster and standards-based, improving efficiency, decreasing errors and increasing accuracy. 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.  

5

Adding modern technologies and capabilities  

To keep pace with consumer demands for omnichannel services, retailers need to create and deploy new apps, services and channels. However, connecting legacy systems with modern technologies requires custom integrations, and creating new brand experiences is complex, costly, time consuming and risky.  

The solution: Accelerate speed to market  

With a single platform, 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 and easily move the successful experiments into enterprise-wide operations. These improvements in IT efficiency and flexibility let you launch new tools and services to meet business demands and start seeing revenue benefits faster. 

6

Unifying employee experiences 

After years of underinvestment and now a labour crunch, many retailers are playing catch-up with the employee experience. Their stores often lack the tools and systems that enable their people to deliver the relevant and personalised customer experiences that match online shopping’s price, speed and convenience.  

The solution: 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. You’ll enhance customer interactions, improve the employee experience and increase conversions.  

Can you keep up with your customers’ expectations? 

Retailers are unifying their backend systems to create the seamless and convenient experiences customers now expect. If you’re experiencing technology challenges that prevent you from unifying your physical and digital experiences, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop the ability to create a compelling in-store experience harmonised with a digital offering for competitive advantage.

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: