Keeping it Simple: Streamlining Pricing and Promotion for Optimal Results

While 94% of retail leaders are deploying multi-channel strategies, only 65% say their pricing and promotion strategy is consistent across all channels.

In a complicated world, keeping things simple can be vital to staying ahead of the competition. And when it comes to pricing, the simpler and faster the better.

Every retailer knows that enticing customers with special offers, promotions and custom pricing is essential to driving revenue. And at a time when inflationary pressures have seen consumers prioritising value for money and many are still looking for ways to make their dollar go further, getting your pricing strategy right is more important than ever.

But targeting and executing those promotions and pricing models can add an onerous layer of complexity to your business, especially if you have an extensive inventory and sell to retail and non-retail customers with different needs and expectations.

What’s more, running multiple pricing tiers and discount offers in tandem can make it hard to assess the impact on profit margin and can create confusion for customers at the point of sale, potentially eating into revenue gains.

Choosing the right technology partner is crucial. They need to deliver a solution that simplifies the creation, maintenance and delivery of complex pricing models, provides flexibility and meets the evolving needs of B2B and B2C customers. More than anything, they need to take the pain out of complex pricing by aligning your technology systems to your sales strategies – not the other way around.

Here, we look at how complex pricing, when done well, can deliver for both you and your customers, and consider what you should look for in a pricing solution.

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Always offer the best price

Knowing they are getting the best price is top of mind for cost-conscious buyers, with many shoppers willing to switch brands if they can save money elsewhere. Your complex pricing solution should be smart enough to ensure that you are delivering on this expectation for retail customers, either as part of customer-specific or store-specific promotions, or multi-buys, while also excluding trade or contract customers if separate pricing has been negotiated with them.

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Harness the power of volume pricing

Volume pricing delivers compelling value for customers by lowering the price per unit for larger quantities. Your pricing solution should allow you to easily set up tiered pricing that is sensitive to unit quantities when they are added to the sale, so you can appeal to trade customers seeking to purchase large orders at a reduced cost.

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Tailor pricing for contracts and projects

Negotiating contract and project pricing for trade customers is a valuable tool in the complex pricing toolkit and can be a great way of offering tradies an even better deal on your products.

So, for example, if a group of builders are working on a new supermarket project, your solution should allow you to identify them and offer them an enhanced, agreed discount over and above standard trade pricing on specified products for the work they do on the project.

Alternatively, you should be able to offer a builder contract pricing on a box of nails, so that they pay $80 per box over a 12-month period instead of the retail price of $90.

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Protect your margins

There’s no point running a promotion that will ultimately cost you money. You need to be sure that your margins are protected by preventing your store staff from manually discounting an item below an allowed minimum. At the same time, you need to be able to empower them to offer manual discounts where appropriate while also complying with trading standards.

And when it comes to negotiating contract pricing for trade customers, you need to be sure that the price you offer is financially viable and will maintain profit margins in your business.

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Create global and local promotions

In multi-store business, a one-size-fits-all approach to pricing and promotion can limit your ability to react to local trends. Implementing a pricing solution that allows stores to create and run their own promotions, such as a buy-one-get-one-free or a percentage-off deal, can be an effective way to move excess stock and to keep stores engaged with their customers.

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Reach across channels

Today, customers expect a “one-brand” experience that lets them shop at any time, using any channel, from any device, at the best price. However, inconsistent pricing and promotion strategies across all channels can leave retailers falling short. While 94% of retail leaders are deploying multi-channel strategies, only 65% say their pricing and promotion strategy is consistent across all channels.

To meet customers’ expectations, complex pricing needs to be part of a holistic unified commerce approach, so you can apply the same price online, in your apps and at self-service kiosks as you do instore, while also giving you the option to run promotions for specific channels, such as web-only specials for click-and-collect shoppers.

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Simplify the point of sale experience

When complex pricing is done right, it delivers the best possible experience for customers without compromising performance. And by delivering virtually instant results, it takes the pressure off your store staff by doing the heavy lifting for them, while giving them the information they need to let customers know about pricing promotions and alerting them to upselling opportunities.

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What Infinity can offer you

Infinity’s Rules Based Pricing solution delivers on all these essential requirements. Its easy-to-use interface allows you to quickly and easily define and implement multiple pricing attributes, determine the order in which pricing rules apply, and execute standard retail promotions in combination with non-retail pricing. Pre-defined rules take the pain out of designed pricing models, and lower error rates mean less time reconciling pricing between systems. And what’s more, it seamlessly forms part of Infinity’s unified commerce platform, so that pricing is consistent across all channels.

If you’re looking for help to shape your pricing 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.

Unleashing the Power of the Point of Sale

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The past few years have brought unique challenges to offline shopping, as the Covid-19 pandemic closed stores and shoppers turned to their screens like never before.

But as the world re-opened, physical stores bounced back, and they will continue to hold their own even in the face of growing demand for online offerings. While global online retail sales are expected to grow to US$6.8 trillion by 2028, offline will still be the dominant channel, accounting for 78% of global sales.

Shoppers, though, don’t see online and in-store as separate channels but as part of a unified buying journey. They might research a product online before buying it in-store, or vice versa. So it makes sense to think about how to best integrate your stores into the overall customer experience. By speeding up delivery, personalising the offering and providing hands-on interaction, you can use your stores to help deliver the cohesive, consistent omnichannel journey customers now expect.  

Here, we look at how integrating stores involves considering customer preferences and behaviours, improving employee performance and choosing a POS system that changes as you do and allows you to unleash the power of unified commerce.

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Personalised and tactile customer experiences

For customers, shopping in-store brings a range of tangible benefits — instant gratification, personalised assistance, product comparison and social interaction. And meeting customers face-to-face gives retailers the chance to offer a tailored, tactile experience that builds loyalty, drives repeat business and enhances profitability, even when the final purchase happens online.

Elevating these personal encounters so that they give you a competitive advantage can take a variety of forms, from speedy fulfilment of click-and-collect orders, to staff making recommendations based on wish lists and order histories, to providing accurate stock information by store (including out of stock, in stock and on order).

But transforming your stores to be the driver of customer loyalty and retention means that 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 offer customers the best possible all-round experience.

Personalising in-store offerings needs a nuanced understanding of shopper profiles and 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 a single unified commerce hub, you can recognise customers consistently, wherever they shop with you.

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Empowered employees  

After years of underinvestment, many retailers are playing catch-up with their employees. Their stores often lack the tools and systems that enable their people to deliver the relevant and personalised customer interactions that match online shopping’s price, speed and convenience. Some stores find themselves running multiple systems, forcing their teams to juggle between different apps and screens as they serve customers and slowing down the overall sales process.

Armed with the right customer data and tools, your store staff can more easily make decisions, provide personalised upselling advice, sell inventory at any location and serve customers faster, anywhere in the store. Lifting your employees’ performance leads to enhanced customer interactions and increased conversions.

Making tools easy to use and intuitive also enables new employees to quickly get up to speed and begin selling almost right away. 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. And by removing the frustrations caused by complex technology, you'll also help lower staff turnover.

Best of all, empowering your people to offer an exceptional customer service allows you to strengthen relationships with happier, more loyal customers.

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A scalable and adaptable POS

Today, the store is mission control for a seamless omnichannel customer experience, making the POS the hub for unified commerce. The POS needs to span endless aisle, click and collect, store fulfilment, pricing and promotions, and loyalty, as well as functions that allow customers to search, transact, acquire and consume products across all your channels.

It's also crucial that your POS solution is scalable and adaptable to suit your business’s changing needs. Whether you're expanding into new locations or launching pop-up stores, your POS system must be able to 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.

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 opens possibilities for innovative store layouts and experiences, and allows you to think creatively about how and where to personally interact with customers.

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

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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.

Navigating Choppy Waters: Tailoring Loyalty for Enhanced Customer Retention

In the face of tough economic headwinds, retailers need to find ways to stand out from the crowd and keep their customers coming back. Given that retaining customers costs less than acquiring new ones and returning customers are more likely to spend than new customers, it makes sense to look for ways to build loyalty.

Conventional wisdom says that the key to this is to reward customers for their spend. But while as many as 97% of consumers belong to some kind of retail loyalty programme, converting members to users can be harder than merely getting them to sign up in the first place.

So how do you build a loyalty programme that cultivates truly engaged customers while still ensuring you deliver value and drive profit margins?

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Personalise the experience

Offering a loyalty programme that resonates with customers starts with personalisation. With consumers today also wanting more bespoke experiences, it pays to look for ways to personalise at scale by transitioning from mass-market approaches to strategies that delight consumers with personalised product recommendations and discounts, as well as tailored interactions.

The ability to see each customer’s shopping preferences and purchase history across all channels is critical for building personalised shopping encounters. By using the right  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 in the right place.

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

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Offer instant rewards

Most retailers already provide value to shoppers through pricing strategies, promotional offers and reward schemes. But today, a traditional approach might not be enough to keep them coming back. With 74% of customers preferring smaller, more accessible rewards that allow them to redeem points more frequently, there’s a benefit to offering instantaneous rewards, rather than requiring shoppers to save points before making a purchase.

This shift has coincided with rapid digital acceleration, which has raised customers’ expectations when it comes to online shopping.

However, inconsistent pricing and promotion strategies across all channels can leave retailers falling short of those expectations. While 94% of retail leaders are deploying multi-channel strategies, only 65% say their pricing and promotion strategy is consistent across all channels. And few look at combining their loyalty and pricing tactics to create a unified and differentiated customer experience.

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

You can then start increasing your number of loyalty members by offering rewards that meet their needs. Exclusive pricing promotions – such as immediate percentage or cash discounts for loyalty programme members – can satisfy the desire to enjoy rewards straight away rather than saving points for redemption later.

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Enhance omnichannel shopping

Today consumers don’t think in terms of channels. They now expect a “one-brand” approach that lets them shop at any time, using any channel, from any device, at the best price. And when it comes to loyalty and digital experience, they are more likely to value convenience over the loyalty programme itself.

When done well, a unified commerce platform elevates and streamlines the shopping journey and offers you a competitive advantage through a more nuanced understanding of your customers and what drives them to keep coming back.

But if you’ve got siloed backend systems and processes that leave your customers dealing with inconsistencies and gaps, you simply cannot offer a seamless experience, and the convenience and personalised customer service that support a robust loyalty offering will be severely compromised.   

Implementing a complete omnichannel solution allows you to bridge the gap between customer expectations and the drivers of loyalty and retention.

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Modernise your point of sale

Stores remain the dominant sales channel globally, still generating more than 70% of sales and expected to continue to grow at 4% year on year. Stores are also a vital channel for driving loyalty. For customers, in-store shopping offers instant gratification, personalised assistance, product comparison and social interaction, while it gives retailers the chance to deliver a tailored, tactile experience that builds repeat business.

But these interactions need to be supported by a POS solution that can function anywhere your ecommerce platform can, so that your online and offline presence complement each other and offer the seamless, integrated browsing and buying that customers expect. By putting current, detailed customer information at your employees’ fingertips, you empower them to become the frontline of retention.

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Want help to enhance 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. 

Seven things to look for in a retail technology partner

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.  

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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.

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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:

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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

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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

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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

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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

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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.

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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:

Tagged: agile, analytics, API, Bricks and mortar, click-and-collect, complex sales, culture, customer experience, customer management, customers, data, ecommerce, experience, employees, evaluation, fulfilment, Infinity, Infinity POS, integration, inventory management, Local, loyalty, omnichannel, order management, point of sale, pop-up store, POS, promotions, relationships, retail, ROI, software, staff, strategy, support, team, technology, Triquestra, trends, unified commerce, upgrade, values

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.

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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: 

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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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.   

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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. 

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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. 

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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.  

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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. 

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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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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 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.

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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.  

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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.

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.

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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. 

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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).  

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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. 

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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. 

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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.  

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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. 

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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

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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.

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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:

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Delivering a unified CX: liquor retail's new priority

Can you keep up with consumer demands for an omnichannel retail experience that doesn’t stop when they enter a store? Kelly Brown explains why liquor retailers are overhauling how they plan, build and deliver their CX, and shares three steps to take to remain relevant.

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Customers today expect retailers to offer convenience, speed and value throughout the end-to-end shopping journey. They are more discerning and impatient, and don’t care that it can be hard to deliver – they only care about a great experience.  

That is driving a massive shift in how liquor retailers plan, build and deliver their customer experience.  

The retailers making the first move know that a compelling bricks-and-mortar presence blended with an improved digital offering can be leveraged for competitive advantage. And that means seamlessly integrating all back-end systems and channels to deliver experiences that align with customer expectations.   

However, it’s complicated.  

While liquor retail has always been challenging – fast service is non-negotiable, staff require specialised knowledge and transaction volumes are highly variable – this requires a fundamental transformation of the standard business model.  

Liquor retail has been a laggard in creating new digital experiences and investing in technology to improve front- and back-end operations. Many liquor retailers have legacy solutions that are no longer fit for purpose and have bolted on solutions for the digital space that don’t easily integrate.   

Brick-and-mortar sales still dominate, with online sales growing but still languishing at single-digit percentages of total sales-digit percentages of total sales. Change is difficult in a sector with regulatory restrictions on alcohol delivery, age verification requirements and the more ‘sensory’ experience a store can offer.  

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

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So what steps can you take to differentiate your liquor retail business?  

Here’s a three-pronged strategy that will help create the distinctive omnichannel experiences customers now expect: 

1. Deliver a unified customer experience 

Focus on the end-to-end needs of your customers and revamp the customer journey to expand your relationship beyond quick visits to stock up on beverages.  

That means making purchasing online and in stores seamless and convenient through digital payments, endless aisle and ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ services coupled with fast and flexible on-demand delivery options. In-store pickup can drive foot traffic to physical locations. And leveraging data from online interactions can help in upselling and cross-selling.  

Take advantage of the shift in preference for neighbourhood shopping, with local product ranges tailored to each location and community, supported by bespoke promotional programmes.  

Use apps and your website to provide customers with personalised recommendations, invites to virtual tastings or opportunities to reserve products for in-store pickup, increasing their engagement and loyalty.  

The solution: Create a distinctive omnichannel customer experience by developing a strong brand, offering tailored convenience, expanding the breadth of product offerings (or moving into specialist categories) and generating new revenue streams. 

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2. Unlock the value in your inventory

As you work towards delivering a compelling in-store experience blended with a digital offering, you’ll need to see a real-time view of all your inventory. 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.   

However, the average inventory accuracy rate for retailers is estimated at 63%, meaning around one third of inventory records are inaccurate due to discrepancies between physical stock and what's recorded in inventory management systems. And liquor retailers face additional challenges, such as strict regulations, varying product availability and high SKU diversity, that compound these difficulties.  

Inaccurate inventory stems from both systemic and operational challenges. Retailers often rely on traditional ERP systems or custom-built software that can’t provide the real-time updates needed for online sales and instant stock checks. On top of that, legacy systems not designed for real-time data exchange struggle to keep up with the demands of new sales channels, resulting in delayed or inaccurate product availability and pricing information.   

The use of multiple, often disconnected systems for various retail operations further compounds the problem, creating data silos that hinder the development of a unified view of inventory, sales and customer interactions. And when things go wrong, many resort to a quick fix rather than real, lasting solution, which means missing out on chances to really improve the shopping experience and operational efficiency. 

The solution: You’ll want a unified commerce platform that provides an accurate, real-time view of all your inventory and customer data across stores, DCs and digital channels. You’ll improve inventory accuracy, reduce stock requirements, minimise fulfilment costs and increase ranging capabilities.  

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3. Pivot into retail media services   

To remain relevant and competitive in the future, you’ll want to venture beyond traditional retailing and enter new service categories with a higher level of profitability.  

Retail media networks are emerging as one example in retail. A retail media network is a retailer’s advertising platform where they can sell ad space across all their digital assets, such as their website, apps, social channels and in-store digital screens.  

With the demise of revenue from third-party cookies, retail media helps alcohol brands to advertise to the right audience - people who want to purchase alcohol and are legally entitled to do so - and drive higher conversions that increase sales. And as online alcohol sales grow – 15.2% growth is expected between 2022 to 2030 - so will advertising revenues for retailers.  

The solution: With the alcohol industry’s advertising spend expected to reach $6bn in 2023, create a retail media division (or subsidiary) to capitalise on the advertising revenue opportunity and drive additional new growth. 

This blog was originally published on 30 May 2023 and updated 30 April 2024

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Want help to differentiate your liquor business? 

If you want to create distinctive and frictionless customer experiences across all physical and digital channels, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop a unified customer journey. 

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For more on how to deliver every customer a personalised, fast and seamless experience, 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 that can’t differentiate retailers from their competition. And, crucially, with no access to data on 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 industry regulators like the NZ Commerce Commission say that “motorists are often better off simply choosing the petrol station with the lowest board price or the site with a one-off ‘discount day, rather than counting on a complicated loyalty scheme”, you know that 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.  

And they’re seeing the benefits - loyalty programmes are linked to an 18-30% increase in visits and spends at restaurants and c-stores, and loyalty members annually spend 38% more on average.  

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If you’re looking at how to develop your loyalty and personalisation capabilities, here are the steps to take to deliver an exceptional CX, and examples of fuel retailers doing it best:  

1. Take control with a standalone loyalty programme  

In contrast to the third party 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.  

Example: in the UK, Shell Go+ is a very simple mechanism: customers earn visits, instead of points. All they have to do is spend £10 or more on fuel or £2 or more in the shop. They get 10% off all hot drinks and deli by Shell food ranges, and money off fuel every 10 visits, and plenty of treats and surprises along the way.  

This programme stands out due to its simplicity. Gaining and redeeming points is simple and doesn’t involve complicated calculations. 

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2. 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.  

The customer essentially manages their own loyalty experience and should be able to collect points, make payments and redeem points straight through their mobile device at any time. And to really differentiate your offering, make it a simple and engaging experience by enabling both fuel and in-store transactions. 

Example: Z Energy, now part of Ampol Australia, expanded its Pumped loyalty programme back in 2019. Customers now save 6 cents per litre every day with no minimum spend at Z and participating Caltex stations, on up to 50 litres. They can choose to stack their discount when spending $40 or more to get an even bigger discount next time. And they earn Flybuys or Airpoints Dollars by scanning their Z or Caltex App, or Flybuys or Airpoints card.   

Z’s mobile app plays a key role in their loyalty programme. By delivering loyalty discounts and rewards at point-of-sale and on the app – not just via a card - they lowered the hurdle for customer adoption and made it faster and easier to use. For many users of the app, the big draw is another essential daily fuel: Coffee. The ‘jump the queue’ feature is one of Z’s most popular mobile offerings, with one in four coffees sold now pre-ordered.

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3. 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).  

Example: The Chevron Texaco Rewards program rewards Chevron and Texaco customers for their fuel and qualifying in-store purchases at participating stations. But Chevron has also had success offering short-term loyalty schemes. Its AFANity program, which debuted in 2016, gave members points for specific activities, such as visiting a Chevron or Texaco gas station or checking in on the Chevron or Texaco mobile app. They then redeemed the points for rewards, including tickets to football games, autographed memorabilia, officially licensed team gear and unique once-in-a-lifetime experiences with their favourite teams.  

Chevron understands that people are not emotionally attached to petrol or convenience items but are very emotional about sports. Their loyalty programme tapped into that to create a positive affinity with the brand.  

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4. 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. This is why gamification is the number one loyalty trend businesses plan to invest in during 2024.  

Example: Ireland’s Circle K understands the value of gamification with it Play or Park loyalty game. Members get 1 point for every litre of petrol or diesel and 4 points for every €1 spent on eligible purchases at Circle K stores. Members collect points and can play or park: each batch of 200 points qualifies for one entry which they can ‘Play’ for the prize of the month or ‘Park’ for an upcoming prize. And the prizes are big: February 2024’s ‘Experience of a Lifetime’ prize offers two friends the opportunity to drive free for a year, and March 2024’s prize awards 10,000 euro in cash.  

This is a great example of an engaging loyalty programme. It includes elements of gamification and has fantastic, tangible prizes for winners.   

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5. 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. 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.  

Example: bp’s Everyday Rewards loyalty scheme in New Zealand is simple - customers earn 1 point for every litre of fuel and $1 spent on convenience products in-store. It includes ongoing loyalty promotions, such as 6 cents per litre off the fuel price up to 50 litres. And customers benefit from savings across a range of everyday purchases from multiple partners including Woolworths, ASB and Vineonline. 

Everyday Rewards is a powerful purchase motivator. Users gain points across a variety of partners and aren’t locked into spending rewards with one brand. People will be more motivated to use bp stations if they know their loyalty will be rewarded with other experiences and offers, not just fuel discounts or free car washes. 

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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 

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This blog was originally published on 12 February 2023 and updated on 21 February 2024.

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.  

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

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