By Craig Johnston/IT News Africa
The growth of retail lies in the detail. The retail game is changing at a rapid pace. We now live in a customer-driven world where the shopping experience is dictated by customers, and vendors need to be responsive to their needs.
Retailers everywhere are grappling to come to terms with the disruption caused by e-commerce which puts pressure on logistics to fulfil on-demand expectations and provide customers with unique and personalised experiences.
Retailers are under increasing pressure to adapt to these changes by implementing an omnichannel solution that meets both business and customer needs. Vendors need to focus on maintaining a balance between optimising operational efficiency and enhancing customer experience.
“By developing a deep understanding of your customers, you will be able to serve them on the things they value most, assuring their loyalty in future. To capitalise on every customer interaction, and ensure repeat purchases, your retail business must provide the products, information and personalised shopping experiences they expect, across all channels”, says Craig Johnston, marketing manager of Bluekey Seidor, the leading SAP Business One partner in Africa.
SAP Business One for Retail enables businesses to integrate their retail channels and operational functions onto a single management platform. It provides accurate real-time reporting across the entire organisation and enforces business best-practices.
Enhancing the customer experience
Most retailers would agree that customers consider their time, variety of products on offer, price, types of purchase options such as credit or lay-bys, and the overall store experience when deciding on which retailer to visit and return to for repeat purchases. The implementation of an end-to-end management solution not only removes the complexity and inefficiency of multiple, disconnected systems, it also ensures you deliver what your customers value most – an enjoyable experience.
Save time
Whether your system is on- or offline, the point of sale (POS) transactions is seamlessly processed. Mobile POS facilitates efficient payments on the floor which reduces queuing time. Employees can respond to stock queries in real-time by having complete visibility into current stock holding, other stores’ stock holding and warehouse inventory to give customers accurate feedback.
Product availability
A comprehensive e-commerce platform ensures that stock-outs are avoided by integrating data from physical stores to warehouse stock-holding. In addition, administrative tasks such as payment reconciliations are automatically captured on the system, reducing the possibility of human error through manual capture.
Price
The saying goes ‘price is what you pay, value is what you get’. While prices are often determined by the market, Retail Management with SAP Business One can provide your customers with additional value through push notifications offering discounts or special offers directly to their mobile, encouraging customers to enter physical stores.
The buying process
Built-in business intelligence functionalities maximise customer purchasing by strategically placing products and promotions on the e-commerce platform, supplemented by a tailored loyalty system which is integrated into the mobile environment. This allows customers to buy, browse and redeem loyalty points, gift cards and even coupons or discounts all on their mobile devices.
Customer experience
Front-end access to customer profiles and customer specific coupons or rewards enable your employees to offer tailored customer experiences across all platforms. Customers have complete access to their loyalty programme, which empowers them to review and redeem rewards online, giving them complete control over their personal customer journey.
Market agility and responsiveness
The implementation of a comprehensive integrated retail solution is twofold. Not only does it ensure that your retail business is able to swiftly react to sudden market changes, based on facts and real-time insights, but it will also build increased brand loyalty. This is because of unique service delivery at all your customer touch points. Delivering value, every step of the process.
