No man is an island’, wrote John Donne in the 17th century. In the 21st century, we can apply the same sentiment to business – no successful business can operate entirely on its own resources.

1.  Customer engagement

Customer engagement and experience is essential to business success in retail – in fact 81% of businesses say that it is a key competitive differentiator – because of the way that it drives customer retention and average spend and increased profits. Tech partnerships are at the heart of being able to provide positive customer engagement and experience:

• Your POS partnership impacts the customer’s checkout experience. Offering contactless payment, self-checkout options, information on customer facing screens and a fast and efficient checkout make a big contribution to a positive customer experience.

• Mobile POS technology enables staff to interact with customers anywhere in the store, helping them to choose items, whilst cross-selling and upselling, and ordering items that are not in stock in the store.

2. Inventory and supply chain management

Boosting your bottom line in retail relies on having the goods the customer wants to buy, when and where they want to buy them. Smart inventory and supply chain management is therefore one of the most crucial elements of a successful retail business – and tech partnerships play an invaluable role.

• Single view of inventory – a partnership with a retail technology POS provider that integrates inventory management with sales data to provide a real-time, single view of inventory is the ‘secret sauce’ to avoiding the twin pitfalls of inventory management: stock-outs and excess stock.

• Automation– the right tech partnership enables automated re-ordering processes for maximum retail efficiency.

• IoT and smart shelving – retail technology that tracks goods at the shelf, enhances inventory management even further, alerting to low stock levels and saving staff resources.

• Product tracking and authentication – tracing products from point of origin to the shelf, or authenticating their provenance is increasingly important for some goods. Blockchain’s immutability and traceability make it a growing consideration for retailers when it comes to tech partnerships.

3. Targeted marketing

Retailers have long understood the importance of targeted marketing and promotions – 46% of shoppers openly say that they will buy more if they have a personalized experience. Retailers therefore look for tech partnerships with POS providers who incorporate the ability offer analysis of buyer behavior, and personalized marketing – to help them boost their bottom line by maximizing the revenue from promotions whilst optimizing the effort and spend it takes to generate those additional dollars. Complementary technology integrations such as geofencing – where the customer gets a notification and promotion as soon as they are in or near the store- can further enhance personalized marketing.

4. Staff knowledge and efficiency

As all retailers know, their staff are key to providing a positive customer experience, so it’s important that they have the training and tools they need, that the right number of staff are available at the right times, and that retailers can retain them, especially during a labor crisis. Tech partnerships with rostering systems providers ensure staff are always on hand when needed. Working with training platform providers can also help with providing staff with the skills they need to do their job and Mobile POS enables them to engage more with clients.

5. Cybersecurity

No matter what retailers do to grow their bottom line, it could all be rendered irrelevant if the business is the subject of a cyberattack, leading to loss of data, ransom payments and a damaged reputation. Estimates put 84% of retailers at risk. That’s why a cybersecurity tech partnership is essential. That means partnering with POS and other technology providers who have a highly robust approach to security, as well as with specialist cybersecurity technology providers to ensure that customer and operational data is always protected.

In today’s retail revolution, retailers who leverage these tech partnerships can reap retail tech benefits to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market and boost bottom line profits.

FAQs

How do partnerships impact staff retention?

Statistics show that staff who are able to help customers get more job satisfaction and are less likely to quit. Therefore providing staff, through partnerships, with the tools they need to engage with customers, and the skills and training that makes them better and more efficient at their jobs also has the added benefit of making staff feel highly valued, that the company cares about them and customers. This leads to greater loyalty, better job satisfaction and greater retention. Which reduces the cost of staff churn, recruitment and training and has a positive impact on the bottom line.

How important are big data and analytics?

Analytics underpins so many of the bottom-line-boosting strategies in retail. It helps retailers with inventory management, by understanding sales history and patterns, and using AI to turn that historic data into accurate forecasts. Analysis of customer behaviors, past purchases and preferences helps retailers to plan the most effective personalized marketing campaigns, and to track the results to provide further insights. Analysis of external data – such as competitor pricing and market conditions is the enabler than underlies dynamic pricing. Smart cybersecurity tools use deep analysis of ‘normal’ patterns of traffic and behavior in the business to spot and predict unusual activity and identify attacks before they happen.

Content Sources:

Edume

Forbes

Chainstorage