Retail Technologies Small Businesses Should Invest In
What the past few months have taught us is that businesses, particularly in the retail space, should be agile and efficient.
This is because the retail landscape is evolving fast and if you’re not able to keep up with this pace of change – you are at the risk of being left behind.
One thing that can help you evolve quickly is technology.
In this blog, we are sharing key technologies that are helping small- and medium-sized retailers stay resilient in the changing economic climate.
Electronic Inventory Control System
Electronic inventory control systems are the future.
Gone are the days of manually calculating and documenting inventory in journals and files. Electronic systems make it incredibly easy for you to keep a track of the merchandise you have on hand and on order as well as the sales that have been made.
In times where budget and cashflows are strained, these systems help you tackle issues such as over-ordering or under-buying.
They use historical data from your business and analyze it to enable you to keep a track of activities and ensure that your store is always adequately stocked.
Social Commerce
Social commerce is on a rise.
As most of us are spending time on our phones, it makes sense for businesses to leverage the native shopping experiences on popular social media platforms to sell their products.
These platforms are trusted by shoppers, so this makes it easier for them to quickly make purchases right from the social media app or site.
This is a great opportunity for social media platforms too! TikTok, for instance, recently announced a new global partnership with the e-commerce platform Shopify. This deal will enable Shopify’s 1 million+ merchants to reach TikTok’s younger audience and drive sales.
Chatbots
A research published on Venture Beat shares that 51% of people say a business needs to be available 24/7.
While this is humanly not possible, chatbots can help address this challenge by enabling customers to share their issues, complaints or feedback, and receive a response quickly. While chatbots can’t resolve all concerns on their own, they do help address simpler questions and help prioritize key issues.
Chatbots are quite useful, particularly in times like these where in-person social interaction is limited. Research shows that chatbots can actually help trim business costs by more than $8 billion per year by 2022!
Diverse Payment Options
Another key area where technology can play a vital role is payment. With various payment options and systems such as cash, card, contactless, and mobile banking available today; your business can enable customers to pay by a channel that they’re comfortable with.
They can even buy online – pick-up in-store (BOPIS) if that’s more convenient for them.
When it comes to technology solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses, there are a number of options available today.
If you’re confused about where to start, we, at Storesupport, can help you evaluate e-commerce options and integrate them with your current in-store capabilities to deliver a seamless experience to your customers.
Contact us today to learn more about our online and in-store solutions. Call 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.
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