Long checkout lines. Inventory gaps. Dissatisfied customers. As the Principal Director of Retail Consulting at Accenture, I’m all too familiar with the challenges of in-store shopping, especially during peak periods like seasonal sales or the holidays.
Here’s the in-store experience retail leaders want to offer:
Your customer, Kate, finds a pair of jeans online and wants to try them on for size and fit. She notices your brand has a store nearby, so she reserves them. When she arrives, Kate expects one-on-one service and a fast checkout. It should be a quick trip to the shop, right?
Here’s what actually happens:
The jeans Kate reserved are out-of-stock in your store due to inaccurate inventory data, though they appeared to be available online. While your store associate can recommend a similar style, they can’t access the real-time inventory of nearby shops to locate the jeans Kate actually wants. Unfortunately, Kate is too frustrated to browse other products. She leaves the store dissatisfied
It doesn’t have to be this way.
A modern point-of-sale (POS) system can differentiate your brand and get your store noticed for all the right reasons. I’ve seen modern POS systems change the game for some of my biggest clients when it comes to sales associate productivity, store operations, and shopper conversion.
How do you know you need to upgrade your POS? These are the most salient challenges I’ve seen. If you’ve experienced one or more of these issues in your stores, it’s time to consider an update.
Challenge #1: Inventory
Customers can’t find the item in stock in your store. Your store associates aren’t equipped with the tools to help them.
When store associates have access to real-time inventory data, they can provide the online to in-store experiences customers expect from modern retail shops. These are the types of shopping moments made possible by modern POS:
- Don’t have the right size for a customer? No problem. Instead of losing the sale, associates can check product availability across your physical stores and virtual catalog — and offer to reserve or deliver the item.
- Associates can make informed product suggestions based on your current inventory data
- Customers can reserve or purchase items online and pick them up in-store. Your associates can accept in-store returns of online purchases. And your store inventory updates in real-time after every transaction.
A modern POS that automatically updates inventory across all channels, both in-store and online, would have given Kate accurate details about which nearby shops had her desired jeans. The result? Customer trust and brand loyalty, earned. Out-of-stock crisis, averted.
Challenge #2: Personalization
Your most loyal, high-value customers are treated like strangers. Your store associates lack the context and data to tailor their service.
Historically, sales associates have had to manage various tools and systems for in-store operations, sometimes logging in to as many as eleven systems a day. Even with that many tools, only 17% of store associates have access to customer data. When store associates need to manage that many systems, inefficiency rises and productivity falls. As the frontline (and often the face) of our brands, it’s crucial to supply staff with intuitive, easy-to-use tools so they can focus on what matters most: the customer.
With a modern POS system, store associates can:
- Access customer information, including loyalty status, purchase history, wish lists, and shopping preferences, to deliver a personalized shopping experience
- Capture customer information directly in the POS system and sign shoppers up for your loyalty program, notifications for in-store events, deals, promotions, new arrivals announcements, and more
- Access rich product details, specifications, and descriptions — turning every associate into an instant product expert who can answer even the most complex questions
Imagine Kate is back in your store, looking for an outfit for her birthday party. A modern POS gives your store associate access to Kate’s profile, so they can recommend products similar and complementary to her past purchases. The associate can even alert her to a BOGO birthday offer for loyalty insiders that Kate qualifies for. Kate chooses a dress, and the loyalty offer seals the deal for a pair of shoes she had her eyes on. Access to customer details through a modern POS effectively helped the associate up-sell, foster a stronger connection, and enhance Kate’s shopping experience (and her birthday!) with your brand.
Challenge #3: Long lines
The classic conundrum for retail shops: High traffic leads to long lines, and impatient customers don’t convert.
Is there anything more frustrating for customers than waiting in a long line? According to a recent study from Waitwhile, 80% of customers avoid going to a business because of lines. Frustration grows when a customer is forced to wait in a long line for a simple transaction – like buying or returning a single item, making an exchange, or purchasing a gift card.
A modern, mobile-friendly POS can help store associates:
- Wipe out long lines by enabling checkout from anywhere in the store.
- Support increased customer traffic and sales volume during busier periods
- Provide personalized services by accessing customer information, product details and scheduling appointments
Your loyal customer, Kate, is back in your store on Black Friday to finish up her holiday shopping. Normally, Kate wouldn’t step foot into a retail store on such a busy day. But she knows from experience that the wait is never long, and she can take advantage of mobile-friendly checkout at your shop.
Kate mentions to the store associate that she wants to find a gift for her sister, who has the same style and product preferences. The associate can recommend items based on your brand’s gift guides, along with customer profile details that list Kate’s product affinities. Kate finds the perfect gift in under 10 minutes, and she completes the purchase right from the associates mobile, handheld POS — without ever getting in a line.
Challenge #4: Knowledge gaps
Customers expect every sales associate to be a product expert. But that’s impossible when they don’t have the right information at their fingertips.
Sometimes the answer to a single question is the only thing holding someone back from making a purchase. Customers want to know about product details, materials, and specifications to help them make informed buying decisions. When store associates can’t provide the right information, you risk losing a sale. Modern POS systems can help by:
- Giving store associates access to even the most granular item details for your entire inventory, turning each associate into a product expert.
- Mobile devices and tablets are intuitive and widely adopted — especially for digital natives — which minimizes the learning curve that was once steep for retail new hires.
- Modern systems, like Retail Cloud POS, ensure business continuity even during periods of downtime or intermittent connectivity, so store associates can offer stellar service and checkout experiences — no matter what.
Kate is browsing your shop, looking for new pair of leggings to wear for an upcoming marathon. She wants to make sure she’s as comfortable as possible during the race, so she has a few questions. A seasonal employee offers assistance. When Kate asks whether the fabric is sweat-wicking, the store associate looks up all the product details in an instant. These leggings were made for performance — the fabric is breathable, lightweight, and sweat-wicking. Modern POS made it possible to provide genuine, meaningful help.
Challenge #5: Unmet expectations
Customers are used to robust, convenient shopping experiences with your brand online — but your in-store experience doesn’t measure up.
New retail innovations and sophisticated omnichannel capabilities have changed customer expectations for the entire shopping experience, including at brick-and-mortar stores. Customers expect the convenience and ease of online-to-offline services like return anywhere and in-store pickup. Customers also expect flexible payment options and the ability to use their loyalty points in your stores.
A modern POS system helps you meet and exceed customer expectations, and deliver flexible experiences that unite digital and in-store transactions:
- Buy online, pick up in-store
- Reserve online, purchase in-store
- Buy online, return in-store
- Ship from store
- Online appointment booking for in-store services
Kate needs to return a jacket she bought online, so she brings it back to one of your nearest locations. Your store associate, equipped with a modern POS, can instantly access Kate’s original online order and process her return quickly. As soon as she completes her transaction, your store’s inventory level updates in real time to reflect the new item in stock. Online to offline transitions are easier (for customers and store associates) with a modern POS.
With Retail Cloud Modern POS, store associates gain real-time access to inventory, customer, and order data. Now, in-store staff can provide stellar service with experiences like mobile-first checkout and smooth mixed-cart transactions (in-store and online, all in one). This unified point-of-sale system can also improve store operations with capabilities that enable you to turn stores into fulfillment centers. The best part? You can do it all with a single app.
