These days, if you’re in retail and your ecommerce is below par, you’re missing a huge opportunity to grow your business. Customers expect to be able to jump online, and find a user-friendly website, where they can look up your products, do some research and comparison and make a purchase. They also expect a high-level of customer service, in the same way they do instore, so that orders are processed and dispatched quickly, and they are kept informed of the status at all times.
If your current ecommerce is not delivering to this standard, or you’re yet to get it up and running at all, you might be thinking it sounds too difficult, time-consuming and expensive to tackle. However, this is not the case—setting up your ecommerce and integrating it seamlessly with your POS is more achievable than you think. The key is to find the right solution that offers minimal disruption and maximum gains for your business—and to avoid at all costs an ecommerce system that is not fully integrated with your POS. The latter is a recipe for inconsistencies, double-handling and endless frustration!
So if you’re ready to explore your ecommerce options, read on to learn 3 non-negotiables when integrating your retail POS and online store.
1) Automatic data extraction means no manual re-entry
One of the biggest concerns we hear from customers considering upgrading their ecommerce is how we’ll get their data across to the new system without it being a major headache. For most retail stores ‘data’ includes a mixed bag of items including product descriptions, photos, pricing and special promotions such as multibuys.
Our team can extract your existing data from your current system and transfer it across to the new, without the need for manual re-entry. We do this with precision and care, with the key aim to achieve ‘price parity’ between instore and online so that customers experience consistency across both stores. Remember, your ecommerce store isn’t just about selling online, it’s just as much about displaying your catalogue to entice people to come into the physical store. A fully integrated system will operate just like a self-serve checkout, with sales immediately recorded, inventory adjusted and payment processed, ready for the item to be picked and shipped promptly. This creates a more efficient process both instore and online.
2) Customisations to enhance efficiencies and user experience
While the overall effectiveness of the system is critical, the small customisations that are important to your business can have a big impact too. When it comes to customisations, this can be custom features, but also could relate to branding and styling that accurately reflect your bricks and mortar store. This not only provides your business with a professional-looking website, it also ensures the customer experience is consistent which further enhances trust and your reputation.
3) Local support available 7 days a week
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The ability to call customer support, 7 days a week and talk to someone helpful who is in your timezone is a definite plus. Our support team is always happy to answer any questions you have about your new system, to ensure a safe passage to operating a fully functional online store. This removes the stress and uncertainty about the ‘what ifs’, as help is always just a phone call away. It’s not just about getting the software up and running either, it’s about having an expert on your team to guide you through decisions regarding shipping systems, payment systems, marketing, improving exposure on Google and the many other small but important details that matter along the way.
Integrated ecommerce is the foundation of success
For your business to be sustainable in today’s uncertain times and digital age, you need an online presence that showcases your brand and products, and offers customers a convenient way to buy from you if they can’t make it in store. On top of this, it can make a massive difference to how you operate your business day-to-day, introducing countless efficiencies and being the foundation for exceptional growth.
With the right ecommerce and POS system integrated and designed to suit and a quality support team behind you all the way, getting it up and running from scratch, or updating an outdated system doesn’t have to be difficult or scary.
Contact our Melbourne-based team on 1800 864 839 (Australia) or 0800 864 839 (New Zealand), or click here to book a 15-min discovery call with a senior member of our team to chat about your options and learn how integrated ecommerce could work for your business.
