FEATURE CLOUD ATLAS
ecommerce platforms can also help retailers manage their ‘bricks and clicks’ as one. With live stock levels online as well, customers can shop in confidence knowing that the products are in stock and choose convenient services such as ‘click and collect’.
Tracking inventory
Most systems should offer back office reporting tools allowing retailers to pull off various reports showing past sales, so they can assess what’s selling well and which are the most profitable lines and, on this basis, make informed decisions on future purchases. They can look at different peak sales periods such as bank holidays and monitor a product lifecycle, so they can plan how many weeks they have to sell their product lines before they would need to begin marking down stock to clear excess.
Seamless edges Cloud Atlas
Here, Ian Tomlinson, CEO of Cybertill, explains how the latest technology can give independent flooring retailers a competitive advantage and make their business future-fit.
Retail is complicated and has got a lot harder in recent years, especially since the advent of the internet. Consumers are far more demanding and, armed with smartphones, have often researched their purchases in advance so they know as much, if not more, about your products than you do. And if your service and expectation levels don’t measure up, they will go to a rival store.
Good retailing is about having product when and where the customer wants it and always has been. However, this is easier said than done. Do you really know that delivery arrived from the warehouse or that returned product is now available as stock?
Cloud-based retailing means that electronic point of sale (EPoS), ecommerce and back-end systems are accessible from anywhere enabling retailers to see live stock levels, sales and orders as well as manage their business, such as setting up promotions or raising purchase orders. Integrated
16 | Autumn 2015 Tomorrow’s Retail Floors
A centralised cloud-based system makes it much easier to integrate a bricks and mortar store with an ecommerce website. With live stock levels and sales, retailers are able to offer customers a seamless shopping experience. It is also scalable. The system can grow with the business so if a retailer wants to open up a new store, the process is very simple with one single database.
For many independents the issue they have is much of their cash is tied up in their stock. So if they can create efficiencies with their stock the leaner and healthier their business will be. Cloud systems help retailers be more scientific with their stock purchasing and analysis so the stock turn is quicker leading to a healthier cash flow. Ordering is also more accurate meaning they have to mark down less stock so they are able to sell more lines at full margin. What’s more, retailers can make savings in other ways, such as identifying the best opening times for a store based on sales patterns, as well as when additional staff will be needed.
The one and only
Perhaps the most important aspect of cloud solutions is that they provide a single product and customer database This means the business (store[s] and website) share this centralised set of records so it is simple to track and see sales and stock levels online and in-store.
Such systems can also automatically raise purchase orders for retailers if they use the minimum and maximum stock level facility. Once an item goes below the minimum stock level a purchase order is raised – which alerts the business so they can choose whether to sign it off and send to the supplier. Indeed once retailers have used the system for a while, there is a stock algorithm that calculates what level of stock a retailer needs to carry and what they will need to order.
So by embracing the latest technology, flooring retailers can stay one step ahead to better serve the needs of the consumer and ensure they are ready for any changes in the industry.
www.cybertill.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44