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10 Essential Warehouse Management Best Practices – ChainDrive

March 7, 2023 by Multidev Technologies Leave a Comment

Businesses are constantly looking for ways to improve productivity, increase revenue, reduce costs, and provide better products/services to customers. One way to do this is to optimize warehouse operations. There are many warehouse management best practices that can help you improve warehouse operations. In this article, we will look at some key best practices that can help enhance warehouse efficiency.

1. Layout your warehouse more efficiently

Effective warehouse management starts with proper planning and layout. You will have a much more efficient operation if you get it right from the start. The optimal layout for your warehouse is one that is designed to work with your systems and processes. If you organize your warehouse properly, all your products will fit. Your warehouse employees will also be happier. Your entire retail operation will run more smoothly. It’s a good idea to periodically review your warehouse layout to make sure it meets your current operational needs and standards.

2. Prioritize Employee Safety

There are many safety regulations and guidelines in place to keep your warehouse employee’s injury-free and to help each other. No matter how you run your warehouse, make sure employee safety is a top priority.

Employees need to know how to properly climb a ladder, drive a forklift, search for open shelves, etc. Conducting safety seminars and reminding your employees to be diligent on the job can save a lot of people. Employees don’t always question safety practices because they are afraid to call out their superiors. Yet, if you are proactive in ensuring their safety, it can greatly retain them. Finally, ensure that all staff members are properly trained in all operations and that they perform the tasks for which they have been trained.

3. Slot and zone your inventory efficiently

The right zoning of your inventory is another way to increase warehouse productivity. The picking locations placement based on product storage, packing, sorting, and shipping areas can make or break order fulfillment flows. You need to ensure that products are optimally placed to maximize operational efficiency. Improper zoning or niches result in increased travel distance and touches, which always results in higher operational costs. You also need to consider the bin size, storage needs, and velocity of products to determine the best way to store them. You can also effectively manage your bins with ChainDrive warehouse management software, which offers retailers two methods of bin management. Managing your bins, utilizing dynamic slotting, and doing an ABC Analysis can be effectively done with the right warehouse management tool.

4. Analyze and schedule your productivity

Go beyond just knowing what your employees are doing. Control receipt appointments, prioritize work tasks, better control all inventory movements, track inventory processing status, and evaluate productivity across your entire warehouse. Simplify cross-docking processing to keep your inventory moving, warehouse space free, and labor unencumbered by unnecessary tasks. One simple tool can do it all. ChainDrive WMS simplifies warehouse productivity reporting across your organization.

5. Control your inventory effectively

How much inventory do I have? Is it accurate? The key to effective warehouse management is to provide real-time visibility into where each product is. Is it still in the box, waiting to be shelved, or is it on its way to one of your stores? Proper tracking can tell you. Agile warehouse management systems deploy flexible rules to integrate the allocation of all orders to be filled, including the way to allocate, the time to allocate, and the priority.

Pre-built, simple warehouse management integration can significantly reduce backorders and overstocks by connecting inventory data closer to the sale. These outlets ensure that the right inventory is always in the system by displaying real-time data available for sale across all sales channels.

6. Manage warehouse staff performance

Spending time on team development and improving interpersonal relationships with all employees and departments is another important best practice for warehouse operators and those who manage order fulfillment centers.

Employee turnover is a major obstacle in today’s warehouses and fulfillment centers. To combat this, focus on improving communication with your team and all employees, which will help develop a stronger team and more efficient operation with your mistakes. Implement a warehouse management system that can track and record all activities performed by staff and feed that data into real-time reports and dashboards. This way, managers can easily track the performance of the entire organization in a variety of ways – and deploy those resources in an optimal way to reduce warehouse labor costs.

7. Infuse Automation Gradually

Retailers believe that the best tool to improve the efficiency of their facility is one that is automated. Automation, from order entry systems to automated forklifts and unloading equipment, and even robotic technology for pulling, packing, and shipping orders, has been proven to improve operational efficiency, reduce on-site staff accidents and save money in the long run.

Automated data collection and scanning can streamline the process and provide accurate, real-time supply chain information. Automation is the key to success. It speeds up entire processes, tracks valuable data, avoids excessive capital expenditures, and prevents errors associated with manual entry.

Consider starting with flexible software solutions to automate notifications and manage bulk orders, pre-packs, and kits. A single WMS software solution that can handle all your product processing needs can make your retail operation more efficient and profitable.

8. Implement a streamlined returns process.

Managing returns is an integral part of warehouse operations. The best way to deal with it is to create and implement a returns process that is as streamlined and process-oriented as your order fulfillment operation. ChainDrive software solutions with integrated returns processing capabilities help store and track all returns data, allowing you to see the reason an item was returned, who returned it, refunds, or any related costs. This information helps you manage your inventory and also allows you to understand your customers’ buying preferences and plan accordingly.

9. Provide advanced communication tools

You can’t compete in today’s retail environment if you don’t facilitate electronic data transfers and advanced shipping notifications. A warehouse management system allows you to share information within the company, across retail locations, and with all stakeholders. It’s the ideal solution to streamline your communication because:

Enterprise-wide visibility
Fulfill to or from retail locations
Easy to track inventory locations and levels
A single system of record
Connects to accounting or ERP systems

It also reduces costs, as inventory is tracked or labeled the same way at each location.

10. Leverage the right warehouse equipment & technology.

Advances in warehouse management systems continue to disrupt order fulfillment and distribution operations. However, not all technologies are ideal for all warehouse operations. Custom software, automation solutions, and intelligent robots help firms manage the stocking, moving, sorting, and shipping of inventory. This includes gaining valuable data insights, managing workflows, and tracking employee time. Using ChainDrive as an inventory and warehouse management solution can effectively improve processes at all levels without changing the way you work.

In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your warehouse management, the above steps are essential. Implementing these warehouse operations best practices will not only keep your bottom line healthy but also increase customer satisfaction.

Take Your Warehouse to the Next Level with ChainDrive

Streamlining your warehouse management best practices right now to enable real-time inventory tracking, workforce management, and data access in one system, you’re paving a clearer path for future growth. The right warehouse management system can help improve the efficiency and profitability of your business. Create a seamless, automated workflow for tracking inventory, employees, and warehouse data with ChainDrive’s WMS.

ChainDrive’s advanced Warehouse Management System (WMS) gives you the elements you need to keep your warehouse competitive. This software component is the result of years of experience, and the features are designed to fit your specific needs. ChainDrive WMS is supported by a team of professionals who are also available whenever you call. The combination of flexible, intuitive software to manage your data and round-the-clock support is pretty hard to beat.

Are you ready to upgrade your retail warehouse management? Step outside the box and request a free demo with ChainDrive to see how far you can go with us!

10 Product Management Best Practices for Retail Success

February 28, 2023 by Multidev Technologies Leave a Comment

Product management is one of the most important operational concerns in retail. If you don’t manage your inventory effectively, you risk having tons of shrinkage and losses, which consumes your profits, spending countless hours searching for your products, and wasting time and resources on other activities that negatively impact your bottom line. Effective product management is critical to retail profitability. You need to follow some product management best practices to achieve your goal.

Here are 10 product management best practices that agile retailers can follow and manage their products:

1. Analyze the Market

Profitable stores have well-planned retail marketing strategies and campaigns that promote products in a targeted manner. This requires extensive research not only on the item itself but also on the market and competitors.

A thorough study listing the strengths and weaknesses of your product plays an important role in knowing the sustainability of the product. Therefore, it is imperative to use the best product management services to get maximum returns. As retailers are the last phase of the supply chain, they interact directly with customers and are responsible for providing impactful promotions and desired products. While product-market fit is essential for rapid adoption and growth, a complete understanding of the business is equally important for long-term product success.

2. Identifying true customer behavior and needs

Never ask customers what they want; observe what they need. Capture new ideas through customer feedback or internal channels such as support or sales. But be careful not to iterate with all the feedback that reaches you. While customers can often describe the pain they are experiencing, they may not be able to articulate the solution.

Product telemetry, the amount of time a user spends on a certain product page, can be a vital source for understanding how customers interact with a product. Without observing actual customer behavior, product managers may pursue faulty assumptions and ultimately create products that don’t really solve customer problems.

3. Monitor price changes

How you price each product determines how many units you will sell, which will determine your level of profitability on those items. Large retailers have enough challenges with payroll, managing multiple vendors, and operations. One area of operations over which you have much more control than you think is price changes.

With the right tools, you can continuously monitor sales prices, special offers, discounts, and promotions and keep your ever-changing prices under control. With ChainDrive, price management is easier, more versatile, and more efficient across the chain.

4. Categorize your merchandise properly

An effective product management solution allows you to define your product categories and place each product in the right category for easy organization and access. You can establish your own attributes for your products. After all, every retail business is different.

5. Strategic Product Management

A significant portion of the retail industry is unorganized and needs strategic product management to meet consumer demands in the right way. That includes your product vision and goals.

Strategic product management includes identifying market and product opportunities and goals, understanding sales objectives, deploying resources, auditing the business environment to bring efficiency, integrating front and back-end operations, and thorough category planning and management.

6. Keep an eye on the analytics

Effective retail analytics is more than just knowing how much of each product you have in stock; it’s one of the most important aspects of managing a retail chain. You need to have an eye on the history of the products as well as their current status. A strong analytics system allows you to manipulate the data in a way that facilitates better management. You need to track each SKU, analyze your inventory levels, and forecast how much of each product you will need from season to season. And you need to be able to do this from any level in your organization.

7. Seamless inventory management

Real-time inventory status makes inventory visible regardless of the location. Seamless inventory management between stores or businesses is fully integrated with accounting to eliminate potential human error in data transfer.

Whether you are transferring goods from warehouse to warehouse, store to store, or warehouse/store to store, you need to be able to track and control all your transfers in real-time, so you know where your product is.

8. Centralize product management

Holding your inventory management practices at the department level increases your level of inefficiency. You’ll have a much better understanding of your product situation if you can see all of your purchases, assignments, transfers, distributions, and more at a glance. Consolidate all your data attributes into a powerful matrix so you can manage your products more efficiently. Centralize your product management system so you can manage all parts of it more effectively and efficiently.

9. Choose the right time

Retail is about selling the right product at the right time. To sell your products to the target audience, it is important that they come across your product. With the rise of e-commerce, timing has become even more important.

Reduce the time to value for customers to less than an hour. The best product managers have the technical knowledge and deep understanding of their product’s technology stack to design simple and easy onboarding processes for critical customer use cases. Creating these short integration processes allows customers to quickly see the value of the product, which drives adoption and usage.

A retail product manager who uses the right mix of product, customer data, and management skills needs to deliver a show to the consumer. You must plan, execute and deliver your product and its functionality to the user at the right time.

10. Build a dedicated team

Creating the right products at the right time requires coordination with multiple teams, including development, marketing, sales, support, and design. You need to be in frequent contact with everyone who impacts the product and customer experience to make sure you’re on the right track and not duplicating efforts.

Product management involves more than just ordering the right product from the right supplier. It involves managing your inventory from the time you place the order until it leaves for your customer.

Optimize Your Product Management with ChainDrive

As the pace of technological development accelerates and software solutions continue to play an increasing role in all facets of life, the development of a best-in-class product management function becomes increasingly important. Building product management functionality allows businesses to unleash the maximum potential of their software development capabilities, fully capitalize on the return on their software investments, and ultimately improve their business results.

ChainDrive product management software provides functional, easy-to-use, centralized tools to make your operation more profitable and efficient so that you can manage all stages of your product lifecycle in real time. With features that have been requested and developed by working with retailers to find solutions to the problems and pain points, they face every day.

If you’d like to learn more about retail product management best practices, tools, and techniques, check out our blog or request a free online demo to speak with one of our product management software experts.

10 Retail Merchandising Strategies to Increase Sales – ChainDrive

February 22, 2023 by Multidev Technologies Leave a Comment

Retail is a tough game. Even the best retailers are challenged by competition and changing consumer needs. So, brands need to be successful in order to keep operating. One way to increase sales is through merchandising. This is the act of developing and distributing the products your business offers. Merchandising strategies will continue to play a crucial role in the success of your retail business. Whether it’s driving traffic to more profitable categories or building excitement by creating a buzz around a new brand or product line, these strategies are valuable tools that deliver results. Most importantly, these strategies allow you to stay relevant in an already competitive industry.

With an effective merchandising strategy, retailers can cultivate a unique and reliable operation that draws shoppers’ attention to their products and builds brand loyalty. Here are some of the most effective and useful strategies for effective retail merchandising:

10 Best Retail Merchandising Strategies for Retail Success

Well-defined merchandising strategies can help retailers maximize revenue and increase sales. To attract and retain customers, retailers should implement the following best practices.

1. Develop a customer-centric merchandising strategy

Successful retail merchandising starts with the right insights, and the best information always comes directly from the customer journey. It includes all the stages a shopper goes through when interacting with a brand’s products or services. Many customers, for example, prefer to visit a store to physically experience a product.

Retailers can use this to their advantage and display products so that customers can feel, see and try them before purchasing. Offering free samples, placing the search bar in an eye-catching location on the site, or using a live chat feature to facilitate product purchases can enhance the experience. This will allow buyers to actively engage with the brand and ensure they are happy with their purchase.

2. Focus on branding and storytelling

Retailers need to determine how to convey their brand through their products and create a narrative about their mission or values. For example, unique packaging or a small statement printed on an item’s label can raise consumer awareness of the company’s brand.

Additionally, retailers can use their social media to demonstrate their unique tone and style. Using sound, motion technology, and scent to create interactive displays can help customers connect emotionally with a brand and encourage loyalty to the company.

3. A unique and attractive visual display

The placement of an item on the shelves is critical to attracting the customer’s attention. Retailers should consider placing their profitable, fast-moving products at eye level on the shelves or displaying them in the center of their store.

From window displays to signage and the overall store layout, effective visual merchandising techniques work consistently to reflect the brand, attract the customer and increase sales. The following visual merchandising techniques can increase foot traffic and sales.

Innovative and eye-catching in-store and window display to attract customers.
Advocate for premium shelf space
Be specific and easy-to-read signage to make shopping a positive experience.
Display new products near the entrance
Group products in a popular contemporary theme and colors for easier, more enjoyable shopping.
Keep your store well lit – Lighting is very important to merchandising.
Implement cross-merchandising
Use technology and digital data in-store to provide relevant product information, such as videos, images, etc.
Use banners for advertising
Create experiential retail displays

4. Identify the reasons why customers don’t buy

Retailers must not only understand what their consumers want but also identify what they don’t like. Often, a customer won’t buy a specific product because of its packaging or the way it’s presented in the store.

By determining what turns customers off, retailers can take steps to improve their products. Asking for ratings and feedback on a product can help you identify customer needs and expectations.

5. Maintain optimal inventory and avoid stock-outs

Constantly being out of stock of certain products can have a negative impact on the company’s bottom line and its customer base. When goods are not available, the retailer loses a sale, and customers are more likely to buy from competitors.

Businesses can gain better insight into their inventory levels by implementing inventory management software. These integrated tools allow managers to track their inventory in real-time and receive alerts when product quantities are low. This will help retailers upsell, cross-sell, and bundle products that consistently maintain optimal inventory levels to meet customer demands.

6. Conduct research on merchandising trends

Keeping up with new retail merchandising trends will give companies an edge over their slower-moving competitors. For example, recent trends show that influencer marketing and ethical brands are on the rise. Apparel retailers can improve their merchandising strategy by incorporating these trends into their operations.

Retailers can identify people on social media who have a large following and a similar style to their brand and ask them to advertise their clothing. Retailers can also innovate their production processes, include more ethical practices, and inform their consumers of these changes.

7. Balance merchandising volatility

External factors such as supply chain challenges, inflationary prices, economic uncertainty, and geopolitical factors influence demand. In addition, climate, employment conditions, and wages, both environmental and social, are volatile factors that retailers must always consider and incorporate into their plans.

Retailers can turn these challenges into opportunities if they make bold and deliberate decisions. The right retail merchandising tools and effective operational management can help you survive and even thrive during tough economic times.

8. Collaboration with staff and suppliers

With the full collaboration of executives, managers, and employees, the company can attract customers effectively and make sales. Merchandising strategies must be communicated thoroughly to the sales team to ensure that they know how to present and promote the store’s products and services. Since employees work directly with customers, providing display-related training and collecting feedback can also help retail managers improve their strategies.

Collaborate with manufacturers on pricing. Since fluctuations in commodity prices affect retail prices, alignment with suppliers is essential so retailers can adjust the prices to maintain profitability, even if consumers have to pay a little more.

There are many elements to a successful merchandising strategy, but with careful planning, retailers will be able to captivate customers and outperform their competitors.

9. Advanced fulfillment channels

Leading retailers are making it easy for customers to pick up their online orders at brick-and-mortar stores (BOPIS) in order to stay customer-centric. In-store pickup mitigates pain points for both retailers and their customers and attempts to make in-store commerce an advantage over online competitors. Inventory management for both online and in-store sales is a major challenge for retailers, and the more normal it becomes to use BOPIS, the more important it becomes to get better at finding that balance.

10. Use integrated technology to achieve retail success

Retailers, whether online or brick-and-mortar, can improve their merchandising operations simply by adding a solution to their operations. Digital transformation can help retailers understand the financial impacts of trade-offs and enable advanced decision-making in their merchandising processes. This requires a merchandising software solution that delivers high performance, increases foot traffic, and boosts your sales, profits, and reputation.

Improve your merchandising in the 21st century. Don’t get left behind. ChainDrive merchandising software helps you win across the retail chain and optimize your merchandising operations. Get a free online demo today with one of our merchandising experts to grow your retail business.

Retail Operations: Key Components, Challenges and How to Improve – ChainDrive

February 14, 2023 by Multidev Technologies Leave a Comment

Retail is a complex business that requires significant strategic planning to succeed. Operating a retail store or chain of stores can be challenging as it requires frequent evaluation and improvement. So, it’s more important than ever for retailers to ensure retail store operations are optimized, which means adopting best practices and technologies designed to achieve operational excellence. Learning more about the components, functions, and challenges of retail operations and how to improve them can help you improve your operational excellence.

What are retail operations?

Retail operations are the set of activities, processes, and resources involved in the planning, management, and delivery of a retail business. They include workforce management, physical inventory, supply chain, store layout, check-out, master data management, promotions, pricing, etc., which ensure store profitability and a good customer experience.

What are the key components of retail operations?

The key components of retail operations include inventory management, supply chain management, visual merchandising, customer service, and store management. Here are some components of retail operations:

1. Centralized data management – Your data must be centralized, from customer relationship management to vendor and product management. You will manage your retail operations more efficiently by managing your data from a central location. You’ll reduce expenses while increasing profitability. This is the one feature of retail operations that is non-negotiable.

2. Key Performance Indicators – Every retail business has key performance indicators, but yours will differ from those of other operations. This is where every retail chain is different. Even chains in the same industry may have different KPIs to track. Once you have identified your KPIs, you need to track them daily.

3. Inventory optimization – From tracking your products in the supply chain to allocation and replenishment, optimizing your inventory is the heart and soul of your profit center. If you pay too much for your inventory, you will lose revenue. If you hold your inventory too long, it will cost you carrying costs. By optimizing your inventory, you take a critical step toward maximizing your profits. Many retailers are moving towards automating their supply chain and delivery methods.

4. Productivity efficiency – Not only do your warehouses need to run efficiently, but you also need to monitor the productivity levels of your employees. This is critical if you pay your employees bonuses and commissions based on their performance.

5. Sales and expense control – Sales and expense analysis are also critical to any retail operation. Some expenses, such as rent, are fixed. Others fluctuate from season to season or even month to month. You will probably have peak sales periods. Understanding your sales cycle will help you control expenses and maximize sales.

6. Promotions and pricing – The system makes it easy to create targeted marketing or promotional campaigns based on CRM and performance data readily available in the system’s database. Retailers can control access to all price changes and can monitor and track price changes and performance.

7. Order fulfillment – Web order fulfillment from any combination of warehouses and/or stores allows retailers to track all fulfillment requests, their current status, and their location, including in transit. It provides your business with efficient supply chain solutions, omnichannel integration, and alerts for continuous order processing.

What are the Functions of Retail Operations?

Regardless of size or industry, businesses need the same basic functions to operate in the retail sector. These include,

Product sales
Customer service
Store management
Inventory management
Store layout (online and physical)
Marketing and promotions
Payments and processing
Financial management

What are the Challenges for Retail Operations?

Retailers must evolve with their consumers. Here are some of the challenges retailers face in their retail operations:

Inventory management: Keeping track of inventory levels, ensuring that products are in stock, and preventing stockouts can be challenging for retailers.
Seasonal fluctuations: Retailers need to be able to predict and manage changes in demand throughout the year, such as during peak holiday shopping seasons.
Consumer preferences: Keeping up with changing consumer preferences and trends can take time and effort for retailers.
Online competition: The rise of e-commerce has made it more challenging for brick-and-mortar retailers to compete with online retailers.
Supply chain disruptions: Global events such as natural disasters, trade disputes, and pandemics can disrupt the supply chain and create challenges for retailers.
Omni-channel integration: Integrating and managing different sales channels (e.g., online, in-store, mobile), working Omnichannel customer journeys & building customer loyalty can be challenging.
Personalization: Creating unique, personalized customer experiences can be difficult and time-consuming.
Cost management: In retail price inflation, keeping operational costs down while delivering a high-quality customer experience can be a balancing act.
Employee management: Hiring and training employees, managing internal communication, scheduling, and ensuring customer service standards are met can be challenging.
Compliance: Retailers must comply with various laws, regulations, and standards, such as data protection, consumer rights, and labor laws, which can be complex and time-consuming.

How to Improve Retail Operations?

Here are some steps you can consider to improve your retail operations:

1. Increase employee productivity: Employee productivity goes beyond ensuring your products are shelved and merchandised. It also means they have to sell. Suppose you don’t track, measure, and report the number of units and total dollar volume each salesperson sells. In that case, you will need to determine if your employees are productive and profitable for your retail business. Providing operational training to your employees can help increase team efficiency and improve customer service. Businesses can also specialize in training activities to focus on achieving their unique goals.

2. Measure individual store performance: Determining key performance indicators (KPIs) can provide metrics to measure business growth and progress toward goals. These metrics can be helpful for operational decision-making and the overall success of a retailer. Not only does every employee need to earn their keep, but every store in your chain needs to perform as well.

3. Compare sales at multiple levels: To get an accurate picture of your retail sales, you need to compare sales at different levels, which also means including closed stores in your numbers.

4. Set store budgets: The best way to ensure that each store in your retail chain is profitable is to set store budget targets based on store age, past performance, and management experience.

5. Prevent losses: Damaged or stolen merchandise can quickly reduce profits. So, minimize your losses; it will immediately improve your bottom line.

6. Optimize inventory management: If you are performing regular inventory controls and monitoring (cycle counts and physical inventories), you probably need to be in control of your retail operations. Control your inventory more effectively, and you will be more profitable. You’ll reduce the risk of costly overstocking or frustrating stockouts by conducting inventory counts.

7. Take action to achieve your marketing goals: Marketing is more than just attracting visitors. You can better manage your marketing metrics by focusing on your customer data to find hidden opportunities.

8. Automate and Optimize – Automation can help retailers accomplish tasks faster by using technology tools to streamline operations and optimize business areas that have not reached their highest potential. Optimization can help with business management by eliminating inventory and supply chain redundancies and lowering operational costs.

9. Unify online, and offline sales – Omnichannel retailing connects all channels, combining the showroom and website to create a unified experience. Unified commerce solutions improve the customer experience no matter how they choose to shop and increase efficiency across all channels.

10. Offer experiential retailing – Experiential retailing is a great way to engage with customers beyond just selling products. Today, retailers are finding innovative ways to draw customers into the store, not only through their products but also through their in-store experience, encouraging customers to spend more time with their brand. Collecting customer feedback can also be beneficial to retail operations, as it can highlight areas of operations that may need improvement.

11. Optimize returns and exchanges – Better product returns management can reduce costs and improve consumer loyalty. Providing a seamless returns experience has become necessary in the retail market, but many retailers need to improve their operational and technological capabilities to ensure a smooth customer journey. BORIS (buy-online-return-in-store) offers the ability to meet and convert customers personally.

12. Streamline checkout- Fast, frictionless in-person shopping experiences have become an expectation in 2023. Streamlining your checkout process will make it easier for shoppers to click buy and track their orders.

Conclusion:

For enhanced retail operations, businesses can use data analytics to make informed decisions about inventory levels and product assortment, implement effective supply chain management systems and provide employee training to improve customer service. In addition, implementing technology solutions such as point-of-sale systems, inventory management software, and customer relationship management tools can also help streamline operations and improve overall efficiency.

Streamline Retail Operations with ChainDrive

ChainDrive operations management software provides built-in KPIs, targets, and analytics so you can instantly assess and report on everything from store and employee performance to loss prevention to store budgets and sales goals.

Optimize your store’s retail operations with ChainDrive operations management software. ChainDrive’s retail management system is the easiest way to unify your sales channels and sell online and offline. If you want to grow your business, market to your customers, and sell everywhere in one unified database, request a free live demo with the ChainDrive team.

Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) System: 10 Benefits to Consider

January 23, 2023 by Multidev Technologies Leave a Comment

Consumers constantly expect retailers to make their lives easier. This trend manifests itself not only in product innovation but also in the shopping experience itself. Retailers must continue to provide faster technology, better transparency to customers, and more accurate logistics and delivery to make customers feel like the shopping experience is efficient. Investments in retail technology will alleviate customer pain points to increase loyalty and retention. Retailers are eager to harness the enormous potential of digitally connecting with customers to increase sales and loyalty.

From the pandemic to the holiday shopping season to recent supply chain stresses, many factors have forced customers to change their shopping habits and expectations frequently and quickly. In fact, consumers have indicated that product availability, faster delivery times, local shipping options, and full order visibility are key to a quality shopping experience. Improving in-store technology has quickly become a top priority for the industry as retailers around the world strive to compete and win. A salesperson equipped with a mobile point of sale (mPOS) system can stay close to the customer throughout their shopping journey and become an effective personal assistant and guide.

What does mPOS mean in retail?

A mobile POS is a system in which point-of-sale software is installed on a handheld mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet like an iPhone or iPad. The device performs the same actions as a cash register and terminal to complete a customer’s transaction. A mobile POS system is the best all-in-one solution for a business that is on the go or needs flexibility in payment processing. Equipped with wireless mobile POS devices, employees are able to cash out customers or access inventory information from anywhere in the store. With powerful technology at your fingertips, you can even use your mobile POS system for critical business functions.

What are the benefits of using an mPOS in a retail store?

Mobile point-of-sale systems are easy to set up and use. Using a smartphone, tablet, or specialized terminal, you can create a point-of-sale system that works best for your business.

Here are ten benefits of investing in an mPOS system for your retail store

1. Real-time visibility on all inventory items

If an employee enters a product SKU into your inventory at the same time another employee opens a search on that item, the product will be seen immediately. You can see the inventory status of the entire chain in real-time for every item you have in your stores. There is no wait time, as the product enters your inventory immediately, so any staff with the ability to search for a product can see where it is. The ability to use point-of-sale devices for inventory and cycle counts makes checking your inventory less complicated and allows you to consistently eliminate errors to maintain accurate inventory levels.

2. Facilitate seamless store transfers

With real-time product search, you can quickly find merchandise in other stores in your chain. Plus, if your store doesn’t have the product, your staff can quickly request a store transfer directly from your mobile POS. No need to run to the cash register to make the request, no need for a phone call. Make the request and receive a confirmation email within minutes. This real-time store transfer request can be made from anywhere in your store.

3. Empowers your employees

The mobile POS system empowers your employees by keeping them busy with tasks that will impact your bottom line. Instead of spending time going back and forth from your POS to the shelves to continue stocking merchandise, they’ll save time, have better morale, and make more sales.

mPOS turns store associates into more efficient employees. It eliminates paper from the inventory counting process for good. Mobile devices include a barcode scanner for fast, accurate counts that can update your inventory management system in real-time.

mPOS turns cashiers into sales generators. Customers love and expect personalized service. Mobile technology in retail frees your salespeople from the cash wrap to helping customers in the aisle close sales at the point of decision, which increases conversions.

The mPOS transforms sales associates into product experts who can offer shoppers personalized advice on products, availability, and delivery methods. Your associates can view past purchase data, online browsing history, loyalty reward points, and other data to engage the shopper with relevant up-sell or cross-sell suggestions.

4. Increased mobility

Mobile technology makes it easier to move them around in a brick-and-mortar store. Decentralizing your point of sale allows employees to process transactions and place orders immediately from anywhere in your store or other location. When your mobile POS simplifies assisted selling, everyone is happy. It’s the perfect way to differentiate yourself from your competitors, build customer loyalty to generate long-term sales, and make your customers feel like the time they spend in your store is time well spent.

Mobile technology in retail enables a geographic increase in your sales footprint and allows you to do business almost anywhere. Sidewalk sales, tent sales, trunk shows, pop-up stores, and special events are easy to organize and manage with mPOS.

5. Line-busting checkout options

With a mobile-first and responsive POS solution, you can choose to keep your mobile checkout or use the same solution to place your device on a counter or offer a self-checkout option. Combining these three options is the ideal strategy to reduce lines, satisfy fast-moving customers and even increase average order value.

mPOS can prevent lost sales by reducing waiting times in queues. No one wants to wait. Most customers want a quick and easy checkout. When the store is busy, it’s easy to expand checkout to manage long lines and preserve sales that might be lost due to long waits.

6. Accept modern payment types

Shoppers want flexibility in payment options. Mobile technology in retail allows for traditional cash transactions, credit or debit cards, store credit, gift cards, coupons, digital offers, and loyalty points. According to the Mastercard Contactless Consumer Polling survey, more than half of Americans now use some form of contactless payment, including credit cards and mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay. Contactless payment – which can also be used for curbside pickup- helps your customers feel secure (because they don’t have to touch devices or sign with a pen) and gives them the convenience they want when shopping.

7. Enhanced customer service

Customers are looking for salespeople with mobile devices. Half of the customers ask mobile device-equipped salespeople to check product availability at other stores. The ability to check products in real-time from anywhere in the store when customers are looking for something will enhance the customer experience and benefit your store chain in several important ways.

Mobile point-of-sale solutions open up a new world of opportunities for your business. You can enhance your customer’s experience by personalizing their visit. You can establish a built-in loyalty program complete with coupons and discounts for customers who use the mobile checkout system. Give loyalty points to customers who frequently use your mobile checkout system. This program will pay off in the long run. You can reward returning customers by collecting data and offering promotions or discounts. You can also collect data that will help you improve customer offerings and provide important demographic information.

You can revolutionize the way your customers interact with your business by personalizing your approach. Offering value-added services and additional features is easier than ever with a mobile POS system that gives you the flexibility to create unique experiences for each individual.

Mobile POS systems can speed up the returns and exchanges process. Returns and exchanges can slow you down. Mobile technology in retail speeds up returns and exchanges by allowing retailers to quickly increase throughput to avoid delays at checkout.

8. Becomes a data repository to fuel marketing

mPOS software offers real-time analytics and insights into your customers. If you integrate your mobile POS with an online ordering system, you can see the most popular times, what products are selling, and how your customers like to pay. By connecting all your in-store and e-commerce channels, you’ll get a better picture of your business at all times.

The mPOS equips retailers with more data for more effective marketing and allows them to provide a much more personalized and comprehensive experience for their customers. Associates can request and capture customer email addresses for email marketing campaigns. They can also collect other information about customers before, during, or after the sale, wherever they are in the store. This will increase engagement and loyalty and boost your sales and revenue.

9. Greater potential for store expansion

The mobile retail POS system facilitates expansion because scaling up is simple. Every mobile point of sale is a potential checkout station. And as you add stores, low-cost mPOS devices allow you to expand faster with little or no investment in new IT infrastructure.

The adoption of mobile POS systems makes chain stores more competitive. As a result, those chains that have tried it are seeing increased sales and revenue and more satisfied customers. You can be part of the mobile POS revolution and see your profits increase.

10. Seamless integrations and upgrades

Retail technology is constantly evolving. Chances are, you’ll need to update your mobile POS system at some point to keep it current.

Updating your system will allow you to integrate different platforms that will streamline business operations. Retail point-of-sale integrations include connecting your system to order management, inventory, and accounting software. The mobile POS system also makes it easy to adjust items and other settings on the fly without waiting for shifts to end. Updating over Wifi pushes out changes to all connected devices immediately. So, you can create a POS report for each task.

Empower Your Retail Store with Mobility

Mobile retail technology is a game changer in modern retail as it allows retailers to deliver a memorable shopping experience that builds brand loyalty. mPOS enhances sales conversations to drive sales, and during off-peak hours, associates can use their mobile devices to count inventory, improving productivity and the quality of their inventory data.

Retailers who adapt to meet rising customer expectations can sell more, earn more, and build personal relationships through an integrated omnichannel strategy that includes mobility. ChainDrive is a mobile point-of-sale system that acts as the central point of interaction between your employees and your customers. It can serve multiple roles and functions, from checking inventory or customer details to providing the immediate and critical information your staff needs to better serve your customers. With its functionality, businesses can provide excellent customer service by conducting transactions at any time. Savvy retailers know that a mobile POS solution is a retail technology that offers a positive ROI for their business. Contact us today to demo ChainDrive Retail Mobile POS and see how easy it is to deploy mobility in your stores.

10 Ways to Foster Internal Communication Across Your Retail Chain

January 12, 2023 by Multidev Technologies Leave a Comment

Retail chains where different levels of responsibility within the organization communicate with each other about critical business processes succeed and are managed more effectively than those that do not. The question is how to foster a culture of communication within your retail chain with the right integrated internal messaging software.

It doesn’t matter what retail industry you’re in. If store managers aren’t communicating with regional managers and your corporate office, your operations won’t function properly. Likewise, if regional managers aren’t intrinsically connected with buyers, business development, and transportation, you’ll have holes in your retail operations. Whether you have a single store or a chain of retail stores, you need to be able to communicate effectively with all members of your team.

ChainDrive’s integrated internal communication tools are designed in response to the demand for a means of communication and collaboration in the retail environment – a means of communication that goes far beyond the limitations of text or email.

Here are ten ways to foster internal communication across your chain stores with strong internal communication tools:

1. Interactive communication in real-time

First, integrate a messaging tool with your point-of-sale terminals and back-office applications to ensure that your retail store employees and corporate office members can communicate effectively and efficiently. Integrating a messaging client with these systems means that your store employees don’t have to leave the systems they regularly use to communicate critical business concerns or switch between applications. It provides real-time data and analytics on store performance that drives important decisions.

2. Boost employee engagement & training

Empower your staff by engaging them in meaningful communication. An integrated messaging tool keeps in touch with all key personnel and strengthens relationships.

Retailers can use integrated messaging to automate training reminders, safety requirements, and company-wide or individual information and announcements. It facilitates associate training, performance feedback, and coaching, with personalized learning paths and employee spotlighting.

It allows associates to communicate and coordinate shift changes and coverages with each other to relieve pressure on managers and reduce the costs of missed shifts. Communicating positive company messages can also significantly improve company loyalty and reduce employee turnover.

3. Make your communications mobile-friendly

Your communications need to be mobile and tablet-friendly in today’s retail environment. Store managers may be in the middle of aisle 9, or regional managers may be on the road. Don’t rely solely on office-to-office communications. Mobile communications enable you to communicate with all employees at all times, in real-time. You can even reach your sales professionals when they are on the floor and away from the POS terminal.

4. Make it easy to send targeted messages

Only some people in your organization need to participate in every discussion. Allow all employees in your organization a way to target specific messages only to their intended recipients. You can easily target your messages to specific groups, stores, departments, or individuals within your retail organization.

5. Make read receipts available

People are busy. Not everyone has a ready response when they read a message. Make read receipts available, so senders know that recipients have received a message without needing an immediate response. Notifications let employees know when they have new messages, and read statements let staff know when their messages have been read.

6. Automatic message scheduling

Set triggers that allow you to schedule messages when certain events occur, especially in Distribution & Inventory Management. For instance, when you transfer merchandise from one store to another, a message can be sent automatically to notify the receiving store or when a warehouse shipment is on the way to a specific store with special orders, providing visibility and daily reports.

7. Facilitate large attachment transfers

Your retail chain is a business organization. Your team members need to be able to share information easily with few barriers. By allowing attachments with your messages, you ensure that employees receive important documents such as purchase orders, product information, receipts, etc.

8. Multi-channel communication

Create channels that allow you to segment your staff by specific audiences or communication streams. You can segment by stores, regions, management teams, and even departments. Store managers should be able to communicate with each other as well as with their regional managers and various departments at corporate headquarters. Make that communication possible.

Automatic replies, live chats, and pop-up chats have been a major trend in recent months, and Facebook offers the opportunity to integrate live chat messenger on your website.

9. Smart search

When team members need to refer back to a previous conversation, it should be as easy as a search. Smart search functionality makes it easy to find the data that applies to the message.

10. Roaming

As mentioned earlier, not everyone in your retail chain is always in their office. Regional managers tend to travel. Other staff members may be required to travel. Make it easy to communicate via mobile by providing roaming access to the signals that make those communications possible.

Successful retail organizations are communicative organizations. That’s why you need integrated internal messaging. An internal messaging application allows your store staff to focus on customer service and provides accurate, real-time information needed to put the customer first and make your retail business profitable.

Streamline Communication with ChainDrive Internal Communication Tools

ChainDrive is the best internal communication software for workplace intranet, internal communication tools, and employee engagement platforms. Because ChainDrive IIM is fully integrated with the point-of-sale interface and the rest of the ChainDrive platform, it eliminates the need for external messaging applications. Details such as customer purchase history, purchase orders, invoices and more can be viewed and referenced without compromising security because all information resides within the ChainDrive environment. The centralized database provides security for your intercommunications which gives freedom to collaborative interaction. Request a free demo to see how we can scale up your retail chain stores.