How to work smarter when multi-channel selling

UK shoppers no longer view online and offline as separate channels, they now expect a seamless shopping experience whether that’s a bricks and mortar shop, online shop, Internet marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Etsy, or social media like Facebook and Instagram.

And the challenge for retailers is not just to sell using these channels, but how to do it efficiently and cost-effectively……

1 – Streamline your retail systems and processes

One of the biggest problems when selling multichannel is that all the data, inventory, products and processes can be in separate systems eg an ecommerce website for online sales, a point of sale system for in-store sales and an inventory management system to manage inventory and stock levels.

This brings numerous headaches such as a) the time involved in managing each system b) the cost associated with running multiple systems and c) understanding stock levels across each system each time a sale is made; so it’s vital to implement the right software that can provide not only the flexibility of where you want to sell, but also seamlessly connects all this data from shop through to eCommerce website, to marketplaces and social channels, saving precious time.

2 - Efficient inventory control

Many retailers use manual stock control or spreadsheets to manage stock however the nature of selling multi-channel means that you need to keep many sets of inventory, and not fully understanding stock levels and requirements across each sales channel, and with little or no connectivity between each channel, is not only frustrating but extremely time-consuming.

But managing multi-channel inventory doesn’t have to be daunting, having a central inventory system that automatically synchronises your products, sales and order management is, not only necessary to overcome these issues, but also vital to multi-channel selling success.

A central inventory database will allow you to accurately track inventory across all channels and  provide low stock alerts and stock replenish reports to ensure inventory is stocked at all times.

And even more important, each time a sale is made stock levels are automatically adjusted across ALL sales channels, such as your point of sale till, ecommerce website, Amazon, eBay etc, this means you will save time as this will not need to be logged or adjusted manually, but also importantly means you won’t oversell in any area, which in turn means happy customers.

3 - Improved business visibility across all your sales channels

When running separate point of sale, ecommerce and inventory software it can make it difficult to analyse all aspects of your retail business as the data is disjointed across different systems.

But by using a centralised retail system that’s connected and integrated, you can gain a better insight as all the data is held within one central hub, allowing you to keep an eye on the whole of your retail business anywhere, anytime. 

Conprehensive reporting will keep you knowledgeable about what’s selling well, when and where, so you can better forecast the product demand and customer purchases.

This means you can easily analyse your success, understand what’s working and what’s not, and make smart business decisions.

Smart multichannel selling 

Multichannel selling carries with it a whole host of benefits for you and your customers. For retailers, multichannel selling inspires customer loyalty and helps build your brand. For customers, it allows for more efficient and convenient shopping.

However multichannel selling is only as good as the system that powers it. If using poorly optimised software or a system that wasn't designed for that purpose, it can bring vulnerabilities. Not only will your customers shopping experience be poor, but you may waste time with unnecessary processes, as well as affecting your bottom line.

How can we help?

Our aim is to make your multi-channel selling as simple as possible. Implementing a specifically designed multichannel retail system, like ShopTill-e.com, provides retailers with a system that allows each sales channel to seamlessly complement each, other as well as supporting a streamlined, multi-channel retail experience for their customers.

ShopTill-e has been specifically created to meet the needs of small and medium-sized retailers and takes away the headache of running multiple systems when selling in-store, online, everywhere.

All-in-one selling solution

You don’t need to think about getting your point of sale system and ecommerce platform to talk with one another, as it's already been specifically built from the ground up to include an intuitive ePOS system and powerful ecommerce platform with full inventory management - it's one integrated retail system that does everything.

It's affordable because it combines the ePOS system with the ecommerce platform so you only need this all-in-one retail system, but it's also cost-effective as it includes all the great features from day one.

So no more wasting time updating separate systems, ShopTill-e allows you to work smarter when selling multi-channel.

Try it free for 14 days, book your personalised demo or book a time to talk with one of our experts.