With the New Year comes new beginnings, resolutions and importantly, January sales. Following a hard-on-the-pocket December, consumers typically enter the January sales period on the lookout for great deals that won’t break the bank. A fun and exciting time for consumers, retailers must prepare – ready to overcome the challenges of busy shop floors, and leverage interest to generate long-term success.

During big bargain sales, this can often be a big ask for retailers, who must keep track of inventory while serving customers in a timely and personalized manner to deliver high-quality experiences. Technology can play a prominent role in meeting these demands. 

With the right solutions in place, retailers can optimize sales and provides a great shopping experience for customers, benefiting both short and long-term results.

Keeping on Top of Inventory

Successful shop floor operations don’t start and end in-store. Effective inventory management provides retailers with visibility of all inventory from manufacture to shelf. An important aspect of any retail operation, inventory management comes under the spotlight during peak shopping seasons – including January sales.

Retailers need to ensure shelves remain stocked in order to maximize sales opportunities, and the right solution can help retailers achieve this seamlessly. With Teamwork Commerce’s inventory management solution, retailers can automate their replenishment process, ensuring that stock levels remain high during peak periods without in-store associates needing to manually track on-shelf availability. Instead, they can better spend their time delivering high-quality experiences to in-store customers.

Making the Most of Christmas Gift Cards with Mobile POS

January sales present the first opportunity for consumers to spend the money and gift cards they might have received over Christmas, and consumers typically look to cash in on these opportunities early. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that January 20th is national ‘Use Your Gift Card Day’.

With this in mind, retailers must be prepared to conduct transactions in a range of ways throughout January. From cash payments, to contactless, gift cards and even returns – meeting consumer expectations during January can be tricky in the post-Christmas period.

Teamwork Commerce’s Mobile Point of Sale technology can help retailers to achieve this all in one device, but it can do it anywhere in-store, allowing in-store associates to conduct transactions in seconds, providing speed and convenience to customers.

Creating Value Through Promotions 

The biggest pull factor of January retail is the sales. For retailers, January is an opportunity to revert back to square one; selling older stock – and quickly – to make space for the new year’s inventory. A discount paradise for customers. 

What could be better? Tailored promotions for customers based on their history with a retailer, ensuring in-store visitors receive maximum value in their exchanges with brands.

Adding a personal touch can go a long way, especially in retail. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems enable retailers to personalize shopping experiences without any additional effort – including the discounts offered to customers. Our secure CRM system collects customer data based on their purchase history and behavior. Securely and compliantly leveraging customer information, retailers can create a holistic view of all customer data and accurately tailor services to each of their customers hassle free.

Enhancing customer experiences during busy periods, such as January sales, puts retailers above the competition. Integrating these promotions with loyalty schemes not only provides exceptional short term experiences, but it provides long-term value for consumers, who become retained and loyal customers.

Here’s to 2024!

While January sales might provide an opportunity for retailers to sell-off old stock, it also creates an opportunity to retain loyal customers, gain new ones and increase revenue beyond January sales.

Our retail technology has the power to provide retailers with a smooth and stress free transition into the new year. January sales become streamlined with easy to operate deployments that make the life of a retailer easier. 

To find out more about how Teamwork Commerce can help your retail business thrive throughout January, get in touch today.

As the year draws to a close, retailers cast their eyes onto 2024. The past couple of months have been incredibly busy, with ongoing festive chaos and wider preparations for the new year. While the beginning of the holiday season showed significant consumer resilience, customers’ shopping behaviors continue to evolve.

In our latest Retail in Review blog, we take a look at some retail news, and how November and December have impacted the retail industry…

Solid Start to the Holidays

In our last Retail in Review blog, we discussed how retailers were busy preparing for the festive hype with the holiday season being a hot topic in the build-up to winter. The festive shopping season began in strong form.

Black Friday generated a record $9.8 billion in U.S. online sales, showing clear signs that shoppers are willing to spend. In fact, overall retail sales in November unexpectedly picked up with lower gas prices allowing consumers to ease their pursestrings and spend more, according to Bloomberg. The rise in sales has clearly boosted the morale of retailers who have been making significant efforts to capitalize on the shopping peak. 

Amidst this festive chaos, brands continue experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the customer experience. Mastercard has rolled out a generative AI tool that acts as a personal assistant for shoppers and makes personalized recommendations. 

Evolving Consumer Preferences

The ability to try products physically remains significantly valuable. According to McKinsey, 85% of customers expect to purchase at least one item in-store in the 2023 holiday season. However, over the past couple of months, shoppers have started to lean on online sales channels, with convenience being the key driver. In fact, consumers have a high intent to purchase online in 2024. Gearing up for the anticipated online boom, Google Pay has teamed up with Affirm to make buy now, pay later (BNPL) options available for online and mobile payments in the U.S. next year. 

Moreover, retailers who want to attract customers in-store, need to offer them something they can’t get online. To deliver an exclusive shopping experience, Zalando has launched invite-only shopping for limited products. This provides a great opportunity for customers to enjoy exclusive shopping experiences.

In order to drive in-store footfall, retailers can also offer exciting and personalized offers that customers can’t resist. Better prices and promotions are more important to customers this holiday season, according to McKinsey. In fact, customers purchase and pay more attention to ads for products that are on sale. Retailers who use real-time customer data to personalize their promotions based on individual customer needs can set themselves apart from the competition. 

Preparations for 2024 Begin

As we approach the hectic end of the festive season and 2023 alike, retailers are eyeing their 2024 strategies. From teaming up with reliable technology providers to investing significantly in upgradation and growth, brands are levelling up to live up to evolving consumer expectations in the next year.

Walmart has invested over $500 million to upgrade 117 stores and will devote more than $9 billion over two years to modernize over 1,400 stores across the U.S. These upgrades will include better layouts, products and technological improvements to enhance the shopping experience for customers. Meanwhile, sporting goods retailer, Innovasport, has announced its partnership with Teamwork Commerce, deploying over 2,000 POS terminals over 250 locations across Mexico. These technological advancements only indicate the increasing adaptability of brands that are keen to attract customers in-store.

In spite of a challenging year for the retail industry, retailers seem to have a positive outlook for 2024, with a number of brands announcing growth plans. Uniqlo is set to drive growth with plans to double its current store openings in the US and Canada, with more than 20 new locations set to open in 2024. Ahead of stepping into 2024, Shein has confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US and could begin trading on public markets as early as 2024.

As the curtains fall on 2023, the retail landscape of 2024 awaits exciting transformations. Those who can constantly evolve themselves leveraging the latest technological innovations will thrive in the market.

Looking to revamp your technology stack to grow in 2024? Get in touch today!

Christmas is here! Mariah Carey and Michael Buble are once again conquering the December radio airtime, the out-of-office autoresponders are on and, for many, the final touches of their Christmas shopping can finally be complete.

Research finds that Americans plan on spending an average of $975 on Christmas this year, with ‘Super Saturday’ – December 23rd – expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year. No doubt, a significant portion of those purchases will be in the form of gifts, and there is one retail segment that excels in this department: apparel.

From hats all the way down to shoes, and everything in-between – including the yearly ugly festive sweater that everyone pretends to love – apparel retailers play a huge role in Christmas gift giving. With Super Saturday around the corner, some will fare better than others, and those that succeed will be able to master the ability to deliver incredible customer experiences that leave in-store shoppers feeling valued. In our latest blog, we unwrap (pun intended) how apparel retailers will be achieving this…

Inventory is Critical

Typically, a busy stores results in a large number of purchases. Of course, this is exactly what retailers are hoping for, but with Super Saturday in mind, an increase in sales can quickly lead to empty shelves. If an apparel retailer runs out of stock too early in the day, they are met with a significant opportunity cost in lost sales.

Replenishment is key, and with the right technology deployed, retailers can accurately forecast demand, predict what items will sell best, and optimize their stock. With this insight, retailers won’t run out of stock. However, and just as importantly, they won’t over-order stock either, which leads to bloat, and ultimately wasted resources.

Effective inventory management is integral to being able to achieve this. With real-time visibility of stock throughout the supply chain, apparel retailers can maintain inventory levels across all locations, using accurate data to make better decisions, faster.

In-store, this visibility not only helps keep shelves stocked, meeting customer expectations during a busy period, but it allows in-store associates to know exactly where items are located, minimizing the amount of time customers spend waiting on the shop floor.

Efficient Transactions Across all Channels

As Super Saturday approaches, speed is everything. Retailers have no context for their customers’ circumstances. They might be finalizing their gift-buying, they might only just be starting. All a retailer can do is provide an efficient experience, delivering streamlined transactions that, again, minimize the amount of time customers spend waiting around.

The biggest fear for any customer when they step in-store is often the dreaded queue time. This year, apparel retailers can significantly reduce that concern with Teamwork Commerce’s Mobile Point of Sale (POS) solution. Capable of completing transactions, quickly, anywhere in-store, shop floor associates can easily deliver the efficient in-store experiences that customers crave.

With effective inventory management enabling associates to find the exact item, in the correct colour and correct size, quickly, Mobile POS rounds off the experience by completing transactions in same spot. Customers don’t have to go and join a queue, they can step in-store, tell an associate what they are looking for, have their desired items brought to them, and finalize their purchase there and then. A potentially stressful situation is made seamless, and is complete in minutes, allowing customers to move onto their next task feeling valued and satisfied.

Click here to find out how Teamwork Commerce transformed Prada Shoes’ POS capabilities, significantly improving the brand’s ability to deliver unparalleled customer experiences.

Promotions and Offers

While consumers might be expecting to spend close to $1,000 on average this year, it is no secret that the economic climate is causing a number of challenges for customers around the country. With that in mind, perhaps the ultimate value that retailers can provide shoppers this year is in a more cost-effective purchase.

Retailers who can provide their customers with unique offers and discounts can not only meet customer desires for lowered costs, but they can do it for products that are relevant to their needs. With Teamwork Commerce’s Secure CRM solution deployed, retailers can deliver personalized experiences to customers that improve their overall experience. This includes bespoke promotions and loyalty rewards based on previous interactions with the brand and purchase history.

Super Saturday Ain’t Ready

December 23 is nearly here, but with the right technology in place, apparel retailers can not only benefit from the expected hype of Super Saturday, but by delivering unique, seamless and reliable customer experiences during this period, they can develop long-term relationships with customers that reach far beyond the festive period.

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, the concept of clienteling has become a powerful tool used by retailers to refresh and reshape how they interact with their customers. With its ability to help build and nurture personal relationships with customers, clienteling goes beyond simple transactions. The technology can play a pivotal role in delivering a unique shopping experience that enhances brand loyalty.

In this blog, we outline 3 key ways that retailers can maximize their use of clienteling technology to build long term relationships with their clients…

1. Add a Personal Touch to the Customer Journey

A clienteling solution allows retailers to bring a more personal approach to their customer interactions. By leveraging data on consumers’ order history and purchase behavior, retailers can create individual recommendations and provide a tailored level of service that customers appreciate.

Customers will be shown products that align with their wants and needs, minimizing their browsing time and creating a more efficient experience the improves conversion rates and average order value.

Personalization is an effective technique that retailers can deploy to improve customer engagement, help to stand out from a crowded marketplace and develop customer loyalty. Ultimately, this creates long-term repeat business that contributes towards a more sustainable business model.

2. Optimized Customer Communication

One of the benefits of clienteling is that it can be effectively utilized within customer communication channels such as on online apps, email and text messages. As social selling continues to develop through channels such as WhatsApp, a seamlessly integrated clienteling strategy across various customer touchpoints allows retailers to provide updates, out-of-stock information and the latest promotions directly to their customers.

By adopting a reliable clienteling solution, retailers can seamlessly reach all of their customers on a personal level, offering a personalized experience while providing value with every communication.

 3. Wider Retail Tech Integration for Customer Satisfaction

Equipping a retailer’s team with an omnichannel, mobile retail solution – with an integrated clienteling platform – can significantly improve the business’ ability to deliver high quality customer experiences, boosting retention and increasing profitability.

With clienteling deployed within an existing omnichannel solution, retailers can follow up with customers after appointments, announce new product drops and keep them updated on replenished stock. Continuing personalized conversations with customers post-sale provides additional sales opportunities, and continues to drive customer loyalty.

The more the customer feels they are receiving a personal and bespoke experience from the brand, the better a relationship becomes, creating a virtuous cycle that fosters loyalty between retailer and customer.

Our joint solution with leading clienteling platform, Endear, delivers an all-in-one clienteling service on a mobile point of sale system. It equips retailers with a flexible, in-store solution that offers seamless communication and shoppable product recommendations curated from customer purchase history. Our partnership with Endear has proven to create an increase in order frequency, average order size and return on investment on technology implementations for our customers.

The Future of Retail Relationships

As technology continues to evolve and provide retailers with new and innovative ways to deepen customer relationships and deliver exceptional customer experiences, the power of clienteling within a wider retail technology strategy can be a difference maker in a brand’s efforts to stand out from the competition.

By delivering personalized shopping experiences, harnessing customer data and building meaningful relationships with customers, retailers can create an experience where customers feel valued, understood and, importantly, loyal to the brand.

Want to find out more about how clienteling can benefit your retail business? Book a demo with us today!

According to Deloitte, 95% of consumers plan to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. While consumer appetite for in-store experiences is on the rise, online purchases remain popular, with Statista finding that approximately 15% of all US retail sales come through e-commerce channels. Today’s consumer wants to shop on their terms and retailers must remain agile to evolving demands. Whether online, in-store or a blend of both, shoppers need their orders to be fulfilled quickly and seamlessly – especially during an already stressful festive period.

In this blog, we’ve offered 3 tips for retailers to perfecting order management. Not only does this enable them to effectively capitalize on festive footfall, but it also helps to deliver seamless experiences and increasing customer satisfaction in the long-term.

Embrace Omnichannel

Perfecting the order management process requires to avoid the in-store rush and save time. Many customers shop online or take advantage of omnichannel offerings such as Buy Online, Pick up In-store (BOPIS), and Buy Online, Return In Store (BORIS) while shopping. Customers want their orders to be fulfilled quickly, accurately and seamlessly, and long waiting times or out-of-stock items only result in increased consumer frustration.

To minimize out-of-stock situations and reduce errors, retailers should be able to integrate their order management system (OMS) with wider retail technologies such as in-store point-of-sale (POS), eCommerce channels, and inventory management. By combining their OMS with inventory, retailers can better manage their stock, fulfill orders more efficiently, and create clear visibility for their customers, providing them with accurate expected fulfillment dates. Using the Teamwork Commerce OMS, retailers can automate fulfillment processes, driving speed, accuracy and efficiency.

Drive Automation

Manual order fulfillment comes with its challenges. On top of the labor cost of dedicating staff time to fulfilling orders, manual fulfillment is also prone to human error, which can lead to inaccurate deliveries – significantly hindering the customer experience. By automating fulfillment, retailers can streamline their processes and manage their orders more efficiently. This helps ensuring customer satisfaction, providing retailers with increased sales opportunities and improved customer loyalty in the long term.

Automated fulfillment can also drive wider operational efficiency. Streamlining key touchpoints such as inventory management, order processing and picking and packing, retailers can better utilize the time of their staff. With automated fulfilment processes in place, retailers can dedicate more labor resources to the shop floor, focusing on providing valuable customer experiences. The insights gathered from automated processes can also empower retailers to create more effective strategies and improve decision-making, equipped with real-time visibility of their supply chain.

Optimize Returns 

Returns are an undesirable, but inevitable part of retail. While high-quality shopping experiences are crucial for customer satisfaction, retailers must not overlook the importance of seamless return experiences, which can positively impact sales for retailers. In fact, research undertaken by Klarna suggests that an incredible 84% of shoppers would turn their back on a retailer as a result of a bad returns experience. Retailers who can manage their returns effectively open themselves to a significant competitive advantage.

To find the balance between providing easy returns and managing losses, retailers should leverage integrated returns management systems. Teamwork Commerce’s integrated Returns Manager helps retailers process returns more efficiently by automatically processing refunds back to the original card regardless of the sale channel. Additionally, retailers can include pre-approved return codes with shipping documents to allow customers to easily return or exchange items with minimal effort.

Embracing Order Management 

As we approach the end of the year, retailers will already be looking at their strategies 2024. Perfecting order management is crucial to thriving in both online and offline retail environments, and those who act now can set themselves up for a great start in the new year.

Looking to implement a connected solution to revamp order management? Get in touch here.