The successes of your past are clearly evident by simply taking a glance at your business. Customer service has been optimized to the point of your staff obtaining the title of “mind readers” who deliver precision services and products at the exact moment your customers want them. But what if you are still missing a piece of your operational puzzle? What if there was a powerful tool that you could be used to further drive sales and your brand voice to increased heights?
Adding click and collect functionality to your business model gives you the extra muscle you need to take your brand to the next level. However, there are some key elements that you must understand when learning how to set up click and collect that will power your efforts to succeed. Building a viable click and collect platform using modern technology gives you a profitable and accessible way to increase the number of eyes that land on your business.
While this can be a complex process, you can lessen the learning curve by utilizing innovative POS technology. Providing these services, especially when you target the important areas of note here, makes your participation in the bricks and clicks world an easy reality to achieve. Following these guidelines places you at a competitive advantage by putting your brand on an even playing field with the big boys.
Advanced-Data Management Builds a Solid Foundation
Your ability—or inability—to manage your data and data-dependent business functions will be revealed for all to see in a click and collect offering. Think of your business from a single-channel perspective and then compare the new complexities of a multi-channel approach. Using just your storefront and a single-channel approach, products and services flow from the backroom out through your front door. Simple and easy.
Click and collect brings with it a multi-channel flow that drastically changes how you manage your operations. Not only must you account for the inventory and sales data of your physical location, but you must also now track items such as item views, order manifests, payment tracking, delivery, and pick-up coordination schedules. All of these moving pieces is why having accurate data at your fingertips will be more important than ever.
Advanced POS technology will provide your click and collect services with cloud-based data management. The next-gen reporting and data analysis features make the monitoring of multiple sales and revenue streams seamless. The cloud-based aspect of POS makes it possible to deploy an app to mobile devices, such as iPads, giving your staff maximum flexibility in filling online orders, interacting with customers in-store, and to perform accurate up-to-the-minute inventory lookups.
Building Precision Inventory Controls Ensures Click and Collect Success
The aspects of inventory management that are introduced when your click and collect service goes live may give you the feeling of being in a game of dodgeball gone bad. Instead of letting data fly at you from all sides in a disorganized fashion, let the cutting-edge technology in your POS platform handle the heavy lifting. There are a number of effective and accurate ways that a modern POS system can help you manage your inventory in a click and collect scenario.
Rapid data synchronization across all areas of your business keeps the sales flowing without the worry of over or under-promising. Staff can scan an item at each step of the process, allowing you to track every item regardless of its click and collect status, or if traditionally purchased. Items that often muddy inventory statuses, such as exchanges or returns, are handled with a high degree of precision, saving you money and your staff valuable time.
The use of an online store, whether through your app, website, or both, provides you with important data that can be used to further entice customers. Tracking view and click rates, or abandoned carts, will give you glimpses into where your inventory needs to be realigned to encourage the customer to pull the trigger on a purchase. This allows you to adjust to trending customer expectations, and to pique their interest in your brand while driving sales through your click and collect platform.
Managing Customer Expectations with Operational Flexibility
Click and collect can give you an even easier time of establishing customer expectations when integrated into your POS infrastructure. Your POS app, when combined with an attractive web presence, will allow you to give the customer a high level of visibility into product status. You can leverage this technology to generate a real-time view of order status, product availability, and whether or not items have been shipped or are ready for in-store pickup.
Using the data collected from in-store transactions and from customer interactions with your click and collect services, you will obtain insights into the thought processes of your customers, based on the items they view versus those they actually purchase. Also, you can determine which items are better physical sellers or are best moved in the click and collect realm. This way, inventory and order fulfillment can be strategically aligned to match the expectations of the consumer.
Invite an Expert to Teach You How to Set Up Click and Collect
Building the perfect system for running a click and collect service requires an expert touch. The conversion of your business model from a single channel into the multichannel world is one that requires nuanced changes within all of your processes. Having the eye of an expert on the entire process ensures that no stone goes unturned while introducing the technology fundamentals you need to keep click and collect running free and easy.
Implementing click and collect requires that you obtain the expertise of a POS systems expert. Partnering with talech gives you consulting services that take a step beyond innovative POS technology. We devote our time to identifying your business challenges and work with you to apply a solution that meets your goal of feeling confident in your business strategy and technical infrastructure. Reach out to us today to sign up for a demo and to learn more about how talech can be your valued POS partner.
