1. Analyze your buyer personas and create new ones
If you already have a website and use customer behavior analyzes tools, track your potential buyer's journey on your website. Observe website visitors' behavior, such as where they go, what they click on, where they stop the most, the medium time they spend on your website, etc. If you don't have a website, you can observe your potential buyer’s journey throughout social media channels. There are many other ways to collect information, so choose the best convenient option for you, track and analyze the results. Meanwhile, if you’re a Retail business owner it’s highly advisable to have a virtual presence and develop a website. Create the ideal customer's image (buyer persona) during and after the Coronavirus pandemic, and draw your strategy accordingly.
2. Adjust your products or services to your customers’ needs
After getting the overall picture of your potential customer, compare the previous and new image, draw out the differences, and start adjusting your products or services accordingly.
3. Pay attention to your competitors' journey
Observe your competitors' strategy, compare with yours, and come out with an innovative idea. However, make sure not to copy others, but create unique solutions.
4. Embrace technology, automation, and innovations to implement these key steps
The Coronavirus lockdown became a reason for a huge increase in online sales. Be flexible to transfer your offline competition to an online platform. Use modern virtual Retail solutions during the COVID-19 to be innovative in the sphere. Meantime keep the selection and buying process simple and easy. Customers love exciting innovations and one-click easy solutions with minimum effort. Even a minor function chosen with consideration can work in your favor.
What Are the Most Common Software Solutions in the Retail Industry?
The above points were little tips for the rebirth of your business in the Retail industry during the Coronavirus pandemic. Now let's speak about the most crucial Retail solutions that can drive your business to ultimate success.
E-Commerce Software Solutions
E-Commerce, Electronic commerce, or Internet Commerce platform is an online shop where you can purchase or sell products or services. Typical examples of e-Commerce stores are Amazon, eBay, Quikr, Shopify, Olx, etc. Another very popular term is m-Commerce, which is the mobile version of an e-Commerce solution.
There are e-Commerce solutions both for B2B and B2C portals, small and medium-sized businesses, and enterprises that are either fully customized or are based on top-rated commercials and open-source platforms.
Many retailers choose e-Commerce solutions as they are very simple to use, cost-efficient, and provide quality customer services. E-Commerce software is also a great choice for those retailers that are looking for 24/7 online store availability and an endless opportunity to expand customer horizons regardless of time and location. Being part of Retail solutions, e-Commerce software usually provides fast and easily used website builders as well as previously ready-made templates. This means to have the whole ready-made website skeleton waiting for information input.
Most of the e-Commerce companies are in the Retail industry. However, e-Commerce software is often used by companies concentrated on Food and Beverage, Finance, Tourism and Hospitality, Business Services, PR and advertising services, and more.
What’s most important, e-Commerce software is quite cost-efficient. Business owners don't have to hire additional physical stores and employees. They pay it once to a software development team and use it forever. Mind a little tip here, good software development companies provide software support after the project-end as well. Consistent software support and maintenance is also an asset at CodeRiders after the project completion.
E-Commerce software solutions have some key features about which we’ll speak below.
Inventory Control Software
It's hard to imagine a good ROI (Return on Investment) without an organized and controllable inventory. Businesses usually don't save money on a high-quality inventory control system.
Inventory control software includes a set of business applications that gather, track, manage, and organize product or service purchasing processes. It cuts out time spent on basic tracking, organizing, storing, and updating information. Consequently, the number of employees that should have been hired for the above roles decreases. Employees usually get access to certain or the whole tabs of inventory. They input information manually, share it with co-workers, do updates. On the other hand, the automated system tracks, records, gathers order details, and analyzes products.
- Accounting system automates invoices, shows product rates, percentages, and VOI (Value on Investment), as well as provides multi-currency pricing systems.
- Sales reports allow employees to generate sales history, previous losses, or gains by specific channels.
- Rate lists allow you to manage custom prices.
- Order campaigns let you create sales and coupons according to account channels, dates, customers, locations, products.
- Barcodes, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and wireless tracking technology solutions are usually included in the software and highly support tracking and control. These services help avoid any duplications, errors in invoices, or orders.
CMS (Content Management System) Customization
This software is especially convenient for businesses that have security concerns or corporate security requirements. Despite an open-source CMS, which has a thread of being attacked, customized CMS is more reliable and chances of being broken are at a minimum. Custom made Content Management System is a proprietary solution of a specific company. By choosing your custom CMS you get control over your platform’s functionality, interface and, updates. In other words, a custom CMS allows you to build a site that will follow your business needs.
Product Promotion Tool Development
Product promotion tool is often built for companies that prefer to make their promo campaigns. The tool usually allows organizations of 4 types of promotion: advertising, sales promotions, personal selling, and publicity.
Social Media API Integration
You can use social media as a marketing tool for an e-Commerce store. Social media API development will enable your store to use social media for building brand awareness, attracting online followers, and generating online sales.
Payment Gateway Integration
The payment gateway is a secure third-party solution between online merchants, e-businesses, and customers. The solution gives the opportunity to securely process and authorize payments or transactions from customers to the merchants’ bank accounts. Compare payment gateway as a digital alternative to a cashier or a point-of-sale terminal. With the help of the payment gateway process, the customers place the order on the website. Afterward, the merchant securely transfers the information to the payment gateway, where customers pay by their preferred method. The transaction passes to the corresponding bank to request transaction authentication. After successfully completing the above steps payment gateway sends the appropriate information to the merchant. The bank settles the money through the payment gateway which settles money to the merchant.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Software and Its Integration
ERP software manages the whole business process by automating back-office functions related to technology, business, or HR through integrated applications. ERP integration connects and synchronizes ERP software with other business applications such as e-Commerce, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) as well as marketing tools.
This is usually crucial for large companies with a lot of human resources. The ability to be integrated with e-Commerce applications makes ERP flexible, scalable, and customizable.
