Elevating Customer Experiences With NextGen Retail Solutions

Retailers are looking for solutions that drive growth, optimize operations and elevate customer experiences. One such solution is a next-generation point of sale (POS) system.

Customers have raised expectations for outstanding service. They want brands to anticipate their needs, resolve problems quickly and deliver a personalized experience. These are not easy goals to achieve.
Integrating Retail Channels

As customer experience becomes the central pillar of retail success, brands are integrating their operations in ways that were never before possible. Retailers are transforming their brick-and-mortar stores into fulfillment and customer support hubs by incorporating buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS), curbside pickup, appointment shopping, self-checkout lanes and more.

This shift is creating new opportunities for retailers to meet customers where they are and deliver personalized experiences that drive loyalty. However, executing this strategy is not without its challenges. The traditional organizational structure and fragmented data are still limiting companies from fully realizing the potential of their omnichannel strategies. The solution is to adopt a customer-centric approach to product development and a more holistic approach to customer data. This includes cross-functional team collaboration, centralized omni-metrics and clear top-level ownership of seamless customer experiences across all channels.

Retailers that use next-gen point of sale (POS) systems and clienteling tools are able to offer advanced omnichannel capabilities, including unified views of online, mobile app, and in-store interactions. They can also store qualitative preferences, like color and fit preferences, enabling them to deliver targeted offers and a cohesive shopping journey. By contrast, transaction-focused legacy systems hamper efficient personalization by failing to provide a unified view of the customer’s interaction history and lacking advanced data analytics.

Next-gen POS and clienteling systems also enable comprehensive tracking of customer outreaches, which is essential for quantifying productivity and engagement and crediting associates for their impact on sales across all channels. This frees associates to focus on developing meaningful relationships with customers, building their business, and delivering personalized experiences, rather than racing to close as many sales as possible.

As a result of the increased expectations for a holistic, consistent omnichannel customer experience, many brands are turning to low-code solutions to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and win over customers. Next-generation Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) and composable DXPs promise to unify content, commerce and data for responsive, personalized omnichannel experiences. However, brands must weigh the all-in-one simplicity of modern DXPs versus the flexibility of composable DXPs to find the right solution. This blog post explores the challenges and opportunities of implementing these technologies to deliver personalized customer experiences.
Empowering Store Associates

Retailers that don’t have the tools to meet rising customer expectations are missing a big opportunity. Customers expect a seamless omnichannel experience and are looking to retailers to provide enriched experiences in-store and online. To stay competitive, retailers must equip associates with the right technology to deliver on these expectations and empower them to transform interactions into sales.

Stores must become hubs for omnichannel fulfillment, clienteling and delivery services. To do so, they need to integrate with other systems and use a powerful POS platform to manage inventory and transactions. A robust retail POS system is a game-changer, empowering associates with mobile devices that improve performance and increase customer satisfaction.

Currently, most associates enter stores wielding nothing more than a single-function scanner. They spend their time chasing a colleague or searching for information while customers wait for help.

Equipping associates with a mobile POS solution that gives them the ability to access everything they need to convert inquiries into sales is a simple, cost-effective way to improve the customer experience. The best part is that, according to IHL’s 2022 POS/Customer Engagement Survey, retailers that have embraced associate mobility have experienced higher sales growth than those that cling to the tech-free status quo.

Empowering associates with the right devices also enables them to offer faster and more personalized service. For example, Indigo implemented Tulip’s Endless Aisle, a digital catalog solution that is integrated into their POS, to give associates detailed product knowledge that allows them to answer customer questions without hounding colleagues or searching for answers on the internet. With this tool, associates can provide customers with rich and informed responses that show they care about their needs and wants.

Another important aspect of a robust POS is its ability to track inventory levels and inform associates about the availability of products in store or in other locations, preventing disappointed customers and ensuring orders are fulfilled. Additionally, a robust POS platform provides advanced analytics and insights so that retailers can identify new business opportunities and optimize operations.

With customer expectations continuing to rise and supply chain issues a constant challenge, retailers need proactive solutions that add stability today and lay the foundation for agility tomorrow. By integrating emerging technologies, including AI and voice assistants, with a robust POS platform, retailers can unlock new business opportunities that will differentiate them from their competitors.
Streamlining Checkout Processes

The customer experience is a key driver of brand loyalty, but it can also be a challenge for retailers to manage during peak shopping periods. Having a robust POS system that provides a seamless experience across all channels is critical.

This means that customers can purchase online, return in-store, buy through a mobile app and pickup in store, or any combination of the above. Robust omnichannel capabilities allow for an integrated customer journey with consistent in-store experiences that increase loyalty and boost store revenue.

Next-gen POS systems are designed with the future in mind, providing the flexibility to handle these complexities. They integrate with existing retail systems, simplify inventory management and optimize operations. With scalability, they can easily adapt to changing business needs, as well as support a variety of payment methods.

In addition, they provide a competitive advantage with innovative features and data-informed decisions. They are the ideal POS systems for high-growth retail businesses that prioritize customer service and desire to deliver a seamless experience in a competitive industry.

For example, Big Lots uses Sitecore Discover to harvest in-store purchase behavior to offer personalized digital interactions to its shoppers. The resulting hyper-personalization allows Big Lots to provide a curated selection of products that match each individual’s preferences via email, and they can use recommendations and search to upsell items based on previous purchases.

This results in a more relevant and personalized experience, allowing the brand to keep its promise of providing a great value to each shopper. As a result, this drives customer-brand loyalty and encourages the adoption of new channels to continue their purchasing journey with the brand.

CPG Platform Choosing the right POS systems for your retail business will depend on the specifics of your industry, scalability needs, integration requirements and more. A next-gen POS solution will empower you to innovate your operations, elevate the customer experience and accelerate business growth. Contact us today to find out how our POS solutions, powered by ConnectPOS, can transform your retail experience.
Providing Real-Time Insights

For retailers, it’s imperative to provide the right experience at the point of contact. With a robust customer service platform and advanced AI-driven tools, you can increase customer satisfaction (CSAT) and optimize performance by providing personalized recommendations and real-time tracking. These end-to-end digital solutions accelerate retail experiences, optimize operations and unlock growth.

Customers are looking for a seamless and engaging shopping experience. It’s time to empower your people and deliver the next-generation CX that they demand. Invest in a next-generation POS solution with low-code that delivers the flexibility, power and automation you need to succeed.

Delivering an exceptional experience requires mature data practices and a close partnership between business and IT. Increasingly, businesses are using low-code to accelerate the development of innovative, high-performing applications while lowering costs and speeding time-to-market. This approach allows developers and marketers to focus on creating compelling new user experiences while IT can support the back-end infrastructure required to scale those innovations and meet customers’ rapidly growing expectations.

Elevating customer experiences starts with a deep understanding of the customers’ needs, wants and behaviors across all touchpoints. Getting this insight often requires complex data analysis and a range of data sources to be integrated into a single, holistic view of the customer. To successfully deploy customer experience analytics, you need a technology platform that provides the speed, reliability and security required to capture and analyze large volumes of data at the point of interaction.

A cloud-based next-gen POS in US delivers real-time access to critical business data and enables omnichannel integration. This means that retailers can offer a consistent customer experience whether shoppers are purchasing in-store or online. The system also offers data security that complies with industry standards and regulations, ensuring peace of mind for both retailers and their customers.

The best POS systems in 2024 can provide value by enabling you to anticipate and respond to your customers’ demands, while streamlining your operational processes. These centralized platforms combine the power of simplicity, dynamic functionality, enhanced customer interactions and predictive analytics to help you grow your business and build lasting relationships.