In line with international trends, South Africans are spending increasing amounts of time and money online, making digital visibility a decisive factor in any business’ being considered or even noticed by customers. Customers are also increasingly expecting retailers offer the convenience of ecommerce across online and in-store locations. This is why many retailers are bringing the ecommerce solution in-store.
While establishing an online store and an effective fulfillment solution can be tricky, many SA shoppers fortunately also opt for ‘click and collect’ purchases. Retailers not yet ready to provide a fully-fledged ecommerce platform can add this option to their online offering quite easily: not only is it in line with SA’s trend of online sales’ concluding in the brick and mortar store, the flexibility and accessibility of click and collect are a valued time-saving service .
Bringing the ecommerce solution in-store is also the fastest method to merge the online channel with the brick and mortar stores, however, most legacy retail point of sales solutions have not yet developed a mobile application strategy.
A single platform for both ecommerce and mPOS in store means the retailer has one set of content to manage for staff and customers. Store assistants are able to engage with their customers, answer questions, accept payments, and provide an attentive, personalized service by never leaving their customer’s side. South African retail case studies show a 25% sales upliftment by deploying omnichannel in this manner.
Today there are a multitude of omnichannel platforms that have a retail point of sale extension to accept card present payments: Magento 2, SAP Hybris, Oracle Box X Retail and WooCommerce are examples of such solutions. All offer direct integration to the stock management or financial systems to control inventory, merchandising, and replenishments.
Retail today is the sum of online, mobile and in-person experiences, with customers wanting a seamless combination of experiences that delivers on a personal level. Implementing effective technology that facilitates omnichannel gives retailers a single view of customer journey, the opportunity to focus on customer service, and the keys to increase sales.
