To thrive in today’s retail environment, where margins are razor-thin and the soaring cost of living is only making shoppers more fastidious, many retailers are investing in the latest technology innovations in order to better serve shoppers, deliver top-tier customer experiences and drive loyalty and retention. 

A top-tier shopping experience relies on a number of key factors, namely: convenience, speed, and personalization. It is also influenced by the level of interaction that retailers have with their customers at different touchpoints throughout their shopping journeys. One significant touchpoint within the customer journey is the checkout process. Often the last interaction that a customer has with a retailer, the checkout can be a make-or-break experience for consumers. A seamless, fast and friendly transaction leaves a much different impression for shoppers leaving a store than a long queue, grumpy checkout assistant and overall slow purchase. Retailers must be able to positively influence their shoppers’ experience by keeping checkout processes painless and efficient.

To achieve this, retailers are deploying advanced checkout solutions that deliver seamless experiences for their customers. However, with an influx of point-of-sale (POS) and checkout innovations in the market, it can be difficult for retailers to select the right solution. In this blog, we’ll discuss two increasingly popular solutions within the retail industry – Mobile POS and RFID-Powered Self-Checkout terminals – to help you better understand which one is the right solution for your store.

Mobile POS: An Enabler of Speed, Convenience and Enhanced CX

Gone are the days when keeping associates tied to traditional POS terminals was necessary. Today, to deliver high-quality customer experiences, retailers can leverage mobile POS solutions that facilitate enhanced flexibility and convenience for shoppers.

Prada, the leading fashion brand, leverages Teamwork Commerce’s Mobile POS solution to provide staff with the most innovative technology at their fingertips. In-store associates can easily move around the store armed with a tablet capable of completing transactions in seconds. They can be where their customers are, whether they’re trying on shoes or selecting a handbag.

The Mobile POS solution is also highly useful during shopping peaks, significantly helping in-store staff cut down long queues and serve customers more quickly all while delivering high-quality experiences combined with a great level of convenience. Leveraging integrated retail solutions including customer relationship management (CRM), and clienteling, Teamwork Commerce’s Mobile POS helps retailers deliver high-quality and personalized customer experiences. The solution easily integrates with the Order Management System (OMS), helping retailers facilitate Buy Online, Pickup In-store (BOPIS), and Buy Online, Return In-store (BORIS) more efficiently with real-time inventory information at their fingertips.

3 key benefits of Mobile POS:

• Provides personalization capabilities
• Promotes flexibility and faster checkout experiences
• Offers seamless integration with wider retail technology deployments

RFID-powered Self-Checkout: Driving Speed & Security

The popularity of self-checkout solutions is unquestionably on the rise. In fact, more than one-third of retailers believe that their customers would opt for other merchants if they did not offer consumers the ability to complete transactions on their own. Self-checkout solutions are expected to continue their strong growth in the near future. However, one new, ground-breaking, step forward in self-checkout technology is being introduced with the helping hand of RFID. RFID-powered self-checkout solutions not only automatically scan items for customers within seconds but can also bolster in-store security.

Teamwork Commerce’s RFID-Powered Self-Checkout solution is designed to simplify the checkout process for in-store customers. The technology utilizes RFID technology to instantly scan all items in a shopper’s basket or cart, allowing customers to complete transactions on their own within seconds. From a retailer’s perspective, fewer staff members need to be physically present at POS terminals – allowing them to allocate more time to delivering a high-quality customer experience. What’s more, with RFID tags attached to every product, the risk of theft is minimized significantly. With its alarm-triggering capabilities, the Teamwork Commerce RFID-Powered Self-Checkout solution helps retailers identify and mitigate shoplifting incidents, resulting in fewer losses and enhanced security at checkout.

3 key benefits of RFID-Powered Self-Checkout

• Completes speedy transactions without the need for assistance from in-store associates
• Boosts in-store security with alarm-triggering capabilities
• Streamlines the overall checkout process

Navigating the Right solution

Both Mobile POS and RFID-Powered Self-Checkout operate on cutting-edge technologies that enable retailers to boost efficiency. Either solution can play an incredible role in improving customer service in-store and streamlining a highly important touchpoint within retail, the checkout process.

Need a live demo to better understand which solution would be the right fit for your retail store? Book here.

A customer-first approach refers to organizations putting the customer at the centre of their decision-making, rather than products or services. According to Statista, 94% of customers who receive a positive experience are likely to purchase from the same retailer again. In such a highly competitive retail environment, and with consumers continually increasing their expectations of retailers, a customer-first approach is only becoming more important for brands that wish to not only attract new customers but to retain them too.

Tailoring products and services to match customer preferences enables retailers to deliver a high-quality shopping experience from the moment a visitor steps in-store. With access to the right technology, partnered with exceptional service given by in-store associates, retailers can deliver convenient, personalized interactions that leave customers satisfied and eager to return.

Challenges of a Demanding Environment

Exceptional Service

In a customer-driven environment, where consumers dictate the success of a retailer, there are a number of challenges that retail businesses encounter on a daily basis when it comes to customer interaction. Each in-store visitor has differing demands on how they would like to be served; some individuals like to be greeted upon arrival whereas others prefer to be left alone while they shop. Keeping track and catering to every unique demand can be difficult and time-consuming, especially during busy hours.

Retailers today must know their shoppers’ purchasing habits and preferences, so that they can tailor each interaction to individual customers, helping them to feel welcomed, valued, and to deliver a high-quality customer experience.

Accurate Stock Management

When it comes to bricks and mortar, retailers can only sell what they have, and customers can only buy what is in front of them. Effective inventory management is paramount – not only when it comes to maintaining stock levels, but in being able to locate items quickly.

Research shows that 21% of customers who can’t find the product they’re looking for are likely to leave the store and find it elsewhere. If retailers are unable to meet these needs, they will risk losing business to competitors. Maintaining shop floor stock levels is critical, and retailers need to have processes in place that enable quick replenishment on the shop floor, and seamless solutions to finding products in the back of the store.

Labor Shortages

A top-tier customer experience depends on the availability of in-store staff. Whether they’re greeting customers with a smile and personalizing experiences, or finding items in various sizes for shoppers, a personal touch is vital in a customer-first approach.

Understandably, the ongoing labor shortage causes complications in delivering an exceptional experience. Customers expect to receive top-quality service in-store. Without enough staff on the shop floor can make it difficult for retailers to meet customers’ expectations and complete daily tasks.

The right technology can alleviate all of these challenges and help retailers integrate a customer-first approach into a demanding retail environment. However, in a complex environment with a number of variables, any retail technology deployment must be able to operate and communicate across all systems in real time in order to ensure all solutions are providing optimal value. Retailers must take a holistic, all-encompassing, approach to their retail tech stack.

Integrating the Approach

Teamwork Commerce has its own integration platform to assist modern retailers with the ever-changing omnichannel ecosystem. This system allows retailers to easily keep up with customer demands to provide a better retail experience, even throughout the labor shortage.

This platform combines the best-in-class Mobile Point of Sale (POS), Order Management System, Inventory Control System and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to ensure an effective customer-first operation. Using this platform, employees can balance their day-to-day tasks while ensuring the needs and demands of the customer are met efficiently.

Delivering Personalized Experiences

With CRM software built into Mobile POS devices, staff can approach customers and immediately begin personalizing their experiences. Drawing on previous interactions – such as purchase and return histories – helps them to tailor their approach to make accurate recommendations on products, allowing customers to feel valued.

Streamlined Stock Management

The same Mobile POS device can be used to also help in-store associates resolve stock enquiries for customers. The associate can quickly locate any item, provide accurate stock information in real-time, and either source the product straight away, or place a specific product order for later pick-up or home delivery. Providing a streamlined service creates quick and convenient experiences for the customer, improving satisfaction levels and increasing the chances of their return.

Labor Shortage

Retailers can deploy an all-encompassing retail technology approach to alleviate ongoing labor shortages while streamlining customer experience. With the right technology at their fingertips, in-store associates can help customers with recommendations, locate items and complete transactions all in the same place, in a matter of minutes. This satisfies both staff and customers, as shoppers can be served quickly, and the shop floor assistant can continue on with any other tasks quickly whilst maintaining great service.

The Customer Comes First

Being able to deliver exceptional and personalized service to every shopper, even in highly demanding retail environments, can create highly positive experiences for consumers, helping attract new customers while driving loyalty with existing ones. Trends come and go, and retailers are expected to step up to meet the ever-evolving demands of the industry. Being able to incorporate a customer-first approach into such an environment strengthens the relationship between the customer and the brand, helping maximize customer retention and even increase customer acquisition.

The joint solution supports a wide range of omnichannel capabilities for seamless transactions for retailers

Florida, US – 21 August, 2023: Teamwork Commerce, a global retail management software, has announced the launch of its Pay by Link solution, in partnership with Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses. Pay by Link enables retail customers to pay for items through a secure URL link, provided by the retailer and powered by Teamwork Commerce.

 As consumer demands continue to rise for high-quality retail experiences, Pay by Link provides a simple and safe way for shoppers to pay using their preferred payment method. With a number of sales channels regularly utilized by retailers, the Pay by Link solution is designed with the end-user in mind. The payment page operates across a range of devices, and can be accessed through email, separate link or by scanning a QR code. The technology also allows consumers to make partial payments rather than full transactions, and accepts all popular payment methods including Afterpay, PayPal and digital wallets.

Pay by Link reactivates shoppers with abandoned carts or failed transactions by following up directly with a payment. The solution also empowers retailers to easily conduct both sales and returns, and can process refunds without the need for receipts. Customers can easily return products without inconvenience. At the backend, reconciliation reporting is synced between Adyen & Teamwork Commerce to ensure full visibility.

With easy in-store deployments and a seamless integration, Pay by Link empowers retailers to streamline their operations. Merchants can easily create payment links, secure each transaction to reduce fraud, and gain real-time visibility over transaction approvals.

Amber Hovious, VP Marketing and Partnerships, Teamwork Commerce, said: “At Teamwork Commerce, everything we do has retailers and their customers in mind. Our goal is to help retailers deliver high-quality, seamless retail experiences and Pay by Link helps merchants take another step towards that. With flexible and secure technology, retailers can rest assured that they are delivering convenient point of sale opportunities to their customers and streamlining their own operations.”

Sara Bray, Head of Commercial Partnerships, North America at Adyen, said: “Thanks to our partnership with Teamwork Commerce, we are providing operational value for both retailers and their consumer end users. For instance, new functionalities such as Pay by Link allow us to drive innovation at scale by curating flexible omnichannel experiences. We strive to help our partners stay ahead of the curve by being as customer centric as possible.”

About Adyen

Adyen (AMS: ADYEN) is the financial technology platform of choice for leading companies. By providing end-to-end payments capabilities, data-driven insights, and financial products in a single global solution, Adyen helps businesses achieve their ambitions faster. With offices around the world, Adyen works with the likes of Meta, Uber, H&M, eBay, and Microsoft. The cooperation with Teamwork Commerce as described in this partner update underlines Adyen’s continuous growth with current and new partners over the years.

About Teamwork Commerce

Teamwork Commerce is a leading Omnichannel Solution, providing retailers with Point-of Sale, Order Management, Inventory Control, CRM and Analytics. They also boast an ecosystem of integrations with top solutions making unified commerce a seamless activity. Serving top retailers in over 20 countries Acne Studios, The Row, Asics, Princesse Tam Tam, Comptoir des Cotonniers, and Moose Knuckles. Learn more at www.teamworkcommerce.com.

Originally posted in: Total Retail

By: Amber Hovious

In today’s modern retail ecosystem, where retailers are deploying technology to deliver effective omnichannel offerings and curate high-quality customer experiences (CX), one challenge that still concerns many retailers is the returns dilemma.

In 2022, returned retail merchandise amounted to almost $817 billion in the U.S., a 7 percent increase from $761 billion in 2021. Of course, returns have a negative impact on profit and revenue. However, if not managed properly, they can also adversely affect customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and the environment.

By improving returns management, not only can retailers save significant costs but they can also see increases in operational efficiency and long-term customer retention. In addition to efficiently managing returns, retailers can reduce them by fulfilling orders accurately, quickly and seamlessly. Incorrect items and delayed delivery are some of the common reasons behind returns.

Why Revamping Returns is More Important Than Ever

Streamlining returns has become integral to retailers’ needs. There are a number of negative impacts that returns can bring, including lost revenue, increased operational costs, and reduced customer satisfaction. If not managed efficiently, returns can further damage customer loyalty in the long term. According to a global survey, 81 percent of customers said that they would switch to a different retailer if they had a bad experience returning their merchandise.

In today’s retail environment, consumers not only demand their returns to be fast, but they require the entire returns process to be convenient. Waiting for returns to be approved or refunds to be processed can be frustrating for customers. Instead, consumers desire the entire process to be swift and smooth. Simplified returns processes that require minimal effort from customers can significantly boost their confidence in a retailer and can keep them coming back in the future.

Modern returns management tools that operate in real time can enable retailers to automate the entire process and completely streamline operations. Retailers can generate pre-approved return codes and include them with shipping documents to allow customers to return a product with minimal effort. This helps retailers simplify returns and deliver a frictionless experience for customers.

Once a return is approved, these tools can automatically generate refunds directly to customers’ chosen payment method without any delays. This not only ensures accuracy and spontaneity in refunds, but also keeps customers satisfied.

The Role of Technology in Reducing Returns  

To fix the returns dilemma, retailers must identify and address the causes that lead customers to return a product. Common factors that cause consumers to return an item include inaccurate item arrival, wrong sizes being sent, and late deliveries. In fact, 75 percent of customers in the U.S. returned an item last year because it didn’t fit. Whereas 11 percent said they did so due to delayed delivery. Retailers that are able to deliver the correct product at the right time can reduce the chances of returns.

With an advanced order management system (OMS), retailers can automate their order fulfillment and boost accuracy while serving their customers quickly. How does this look in action? When a customer places an order, the OMS receives an order confirmation and a ship memo is created based on the allocated primary location. This enables next-generation automation and increased accuracy.

To further take their order management to the next level in today’s omnichannel world, retailers can deploy a well-integrated OMS that can communicate across all platforms — both offline and online — in real time. This can further help retailers manage their stock more efficiently by allowing them to fulfill orders based on automated custom sequences and avoid stock-outs. Ultimately, to both manage and reduce returns, retailers must be able to manage their orders effectively in the first place. 

360-Degree Benefits of Efficient Returns Management

Modern customers require retailers to have simple and easy return procedures in place. If a retailer is unable to process a return seamlessly, customers will quickly switch to another that can. However, retailers that are able to make their returns well-timed and suited can improve conversion rates and boost customer retention.

In addition, effective returns management can allow retailers to streamline their overall supply chains and reduce additional expenditures on logistics, transportation and storage. What’s more, well-managed returns can also drive sustainability by reducing emissions from waste and unnecessary transportation.

In today’s competitive retail landscape, effective returns management isn’t an option; it’s a necessity. Retailers that want to prosper must lean on the latest innovations not only to ensure a high-quality customer experience during shopping journeys, but also to deliver a top-tier returns experience.

Amber Hovious is vice president of marketing and partnerships at Teamwork Commerce, a leading omnichannel solution provider.

The rise in customer expectations, significant technological advancements, and the growth of omnichannel commerce are just a few trends that are shaping the face of retail. 

The global retail technology market was estimated at $30.25 billion in 2022, and from 2023 to 2030, it is anticipated to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 29.1%. One of the key factors driving this market growth is the increasing adoption of innovative retail tech solutions that enable retailers to meet the evolving needs of their customers. 

Today, retailers have started to replace outdated solutions with advanced technologies such as mobile point of sale (POS), order management systems (OMS), and customer relationship management (CRM) tools to improve operational efficiency, boost inventory accuracy, and enhance the overall shopping experience for consumers.

The Role of Order Management Technology in Streamlining Operations

With an influx of sales channels and hybrid shopping behaviors of customers, the importance of order management technology has become more important than ever. To eliminate human error, boost efficiency, and provide high-level customer experiences, retailers require cutting-edge OMS.

With Teamwork Commerce Enterprise OMS, retailers can streamline operations, enhance visibility, improve order accuracy, and increase business efficiency across all areas. This also increases overall customer satisfaction by providing consistent and efficient order fulfillment across all channels. The solution works by capturing and processing order details, checking inventory availability, and routing orders to the best location for fulfillment, all while tracking the entire process in real time.

The state-of-the-art solution empowers retailers to support sales from any channel by leveraging a variety of in-built functionalities designed to create an effortless purchase workflow. When the OMS receives an order confirmation, order fill logic generates a shipping memo based on the designated primary location, enabling real-time data flow and absolute accuracy in order management.

Orders can then be delivered to the client’s preferred location. Teamwork Commerce can streamline fulfillment directly from the POS while maintaining simplicity and effectiveness thanks to integrations into third-party logistics and key strategic partnerships.

What’s more, the solution has an in-built Returns Manager that enables retailers to seamlessly process returns. Retailers can automate the refunds process, crediting the original source of payment regardless of the channel used for purchase. This provides greater flexibility to customers. In addition, shoppers can easily return or exchange items with little effort using pre-approved return codes that are included with the shipping documents.

Empowering Retailers with the Right Mobile Point-of-Sale Solution

Mobile POS solutions that allow retailers to transform mobile devices into portable payment terminals, playing a key role in improving the customer experience. From enabling retailers to deliver personalized experiences, and accept multiple forms of payments through to minimizing checkout process times, mobile POS is a must.

Teamwork Commerce’s Mobile POS system operates exclusively on cutting-edge iOS devices with Apple’s user interface, making it simple and quick for in-store associates to operate and provide a top-tier customer experience. Furthermore, retailers don’t have to worry about updating their system when a new form of payment enters the market. The Mobile POS software seamlessly integrates with new payment providers, retailers can quickly set up new card readers, payment gateways, or offer contactless payment.

Moreover, the solution makes it simple for retailers to exceed customer service and reward loyal customers by quickly calculating discounts, promotions, price overrides, loyalty programs, gift cards, and even tax exemptions. This enhances the customer experience, an important factor in any retail operation given that 71% of customers expect retail businesses to offer personalized and tailored interactions, according to a recent McKinsey and Company survey.

Want to transform your retail operations but unsure of the right technology? Book a demo to know why we are the best technology for the retail industry!