Originally posted in Forbes

By Sergey Kozhevnikov, VP of Product Development, at Teamwork Commerce.

In today’s retail panorama, where customer loyalty is a coveted treasure, it is crucial for retailers to recognize that their interactions with shoppers extend far beyond mere transactions. Craving an air of exclusivity, shoppers expect retailers to weave personalized magic into every single interaction. From scrolling through their favorite e-commerce platforms for exciting offers to visiting in-store to touch, feel and buy their desired items, customers want their shopping journeys to be completely seamless.

As Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” This poignant statement holds significance in today’s customer-centric retail landscape, where creating high-quality experiences has become essential for retailers. In order to achieve this, retailers need to find ways to blend their customers’ online and physical journeys, personalize their interactions and create a completely seamless experience.

The Fusion That Retailers Need

Bringing together the strengths of online and offline shopping experiences, omnichannel fulfillment services provide flexibility, allowing customers to shop in ways that best suit them. The popularity of buy online pick up in-store (BOPIS) and buy online return in-store (BORIS) seems to only increase. In fact, the U.S. BOPIS market is expected to surpass $154 billion by 2025 from $113 million in 2023. What does this mean for retailers? Consumer demand is clearly high—and continuing to grow. Retailers must eliminate friction between channels and work to make their omnichannel offering as convenient as possible.

Retailers should be able to enable customers to seamlessly purchase an item at the click of a button and pick it up at their own convenience. The transition from app to store should not only be smooth but also satisfying. Finding a product out of stock, especially when shoppers visit a physical store to collect it, can negatively impact their shopping experience. Retailers must provide their customers with accurate inventory information and enhanced visibility of their order’s fulfillment journey regardless of whether they shop in-person, hybrid or completely online.

One way retailers can achieve this is through technology, deploying solutions that can seamlessly integrate with wider retail operations in real time. An all-in-one solution can tie together different components of a retail ecosystem into a single platform, benefiting retailers and customers alike.

Today, leveraging omnichannel technology allows retailers to streamline their entire operation from the supply chain, and order fulfillment through to customer relationship management (CRM), point-of-sale (POS) and analytics. Weaving together different retail tools, modern technologies allow retailers to automate their operations. Additionally, these technological advancements play a key role in enhancing the customer experience. Shoppers can enjoy increased visibility of retailers’ inventory and receive real-time order fulfillment updates such as accurate expected delivery dates and times.

Creating Meaningful Interactions

In addition to detailed operational information, an omnichannel solution also provides retailers with the opportunity to gain a holistic view of all customer-related information in real time, including their purchasing behavior, habits, preferences, history and feedback across all sales channels. Retailers can lean on this data to tailor their recommendations and suggest meaningful products and services, creating high-quality experiences.

If a customer often purchases items of a particular brand, has a preferred color or regularly shops from a specific collection or category, the right omnichannel solution can feed and reflect this information into wider retail solutions such as mobile POS. With this data at their fingertips, in-store associates can make relevant suggestions. This not only makes customers feel special, but it can also positively influence their purchasing decisions, ultimately boosting sales.

Instead of trying to sell items that customers may not be interested in, retailers must use a data-driven approach and suggest items of customers’ interest. This can attract shoppers’ attention, retain their loyalty and encourage them to purchase products. Omnichannel has numerous benefits, but to drive its maximum potential, retailers need to be able to implement it effectively.

Best Practices For Implementing An Omnichannel Solution

Integrating several retail technologies within a single solution provides a range of benefits, but it is also complex.

While implementing an omnichannel solution, retailers should eliminate silos and identify gaps by working closely with their technology provider. Retailers must step into the shoes of their customers to identify and embrace their customers’ needs. To better stand out in a fiercely competitive industry, retailers should also strive to deliver unique offerings that can benefit their customers, such as same-day fulfillment options or highly personalized in-person interactions.

The implementation process requires architectural expertise, and retailers must partner with technology vendors who have a proven track record of implementing similar solutions within the industry. Retailers must also identify clear goals and pain points before purchasing and implementing any solution.

Finally, retailers need to understand that technology implementation is not a one-off exercise. Instead, it is an ongoing process where both the retailer and the vendor must work together to drive successful results. It is essential that retailers review and upgrade their entire retail technology stack on an ongoing basis.

Omnichannel retail has clearly revolutionized the way retailers and customers engage. It has provided retailers with the ability to blend various channels and touchpoints and ultimately unlock the potential for deeper, more meaningful interactions with their clientele. A well-implemented omnichannel solution is no longer a choice but a necessity for retailers to thrive and deliver unparalleled customer experiences in this dynamic retail environment.

The pinnacle of summer is here, and as we near September, the retail world prepares for a hectic end to the year – counting the days to Black Friday and the resulting festive shopping period.

Over the last couple of months, ongoing retail news trends have continued to develop – with shrink issues, new technologies and continued resilience against economic downturn. We uncover all in our latest Retail in Review blog…

The Future is AI

The key technology that seems to be on the lips of everyone this year, artificial intelligence (AI) is having a significant impact everywhere – and retail is no exception.

According to research from Honeywell, nearly six in 10 retailers plan to adopt AI, alongside machine learning (ML) and computer vision technologies into their offering over the next year. This is designed to enhance the shopping experience that retailers can offer in both stores and online.

According to the findings, nearly half (48%) of global respondents expect these specific technologies to have a significant impact on the retail industry in the next three to five years.

With the customer experience having become such a high priority for retailers, and the potential that AI and ML have in creating personalized, seamless and streamlined shopping experiences, there should be no surprise at their perceived future importance.

Retailers Fight Back Against Organized Retail Crime

In our last Retail in Review blog, we explored how shrink – and more specifically, theft – is currently having a profound impact on the retail industry. It now appears that retailers are turning to technology to take action against shoplifting. And while AI may be expected to introduce great change to customer experience in the next few years, its use in loss prevention is apparently already well underway.

A number of major US retailers are believed to be layering AI on top of existing retail technology solutions – such as RFID and predictive analytics – to ‘superpower’ them and increase their efficiency against shrink.

With a busy festive shopping period soon to appear on the horizon, retailers will be keen to find effective, fast solutions to minimizing theft in their stores.

To find out more about how RFID-Powered Self-Checkout can minimize in-store theft, read our blog here

Retail Resilience Continues

The retail sector has showed strength in 2023. Despite ongoing economic challenges, retail sales continued to rise, and increased by 0.7% in July – which was higher than expected.

The Commerce Department found that online sales supported continued growth, with many consumers spending more on hobbies and clothing. This was all despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes to tame inflation.

In today’s market, convenience conquers all – and this is clearly highlighted by July’s impressive growth stats. If retailers want to increase sales, they have to be able to cater to the demanding consumer. One effective solution for this is the option to pay by link.

Our latest Pay by Link solution, launched in partnership with Adyen, enables retail customers to pay for items through a secure URL link, provided by the retailer and powered by Teamwork Commerce. 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.

Turning Attention to End of Year

The summer period is drawing to a close. As retailers begin to prepare for the typical chaos of the festive shopping season, consumers clearly remain keen to spend their hard-earned money. They’ve also become fastidious and aren’t easy to win over. To earn their loyalty and retain them in the long-term, retailers must deliver unparalleled experiences seamlessly. Shrink challenges may loom but with innovative technologies such as AI breaking through, the industry remains confident of overcoming its latest hurdle.

The next few months could define the entire year for retailers with Black Friday on the horizon to kick-off the winter shopping period. As long as the industry continues to find new ways to cater to an evolving customer base, success should soon follow.

Find out more about how Teamwork Commerce’s solutions can help your retail business prepare for a busy end of year. Get in touch today!

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.