How Mobile Order-Ahead Drives Innovation In Restaurant Design

POS Solutions

Article | March 18, 2024

Under orders to stay home, millions of Americans have turned to online marketplaces like Amazon to order much-needed essentials like toilet paper, food, hand sanitizer and cold medicine. In lieu of neighborhood supermarkets, consumers are relying on online grocery delivery services like Amazon Fresh, resulting in a cascade of delays and out-of-stock notices amid the unexpected rise in demand. Amazon has hired more than 100,000 new warehouse and delivery workers since March to help manage the surge in orders, and it’s planning to bring on 75,000 more workers. The unprecedented demand has propelled shares of Amazon to fresh highs. The stock hit an all-time high on April 16 and is up more than 28% for the year, compared with an 11% decline for the S&P 500. Investors have flocked to Amazon and other stay-at-home stocks like Netflix and Zoom in recent months, as consumers have come to depend on their services amid the lockdown.

POS Retail

Article | May 10, 2024

Top e-commerce platform providers streamline businesses’ localization efforts for successful global expansion. Discover the leading e-commerce companies that promise effective internationalization. Contents 1. Understanding the Going Global, Being Local Approach 2. Overcoming Challenges in Global E-commerce with Localization 3. Top E-commerce Platform Providers Ensuring Effective Expansion 3.1 Core dna 3.2 Inxeption 3.3 OroCommerce 3.4 ChannelSight 3.5 Expedite Commerce 3.6 SamCart 3.7 Pepperi 3.8 payever 3.9 Fonteva 3.10 Brikl 4. The Future Reflection 1. Understanding the Going Global, Being Local Approach The adage ‘going global, being local’ represents the necessity of localization efforts for the international expansion of e-commerce platforms. Localization enables businesses to adapt to the languages and cultures of new regions. This endeavor is significantly strengthened by organized data collection, understanding customer preferences, and forward-looking solutions like address validation APIs. Localized efforts further empower enterprises to fine-tune their international e-commerce marketing strategies along with sales and POS techniques, ensuring high customer engagement and sustainable business growth. The complementary effect between global expansion and localization can also be seen in companies’ ability to establish deep connections with international customers through comprehensive website customization, showcasing respect for cultural differences, values, and languages. Moreover, the localization of crucial products and pages allows for excellent shopping experiences for users, irrespective of their regions, guaranteeing wide acceptance and continued business success. 2. Overcoming Challenges in Global E-commerce with Localization Expanding or establishing international e-commerce platforms requires careful contemplation, as it poses many crucial hurdles that can impede business growth and result in customer discontentment. Here's a breakdown of the core challenges in e-commerce platforms faced by companies while going global and the practical solutions for countering them: Cultural and Language Variations Marketing strategies that are effective in one area or country might not work in the other. Failure to understand each region's cultural variations may lead to customer isolation and unsuccessful e-commerce localization measures. Moreover, the inability to cater to customers' language preferences may result in missed sales opportunities and deter customer engagement. Nonetheless, businesses can effectively meet such challenges through proper multilingual and translation support investments, resulting in a heightened sense of belonging among international customers. Furthermore, companies should conduct thorough market research, analyzing local trends, cultures, and preferences to customize essential products, offerings, and pages and modify their sales, marketing, and POS strategies. Data Collection and Address Veracity International data collection is another notable challenge for global e-commerce platforms, owing to various regions' differences in address formatting, languages, and cultural practices. Such incongruities not only complicate the data collection processes but also result in the loss of cross-border customers. Yet, extensive, standardized, and accurate data can be collected by employing advanced analytics tools and incorporating address validation APIs. The solution further entails complying with significant data protection regulations such as CCPA or GDPR, which remain imperative in protecting customer safety. Not to mention, through effective secure transmission protocols and data encryption, businesses can improve data security during its collection, processing, and storage processes. Payment Preferences Cross-border transactions require companies to deal with varied payment methods, currency conversion fees, fluctuating values, and exchange rates, which can impact customer satisfaction and business profitability. The diversity of payment gateways further adds to security concerns, while other factors like compliance obligations and technological infrastructure affect the companies' POS strategies. Therefore, to meet the diverse preferences of various regions, businesses must actively offer international customers multiple payment options, enabling seamless transactions at POS stations. Significantly, by partnering with credible financial institutions and payment gateways, supporting the local currency, and adopting fraudulence identification measures, companies can vigorously promote customer experience. Businesses must also clearly communicate the payment fees and currency conversion rates, elevating customer trust and ensuring continual operational success. Shipping and Logistics Requirements From handling diverse shipping requirements to fulfilling customer expectations of quick order deliveries, e-commerce internationalization notably requires the completion of exacting tasks. Besides, businesses may face heightened expenditures and remain prone to shipping delays or loss, which could adversely impact customer experience. That said, companies can overcome this hurdle by meticulously streamlining shipping and logistics processes. This can be ensured through establishing local warehouses, collaborations with expert local and international shipping providers, and using advanced inventory management systems for optimal warehouse inventory management. Such measures ensure effortless last-mile deliveries, portfolio variegation, and smooth transactions. Compliance Obligations The diversity of jurisdictions, which entail data protection, consumer rights, product standards, and taxation, poses a considerable challenge for global e-commerce. Traversing these diverse regulatory requirements demands substantial resources and knowledge to ensure compliance and avoid legal problems. Indeed, complying with various countries' market and legal regulations poses a big challenge for global e-commerce platforms. Yet, measures like strategic partnerships with legal experts or consultants experienced in target and new market regulations can help businesses prevent issues associated with regulatory compliance. Moreover, setting up an internal compliance monitoring unit and regularly updating business strategies to fit changing regulatory environments can help companies attain business growth and mitigate legal troubles. 3. Top E-commerce Platform Providers Ensuring Effective Expansion With 24/7 accessibility and enviable marketplace exposure, the leading e-commerce platform providers are securing the success of businesses’ expansion endeavors. Listed below are the top companies that promise successful expansion of businesses: 3.1 Core dna With a notable integrated platform for content and commerce, Core dna facilitates effortless scaling for e-commerce platforms of mid-market to enterprise businesses. The company utilizes a cloud-native and API-first strategy, empowering firms to establish seamless customer experiences across varied channels. It renders innovative developer tools, structured content management abilities, and unmatched support services to businesses, helping them manage high-traffic volumes and expand their e-commerce platforms. From helping teams handle content to offering promising tools like AI Assistant and Visual Page Builder, Core dna enables businesses to thrive in the digital environment. The company’s platform is built on a secure cloud infrastructure, which entails API-led integrations, performance optimization, and responsive, design capabilities. Core dna effectively ensures scalability and adaptability for global audiences through its strong multi-language support, content scheduling, and versioning. Furthermore, it helps businesses handle checkouts, payments, carts, products, and promotions, providing them with tools for lead capturing, email marketing, and customer segmentation. 3.2 Inxeption A pioneer in the industrial commerce sector, Inxeption endeavors to streamline industry processes and connectivity, empowering e-commerce platforms to succeed in the digital arena. The company aims to simplify online sales processes and leverages blockchain technology for ultimate business success, affording unparalleled transparency, security, and operational efficiency. Its vertical marketplaces give buyers easy access to trusted sellers and offer suppliers effective sales channels to expand their online businesses. With Inxeption’s Managed Store, businesses can turn their offline product listings into online ready-to-buy catalogs. It provides unique tools for advertising, credit checks, order fulfillment, and the launch of extended payment term programs. The company further enables businesses to widen their reach and expand their audience through advanced audience databases and digital marketing tools. Importantly, it provides companies with real-time analytics, helping them gain greater supply chain visibility and make well-informed decisions. 3.3 OroCommerce Through its impressive suite of platforms, OroCommerce empowers businesses to optimize their sales processes, gain a 360-degree view of their customers, and create responsive design applications. The company mainly offers innovative solutions to B2B businesses to efficiently build and scale their commercial operations, ensuring high customer engagement and satisfaction. OroCommerce boasts promising CRM and marketplace solutions, providing businesses with features like configure price quote (CPQ) and request for quote (RFQ) to meet their diverse needs. Other features like digitized product listings and multiple payment options help companies automate and refine their operations efficiently. Not to mention, through the OroMarketplace platform, the company offers innovative digital marketplace management software, which can adjust to multiple corporate structures and render stock visibility and scalability for growth. Furthermore, it allows businesses to expand nationally or globally, giving them significant insights into sales activity and enabling operators to create new revenue sources through promotions, value-added services, and memberships. 3.4 ChannelSight As a leading digital solutions provider, ChannelSight renders crucial insights into user engagement to businesses, enabling them to maximize conversions and leverage data to enhance product performance. The company boasts a vast network of retail partners and undertakes measures to strengthen businesses’ online presence. With exemplary tools and strategies, it empowers e-commerce platforms to give enjoyable shopping experiences to users across different touchpoints, promoting their expansion and profitability. Notably, the company offers customers various features that help businesses make their media shoppable, predict inventory trends, attain top search placements, and optimize conversions. Through its e-commerce enablement platform, it makes integration with social media platforms, online retailers, and digital touchpoints easier. Likewise, its prominent ‘Buy Now’ technology helps businesses sell products directly through online videos and social media posts, simplifying checkout processes and driving peak financial gains. 3.5 Expedite Commerce Expedite Commerce leverages innovative methodologies and cloud-based solutions to help B2B companies transform their e-commerce platforms for more significant revenue generation. The company provides after-sales support, enabling sales, finance, and marketing leaders to meet the digital world's challenges effectively. Its impressive e-commerce platform offers features like flexible product listings, secure payment processes, and tailorable storefronts, ensuring easy scaling and sales growth for businesses. With its all-inclusive suite of solutions, Expedite Commerce offers B2B companies e-commerce storefront and CPQ solutions and Guided Digital Discovery tools that enhance confident purchases and customer experiences. The company’s exceptional Digital Guided Selling Software further allows for personalization of buying experiences and renders scalable solutions. Moreover, the company simplifies various processes through its Contract Lifecycle Management feature, ensuring operational agility and accuracy. 3.6 SamCart Transforming digital sales for entrepreneurs and small-scale businesses, SamCart is an innovative e-commerce platform provider that strives to simplify online sales through the creation of user-friendly interfaces and efficient checkout pages. Established in 2013, the company has grown remarkably, empowering creators to enhance customer engagement via effortless checkout experiences and limitless customization. With multiple impressive features, SamCart promises smooth transaction experiences. For instance, its Embedded Checkout feature allows for effortless incorporation of checkout into any website page, augmenting customer convenience. The company’s drag-and-drop editor further allows for seamless customization, and its Popup Checkout option renders quick checkout abilities to users. Similarly, the Sales Page feature lets businesses enhance shopping experiences through multimedia content, maximizing sales and profitability. 3.7 Pepperi Pepperi is a prominent B2B e-commerce and mobile sales solutions provider. It enables businesses to expedite their sales operations and drive financial gains. Through sales force automation, route accounting, retail execution, and more, the company helps firms effectively address their customers’ needs and drive success in their expansion ventures. From allowing users to establish tailored digital storefronts to enhancing their back-office workflows, Pepperi undoubtedly renders a scalable and dependable solution to achieve B2B excellence. Significantly, with its Unified Commerce platform, Pepperi refines all sales functions, ensuring tailored experiences for sales reps and buyers. Also, its Mobile Order Taking App for Sales Reps helps augment order effectiveness and customer interactions, while the Retail Execution Platform helps businesses enhance their in-store operations. The company also provides comprehensive insights into customer actions through its Inside Sales and Support feature, assisting businesses to make well-informed decisions, undertake expansion, and enhance operational productivity. 3.8 payever A forward-thinking fintech firm, payever empowers businesses by streamlining and securing payment processes, rendering them multi-currency and multi-language support. The company provides cost-effective pricing models and payment options that address varied scenarios and allow for seamless transactions, helping businesses with their scaling endeavors. Furthermore, through its adaptable commerce platform, payever provides for the integration of crucial tools like invoicing, online payment processing, and POS systems. The company boasts an impressive array of services and tools focused on refining checkout processes. With striking API integration and consolidated transaction management, it helps businesses skillfully meet the demands of the digital business world. Also, from payment initiation at POS to enabling transactions through QR codes and tailored links, payever addresses different payment situations, including international payments, making it effortless for businesses to widen their operations. 3.9 Fonteva Fonteva specializes in cloud-based software solutions and caters to non-profits, associations, and event-based organizations. Fonteva delivers highly modifiable events, membership, and e-commerce applications, enabling easy scalability and integration with other business solutions. The company’s prominent array of tools allows for successful event operations, including coordination, fundraising, and membership management, which augment the overall attendee experience and welcome new possibilities. Significantly, Fonteva enhances revenue potential through a promising suite of features, including integrated shopping carts, revenue accounting, and an online storefront. It further boasts impressive reporting features, providing insights into customer demographics, revenue accounting, and order management, which ensure sound decision-making. From personalized pricing options to comprehensive tools for the growth of e-commerce companies, Fonteva renders multiple merits to businesses, making for streamlined operations and high customer satisfaction. 3.10 Brikl A premier provider of progressive e-commerce solutions for the custom and promotional products sector, Brikl aims to enhance online selling and design processes. The company offers firms a promising platform for creating and selling tailored products. Its prominent offerings include highly intuitive designs and customization tools that allow businesses to modify products to meet customer needs. Notably, with its on-demand platform, Brikl enables quick setup of firm and team stores, employing user-friendly drag-and-drop functionality. It further boasts features like bulk logo addition and vector designs and facilitates the creation of catalogs and easy product customization. Businesses can import live stock data and utilize marketing support for better brand visibility and enhanced revenue growth. From effective asset creation to expert content and video production, the Brikl Creators platform helps businesses maintain a strong brand relevance across varied channels. 4. The Future Reflection The journey toward successful global expansion for e-commerce platforms indubitably demands a localized approach. From meeting paramount obstacles like linguistic diversity and intricacies of shipping to ensuring far-reaching acceptance for brands, the e-commerce localization process greatly benefits businesses. Similarly, the future of global expansion of e-commerce companies would lie in the continual incorporation of adaptation efforts with advanced technologies and data-driven techniques. Companies must accelerate such pursuits by partnering with major e-commerce platform providers, capitalizing on cloud-native solutions, streamlined payment systems, and modular architectures. Additionally, considerable emphasis should be placed on sustainability and eco-friendly practices and the use of composable commerce that stays poised to usher in unmatched adaptability and responsiveness, reflecting a promising trend in e-commerce. Ultimately, with the power of forward-thinking technology, customization, and sustainability, firms can leverage all the necessary ingredients to drive success in tomorrow’s digital world.

POS Solutions, Ecommerce Merchandising

Article | June 7, 2024

Most European countries and the United States have been in lockdown since mid-March due to the Covid 19 pandemic, and brick and mortar stores have been closed accordingly. Although online retail continues, it is proving difficult due to falling consumer spending, transport issues and disruptions of the supply chain. A forecast by Indian management consulting company Wazir Advisors, which focuses specifically on the apparel sector, predicts a decline in apparel consumption in 2020 of 45 percent in the EU and 40 percent in the US, which could lead to a reduction by 300 billion US dollars (around 274 billion euros or close to 240 British pounds).

Article | April 20, 2020

When you think of field research, you might think of an archeologist bent over a dig site investigating civilizations from the past, excavating the terrain and sifting out important artifacts. In marketing, field research is also about the study of the human experience and uncovering those important pieces of knowledge — but as they pertain to your business. Field research can give you insights into your customers' pain points, what they need to solve their problems, their thoughts on how your product helps or even what where they feel your services might be improved.