INFOGRAPHIC: 5 Trends Reshaping The Retail Industry In 2019

Ecommerce Merchandising

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 Solutions, POS Retail, Ecommerce Merchandising

Article | June 10, 2024

Innovative POS systems with built-in advanced inventory management and secured payments to mandate their adoption by retailers. For businesses and retailers, conventional cash registers have long been an important part of sales operations during the past few years. But today, the cash registers of even the smallest of businesses are attached to a computer through "point-of-sale" (POS) systems. These novel solutions have garnered huge popularity over traditional cash registers as they not only ring up the sales but also provide crucial and real-time information about the customer and inventory. The importance of POS systems goes way beyond managing transactions at checkout counters across the retail industry. Emphasis on Improving Customer Experience Demands POS Adoption: With a growing fast-paced lifestyle, customers around the world are opting for faster, and more convenient shopping and billing experiences. Reassuring customers that their transactions are secure significantly increases satisfaction and customer loyalty. Since novel POS systems assist in providing faster checkout, flexibility in payment options, highly secured payments, and a seamless billing experience, these POS systems are extensively being adopted by modern retailers. According to a study, retailers across the U.S. lose nearly $45 billion, due to insufficient inventory in stock, and $224 billion, due to excess inventory. POS systems help in managing the inventory, resulting in declining losses by preventing excess or insufficient inventory. An estimate states that, an independent retailer with a $400,000 revenue can cut costs by nearly 10%, saving an average of $40,000 per year. What Comes Next? With technology getting better and new POS solutions like cloud-based, mobile, cashless payment, and others coming out, retailers are extensively installing POS solutions to make it easy for customers to pay. For instance, Veras Retail and ACCEO Solutions Inc., an American company specializing in all types of electronic payment transactions, announced plans to install their respective payment middleware solutions and point-of-sale software solutions in National Stores locations across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Hence, the growing focus on enhancing in-store customer experience and customer retention is mandating modern retailers to deploy POS solutions.

POS Solutions

Article | March 18, 2024

Introduction Due to the dynamic nature of the industry and the ever-evolving demands of its customers, restaurant business owners are facing a unique set of challenges. This is compelling them to streamline their operations to meet customers' rising expectations while maintaining perfect control over all aspects of their establishment. In addition, emerging innovative technology solutions are rapidly changing the world of payment systems, and the restaurant industry is the best example of it. Today, opening a restaurant is more than just serving food and making money. It is about providing a memorable experience to the customers and retaining them. As a robust restaurant point-of-sale (POS) solution assist in delivering a better customer experience, pacing up the ordering process, and managing inventory, among others, it is gaining huge popularity in the sector. Why Does Restaurant Need to Invest in Modern POS Systems Today? As the trends of online food ordering at dine-in and competition in the hospitality industry continue to deepen, it is becoming imperative for restaurant owners to efficiently manage the point of sale for their eatery. Also, the growing need for faster customer food service, efficient employee scheduling, and effective inventory management is encouraging business owners to adopt innovative restaurant technologies, such as restaurant POS systems. Here are some of the main reasons restaurants should integrate modern POS solutions. Effective Ordering Processes The ordering process, being the nerve center for restaurants, is one such aspect that needs serious attention. As food ordering processes that take a long time can significantly hamper the customer experience and satisfaction, owners of food establishments are aiming at leveraging novel restaurant POS systems to streamline and ease the food ordering processes. Increase Cash Flow Optimum cash flow is the backbone of any business. If restaurants are unable to maintain enough cash flow, they will have difficulties staying in business in the long run. Since restaurants are able to serve more customers per hour with fast-paced POS technology, allowing for greater sales and increased cash flow, business owners are aiming to deploy these modern POS solutions. Organize and Track Profit and Loss Keeping an accurate track of the income and expenses is of great importance for understanding the financial position of the eatery and creating an effective strategy to increase its revenue. A POS system can assist business owners in preparing a settlement at the end of each day, week, and month, keeping track of the ROI, and organizing profit and loss. Offer Security to Customers Customers or guests are increasingly using various cashless modes for transactions, such as credit cards, online banking, and others, for making payments. With increasing instances of customer data theft, guests are increasingly concerned about their data privacy and payment credentials. Hence, several food establishments are emphasizing embracing restaurant POS software to offer enhanced security to customers. Build Customer Database In today's highly competitive world, engaging and retaining customers is crucial for the success of businesses, especially in the restaurant industry. As the latest POS solutions aid restaurants in enhancing customer communications and loyalty, along with improving customer relationship management by building a customer database, these solutions are increasingly being sought in the sector. The Ending Thought With the emergence of innovative trends in the hospitality industry and the ever-changing needs of customers, it is becoming difficult for restaurant owners to keep the customers happy and build credibility in the long run. Since modern restaurant POS systems with advanced integrated technologies, such as artificial intelligence, can assist these restaurants in overcoming these obstacles along with providing numerous advantages, including cost reduction and increased ROI, these systems are anticipated to become a necessity for restaurants in the coming years.

Article | April 10, 2020

CPG companies have been feeling the pain from store brands for close to a decade now. Increased quality, curated offerings and better graphics have all led shoppers to try and in many cases then switch to the store brand offering. The latest salvo in this war is about data. Supermarkets used to rely heavily on data and insights on everything from shelf placement to how to market and promote foods from the likes of their CPG partners as well as Nielsen and IRI, to name just a couple. Then "category captains" were created. Usually staffed from the leading CPG brand and headquartered at the retailer’s location, those CPG companies offered retailers insights and recommendations on how to sell more product across the entire category—not just their own brand. Those positions are being eliminated. The source and quality of data has changed. Grocers are relying on their own proprietary research to decide how and where and at what price to place products—their own brands as well as those from CPG.