Your Top Retail Tech Solutions for Physical Retail
These retail tech solutions are helping to modernize the way brick-and-mortar stores do business.
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If you are looking for the best retail tech solutions on the market, then you’ve come to the right place! This guide will give you insights into the different tools you can choose from and how they can improve performance for your brick-and-mortar store.
Defining Retail Technology
Before we get into our list of the top technology for retail, let’s take a moment to define what this means.
Retail technology refers to the tools that help you enhance your customers’ shopping experience, manage your business, and gain a competitive advantage.
This list includes omnichannel retail platforms that let you communicate with customers & clients, store their information, and personalize your offerings to them. Other examples of retail technology include systems to track and balance inventory, place orders, and set pricing.
In other words, in-store technology consists of both customer-facing and internal tools. Both are vital to the success of your store, but only now are both becoming readily available to retail businesses of all sizes.
The Importance of Innovation in Retail
Innovation in retail – and using the right tech to manage your business – is the only way to ensure your brick-and-mortar store is successful in an increasingly digital world.
Tools like Endear’s retail CRM allow you to improve customer satisfaction, boost your bottom line, increase efficiencies across your business processes. Similarly, it lets your employees focus on value-added tasks that only a human touch can provide.
For example, once your customers shop at one of your stores, the right technology can help you keep the lines of communication open for future selling opportunities.
When they enter their information into your POS system, either by checking out or creating a profile online, you should be able to use that data to determine what the customer likes – and other products that they might be interested in. Controlling all of your locations from one system will also save you time and effort in the long run!
Retail technology refers to the tools that help you enhance your customers’ shopping experience, manage your business, and gain a competitive advantage.
How to choose the right solution for your store
There are many different solutions when it comes to retail technology, so how do you choose the right one for your store?
The first thing you need to do is analyze the needs of your business. Consider the technology you already have available and how well it is currently working for you.
Are there business areas that your current tools can't address? Do the features and functionality need improvement or do they need to be overhauled entirely?
Make sure that you analyze all of your business processes, such as order-taking, internal and external communication, accounting, and even HR.
You shouldn’t decide on any new solutions until you assess what is missing from your technological infrastructure. Once you identify those pain points and gaps, you can start looking for the tools to help you address them.
Next, look for technology that can scale alongside your store or fleet of stores. The worst thing that could happen is that you invest in a new tool, only to learn it cannot handle a larger volume of orders or a greater market reach. When that happens, you’re back to square one looking for new technology!
Instead, consider the platforms that work best for your industry. What are your competitors using effectively?
There is always some level of risk that technology becomes outdated but doing your due diligence upfront makes a big difference.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do when choosing your omnichannel retail technology is think in terms of need. Sure, there are plenty of fancy – and expensive – platforms on the market that boast impressive bells and whistles.
But do you need all of those features? Take care not to overspend on a solution that includes features you will never use. Stick to relevant and effective capabilities that will help you accomplish your business goals.
Our Top Picks
Now that we’ve reviewed the importance of technology in retail, let’s get into our top omnichannel solutions for your brick-and-mortar store.
1. Endear: The Best Tech Solution for your Store
If you are looking for the best software to improve your store's performance, look no further than Endear. It allows your store associates to stay in touch with customers via text or email, which will boost your overall sales.
Not only does Endear let users send messages at scale, but it can also track how well they convert into purchases – both in-store and online! This omnichannel retail solution will enhance the customer experience while allowing you to achieve your sales goals.
Why Endear
Learn about the top eight reasons omnichannel brands and retailers put their trust and their sales in Endear's hands. Whether you're new to brick-and-mortar or are continuing to grow your presence, Endear can help you improve your omnichannel strategy.
2. Shopify POS
The Shopify POS system is another great omnichannel solution for retailers because it seamlessly connects to its e-commerce counterpart, so you can create a unified experience for your team and your customers.
By using Shopify across channels, you can easily make convenient payment and fulfillment options like BOPIS available to your customers. By letting your online customers pick up their orders in-store, you give your store team a chance to upsell these customers and build relationships.
When you use Endear with Shopify POS, Endear also takes care of syncing all your Shopify data in real-time so that your store team always has the most up-to-date info about who is shopping with them.
3. Perch Interactive
Next on our list is Perch Interactive. This tool aims to help your store understand customer behavior so that you can improve your content, merchandising, and pricing.
They can also help you with smart shelves and interactive displays to boost sales. The key is giving your shoppers the content and information they need to make a buying decision! This solution will help to keep customers off their own devices and encourage them to use the content you provide to learn more about the products in front of them.
4. Shipsi
In today’s market, delivery options can give you a competitive advantage. This is especially true if you run a brick-and-mortar store!
With Shipsi’s last-mile delivery service, you can provide same-day, next-day, and even scheduled deliveries with ease. They can help you set this up for your retail and online stores to ensure the experience is cohesive regardless of where your customer shops.
5. Dor
Dor is a traffic counter that allows you to learn more about customer traffic and shopping patterns. It can give you insights about when to staff more employees, how to improve marketing efforts, and even ways to boost conversions.
The sensors are simple to install and don’t require a Wi-Fi connection, and you can access the analytics in real-time. They even collect current weather data to see how that affects your sales!
6. Crave Retail
Another effective omnichannel solution for your brick-and-mortar store is Crave Retail.
This fitting room technology works to improve the customer experience while trying on clothes in your store. It boasts a touchless experience and features to help your staff serve your shoppers.
According to them, 85% of buyers abandon a purchase when they don’t get prompt assistance – and their goal is to combat that problem.
7. FindMine
If you need a tool that you can use to give your customers recommendations or teach them how to create outfits or a new beauty look, check out Findmine.
This content engine allows your brand to give guidance on how to use or match your products, without manually going through your catalog! It can help you scale your business without having to sacrifice your unique style. Plus, the more guidance you give your audience, the more likely they are to buy your products.
8. Acuity Online Scheduling
Manually scheduling appointments can be time-consuming and inefficient. Acuity Online Scheduling works as an assistant to reduce downtime and ensure that you book as many appointments as possible.
Clients can see your availability in real-time and schedule their own visits. Similarly, you can manage several locations and employees, so you always have visibility into what is happening with your entire organization.
Other features include customized intake forms during the scheduling process and convenient reminder tools.
9. Loop Insights
Loop Insights uses artificial intelligence to help your retail store compete with online giants. They help you consolidate your operational and customer data so you can track KPIs like conversion metrics – in real-time.
It works by connecting your physical locations how the internet connects websites, so you can do things like personalize marketing and collect better data.
10. ShopShops
The last omnichannel solution on our list is ShopShops. This innovative platform lets you live-stream your store to take advantage of everything social media has to offer.
You can use it to bring your brand to life, interact directly with your customers, and build a loyal fan base. Their team will teach you how to host, collect, and ship orders too, so you can make the most out of live-stream shopping!
A big part of improving the in-store experience is making it connect with how customers shop your brand online. By investing in retail technology, you'll be able to better measure and improve customer engagement and lifetime value as you see how these customers move between your various channels. You can learn more about how Endear helps its customers stay competitive on our Customers page.