At retailcloud we love lists; our support team keeps a list of all features that are requested by users, our partner team keeps a list of what is important to our partners and our product team keeps yet another one on what are key industry drivers.  

Recently our AI and analytics team was playing with some models to mash up all the data and see what features should be developed based on these three lists as well as what could have the greatest impact on our customer’s bottom line.

If you have been following our blogs you will see that we, and our industry, have been talking a lot about the impact of customer retention and building brand loyalty and experiences,  and so while a feedback and  rating system was not on our product roadmap we were not altogether surprised that our AI modeling told us that an application where customers could provide instant feedback to merchants, AND where merchants had tools and insights to make customers into fans made sense.

And so feedbk (pronounced feedback) was born; feedbk is a real time rating application that allows merchants to easily obtain feedback from their customers at the Point of Sale. It keeps track of 3 metrics for a retailer;

• • NPS (Net Promoter Score) that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm’s customer relationships and is claimed to be correlated with revenue growth. This is done at the POS and a single question is posed to a customer who gives it a rating.

• • CXS (Customer Experience Score) that is used to gauge customer satisfaction using email receipts and other online interactions to allow customer to provide feedback on a set of questions based on their initial ratings. These are customized questions and are used to give an average customer satisfaction score.

• CEP (Customer Engagement Priority) that can be used to provide an operator with strategies on how to interact with various customer segments – this can be done instantly using ngauge or at a later date using social media, text  or email.

This feedback is automatically combined with segmentation which is critical in allowing operators to immediately identify problem areas and rectify them; it  is also able to provide retailers with the ability to gauge opportunity costs that are related to such issues. feedbk operates entirely on the retailcloud platform so it can provide operators with actionable analytics on how to increase units per transaction, identify ideal product mixes, and in general, identify their most valuable customers.

It’s just version 1.0, but we are excited about feedbk and the machine learning opportunities that come from it. We believe that it is the first of many pragmatic analytic solutions from our AI team that will allow small and mid size retailers to quickly access where their staff can best focus their efforts.

1. Embrace the data – Quality Data Will Replace Big Data , Have your POS data start working to provide you with information on lagging lines and to start matching product to customers more effectively.

2. Embrace the tech – The discussion has been resolved; Consumers do prefer shopping via mobile in store and out of the store. The POS has extended to the customer phone, and it’s easy for SMB to respond.

3. Embrace your online presence – Digital shopping can be a destination, and with the dropping cost of ecommerce, online insight to product and inventory is a must have.   

4. Embrace customer engagement – Reset your customer service culture, train associates to provide quality in-store engagement and use your customer preferences and inventory data to provide relevant engagement through social media.    

5. Don’t fear the unknown – It’s about a seamless customer journey. In store experiences and loyalty will get more relevant, the brick and mortar experience will become the secret weapon against big online.

6. Don’t fear payment providers – Payment solutions are becoming more competitive and innovative, the entry barriers to provide multiple payment options are being lowered as consumers demand more options.

7. Embrace Retail as a Service – It’s more than just carrying inventory and selling the product – customers expect more and suppliers want to do more. Endless aisle, pop-up stores within stores and customer preference data will all lead to a more curated retail experience for the consumer.

Let me start by says that a product return isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Based on a six-year study from the University of North Carolina’s Flagler Business School, the study looked at the return rates from various companies. And it turns out that there’s actually a “sweet spot” that equates to higher profits per customer sales. One company was found to have a magic number of 13 percent!

But a product return may not go the way merchants want. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, that same research showed numbers that were greater than this percentage actually decreased profits. And it signaled deeper, structural problems within the company itself. It could be a strict return policy or poor record keeping from accounting. Either way, these problems can lead to dissatisfied customers, increased chargebacks and much more.

I’d like to provide four simple tips that should help your business prevent excessive returns

Let customers  touch and feel your products

Allow your customers to fully experience your merchandise. Touching, Tasting, Feeling – your customers can make a more informed decision, which will minimize returns.

Market-right features

Many times such returns are the result of a retailer carrying a product that doesn’t have the features customers demand. They may still buy it, but the end result will typically be a return.

Listen to your Customers

The best way to find out what the customers want is to ask them. Salespeople will also have great insight as to what customers are asking for that a store isn’t carrying. Paying attention to the responses and acting on them will help minimize returned merchandise. Keeping tabs on the competition can also be useful.

Informative displays

“With tight payrolls and a large turnover of associates, displays are more important than ever before,” says Tom Hebrock, vice president of retail services at Stuart and Associates in Brentwood, Tenn. “This is what the customer relies on if they can’t get employee assistance in the store.”

Displays need to have consistent information for one type of product. The sign also needs to include accessories that are needed but not included so the customer doesn’t get home expecting what’s not there.

Informative displays will also help store personnel communicate the benefits and features of the products they are selling. While it would be nice for associates to memorize every feature of every product, the expectation is unrealistic, and detailed displays will assist them in selling.

Follow these tips to prevent excessive returns so that you can operate in the Sweet Spot of customer returns.

3 Must have POS feature for Pet Stores

You own a Pet Store. It may be a specialty pet store, it may be large multi lane and multi location, it may be a straight forward pet shop. Regardless, you have specific needs based on your merchandise and customer expectations. You need a POS solution that understands pet stores and successfully addresses the needs.

I’m not going to discuss the multitude of features that are needed by many or most retail businesses. I want to focus on what makes your POS needs unique.

1. Bulk Sales – Bird Feed, dog food, bedding, litter

The POS needs to be able to sell items in decimal places and return inventory levels in decimal places for accurate accountability.

2. Advanced Sales Promotions

Pet owners and your competing pet stores expect and appreciate creative sale techniques. Your POS solution needs to be able to offer a range of promotions, from buy one get one, to quantity discounts, and Club Pricing. Discounts should have automatic date ranges so when the sale ends, the cashier discount is no longer applied and its not left up to the cashier to decide.

3. Disclaimers

It would be great to have disclaimers automatically print on the customer’s receipt on specific items or categories of items It may be a category – Live Puppies, where you would like the return policy to be very different from when you sell 10 lbs of Kibble. Select a POS system that allows you to print a specific disclaim on specific items. Better yet, add a signature line, so that the owner has proof that the customer understands the policy.

Embrace the unique POS needs of the Pet Store Industry and look for the tools that help you success.

It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks 🙂 .

Change is the only permanent thing that brings along improvement, though quite hard to accept for most people. However, it is inevitable especially when you clearly know it will be beneficial to you and especially your business. When starting a small business, you require POS software that will improve your customer service. The customer is king, and therefore we need to keep them happy. The point of sale system your small business can help you improve your customer service in the following ways:

POS software provides a detailed real-time account of sales for all customers.

This will allow you, as the business owner, to analyze which customers purchase what products and in what quantities. This helps you to be able to offer discounts to their clients. Also, you can access customer trends or history and reports of their transactions,

Give your customers what they want

The primary component of excellent customer service is giving the customer the product that they want.  It is important to know the reorder level in your small business to avoid stock outs. The POS software will always notify you when you hit the reorder level. It will also help you to see the products that are fast movers to avoid the dead stock, which are a waste of time, space, and money. With a cloud-based system, you can run numerous reports that highlight the top selling items. This will help you to make wise decisions, which will keep your customers happy.

The point of sale for small businesses improves levels of efficiency

POS software allows you to spend less time on paperwork, sales record keeping, accounting, and inventory management, as well as managing such programs as marketing and special advertising. This helps you focus more on your customers. It ensures that you have enough time to handle your customer complaints and concerns efficiently and as quickly as possible.

Improved speed

A long queue is not exactly what your clients want. The sight of 5-6 people waiting to check out is enough to make a customer run for the door. A reliable POS software will minimize the time customers spend at the register and will eliminate human error by employees. Small business owners can organize menu items on their computers based on the category and make ‘hot keys’. Slow transactions or inventory errors will no longer be an issue. POS software providers now offer integrated barcode scanning which increases speed and efficiency. This method eliminates manual entry and gives fast transactions. This keeps your customers happy as you generate more profits.

Flexible payment options

It is important for small businesses to have several flexible payment methods. The days of carrying huge sums of cash have since expired. Luckily, the point of sale for small businesses has made it easier than ever, for business owners to accept just about any payment method. These include; checks, cash, credit card, gift cards EMV chip cards and apple pay. Customers will be happy with all these payment methods and will always come to your business.