Online and retail sales
Twins – one of the world’s greatest anomalies. It truly is fascinating how there are people out there that share the same genes, same birth date, and even the exact same face. What’s more fascinating, however, is how most people they encounter in life may treat them in the same way, not considering that their tastes and preferences are different. Like Trish and Tshidi, two identical twins with completely different personalities and preferences.
Trish enjoys spending her free days going store to store and buying things she loves, while Tshidi prefers fill and fulfil online shopping carts on Friday evenings. As a business that has both twins as customers, would you handle them in the same manner? Let’s figure out what the profitable choice is.
Online sales vs Retail sales
It takes a different thought process to go to a store to buy something than it does to open a website or app and buy online. Regardless, there are certain touchpoints where online sales and retail sales meet. For example, commonalities they the share include:
- The primary goal is to optimise profit
- Payment is required to complete a transaction
- Business needs to deliver the product/service the customer purchases
- Customer service need to be well managed
Even though this is the case, a business cannot manage their retail sales exactly the way they handle their online sales. The consumer’s buying journey must be considered from beginning to end. With retail, the consumer’s journey usually entails travelling to the store, browsing products, paying at the checkout point, then taking the products home. Online shopping, however, begins with a customer entering a website/app, picking the products they want, making an online transaction to complete the payment, then waiting to get products. The experiences are different, so you need to manage them accordingly to succeed with them both.
The right way to manage retail sales
Shoppers in the store get to move around and interact more with products than online shoppers. This, coupled with the instant gratification of getting to enjoy something you want immediately after paying for it encourages people to opt for it. However, this means retail businesses need to constantly maintain several things. For instance, maintaining in-store stock, building utilities, product placement, in-store marketing/promotions, and staff.
This becomes easier when you use smart solutions which help you manage your retail business with:
• Perfect store progression:
Through real-time insights and KPI’s, a solution like SAP Sales Cloud can help you make proactive choices that improve your store’s performance.
• POS Systems:
Magento eCommerce has a Point-of-Sale interface that supports the efficient management of in-store marketing, inventory, and payment processes with the use of automation.
• Visit planning:
For in-field sales, SAP Sales Cloud equips your sellers with the tools they need for better sales and results at a faster rate. For example, unified visit planning, logistics optimisation, and overlay routing.
The right way to manage online sales
Online shopping is not as immerse as in-store shopping. Customers cannot see, touch, or test the product before buying it. Rather, customers depend on the information they can find on the product online. On the other hand, its so much easier to personalise marketing, customer service, and shopping experiences for online customers than it is in-store. eCommerce systems also simplify the process of collecting data and identifying insights and issues more efficiently. Time is no longer a limitation when shopping online because websites do not have trading hours like brick-and-mortar stores. This gives your business more opportunities to deliver meaningful engagement that resonates with customers.
Managing your online business successfully is achievable if you can deliver on online shopper’s needs. You can use the Magento eCommerce solution to do so on your websites through its features, which include:
• Mobile engagement
Drive sales with Magento eCommerce’s mobile capabilities that can be used on any devices, anytime, and anywhere. Your staff are no longer physically confined to one location when pushing sales. Automated offline and online synchronization are a bonus.
• Optimised user experience
Data helps you know what consumers want, and knowing this allows you to figure out the best way to deliver on it. Magento eCommerce simplifies this process by helping you collaborate with peers and explore analytics results that guide you on the right way to personalize experiences.
Centralized personalization engine
Speaking of personalisation, Magento eCommerce integrates tailored content and recommendations easily, so you can deliver effective experiences every time.
Combine the power of Magento eCommerce and SAP Sales Cloud to focus your sales efforts on profitable leads and sales opportunities, both online and offline. If you need to see it to believe it, book a demo with us, and we will show exactly what we are talking about. You don’t even have to find the solutions from multiple solution providers. Consnet’s team of experts will help your business with whatever business solution it needs. Book a demo.
