Retail POS Solution

ERP Software for eCommerce

How can Charity Retailers Select the Right POS and Unified Software Solution? 

Making the move or upgrading to a new version of Retail POS System or ERP Software for eCommerce affects every area of a retailer’s company. It can be much worse for charity merchants, who must account to their patrons for their running expenses. They must be able to justify any additional investments made to meet the increasing administrative load they currently confront, even if it is one of their largest expense centers.  But there is no longer a choice to do nothing. Charity merchants cannot afford to cling to antiquated procedures and outdated technology as they struggle to stay viable and deal with issues like multi-channel stock management, retaining supporters, and obtaining the largest gifts from frugal customers. The most discerning understand that the proper Retail POS Systems and Retail ERP software may relieve their pain. Several well-known charities, like Sue Ryder, Ten Thousand Villages, and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), have made the switch.  Ralph Larcombe, the manager of Sue Ryder’s EPOS systems in the United Kingdom, stated that the organization’s sole purpose in being there was to make money to fund its healthcare department and do good deeds. Therefore, getting value for their money was crucial to them when choosing a new IT system.  Sue Ryder chose to upgrade to the most recent version of LS Retail Software Solution. Their trustees reviewed the business case to ensure that the initiative would produce the anticipated return on investment (ROI). The organization is now benefiting from automated replenishment, improved data administration, intelligent reporting, and a simplified till that requires less training for new volunteers in terms of saving money and time.  How can ERP Software for eCommerce Manage Every Aspect of Your Charity Retail Store?  You will eventually lose sight of which parts of your business are doing well and which aren’t if your data is stored in silos across many databases and your channels don’t connect. Because of this, charity retailers want ERP Software for eCommerce that gives them a clear picture of their data, complete control over their business, and real-time data on goods, sales, and customers for all of their physical and online stores.  LS Retail Management Software is now used by the UK charity RHS to power several retail sites. The software is used by the corporation to handle its supply chain, sales orders, order fulfillment, and finance for its retail and sales operations. RHS is equipped with all the tools necessary to manage:  Retail Activities throughout the garden centers.   Finances, except charitable finances.   Inventory, e-commerce sales, gifts, and books.   Events.   Data on products, customers, and sales.  How Does it Help You Manage Volunteers and Employees?  Charity shops by definition have a high worker turnover rate. The majority of retailers often use volunteers of various ages, who must be recruited, employed, instructed, and managed. Therefore, having cutting-edge Retail Point of Sale Systems that is simple to use, need little training, and can simply organize employee schedules is a priceless tool for your nonprofit organization.  A straightforward and easy-to-use Point of Sale System was important to Sue Ryder when choosing a new retail system.  EPOS Systems Manager Larcombe remarked, “Having a till that is straightforward, transparent, clean, and easy to use, is of enormous importance to us. After a brief 45-minute training session, the volunteers at the Sue Ryder stores—some of whom are seniors without any prior retail experience—can use the till with ease. Our volunteers may practice without actually doing transactions in the training mode on the LS Retail till, and they often pick it up pretty fast.”  How Strong Business Analytics and Embedded Power BI can Provide Better Visibility?  Do you fully comprehend what is occurring throughout your network of charity shops? Data analytics may be useful, especially for the price and assortment optimization, if you want to quickly identify the goods and places that are generating the most money and where you should take action. Although you may add these sophisticated features to your Retail Management System, it is more cost-effective to have them integrated into the ERP Software for eCommerce as opposed to using a separate software solution that you’ll need to operate, pay for, and keep up to date.  Managers at Ten Thousand Villages now have far better visibility into what is happening thanks to clever ERP Software for eCommerce and a centralized source of data. They can act on opportunities and fix problems in real-time, even on the busiest retail days, thanks to a Power BI dashboard that pulls data straight from the Retail ERP. Hence improving sales performance.  Today, a lot of charity retailers work with ERP Software for eCommerce such as LS Retail Software Solution. If you want to implement this solution, you can Contact Trident Information Systems. We are Microsoft Dynamics 365 Gold Partner and LS Central Diamond Partner. With a strong track of accomplishments of 22+ years, we have partnered with various renowned businesses across the world.  

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5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Getting a Restaurant POS Vendor  

Have you decided to get a new Retail POS Solution for your business already? Congratulations, you can now experience the seamless services that will positively impact your business. It ensures smooth services, transactions, and operations.   With the right technology at hand, you can see tremendous changes in your business processing. If you decide to have a cloud Retail POS Solution like the one LS Retail offers, you can get real-time stock visibility and availability, get real-time generated reports, product information, and much more. If running a restaurant, you can access the best meal deals you can suggest to your clients, tell them about current offers or redeem their coupons. Your staff can take orders from one table and bill another table from the same device.  However, be cautious when you decide to get a POS for your business. In the market where every vendor seems to be better than the other, you have to pick the most suitable one carefully, as it will impact your next 5-6 years.  The first step is to answer the following questions before moving ahead:   Q1- What are Your Functionality Requirements?  These days POS systems are more than just billing software. They have transformed into something greater. They cover a whole range of operations in your business. However, sometimes having to choose between so many functionalities can become an overwhelming task. Retail POS Solution can ensure employee time clock, biometrics login, customer database, online ordering, table tracking, mobile POS as well as recipe and ingredient management.  They all seem good to have for your restaurant, don’t they? But is this the case? Having too many features can hamper your staff efficiency. They might get confused, overwhelmed, and perform tasks slowly.  You must map your business requirements and segment them into must-haves, nice to haves, and extras. An ideal Retail POS Solution will be one that checks all your urgent requirements. Furthermore, having a system that responds to all your needs will save you a fortune as well as effort during its implementation phase.  Q2- Is the POS Designed for Your Restaurant?   Point of Sales does not follow “one size fits all” restaurants have requirements when it comes to selecting a Retail POS Solution. Sure, a retail system might cover some functionalities such as employee scheduling or customer loyalty. However, a POS system has diverse needs, from the front office to the back, it has different needs.   A Restaurant POS Solution is specifically designed for a restaurant will help the user manage their daily tasks such as tracking ingredient use, managing recipes, adding, or removing an ingredient, sending orders straight to the kitchen, keeping tabs on the available inventory and required inventory, selling deals, and combos, and a lot more.  Do not settle for just any POS that comes your way. Put your time and effort into conducting research and then go for the one that checks all your required boxes.   Q3- What are its Methods to Consistently Deliver Quick Services?  Make sure the Retail POS Solution you choose follows a straightforward algorithm that ensures quick and consistent deliveries. Saturday nights are already hard, imagine adding a slow POS system to it. Ask yourself these questions before proceeding any further:   Is the POS interface intuitive? Can it segment your employees according to their job roles at that time? Or show the functionalities that are currently relevant?  Does it accept different payment methods? Or does it support split billing?  Can it run on handheld devices like tablets or mobile phones?   Can it still manage to perform if the internet connection goes down?   Q4- What will be the ROI (Return on Investment) of this Retail POS Solution?   It is a big commitment to have a Retail POS Solution, and having the right one will pay in the long run. Compare all the POS and check which offers the highest ROI. We suggest you ignore the upfront investment cost and consider how each of them is going to hit your bottom line.   Make sure the POS you are looking forward could perform the following tasks:   Spending less time training employees: In the industry with high employee turnover, you need technology that does not eat too much time training recruits. You can save a lot of money and time with an intuitive POS solution.   Helps reduce waste: Make sure your POS system helps manage inventory while tracking ingredient use. It must help you order the right amount of food and help reduce waste.   Manage Loyalty: Your system must segment and target your loyal customers. It must use technology to track each customer and identify the loyal customers. It should support loyalty programs.   Align data: Having different systems for different segments while collecting and comparing data demands a lot of time and effort. Having an end-to-end POS solution integrates different segments and brings all the data under the same platform.     Q5- Is your Vendor Trustworthy?  The market is full of vendors posing to be authentic and the best. However, do not fall into the trap. You do not want to select and install a random POS from a startup just because it is cheap. Make sure you opt for an authentic vendor, such as LS Retail.   You may regret having a random POS even more when you run into problems and find out that your vendor does not provide any support. Always take references and see their previous record, this way you can find out if the POS is even worth or just a waste of money.  It is important to wisely pick your POS system as it will impact your business for the next few years. Make sure you go through at least 5 references after checking their customers’ testimonies. LS Retail is one of the best Restaurant POS Software Vendors with an impactful record of accomplishment. If you are looking for an LS Retail implementation partner, contact us. 

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How Does the Right POS Design Boost Your Restaurant’s Productivity?

Did you know you can even engineer your POS so it replicates your menu? This is the commencement of your restaurant’s advancements. Numerous restaurants are deprived of this facility.   If your restaurant management system allows you to modify your POS, there are high chances that efficiency will increase by at least 20%. Having tasks automated that were done manually earlier, boosts your staff efficiency, allowing them to serve your guests better.   A traditional POS is nothing more than a billing software that can accept payments online and offline separately. However, an advanced and integrated POS is more than that; it can record customer transactions, streamline order taking, integrate back office to the front, and much more. A restaurant can reap tremendous benefits by optimizing this system alone.   Engineer Your POS to Imitate Your Menu   A POS should enable you to organize and display each food item from your inventory the way it is on your menu. It should be able to handle the conventional ordering. For instance, if a customer wants extra ketchup with fries and extra cheese on the burger, your employee can instantly record it and transfer the details to the accurate food counter. Order recording becomes a very convenient task for the employees without having to ask the customer twice.   You can also set different menus according to a specific shift. For example, in the morning you can display breakfast options so that the customers arriving at your restaurant at that time only get to see the breakfast items first. This way, you can easily increase upselling while increasing the efficiency of your staff. Thus, your staff can serve the guests with more enthusiasm since the POS is now handling extras on their behalf.   Break Down Menu Items  A typical breakfast menu can add up to dozens of dishes such as boiled eggs, omelet and toast, baked beans, and so on. If you list every menu item separately on the POS, it will end up building an extensive list while making everything a lot more complicated than it already is. For example, if a customer and his friend order the same dish but the friend orders extra cheese, there will be transactions twice. This makes the entire process a lot longer, and there are always chances of filling the order. This sort of POS has serious drawbacks:   Slower ordering: your front office staff has to go through a thorough list of items while ensuring they tap on the correct ones. It is a lot more time-consuming and fuels the risk of errors.   Difficult reconciliation: when you have to record multiple dishes separately, their reconciliation becomes tedious. It may even end up taking hours just to get this job done.   Complicated menu: you cannot optimize the menu if you do not know the best dish and the right mix-match distinct items to create an alluring menu.   With LS Retail, you can set a few dishes in your menu and optimize the modifiers to add or remove ingredients. In addition, you can catch more accurate food costs, streamline inventory management while aligning replenishment to the actual use.   Use Colors to Differentiate Different Items  As soon as you successfully set your POS replicating your menu, this is where the fun part begins. Play with assorted colors to differentiate dishes. For instance, you can set starters as blue, the main course as purple, and desserts as pink. Pick colors for different food sections like green for salad, yellow for chicken, white for fish, and so on. With this sort of color setting, your staff can easily differentiate between dishes and make the order-taking process quicker.   Allow Self Service and Contactless Ordering  You can increase both staff efficiency and customer satisfaction simultaneously, as self-service is becoming increasingly popular among guests especially in quick and fast restaurants. Customers love the convenience of the technology. Many restaurants have noticed a hike of 15%-20% of checkouts after allowing self-service and self-ordering facilities.   According to some research, customers order more add-ons and are willing to pay more when they have the facility to add whatever they want on their own, instead of asking someone to do it for them. Self-service devices also speed up the table and ordering turnover as the guests are free to order whenever they are ready.   LS Retail is one of the unified software service providers that delivers a set of tools and features required to run a restaurant business. Integrated POS is one of its services. Trident Information Systems is a Gold Microsoft Partner. Since 1999, they have served various business ventures and failed none. Contact us for further information.  

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5 Restaurant Technology You Need to Know.

The time is evolving, and so are the expectations of customers with the restaurants. Times are gone when customers are liable to commute to the restaurant in order to get their favorite meals. They want to eat wherever and however they want. In addition, with technological advancements, they expect faster services and complete attention from the staff at the same time.   Research has shown during the pandemic that the food home delivery ratio increased to a certain level, and this was the factor through which restaurants could manage to survive. Usage of third-party food delivery applications like Swiggy, Zomato, and so on grew significantly. Technology played a vital role in restaurant survival.   Now, the customer can enjoy food wherever and however they want. They can now make changes to their order without having to ask a staff member. For instance, they can tell them to add more cheese to the pizza or ask for extra ketchup right there and then without a server. In some reports, we discovered that people would pay more to add Ons when they have a self-service facility available.   As technology has evolved so much, there is still room for growth. To meet customer preferences and not to mention to evolve, restaurants need to invest more in further technological advancements. This way, they can focus more on what they love: creating delicious meals and delicacies and unforgettable experiences. We have compiled a list of restaurant technologies that restaurants must be aware of.   Online POS  An Online POS system or a Cloud-based POS system is more than billing software. It is more advanced and delivers more features than the traditional one. Older POS were merely used to collect bills online and offline separately. However, the scenarios have changed, and modern POS can collect bills, take orders, track inventory, and integrate the front office with the back. Everything is saved on the cloud so there is no risk of data loss. Even if there is no internet, the transactions are recorded offline and saved on the cloud as soon as they are connected to the net.   Apart from this, a cloud-based POS records customer transactions from different channels which can later be utilized to create deals and plans for the customers. According to some reports, about 61% of businesses want their next POS to be cloud-based. Some of the reasons include its cost-effectiveness and scalability. Online POS can be availed of a monthly subscription. Therefore, ditching the need to invest in high upfront costs. It does not even need hardware and is quick to deploy.   Artificial Intelligence (AI)  Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human processes by machines, specifically computer systems. This technology can process even the natural language, collect data, and make sense from a vast amount of data. In the case of restaurants, there are many applications powered by AI such as:   Chatbots: chatbots are designed to understand speech patterns and have relevant conversations through which customers can book a table or order food online. Platforms like- official websites and social media platforms can be used.   Predictive Ordering: this feature analyses your restaurant’s previous orders and revenue and forecasts future needs while helping you avoid over-stocking or under-stocking.   Staff Scheduling: scheduling and staffing solutions help you schedule staff optimally.   AI is the heart of businesses which helps them grow and evolve exponentially. Therefore, allowing restaurants to elevate their service standards.   Kitchen Display System (KDI)   A Kitchen Display System (KDI) is designed to replace your traditional paper ticket and kitchen printers. The job is not done here, there are a lot more things it offers. As soon as a customer place an order, it flashes straight on the accurate kitchen counter. If guests want to make changes or wish to have add Ons they may address them straight away while notifying the chef.   There is a function called recipe viewer, which enables chefs to follow a specific recipe and avoid wastage. A recipe viewer will also cut costs on training and call attention to nutrition and allergy information.   Business Intelligence (BI)  Business Intelligence optimized AI to compile, integrate and analyze business data, turning it into a single vision truth while driving more logical decisions. Business Intelligence and analytics solutions have been used to increase business efficiency, and their effectiveness is not new to restaurants.   With this technology, restaurants can place suitable lunch meals in the relevant areas or provide reports on the breakfast items making the most profit each week. Restaurant owners can also identify if the crowd in a location would like to see stand-up comedy during dinner. Having these kinds of data at hand helps make more logical decisions and    Contactless Payments and Self Ordering Devices  Restaurants need forms of payments that require little or no contact with shared surfaces. For instance, mobile wallets, biometric authentication payments, credit cards, debit cards. Contactless payments are much safer, especially in this era where social distancing has become one of the necessities.   Similarly, self-ordering devices vitally helped cope with the pandemic. They enable customers to make their orders without a server in the restaurant kitchen. Customers can either use self-serving kiosks, tablets on the table side, or even their mobile phones.   Internet of Things (IoT)  Internet of things refers to all the items and devices that are designed to connect to the internet and each other to transmit data. For instance, connected kitchen appliances like ovens, freezers, and deep fryers upload their status automatically to the cloud ensuring seamless operational flow and regulatory compliance.   With IoT, managers do not have to go through each device and check their condition. Instead, they can simply go through the reports and see the presence of an issue and think of a resolution.    As time flies, the restaurant industry is rapidly changing. It needs to adopt technological advancements to fulfill customer demands and embrace better efficiency. LS Retail provides a suite of tools that ensure customer satisfaction as well as better business efficiency. Trident Information Systems is a Gold LS Retail Partner who has served multiple business ventures. Backed with a team of 150+ experts and two decades of experience, we deliver excellent software services. Contact us for further information.  

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How can Retailers Surpass Competition with Innovation?

In today’s world, where competition is cutthroat, retailers need to find innovative ideas to stand out in the crowd. With the right technology and creativity, retailers can be ahead in the race. With suitable strategies, retailers can accurately capture a larger sum of customer base.   Traditional retail methods come along with various drawbacks such as:   Inability to record customer experience.   Consumers demand the latest POS experience.   Reliability of the same old methods to sell a product and expecting a different result.   Stores and eCommerce are still operating in silos.   Lack of accurate customer data for launching effective offers.   By combining the right technology and strategies, retailers can outshine their competition.   Switch to an Integrated POS system  Customers need flexibility and freedom to place an order however they want and get it wherever they want: their smartphones have become a walking POS. Traditional POS would only support billing offline and online separately. It would not record customer data further to form effective loyalty programs. An integrated POS does the job. With this technology, even staff efficiency increases, they can serve customers even more effectively, find the product location right away, manage inventory more easily and greet customers with a warmer smile. The customers no longer must stand in the long queues, they can help themselves with the payments and free the space soon. Before creating any loyalty program, the first step is to access the customer data, only then can a retailer classify customers into diverse groups for different deals and offers.   Offer Subscription Boxes   A subscription box is a marketing tool to enhance brand exposure to the customers. Be its meal kits, books, shaving kit, or wine subscription boxes have transformed the concept of repeat purchases. Surprises excite everyone. Hence, they can be used as a great marketing tool. Consumers adore the experience of convenience and a surprise of a curated selection of new products directly sent to them. According to a recent eCommerce study by McKensy, about 35% of active box subscribers tend to purchase more active subscriptions.   Surprise Customers with a Surprise Basket   Understand each customer’s preferences and their spending pattern. Offer deals on their favorite products. Mix a few of them and voila! you have a surprise basket for your customers. Distinct baskets for different segments. Not only does this boost customer satisfaction, but also builds recognition for your store. Satisfied customers tend to spread word of mouth contagiously. There is no better promotion than a referral. It is economical and more effective than any other promotional measure. As human beings, we all long for a sense of belonging. If you successfully show your care and affection towards your customers, you are already ahead of the competition.   Promote Sustainability by Reselling   Customers these days have become more sensitive towards our environment. According to Neilsen, 73% of global consumers are willing to change their consumption habits to reduce environmental impacts. Consumers are now holding retailers accountable for their production tacts. Keeping this new mentality of their customers in mind, retailers have decided to respond by reselling pre-used items.   According to the latest Thredup resale reports, the sale of second-hand items has grown 21 times faster than the retail apparel market over the past three years. Now the time has changed, and bargaining is not limited to just students. Even 26% of luxury shoppers are now preferring pre-used luxury items.   Allow Apparel on Rent  As the trend of ethical consumption grows, the rental market is fueled as well. Consumers nowadays do not prefer to empty their bank accounts and buy expensive clothes to rot in their closets as soon as a trend is over. Apparel rentals give enough flexibility to the buyer to keep up with the trend affordably.   Retailers willing to enter the rental market must make sure that they have the right technology that tracks each item; which one is in, and which ones are out. It should be efficient enough to check the state of each product when it is back in the store and identify if it is in the proper shape.   Bottom Line  Retailers can barely stand up to their strong competitors Without innovation. With better technology, more accurate data, and more efficient strategies, retailers can beef up their business tremendously. LS retail is a unified software specializing in retail matters offering a complete set of tools required to run a retail business. From integrated POS to automatic inventory tracking, you can get everything under one umbrella. Trident Information Systems is a Gold Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partner who has served various business ventures so far. For further information, contact us.

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Manage Exceeding Electronics and Handset Demands this Festive Season

The festive season is near, and customer demands for electronics have already outstripped supply for consumer electronic items. It has become a grave issue for retailers and other industry executives. Demand for the best-selling models coupled with a set of other imported devices is either short on supply or out of stock.   The supply crunch amplified due to the Navratri sales (October 12-15) led by online marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, as well as brick-and-mortar retail stores such as Croma and Reliance Digital.   How to Manage this Demand Hustle?  The festive season is when retailers are flooded with opportunities and need the right technology and approaches to beat this demand crunch. We have compiled a few suggestions to help you manage overwhelming demands.   Predict Demands and Stock up   Demand prediction is the first and the most crucial step for managing demand. Understand market trends and keep yourself stocked up. This is how Amazon and Flipkart could stay ahead in the completion. They already forecasted this surge, and the sellers stocked up with higher inventory much earlier. Hence, leading to a better situation for these marketplaces. Supply Chain Management Software like Microsoft Dynamics 365 empowered with AI-based technology extracts market data and creates logical and actionable reports.   Integrate Online Ordering Channels  Allows customers to reach you the way they want. Whether it is an application, website, or third-party platform, they can reach out to you through any medium. Having all the channels integrated within a unified platform saves retailers from multiple integration complications. This way the buyer gets enough flexibility to choose what they are most comfortable with. Apart from this, retailers can also check on their customer’s activities, for example, they can check out how many customers landed on their website and for how long. calculating their level of interest, the retailer can set a targeted customer base accordingly.   Manage Warehouse Efficiently  When demands get unpredictable, efficient warehouse space management becomes a must. Plan proper stock positioning and allocation for maximum floor space optimization. Many warehouses ignore the importance of proper racking and stacking. Hence, they end up wasting a lot more space than usual. Adopt proper spacing methods such as extending your racks up vertically, reducing aisle width and racking area, adding half-pallet storage location, and so on.   Electronics tend to get outdated pretty quickly, hence discard the obsolete and damaged appliances. Regulate warehouse temperature and keep tabs on the inventory yet to arrive.  Make Sure You are Not Short on Inventory   After forecasting demand, retailers should ensure they have the right number of stocks available complimenting consumer demands. Track electronics batch and classify inventory with similar traits in batches. For example, keep all the iPhone versions in a single batch and Samsung phones in another. This is called batch tracking, which makes inventory management a lot easier. You can also use a technology that keeps tabs on current inventory and required inventory. Not only does it save your efforts but also streamlines inventory management.    Bust Queues with Mobile POS System  A team equipped with mobile POS assists customers way better. It accelerates customer experience while tracking the right electronic item in the store. It even streamlines the payment process; customers can pay faster and even help themselves if other staff members are busy with others. Consumers do not have to wait in long queues. Apart from consumers, it also manages suppliers and ensures complete security. A mobile POS is more than just billing software. Mobile POS is different from a fixed POS system. It is easy to carry and more convenient for both consumers and the seller.   Ensure Timely Delivery  When demands are rushing, and so is the time, accelerate the delivery process. Retailers have to be extra careful during the festive crunch. The profit rates are high, and so is the competition, which makes customers demand faster delivery. Track vehicles and the shortest route possible while ensuring the product reaches its destination unharmed. Also, it is advisable to allow a seamless returning process if the customer is not satisfied with the product. This leads to a sense of security among the customers. Many marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart follow the same policy. They allow customers to return a product if they feel like it.   Bottom Line  The festive season brings joy, business, and stress for retailers altogether. With overwhelming demands and shortage of supply complimenting the urge for quality needs a solid supply chain management. Demand forecasting, omnichannel, warehouse management, and prompt delivery are the aspects. A unified supply chain management service provider like Trident Information Systems. It has been a Microsoft Gold Partner since 2003 and has dealt with such demand scrunches gracefully. For further information or a demonstration, contact us.    

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Why is it Important to Understand Trends and Customer Behavior in Retail?

Fulfilling human desires is a never-ending process. With the magnitude of requirement diversities, it gets even harder. 2020 has been a crazy year for all. It influenced people’s mindsets and needs. For example, People became even more hygiene conscious and decided to ditch certain products. This pattern influenced retailers to a great extent.   Since a market is full of diverse people with diverse needs and desires, it becomes quite tough to bring out a product that fits everyone. But before launching a product or making modifications to the existing ones, it becomes essential to understand a customer. A retailer cannot just randomly pick certain products and expect them to buy them.  To run a successful retail business, retailers need to understand market trends and customer behavior. Retailers can connect customer data in many ways, such as – holding a market survey, going through their feedback, or simply using an AI-based technology like LS Retail which automatically collects customer data from various sources and formats and turns it into a visionary report. Using such technology is more effective, accurate, time-saving, and cuts manual work.   What is Consumer Behavior, and Why is it Important?  Customer behavior drives trends. It is the frame of mind depicted by the consumer while buying, consuming, or discarding a product. Several factors influence customer behavior which revolves around looking for a product, evaluating its dynamics, and eventually consuming it. Then comes the post-purchase behavior, which depicts the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a consumer.   A consumer goes through various steps before buying a product. Understanding consumer behavior can identify how you can drive them to buy your products more. Analyzing their pattern and modifying your operations can increase the chances of your product being bought rise.   It is the most important aspect of a business because it addresses factors that influence customers’ buying behavior. By understanding their patterns, retailers can differentiate between the needle and the obsolete products.   Understanding consumer behavior and trends can also help marketers present their products in a way that catches their eyes and motivates them to buy a product. It is a key to reaching and engaging customers while convincing them to make purchases from them    An ideal consumer behavior analysis reveals:   What are the mindsets of various consumers on different alternatives (products, brands, etc.)  What are the factors driving them to choose from the alternatives, and clarify their patterns?   What is consumer behavior while researching and shopping?   How their environment influences their purchasing decisions (friends, family, media, etc.)  Collecting customer data to understand their pattern and market trends sure seems like a complicated task. However, it is not if you do it the right way. There is certain Unified software such as LS Retail, which integrates data from different sources and creates a report depicting current market trends and factors driving customer’ buying behavior.  How Does Understanding Customer Behavior and Trends Benefit Your Business?  Understanding what drives customers to buy a product can make a whole lot of difference:   Boosts sales   Improves Product   Helps with More Effective Deals and offers  Develops an Emotional Bond   Promotes Referral Promotion   Increase in Sales with Better Strategies  Once you crack the algorithm driving customers to make purchases, you can use it for your product as well. If there is a specific feature in a product that catches their eye, see if you can offer a similar thing. Is it the packaging that draws them in? What is the emotional value of the product to the buyer? Keeping these factors in mind and adopting relevant strategies can help a retailer boost sales.   Helps Identifying Trending Products  Understanding why a buyer would rather purchase from your competition than from you can help you access the essentials you are missing. You may also make improvements to the product. Maybe they want the product you have but from a different brand, identify what is trending and keep it in your store. LS Retail with its AI technology accumulates market data springing from several sources and addresses what is trending.   Effective Loyalty Programs   Retailers can classify customers in different segments according to their preferences and purchasing patterns while creating attractive deals and offers that are most likely to catch their interest. This way they can offer, buy 1 get 1 free offer and deals like buying two packets of chips at 20% discount.   Loyalty programs have been one of the most efficient ways to boost sales even before the arrival of advanced technologies like LS Retails which makes the process even more seamless.   Develops an Emotional Bond   Letting customers know you understand and take care of their needs helps develop an emotional bond between the customer and the retailer. Humans live for the sense of belongingness, and it does the trick perfectly.   Free Promotion   Connecting with your customers on an emotional level encourages them to purchase more from you and refer their friends and family while boosting referral promotion. Referral promotion is the most effective and cost-efficient promotional method amongst all the promotions. People tend to believe word of mouth from their relatives and friends more than any media or paid promotional approach.   Conclusion   Markets are full of diverse people, with unique needs and requirements. To keep almost everyone happy, retailers must understand their purchasing behavior and market trends. Identifying the factors that drive their buying decisions can be done effectively with LS Retail, a unified software solution that targets every business need. Trident Information Systems is one of its Gold Implementation Partners. Contact us for further information or a demo.  

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Why Good After Sales Services Enhance your Customer Services & Sales Both

Your job is not done as soon as you sell a product. In contrast, it starts from there! Many businesses use after-sales services as an effective promotional tool. This way, they can gain customer trust and drive the spread of word of mouth. Many organizations optimize after-sales services to build stronger bonds with their customers while encouraging them to come hopping back to you.   After-sales services start right when you sell a product, it includes what you do at the Point of Sale and how you follow up with your customers afterward. Repairing products on warranty or an easy product return policy are some extended services. There are many ways you can upgrade these services:   Allow Seamless Payment Mediums: Nobody likes to stand in long queues. Instead, people demand faster transactions. A cloud-based POS can help streamline the operation while ensuring customer satisfaction. They can even help themselves with payments if no store staff is available to help them out.   Get in Touch with Your Customers After 1-2 Weeks: Contacting your customers after 1-2 Weeks post-sales can give you some essential feedback you can use to enhance your overall services. Ask how their experience was with these services and how they would rate it. Apart from this, it helps generate a stronger relationship between a company and its clients. They feel being recognized and build more confidence in the services.   Maintain Communications: Keep in regular touch with customers through newsletters, articles, videos, webinars, and guides. Keep them updated about your new product or service launch. If you give them every information they need, they are not likely to fall for your competitions.    Personalize Notifications: If you feel your customer is satisfied with your products or services and other sales are happening soon, you can send them personalized emails or messages informing them about the same. Additionally, you can personally suggest what they can get out of it.   Ask for Recommendations: Ask your customers for their recommendations. Let them explain what else they expect from your business and what features are just not for them. Let them share their ideas of ideal services and, if possible, customize the same for them. This is one of the methods to make your customers feel recognized. Apart from collecting customer data like this, you can also use AI-based technology like LS Retail that extracts data from various sources and presents reports on customers’ activities and preferences. This is a much easier and more accurate method.   How After-Sales Services Enhance Your Business  After-sales services are one of the most important aspects of a business. They define what your business is, and how seriously you take your customers. This is what makes or breaks your business. If done right, and implemented the correct strategies, it can ensure the following benefits:   Overall Product/Service Improvement  Referral Promotion  Sales Enhancement   Loyal Customer   Improves your Services/Products   Getting essential feedback from customers on your product can address where you lack. Pay attention to it and enhance your overall services. You can also introduce new services complementing the old ones or custom make packages for classified customers. This way, you can keep innovating and evolving. ERP Solutions like LS Retail sets a platform where your business has comprehensively made reports driving better decisions. Apart from this, your constant improvement depicts your business receptivity. Expressing your customers how your business could improve due to their valuable feedback generates a sense of recognition while subconsciously binding them to your company.    Boosts Referral Promotion   A happy customer recommends a service to their family and friends. It has been observed that people tend to believe Word of Mouth more than any promotional measure. You do not even have to spend a thousand dollars on other promotional techniques when all you have to do is keep your customers happy and let them do the rest for you. This is where the power of multiplication shows up. People also tend to post about products and services on their social media for free exposing you to a greater set of audiences.   Enhances Sales   Improved services plus referral promotions are equal to sales boost. Marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart provide seamless after-sales services. From allowing a variety of payment methods (debit, credit, cash, GPay) to replacing or returning a product to dealing with customer grievances it supports everything. A unified solution like LS Retail handles every aspect of after-sales services, integrates multiple tasks, and saves time while enhancing sales.   Builds a Stronger Bond with Customers  Good after-sales services make customers feel cared for while developing good relationships. Tracking customer activities and classifying them in diverse groups for suitable deals ensures a sense of belongingness and warmth among customers. Emotions are what drive people to purchase more than their needs. Hence, maintaining an emotional touch with customers ensures their loyalty. There are various methods to collect their data. However, the easiest way is to get an AI-based technology like LS Retail to automatically extract data from various sources and turn them into actionable reports depicting customer behavior and preferences.    After-sales services are an effective marketing tool. Apart from boosting sales and building customers’ confidence, it ensures a healthy bond between a business and the customer. There are certain services like the one LS Retail offers, which takes care of all the after-sales services. Trident Information Systems is a Gold LS Retail Partner who has served various businesses so far. For further information or queries, contact us.  

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