Digital transformation may pose new challenges to retailers, but it also represents the opportunity to enhance, improve, and streamline your retail operations to meet customer expectations and build long-term relationships. Here are five types of IoT Software designed for retailers to help pave the way for growth and innovation for your retail store with the help of continuity merchant services. 

A Tablet POS System

According to a 2020 report by Deloitte on retail industry trends, convenience continues to be a primary component of customer buying decisions. For many business owners it may make sense to run customer sales through a tablet instead of the traditional desktop. Tablet point of sale systems are easily downloadable and offer the same functionality as desktop POS systems. 

For example, this iPad point of sale system by Lightspeed provides greater mobility than a desktop and facilitates the purchase process by allowing staff to accompany customers on the floor and help them make faster purchases. Using this app eliminates the need for customers to stand in long queues to make a purchase.

The software also comes with an inventory management feature that can allow staff to: 

• Determine product availability. 
• Answer any questions the customer may have regarding the product.
• Make product recommendations. 

Utilizing a tablet POS system allows staff to provide a more convenient and personalized customer experience, which is pivotal for business growth.  

A Human Resource Management Software

As your retail business grows, you’ll need to hire more employees. You will also need to manage your employees in a way that ensures high job satisfaction and growth. One way to ease this burden on yourself is to invest in a human resource management software. For example, GoCo.io is a hiring tool that helps you recruit new hires and manage your staff efficiently. 

This tool also allows you to streamline the hiring process by integrating the best talents into your retail business to improve productivity. GoCo also enables easy onboarding of new employees by introducing them to key aspects of your retail operations. 

It helps you navigate important HR functions such as:

• Arranging for employee insurance.
• Tracking time spent on the job.
• Generating payroll.
• Managing leave and paid time off. 

A Retail Accounting Software

Another useful software for retailers is an accounting tool that allows you to integrate your POS system with the accounting system of your store. If you invest in the iPad POS system by Lightspeed mentioned above, they also have an accounting software that integrates with the iPad system, allowing you to optimize your accounting tasks on your tablet as well. 

A cursory look at Lightspeed Accounting reveals that it can be used to perform the following functions:

• Maintain records of transactions.
• Keep track of taxes and product discounts.
• Generate financial reports on store sales and number of customers.

A Team Communication Software

Communication is vital to running a retail store in a transparent and efficient manner. As a retailer, you’ll need to collaborate with a variety of individuals associated with your business. This includes your managers, on-floor employees, vendors, and more. 

While many retailers rely on messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or email to communicate with other parties, there are other tools that may serve your needs better. Slack, for example, is a team communication platform that serves as an effective hub for co-coordinating with your staff and other third-parties. It enables smooth internal communication and offers a variety of features such as:

• One-on-one chats.
• File sharing.
• Creating channels to manage a team or a project. 
• Connecting via calls. 

A Loyalty Program Software

Integrating loyalty programs into your online and in-store customer experience is imperative to building long-term customer relationships. One such software is Lightspeed Loyalty , which allows your customers to sign up for a point-based loyalty program and benefit from:

• Promotions.
• Coupons.
• One-time deals on special occasions.

This tool can also help you build personalized marketing campaigns based on customer insights. It allows you to connect with shoppers and provide them with relevant offers and product recommendations that complement their shopping habits. The 360-degree functionality of this tool makes it one of the best software for retailers.

In a Nutshell 

From a mobile point of sale system and accounting software to human resource tools and customer relationship management tools, technology presents an abundance of opportunities to retailers to innovate and optimize their business operations and provide their customers with the convenience they desire. 

The post What are the Best Software Solutions For Retailers? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Over the course of our conversation, Day explained why growth is the primary concern for small businesses and how Dell develops solutions that evolve as business technology needs change.

An End-to-End Solution for Small Businesses

As a small business owner or entrepreneur, you do not have time to waste. You need to spend time with clients, investors, and others to grow your business, but sometimes a lack of technology or the right support results in an unwanted shift in focus and lost productivity.

“What the small business customer wants are performance and reliability,” Day told me.  “They cannot deal with downtime or being on tech support calls for hours. When you are trying to build your business, the last thing you want to worry about is your technology not working for you.”

Day explained that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution here, that technology solutions need to change as businesses grow. So whether you are a one-person shop, ten-person shop, or working with hundreds or thousands of employees, Dell offers different hardware, software, and security solutions to help businesses every step of the way.

Day explained that Dell’s goal is to give every customer the peace of mind they need to keep their small business running smoothly. They need high performing technology they can trust to work from the moment they open it up. They need as much built-in security as possible. Moreover, they need to know that someone will be there to help when they need it.

“It is not just about the hardware,” Day said. “It is really about trying to give them an end-to-end solution. We want to enable our customers to focus on their clients and their business, and not to have to worry about the technology.”

The Evolution from Consumer to Business Technology

As Dell continues to build small business solutions to fit each customer’s unique needs, they are paying close attention to the surge in adoption of consumer technology within the professional landscape. Specifically, Dell is focused on bringing the convenience, high performance, reliability, and security of their other business solutions to the tablet.

According to Day, Dell’s integrated two-in-one, 360-hinge technology into their Latitude tablet series. You can make it feel like a PC without having to detach anything, or you can flip it over and use it as a tablet. Moreover, to continue meeting their small business customers’ needs, they have added security and manageability into the product as well.

“As our business customers want this new technology, we can make sure the right stuff is in the computer. So if they have to connect it to something in the enterprise, IT managers can still manage and secure it.”

Touch also seems to be the next evolutional step in Dell’s small business technology. While cost, business budgets, and demand have led to the sluggish adoption of touch PCs, Day expects that touch will soon catch on just as other performance-enhancing technologies have in the past.

“The whole ecosystem around these PCs is becoming so much easier for the user, and touch is a key performance thing. It just makes everything more efficient. As we need to save more time so we can focus on our businesses, we need these things to make us more efficient.”

He also suggests that notebooks will soon overcome desktops in the workspace and that the “movable” workspace created by docking stations and wireless connectivity will be the next evolution of the small business workspace.

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Accelerate Your Business Recap

Accelerate Your Business was a symposium aimed at sharing information that will help small business owners take their businesses to the next level. It featured sessions that shared best practices in cloud-based technology, and new devices & apps that can make your business more productive and efficient. Attendees also had the opportunity to network with business leaders, industry experts, and digital innovators. It was a high-energy, high-impact event for all who attended.

The event started out with a keynote from Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and an investor in tech startups. He spoke about “Building a Community of Hundreds of Thousands of Communities,” which is exactly what he was able to do with the creation of Reddit in 2005.

The morning continued with three sessions that touched on different aspects of business growth and technology:

• Staying Safe in the Current Cyber Environment – Moderated by Gene Marks, this session focused on data security for the modern cloud-based workforce, with an emphasis on keeping both customer and business data safe.
• Managing the Modern Customer – Moderated by Carol Roth, this session focused on using technology to create a holistic approach to customer service.
• Q&A: What’s Hot, What’s Happening and What’s to Come – This Q&A session with Amy Cosper (Entrepreneur), Jordan Chrysafidis (Microsoft) and Eric Day (Dell) tackled questions about the future of business and what businesses today can do to prepare.

The Accelerate Your Business symposium then ended with a keynote and workshop on “Influencing Influencers” with Jon Levy, who shared his experience working with brands and companies as well as strategies for businesses to improve their product development, customer acquisition, and customer engagement.

Accelerate Your Business with Safer Technology

I participated in the session on staying safe in the current cyber environment. Today’s technology and cloud-based solutions have made it easier to run your business, but there are also data security concerns that every growing business should be aware of.

One way to keep your business safe is to upgrade your devices, because older devices are slower, heavier, bulkier, and pose security risks. This infographic explains the huge differences between old and new devices.

If it’s time to modernize your business technology, consider updating to devices based on the 6th generation Intel® Core vPro processor family  and Windows 10 pro.

• Fast boot and wake up times.
• Easy multi-tasking between apps, files, and websites.
• True Key technology to safely reduce the number of passwords you use.
• Facial recognition technology for simple and safe log in.
• BitLocker encryption that keeps your data safe even if your computer is lost or stolen.

You can get 6^th generation Intel Core processors and Windows 10 pro in a range of devices, such as desktop towers, touch screen All-in-ones, mini PCs, laptops, tablets, and 2-in-1s. Check out the Accelerate Your Business site for more offers, information and the latest devices.

The Accelerate Your Business symposium emphasized the fact that to grow your business you have to be constantly moving forward with the latest technology and strategies for developing products and reaching customers. One way to get started right away is by upgrading your devices today.

This post was written in partnership with Intel; however, all opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

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