Why Precision Stock Will Empower Your Staff to Sell More
Posted by Amanda McLaughlin on Aug 2, 2021
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Despite being a tremendously popular buzzword, not many people seem to ‘get’ omnichannel.
True, it’s daunting. Many claim to have achieved it, but few truly understand it.
Endless aisle, accurate inventory, and quick and easy stock takes are the less flashy side of omnichannel. However, they offer a whole lot more than the digital mirrors and interactive displays.
Why? Because omnichannel is about delivering the best, most convenient customer experiences. And a universal view of your inventory helps your experience weapon, your store associates, create phenomenal engagement. All to be able to close the sale, anywhere.
Having an accurate view of inventory is a no-brainer for omnichannel success. Lack of data integrity and poor inter-system communication makes for a muddled picture and dissatisfied customers. Nightmarish stock-takes alone are reason enough to pursue better options. We all remember the late nights and early mornings manually counting hangers…right?
Most importantly, a universal view of your inventory unlocks more ways for you to meet customer expectations. That means delivering on their desires and differentiating your business.
Customers expect easy, intuitive, and transparent experiences. They want your products to be there when you say they are. They want white-glove service, even if they’ve only stopped in for a pair of socks. And they want options for when you can’t hand over the exact item they’re after.
Omnichannel is complex. There’s no sugar-coating it. Demand fluctuations occur in both your products and your channels. Processes, delivery methods, and formats change for each channel, too. And to top it all off, your customers will choose what channel they prefer.
Customers may prefer one over another, but they expect you to meet their demands on every channel. Endless aisle and store pickup (aka BOPIS or click-and-collect) bring you up to meet the bare minimum. How you differentiate yourself makes you more desirable. If a customer wants to make a return in-store on their way home from the office and also have their other order waiting for them when they get home, you have to make it happen.
Immediately. Or as close as you can manage. High-speed deliveries are table stakes, and same-day or on-demand delivery is the industry standard. Without complete oversight of what stock you have in what stores and where, you’ll leave customers angrily tapping their foot at home as they wait for their package.
Omnichannel inventory optimization lets you see all of your products everywhere in your organization. It also makes it easier to fulfill orders no matter where or how they’re needed.
Better stores, more enabled staff, happier customers. Endless aisle, accurate stock levels, and quick and easy stock takes, help you genuinely know your inventory. That means your employees can spend more time engaging with customers and closing sales.
Let’s put that in context.
Endless aisle and near-omniscient inventory management let you wave bye-bye to ugly 30-foot shelves and cluttered clothing racks. Instead, use the space to enhance the store experience and let your customers browse your endless aisle. Your staff waste less time adjusting displays or organizing clothes racks and more time helping customers.
The store of the future will be about experiences above all. Interactive displays are great, but true omnichannel excellence shows when your returns and exchange processes are actually enjoyable experiences. Remove friction wherever you meet it, letting your staff handle everything from iPhones. Accept returns, place them back in inventory, then sell again.
Omniscience in action. Use omnichannel to its full potential and drastically improve forecasting and planning, and pivot to meet spikes in demand across your organization to keep customers buying. Your staff can always find a way to get customers the items they want.
There are no excuses with omnichannel. Help your associates say ‘yes’ to more customers by letting them sell items from anywhere in the enterprise. Another store, a warehouse, a distribution center, online.
Let your store associates cross-sell without them feeling like they’re strong-arming customers into spending more money. Making your entire inventory available for all in-store customers means they’re more likely to pop their heads in, primed to spend. Which means more chances to make additional sales.
Understand customers better, let your associates see more about them in the palm of their hand, and deliver more personalized experiences to win their hearts. And keep them coming back for more.
Let your aspirational customer experience determine what path you take. As you pursue your omnichannel strategy, design everything around the ideal customer interaction.
Bring back the joy of shopping, extend your brand experience and enable it to be a platform for everything—content, offers, community interactions, and more. Strive to be the first and last thought your customers have when they want the products you offer.
Let’s talk retail. We love to discuss how our services can support your brand and take their stores to the next level.
