eCommerce is growing – and growing at a rapid pace. Currently 18% of all shopping is ecommerce*, and this is forecast to increase to almost 25% by 2025*. Ecommerce includes websites, and other electronic and mobile interactions, such as email and SMS. The global ecommerce market in 2023 is worth $5.5 trillion (USD) and is set to reach$ 8.1 trillion** by 2025. Those are some pretty mind-blowing numbers.

But of course it also means that currently 82% of shopping still takes place in a store, and therefore whilst retailers must have a strong ecommerce presence, they can’t afford to be ignore what is still their biggest source of revenue – the brick and mortar store.

  • Omnichannel integration

Omnichannel integration is the key to retail success.

Learn about our integrations with Shopify and Magento.

Success in the world of retail is therefore not about focussing on one or the other – it’s about operating across all ecommerce and in-person channels. In other words, offering an omnichannel experience. We know that this is the way that today’s shoppers want to purchase – over 50% of shoppers engage with three or more channels*** for a single purchase, and omnichannel consumers shop 1.7 times more frequently and spend more***. So for retailers, the rewards and incentives for omnichannel are crystal clear.

For omnichannel retail to be successful, it must be straightforward, seamless and offer the same experience however customers engage with you. Customers must be able to engage in the way that suits them, and we know that they tend to be ‘channel blind’ – that is, they don’t think about which channel they are using, just what is the most convenient. For that to happen, you need a retail management solution that encompasses every channel and every form of engagement. That means that your in-store point of sale (POS) must be fully integrated with your digital commerce store. This level of POS ecommerce integration delivers multiple benefits:

  • Consistent loyalty experience – for example users can earn points in a digital commerce transaction and spend them in-store.

  • Omnichannel transactions – buy online pickup in store/click and collect; curbside pickup; buy online, return in store (BORIS).

  • Understanding of buying behaviours across all of a customer’s interactions with you.

  • Targeted, personalised marketing campaigns, based on deep knowledge of your customer.

  • The ability to get the right stock to the right place at the right time – and sell more.

  • Insights that inform decision making, based on your entire operation

  • Manage your entire operation from a single system.

All of which means enhanced productivity, a better customer experience, and faster growth in sales and revenue.

The most effective way to manage this tight, seamless POS ecommerce integration is to select a point of sale platform with a built-in ecommerce integration to your chosen digital commerce platform.

Two of the most widely used digital commerce platforms are Shopify and Magento. Shopify supports 4.4 million stores globally,+ and Magento is the choice of 270,000 merchants, is downloaded 5000 times a day. ****

When selecting a Shopify ecommerce integration or a Magento ecommerce integration, there are six key things to look for, to drive a seamless and positive customer experience:

  • Flawless POS ecommerce integration – full, bidirectional synchronisation across digital commerce, brick and mortar operations and mcommerce, giving customers the same experience whatever channel(s) they use to engage with you.

  • Plug and play automation – out of the box POS ecommerce integration connectors, to minimise integration effort, and to get you operating your omnichannel environment faster.

  • Shared inventory pool – enabling you to synchronise inventory information across all channels.

  • Master data management – all key data is held only once, and is updated centrally in the POS and replicated out to your digital commerce platform. A ‘single version of the truth’ for information about customers, categories, products, price and inventory.

  • Support for cross-platform transactions, such as click and collect or BORIS.
  • Reporting and analytics across entire operation – giving you a single source of insights into your business, across online and in-store operations.

The future isn’t in-store, the future isn’t ecommerce. The future is omnichannel. Those best placed to win in the omnichannel world are those with seamless, fully functional POS ecommerce integration, which seamlessly joins store and digital commerce operations for a positive customer experience.

How does Shopify help to drive online sales?

Shopify provides a range of sophisticated eCommerce features to help you increase sales. These include helping to engage customers and increase brand loyalty by offering a positive and intuitive customer experience.  It allows you to rapidly expand into new markets, even if you don’t have a brick and mortar presence there, by supporting a range of countries and currencies. It allows you to optimise for SEO searching, so that more shoppers find you. It enables frictionless checkout for customers, by accepting a wide range of payment options.

What are the benefits of pre-built integrations?

With a pre-built integration, everything is done for you, and is ready to go, out of the box. The alternative, which is to build your own integration, requires a great deal of highly skilled resource to develop the interfaces, and then continued effort to maintain and support them across your business. With a pre-built integration, your in-house resources are freed up to focus on other projects and you have the peace of mind of knowing you have a fully supported system.

References:-

*https://www.stylefactoryproductions.com/blog/shopify-statistics#:~:text=Shopify%20is%20a%20key%20player,increase%20to%2024.5%25%20by%202025.
**https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-commerce-sales/
***https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-omnichannel-marketing
+https://www.charle.co.uk/articles/shopify-statistics/#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%204.4,stuck%20around%20for%20the%20platform.
****https://meetanshi.com/blog/magento-statistics/#:~:text=Magento%20(Adobe%20Commerce)%20is%20a,global%20businesses%20for%20selling%20online.

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