Making Retail Work Across Platforms

The world of retail is evolving.  

It’s not the first evolution retail has seen, nor likely to be the last.

If you go back far enough, “retail” often involved a peddler with wares upon his back.  Catalog ordering became the “mall” of its era, with retailers like Sears dominating the format.  Then, with the growth of suburbia came strip malls and indoor malls--more than any other nation (23.5 of square feet per person, with 2nd place being Canada at 16.4).  

But retail peaked, and has since declined--especially brick and mortar stores.  

The biggest closures announced, for the coming year, are mostly clothing, but also traditionally “anchor” stores.  

Yet one area of retail, in particular is booming -- e-commerce.  

“In the fourth quarter and in 2017 as a whole, U.S. online retail grew faster than it has since 2011. E-commerce represented 13% of total retail sales in 2017 and 49% of the growth,” DigitalCommerce360 reports.

It’s a great time to be an online retailer.  

Here is how to survive and thrive with so much retail competition.

Step One: Make Online Shopping Simple

Online shopping has improved, in general.  Years ago you had to click between pop-up ads, looking at tiny fonts on a slow dial-up connection...no wonder people preferred brick-and-mortar shopping experiences.

Now, online shopping can, and should, be straightforward. 

But you don’t have to be a mega corporation like Amazon to make online shopping simple.  With NetSuite you get:

• The ability to accept payment types, including gift cards, PayPal, and credit cards.
• Pre-designed website formats to choose from, which are professionally designed and SEO-enhanced--just choose and insert your logos/personalization!
• Built-in upsells and cross-sell recommendations for customers.
• Customer quote-to-sell and purchase order capability, including custom pricing and/or bulk pricing.
• Ebay compatibility (in the US).

An easy-to-use website is vital to retail in the 21st century, and NetSuite has you there, right-out-of-the-box.

Step Two: Have a Complete Customer Picture

Customer experience is a vital component of business success, particularly in the competitive world of retail.  Excellent customer service is a must.

Give your customer service team a leg-up with NetSuite, which includes such features as:

• Complete customer purchase history and call log available in one location,
• Ability to route customers to specific representatives,
• Automatic escalation with your preset criteria,
• And so much more!

Help customers feel a high level of care with a fully-integrated CRM business solution.

Step Three: Avoid “Technical Difficulties”

When a website is slow, unresponsive, or crashes, customers quickly click away. 

Fortunately, with NetSuite’s fully cloud-based software, your data is safe, secure, and operational.  Without the headaches of onsite storage, you are also free from the need to for costly inhouse IT services.  Updates occur automatically, anytime they are released.

If you do face “technical difficulties,” a NetSuite team is ready to rectify the situation rapidly.  You get only the support you need, when you need it, customized to the level of care your business needs.

Minimize or eliminate downtime with NetSuite.

Step Four: Grow from There

When the online shopping experience is fully integrated into your ERP system, it’s simple for you and your customers. 

NetSuite is fully-integrated to work across platforms and customer experiences, even vendor access for a smooth vendor experience.

With NetSuite’s scalability, open-source code and custom development possibilities, the future is truly limitless.

We’ll Take You There

At SCS Cloud we partner with you for long-term success.  We will assess your current needs, but also grow with you as your business thrives, utilizing NetSuite’s cutting-edge business solutions.

Contact us to get started here, and we’ll take you there.