If you are a shop owner and have been slow to embrace the innovative technology tools now available for managing inventory, you need to face up to what’s holding you back.
If you’re holding on to a traditional browsing atmosphere for shoppers who wander into your store, that’s nice, but it’s not enough. You have more competition to contend with these days than another specialty gift shop, if, for example, that happens to be your niche. Think Amazon.
According to a retail industry report by AGC Partners, an investment bank that provides advisory services for technology companies, “online retail companies are bringing massive disruption to the retail industry…and are not inhibited by outdated cultures and technologies.” Some of these businesses are not exclusively online but they do provide the “omnichannel shopping experience that consumers are looking for.”
For example, if a customer, most likely a millennial, walks into your store, they want to be able to whip out their cell phones to scan your shelves for an item, and if it’s not there, have the ability to order it from your website on the spot.
The AGC report entitled “The Retail Industry Disruptors: Specialty Online Retailers and Marketplaces Take Center Stage,” states that 64 percent of shoppers expect this technology, but only 12 percent of brick-and-mortar retailers have stepped up to the plate.
And, even more damaging is that too many retailers can’t check to see if an item that is not on the shelf is available in the stockroom.
You do not want to fail to deliver the goods to customers who are becoming increasingly more reliant on technology every day.
To stay competitive in today’s tech-savvy marketplace you must stay up-to-date with inventory management technology. Don’t hold back. Embrace it.