Over the last 10 years, retailers have had to adapt to major changes in the fashion industry. Retail competition is at an all-time high, and retailers today all have to find new ways to attract consumers and keep them loyal. In the past, there were only a few major players in the retail industry and choices on the floors were relatively straightforward. These days, the market is much more crowded as new companies crop up and continue to make strides into new territories.
Manual to Digital
For one, fashion retailers are no longer depending on manual recording for their transactions. It’s all happening on a digital level right now. Retailers can create a truly remarkable individualized shopping experience that uses eReceipts to collect customer information and retain it in a database right on the retail floor. These digital records are immensely helpful to fashion retailers who need to promote customer loyalty and tailor their shopping offerings to the needs of individual customers.
Inventory Tracking
Another way that the retail fashion industry has evolved over the past 10 years is the way inventory is managed. Now there are apps that allow fashion retail workers to track inventory on the go via mobile devices. Before, inventory tracking was a bit of a labored, painstaking effort that had to be done on a regular schedule and took up much of an employee’s time.
Reports and Analytics
New mobile apps offer business intelligence reports to help companies make smarter decisions about where their dollars are being spent. This can apply to everything from offering special deals to former customers who are shopping in the store, to providing better insight into which products are selling and how well your marketing dollars are being spent.
EMV Liability Shift
Until recently, retailers have had to deal with bigger threats regarding credit card fraud. Great strides have been made in this department and retailers need to be sure they are using a POS that makes them EMV and PCI compliant. EMV is counterfeit card protection that makes it more difficult for thieves to make use of stolen card data. However, retailers still need to make sure they are PCI compliant as well, as EMV doesn’t encrypt the Primary Account Number. All of this has recently been made possible to do using smart retail management software.
The times are continuing to change and we’re likely to see many more innovations and upgrades to the way retail fashion is being managed. There are now integrated solutions for retailers, particularly for apparel POS, sporting goods POS and footwear POS, that are making it easier than ever to provide a truly differentiated in-store experience. As a result, you reach new highs in customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
