Now thanks to new technologies and methods of working charities are able to stream their resources together for  a coordinated approach to fundraising, reaping the benefits along the way. For example many of Cybertill’s charity customers are able to share their donor information with their events team, this is incredibly easy because Cybertill is cloud based and can be accessed from any where in real time. This allows head office to extract the latest donor information and share with other departments.

Indeed the week after the Lotteries Council Show Cybertill is attending the Help the Hospices Retail Conference and many of the delegates from the former will be attending the latter. Evidence indeed that charities approach has become more collaborative, whether this has change has been driven by technology or the charities themselves is a moot point, but what is unarguable is that it is benefiting a charities bottom line.

Mobile PoS (aka M-PoS) is central to retailers offering an improved retail experience in-store. It is supposed to add a tinge of sepia to those times of customers, like you and I, standing around waiting for the sales assistant to check stock and get back to us.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding mobile PoS, but little traction on the high street, that is until recently.  Retailers that are beginning to deploy mobile PoS include Virgin Media and the Co-operative Food Group.

There are a whole host of reasons why. For Virgin it is about immersing their customers in an interactive retail experience and making shopping fun and for the Co-operative about customer service and increasing sales.

That’s four pretty compelling reasons for having M-PoS – and there are plenty more: queue busting, customer information portals and many more. So expect to see many more retailers deploying mobile PoS over the next twelve months as retailers realise the potential of mobile PoS and how it can add to the bottom line plus many more perks!

If you’re a retailer and using mobile PoS let us know how you find it. What’s the benefits and have you experienced any pitfalls? Are you a retailer that is yet to make the jump? Then let us know what is stopping you.

Perhaps retailers should embrace showrooming and see it as an opportunity and not a threat? One thing they cannot do is ignore it, as it is here to stay. With the proliferation of smart phones and wi-fi it is only going to become an everyday occurrence. Hence retailers need to think how they are going to address this digital phenomenon.

There are some tactics that retailers can implement that ensure showrooming is an opportunity for them and not a threat to their business.

Customer Service – You can’t put a price on excellent customer service. Knowledgeable and well trained staff are worth their weight in gold. They can help and advise customers and offer valuable insights when they are making purchases.

Get Digital – Create a digital experience for consumers in store. For example Virgin Media’s concept store in Westfield, White City, London. They have a full touchscreen wall for product browsing, TiVO lounges and iPads consumers can use to find out information, test products and so forth.

Retailers can use digital technology to allow customers to shop online when in-store. Tablets, such as iPads, linked to the retailer’s website, allow consumers to check product information, look at reviews, as well as online offers and live stock levels.

Wi-Fi – offering free wi-fi to customers may sound counter intuitive but it allows retailers to collect information when consumers register to use the wi-fi, retailers can then also target special ‘daily’ offers to these consumers.

Be Multi-channel – retailers with a presence online and on the high street are at an advantage. They can offer services such as ‘click and collect’, ‘reserve and collect’, in-store returns for goods bought online, online videos and tutorials about products and services. This is about offering a better retail experience and customer service.

There are other tactics such as price matching, in-store apps and so forth, but not all of these would be relevant to all retailers.

However, it is worth noting that retailers won’t always win out, there will always be those that showroom. And remember it is not just a digital phenomenon this has always happened, mobile phones just made it easier. People have always checked and compared prices, whereas before they might have been just compared prices between high street shops now they can do it anywhere. But the more agile retailers will turn this to their advantage.

With Christmas 2012 behind us, the sales figures are in and they all point to changing consumer patterns, with a growing share of shoppers doing more of their spending online and an emergence of ‘show rooming’ and ‘price matching’. However the retail winners of 2012 all had one thing in common…a strong multi-channel retail presence.

So how do retailers direct shoppers to their brand?
With a growing use of tablet computers and mobile devices, and an increase in data usage, customers are showing changes in their shopping habits. Online sales reached record highs for 2012. According to IMRG; in 2012 the estimated value of the UK online retail market was £77bn, with 20% of all UK online sales made through mobile devices and tablets. Retailers now competing on a global level, as shoppers are looking to find the best deal possible, with a trend to browse products in store and find the best price or available stock online. When customers come in to your store is it best practise to let them browse your products and leave to purchase it elsewhere? In a ‘global market’ is it acceptable to only reach the customer base of shoppers in your local area? Is it best practise to have items listed on your website that are out of stock and not updated in real time, resulting in cancelled orders? Is it best practise to have a website that cannot be accessed via mobile device, alienating 20% of your market? Bottom line is if your website isn’t any good, you’re waving goodbye to customers and prospects.

Would it not be better retail practise for the following; when customers are online, they are directed towards your website, and that its properly optimised online? With your mobile enabled website, customers can browse across any mobile device with no loss of quality. Customers can see exactly what is in stock in real time, price match and see a full description of the products? They can easily contact you with any queries they may have and reserve stock for collection in store? Is it not best practise to gain a greater customer exposure online, with your website easily integrated with eBay and Amazon? With your quality ecommerce web presence you can deliver a personal touch to your customers as if they were in store, allowing you to build brand loyalty and returning business.
At Spring Fair International 2013, retailers will be given the opportunity to view the latest retail ecommerce and EPoS solutions available today. Cybertill will be demonstrating our award winning retail systems. To see just how easy it is to increase sales through an ecommerce site and multi-channel retail solution, visit Spring Fair 2013, 3-7th February 2013, N.E.C, Birmingham, where Cybertill (Hall 5, Stand K53 and Hall 17 Stand T63) will be offering free SEO advice and demonstrations of ecommerce and multi-channel systems. Book your FREE tickets now, while places last.

With the advent of gift cards this has seen the demise of paper vouchers. This has made it easier for retailers to promote gift cards at point of sale and throughout the store. Whereas vouchers had to be locked down gift cards don’t hold any value or credit until they are activated at the till point. So promotions and displays on gift cards can help drive further sales of them. What’s more rather than retailers ordering card designs with a nominated amount on the design (such as £10, £25) if they order generic ones instead it allows cards to be pre-loaded with any amount allowing retailers to upsell the amount put on the card.

There are of course negatives for gift cards, but these mainly down to perception. Gift cards can expire, so it is important to check with the retailer if there is an expiration date. With some EPoS systems, such as Cybertill, retailers can manage this process by specifying an expiration date or not setting one at all. Although in this multi-channel age the real sin for retailers is not making the gift card usable across all sales channels. With cloud based retail systems, like Cybertill, this is easily done, so gift cards can be used in store, online or over the phone.

On the flip side there are huge positives for retailers and customers alike. They are a great tool for retailers to attract shoppers to their store or online, and often visitors spend more than the value of the card. There has also been research done across in the States that shows that consumers want to receive such cards as gifts.  The National Retail Federation survey found 60% of respondents hoped to receive them this Christmas. Social media has also had an impact on gift card sales. It is easy for people to look at a friend’s Facebook page to see which retailers or websites they ‘like’ and also to see if they have shared any ‘wishlists’ from ecommerce sites across social media. So people can buy with confidence knowing they are buying the correct brand or store’s gift card. This also means the consumer is getting a gift card they want so they can treat themselves.

So retailers should be busy ordering, preparing and promoting their ‘multi-channel’ gift cards in-store and online for the Christmas rush.

There is however a potential remedy to the long hours and that is cloud based EPoS systems. Often retailers will be in-store early working on the figures, ordering stock from suppliers and staying late checking takings and stock levels, as well as processing web orders, if the retailer has an ecommerce site. And if the store is a family run business often they will want a member of the family in store at all times, as it can be difficult to step back and delegate. Cloud based EPoS systems can resolve these issues as well as help tighten security and integrate an ecommerce site into the business.

Firstly, a cloud-based EPoS system can be accessed from any location on any device that can access the internet; this alleviates retailers having to be in-store to work on their business. They can check stock levels, order new stock all remotely. What’s more EPoS systems can automate these processes so orders can be fired off to suppliers in a matter of minutes. Secondly, even when retailers aren’t in the business they can monitor sales transactions as they happen, with a cloud based system. So any irregularities can be spotted immediately. Terry Harvey who is managing director of M&P cards (a card and gift retailer with 6 stores) uses Cybertill across his business and one of the reasons for this is he can keep a check on security. “I can check sales at the stores and flag anomalies that come up on the daily sales, like a refund that looks a bit odd, or a transaction that doesn’t look correct.”

Cloud allows retailers to ‘work smarter’ so they don’t have to be chained to their business, they can work remotely but still have the information to hand in real time as if they were working in-store. “Cloud can certainly facilitate retailers being able to work fewer hours,” claims Cybertill CEO, Ian Tomlinson. “It puts the business in to the retailers’ hand, and they can take it with them. But perhaps as importantly cloud based systems can integrate ecommerce sites seamlessly, so retailers don’t sell stock they don’t have online. It is about giving control back to the retailer so they don’t have to be in the business all hours.”

For many independent retailers ecommerce has added to the hours they spend in store, checking stock, removing stock from the shop floor so it is not sold in store if it has been sold online. This highlights one of the main issues faced by independent retailers when trading online and that is their actual stock. They can’t normally afford to ring fence large amounts of valuable stock just for web sales but at the same time the vast majority of separate web sites don’t communicate in real time to the retailers EPoS stock control system. Meaning that web stock levels are either not available on line, which reduces customer confidence, or are simply inaccurate, which allows for sales to be made against stock that has already been sold in store. Cloud based systems alleviate this issue and thus the retailer doesn’t have to be in store rotating stock.

For those retailers who are interested in finding out more about how a cloud based EPoS system could help their business please feel free to call Cybertill and speak to one of our consultants. You can call 0800 030 4432 or email us here.

Apprenticeships can work for SME retailers, but like most things in life both parties have to truly invest their time and energy in to making it a success.

For an SME to do an apprentice justice there is huge amount of time involved training and working with apprentices to properly educate them in their chosen career. If SME retailers see it is a way of cheap labour then this is misguided and more often than not they won’t realise the value of the individual and it won’t reap any benefits for their business. Any SME involved with an apprentice scheme should realise that any such schemes are an investment in time and money, far outweighing the initial short term capital savings of choosing an apprentice over employing some one more experienced. Each SME is different but a good breeding ground for apprentices are those SMEs that focus on personal development and are adept at delivering training.

Any SME that is able to spend time and money training apprentices, can be greatly rewarded. As many individuals that come through apprentice schemes are often more productive, demonstrate greater loyalty and pose significantly less risk to the organisation. But perhaps the most important element of any apprenticeship is the both the SME and individuals selecting the right party for the role. If an SME retailer chooses an unsuitable candidate it matters not how good their training and guidance is, for they won’t get the desired results.

It is important that apprenticeships and education however mirror the working economy as well as taking account of our national aspirations and goals. What industries do we, as a nation, want to promote, what areas do we need to develop to make our industries and businesses more competitive. And we as businesses need to do more to engage and stimulate students and the young in promoting our business sectors and the opportunities within.

From a personal perspective, running a software company, in schools do we teach our children enough about the development of software, or just how to use it? We need to understand how it works, and with it what it can do, these are core skills that Britain may face skill gaps. Free educational programs like Code Academy are great tools for those eager to learn, but this should be backed by development classes taught in school.

In turn what can we as businesses do to engage and excite future software developers?  The Raspberry Pi Project is an excellent example of what can be done, this product has generated huge demand from the British Public and its initial aim was to halt the declining numbers reading Computer Science at university.

The same question should be asked for SME retailers, what can they do to engage and excite the next generation coming through. How can they entice good quality apprentices into retail and promote it as an exciting industry to be in with plenty of opportunities. For some sectors this is certainly easier than others, but no matter what getting good apprentices into business can be a force for good.

So on each page different ‘keywords’ (a word or phrase used by a search engine in its search for relevant web pages) can be added. These will relate to the products and brands being sold on each page. Retailers should be able to edit and amend other elements too (page titles – is how you title the page on your website, image tags – by tagging images with relevant keywords, headers – the headers of the actual web content using relevant keywords).

Many see “Search Engine Optimisation” (basically this means improving how a website ranks in Google and other search engines) as a dark art, but it really is not. With a little training and a decent ecommerce system retailers can take control of their website and begin to manage this process themselves. At Cybertill we have begun to offer a consultancy service on Search Engine Optimisation to customers, but the end goal of this is for the retailer to have the confidence for take over and do it themselves…and get themselves to appear on page one of Google.

Technology is all around us – our phones, laptops, games consoles and even our TVs can now connect us wirelessly to the web to enable us to socialise, search and, most importantly, shop.

Businesses too depend on technology, to provide data and information about key performance measures and to provide key accounting information that is then submitted, often via online systems, to complete annual returns, vat returns, year end and tax returns.

Small businesses, and in particularly retailers, have often avoided technology, some fearful of their perceived lack of ability to use it, others concerned about cost. The thing is in this day and age small businesses can’t effectively and efficiently run a business, let alone a data hungry business like a retail brand, without technology. Think of all these tasks:

-    Stock take
-    Ordering product or consumables
-    Transacting and recording sales, both in store and online
-    Accounting and book keeping
-    Running a customer loyalty scheme and delivering customer communications
-    Business analysis and forward planning

ALL of these can be made simpler, more accurate and quicker with effective use of technology. Systems that automate processes and give us rapid access to data exactly when we need it enable us, as business owners, to be more responsive to consumer demands and more able to make quality decisions with confidence.

When I work with retailers one of the very first things I ask is if they have an EPOS system. For me to be able to help them develop robust and repeatable processes and systems, enabling them to become a scalable, saleable business, I need to know what access to key business data they have got. I consider a quality EPoS system to be an enabler of success; however what I often discover is that my clients have EPoS but are using only a fraction of its capability. This is so frustrating because often the retailer has no idea of the potential at their fingertips and may even be negative toward technology, calling EPOS an expensive cash register. It drives me mad!

Technology is awesome; it means that at the touch of a button you can know everything you need to know about your business performance. If you have an EPoS system and you’re not getting value from it then you should be, if you’ve not got EPOS yet it’s about time you brought your business up to date! Here’s what you CAN do with a great EPOS system:

1.    Capture customer details, analyse who spends most, most frequently – you can then target them, and people like them, increasing your engagement with your most ideal, most profitable customer group
2.    Analyse category performance, unit sales, margins and sell-through rates to determine which products earn the right to occupy space in your store and which are simply not paying their way!
3.    Review hourly, daily and weekly sales performance and trends – knowing which hours, days and which periods are busiest you can more effectively plan staffing to ensure you maximise the opportunity when people want to buy from you
And much, much more…!

So, to sum up, my advice is to get up to speed with technology and to make sure you’re extracting all the “juice” from it that you can – don’t be afraid of it, the fact is ANYTHING that helps you to understand the ins and outs of your business performance, to make quality decisions, and to be more profitable is definitely worth investing in!

About Clare Rayner:

Clare Rayner, The Retail Champion, is one of the most well-known and respected retail experts in the UK, championing for the success and sustainability of smaller, independent retailers and suppliers to retail. A child born into a family of retailers and entrepreneurs, she is passionate about retail and business: Clare also leads the UK Independent Retailer Month.

Omni-Channel Retailing is certainly a new buzz word in key retail titles and blogs. But how can retailers fulfill such an approach to ensure a seamless consumer experience. For example a customer buys three products online from a retailer’s website. Two of the products are delivered next day but to different addresses, one to the customer and one as a gift to the customer’s sister. The final product is arranged to be collected from the customer’s nearest store three days later. The customer’s sister returns her product to store and switches it for a gift card to spend at a later date, thanks to the gift receipt with the product. For many retailers this would require a huge amount of work to be done to link different software systems together and then try and get them to operate in real time.

But, with a centrally served retail system all this is very simple, as it shares the same product and customer file. This means staff can see all stock levels in real time across all locations (stores, warehouses etc) and can reserve, ship, sell stock from any given location. What’s more with a central customer file staff can see the customer’s history all their past transactions and so forth. This tool also acts a central repository for customer information, a live CRM system for retailers. But, Omni-channel goes a step further and allows the retailer to share its vision and clearly communicate its goals across the business. Cloud based retail systems can also act as communication channel and allow retailers to empower their workforce through this medium.

Cloud based retail systems, like Cybertill’s, is making a huge difference to retailers in joining all their sales channels cohesively together and allowing retailers to offer their customers a seamless experience. Omni-channel retailing may be the latest buzz word, but some retailers, like Graham and Green,  have been offering such a retail experience for several years. You can find out more about Cybertill’s omni-channel retail system by clicking here (although we still call it multi-channel) or by contacting us directly.