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Education

Deploying an lated to customers, orders or inventory.

When choosing a POS system, look for one that:
omnichannel POS • Is cloud-based, allowing you to access your data from

anywhere.
as a merchant • Offers a mobile POS option through an app or brows-

By David Mainayar er, allowing you to take payments and manage inven-
tory from anywhere in the store.
Oliver • Provides real-time analytics as well as end-of-day
and aggregate reports, giving you insight into sales
he retail and hospitality indus- trends and customer behavior.
tries have undergone significant
changes in recent years, with cus- • Integrates with other technologies such as CRM and
T tomers demanding a seamless inventory management systems.
shopping experience across all channels. Merchants must • To be ahead of the curve, consider a POS that looks
adapt to these changes by deploying an omnichannel POS at an ecommerce store as the single source of truth,
system to stay competitive. An omnichannel POS system avoiding desynchronization issues.
enables retail and hospitality-based businesses alike to
provide a consistent experience for customers across all Implement cross-channel inventory management or an
channels, including in-store, online and mobile. ecommerce store

Here are steps to follow for deploying an omnichannel One of the biggest challenges of creating an omnichannel
POS as a merchant (or an agency servicing merchants): POS system is managing inventory across all channels. To
Define your omnichannel strategy avoid having to manually adjust stock quantities in your
POS or ecommerce store, you will want a POS system that
To deploy an effective POS system, you need to define stays in sync across all channels. This allows you to au-
your omnichannel strategy. This means understanding tomatically provide accurate information to customers
your customers’ behavior across all channels and identify- about product availability and delivery times, no matter
ing the touchpoints where they interact with your brand. where they purchase from.
Once you have a clear understanding of your customers’
needs, you can create a strategy that meets those needs. If you choose a POS that looks at an ecommerce store as
the single source of truth, your inventory will remain in-
Your omnichannel strategy should include: sync between your in-store and online channels. Essen-
tially, your ecommerce store will function as your master
• A seamless way to check out online and pick up inventory, with sub-inventories corresponding to each
in-store, as well as a way to check out in-store and brick-and-mortar storefront.
schedule a delivery.
• Self-checkout for in-store customers and online Needless to say, this approach requires having an ecom-
checkout for customers shopping from anywhere merce store built. There are many ecommerce platforms
else. you can consider, from the walled garden of Shopify to the
• A mobile-friendly approach that treats mobile devic- open-source ecosystem of WooCommerce.
es as a priority and allows customers to seamlessly Cross-channel inventory management involves:
move between channels. • Integrating your POS system with your inventory
management system to track inventory levels in real-
Choose the right technology partner time OR simply choosing a POS system that treats
your ecommerce store as the single source of truth.
To deploy a suitable omnichannel POS system, you need
technology that can support your strategy. This means • Offering in-store pickup for online orders.
identifying a POS system that is flexible and scalable, and • Offering in-store delivery scheduling.
that can integrate with other technologies such as inven-
tory management and customer relationship management Implement cross-channel customer
(CRM) systems. relationship management

You also need to consider the security of your POS system, An effective omnichannel POS system also requires cross-
as customer data is highly sensitive and needs to be pro- channel CRM. This means creating a system that can
tected. One novel approach you can consider with your track customer behavior across all channels and provide
POS is to choose a system that looks at an ecommerce store personalized experiences based on that behavior. This in-
as the single source of truth. This will simplify all aspects cludes tracking customer purchases, preferences, and in-
of data synchronization across channels, whether it’s re- teractions with your brand. Ensuring that basic customer
information is synced across your POS and ecommerce
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