Are Brick & Mortar Stores Becoming Extinct?

Since the explosion of e-commerce giants such and Amazon and Walmart, many people are unsure of the future of physical retail stores. As of 2021, 63% of shopping beings online [i]. Regardless of whether customers complete their sales online or in a brick and mortar location, the majority of potential customers will start online. So what does this mean for your brick-and-mortar shop?

Open 24 Hours a Day

One of the best advantages to creating an e-commerce site is that it operates 24 hours a day for your customers. The #1 reason people shop online is that they’re able to buy at all hours of the day [iv]. Most of our customers are pleasantly surprised to find many orders placed during ‘off business’ hours. This is revenue growth can be exponential. A custom eCommerce store can change your business by making your products available to millions of consumers online.

While it is premature to believe retail commerce will go completely away, it is now important more than ever to have your retail business represented on a website your customers can easily view. You’ve spent years developing your business in the “real world”, now is the time to make the transition into e-commerce. Here are 3 steps to make the transition into the eCommerce world:

Integrate

The first step is to get all of your products displayed on your website. On most occasions, we take inventory data directly from NCR CounterPoint. NCR CounterPoint is an industry leader in point-of-sale systems. .

Set up Infrastructure

Once we have your products and business profile, we set up the integration to a Magneto eCommerce store. Think of this as your “digital storefront”. A content-rich web store will not only give potential customers details about your items/services, but it allows them to purchase it directly or have their order sent for “curbside pickup”. Since the COVID pandemic started, many businesses have been in search of solutions to sell products online and have them picked up in-store. Major big-box retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy have had these services for years, and it’s time for your business to stay competitive in today’s market.

Grow 

Once your business is set up on the CP-Commerce cloud, your business is given the opportunity to grow. Our customers are pleasantly surprised at the increase in customers AND sales. Along with our marketing and SEO team, we can assist you in reaching new potential customers from organic search results in Google. Once your store exists in the digital domain, the potential for growth is endless.

SEO and Marketing

Once your business is on the “cloud” it is easy to introduce marketing techniques allowing you to reach new customers. Many customers are searching for products online, wouldn’t it be great if they came to your site? That’s the art of SEO. Search engine optimization is the process of applying internal and external techniques to your website in order to increase traffic via organic search results.

SEO tailors your content to be relevant to popular search terms. It starts with market research, as well as some time in Google Trends. Finally, these relevant keywords are injected into your content. A well-run SEO campaign usually takes 6-8 months to see results, as well as weekly content updates to stay relevant to Google Search Console.

Key Take-Aways 

As a result of COVID 19, our world has changed dramatically. Many customers expect to not only get product details but purchase the item online. We have decades of experience helping businesses make the successful transition into e-commerce. Check out some of our success stories here. If you have any questions about this process or how e-commerce works, please contact us . We have experienced web developers ready to answer your questions!

Sources

3 Reasons Why Your POS System Is Out Of Date

1.Moore’s Law 

Technology changes quickly. Moore’s Law states computing power doubles every 24 months. Many retail stores around the country are using out-of-date POS systems that are a nightmare for their staff and provide weak sales data. With new systems entering the market often, it is hard to pick the best software to manage your business.

At CP Commerce, we’ve partnered with NCR Counterpoint. No other POS ecosystem allows the customization our clients need to expand their business. Our customers have found we can make all the necessary integrations with warehouse and accounting departments. NCR Counterpoint is what small to medium retail businesses choose to connect their brick and mortar operations to Magento 2 eCommerce stores. 

CP Commerce provides numerous support packages to our customers to help them stay on top of updates and other maintenance tasks for their POS system. This allows you to focus on your business rather than digging through complicated POS software. 

As a result of COVID 19, commerce has changed tremendously. We specialize in helping our clients run brick-and-mortar and eCommerce businesses while managing inventory within both elements of their business model.  

Potential customers are also looking for ‘new’ purchasing options ( ie, curbside pickup). To stay relevant, you must ensure your business can keep up with online retailers. We offer several solutions to physical store locations to implement these new standards into your sale funnel. Customers are used to this functionality and you may be losing revenue as customers look to your competitors with these services. 

2.Sync

Is your accounting department having trouble keeping up with in-store and online sales? We specialize in integrating sales and inventory data and reporting it in a useful manner. We can perform specific queries on your data and customize the software around your requirements. No task is too complicated or too small. We love helping our customers succeed! 

When businesses first start their venture into e-commerce, many are challenged with staying on top of inventory. If a customer wants to purchase an item and your website says it is available but you have nothing left to sell ( a customer just purchased all 10 items in-store), it is a loss of revenue for your business. More importantly, your customer is frustrated and confused.

We help our customers make an eCommerce store an extension of their physical locations while improving your customers’ experience. A satisfied customer will be sure to spread the word about their experience with your company!

3.Curbside Pickup 

As a result of the global pandemic, society was forced to change the way it interacts with one another. This included maintaining 6 feet of distance and purchasing items online and pick up them up curbside. We have the technical knowledge and experience to allow you to provide this cutting-edge service to your customers.  

We can integrate your Counterpoint POS system into your eCommerce store, to allow customers to puck a “curbside pickup” option when they checkout. This process can be a challenge for many business owners as it is built on complex technology that constantly changes. Without a computer science degree, it is a challenge to set up this feature for your business. Schedule a demo with us today to show you how easy we can help you get started with NCR Counterpoint and a Magento store. 

If your business does not offer these options to customers, it is likely they will visit a site/store that does. Don’t let your business get left behind! Schedule a demo with us today! 

Mobile Tools

Many of our clients wish they had a mobile sales point. We had so many requests for this feature, we developed a solution for the Apple App Store. (https://www.mpos-anywhere.com/)

We have leveraged the awesome power of the Apple iPhone to build a mobile full-featured POS system! 

POSA is an extremely powerful tool to add to your business. With an app integrated into your CounterPoint SQL environment, you can accept credit card payments and print receipts without a desktop or cash register! You can have the same functionality as high-end retailers and grow your business. 

Our customers also love the ability to adjust inventory, receive POs, and print product labels directly from our mobile app. Time is the most valuable resource to your business, and POSA will help you save time and money! This system will work with 1 location or 1000 retail outlets. Its scalability is unprecedented in the POS industry. 

Key Take-Aways 

Many businesses are afraid to embrace technology. We have heard horror stories of POS systems disrupting business. We build dependable systems that are built for the end-user that can be easily scaled with your business. Most of our clients prefer a turnkey solution, as it’s the easiest way to start creating revenue for your website. If you have a question about POS systems, eCommerce, or NCR Counterpoint, contact us today!

If you are not familiar with Counterpoint or modern POS systems, we can share our expertise with you! We have helped many businesses like yours make the change from brick and mortar to eCommerce. Check out cp-commerce.com for more info.