ERP is an abbreviation of an Enterprise Resource Planning Solution that is specially developed to manage an organization at the initial level. It is a complete suite or set of tools integrated into an application that data collection, management, and storage from different channels through various activities to a central database. It supports an organization is smart tasks management and smooth operational execution. ERP software solution is considered as the best tool for startups and SMBs. While retail ERP solutions are specially developed by understanding the requirements of the retail industry. Such software is fully featured with all functionalities that are required associated with the retail industry.
Importance of Retail ERP Solutions for Small Businesses
Retail is all about selling products and services from business and individuals to end-users. While retail is one, who purchases products and services from the manufacturer directly in large quantity and sells them to the end-users. They are the important part of a complete integrated system known as “Supply Chain.” The process of selling products and services from one location, i.e., retail store, market and online website to an individual.
Retail ERP Software for Small Business
Today in this era of technology, individuals are concerned about the importance of time. Technology is making advancements in different industries especially in retail to manage time efficiently. Retail ERP software for small business is a fully integrated multipurpose solution for different organizations. The industry is currently facing a lot of challenges and opportunities in previous and coming years. Retailers are rapidly adopting an online medium to sell their product and services through e-commerce, social and mobile commerce. Technology has positively increased the number of channels to sell products and help in improving the revenue. Successful software implementation has maximized retail agility.
Advantages of ERP Solutions
The software is encapsulated with new market trends and trending features. It owns a number of valuable features and gives benefit to the business. Some of the significant advantages are elaborated below:
Compatibility
An ERP software is integrated to the retail point of sales solutions. Such integration speed up the system and process of selling products to customers. Retail ERP solutions are attractively designed with a user-friendly interface to bring an ease in operations. It is compatible to work on different devices, i.e., personal computers, laptop, smartphones, MAC, etc. It is not necessary to purchase additional hardware for successful software execution but can be installed and executed with an existing device.
Ease of Payment
In case of online or physical retail business, payment process seems crucial to handle for customers as well as staff. Therefore, ERP software facilitates the staff with an integrated payment process. It smartly handles online as well as offline payment process with the implementation of the required method. Customers can easily pay through credit as well as a debit card from all around the world. Easy payment method supports the retailers and manufacturers in clearing all outstanding payments within minutes. The traditional process of the online transaction may consume more time, but ERP software successfully handles all.
Streamline Workflow
Integration of ERP software for small business has provided an ease entire operation, management and administrative workflow of the retail industry. It is capable enough to manage business products, prices, additional costs, catalog and a variety of other tasks. Even the process of import and exports is also streamlined through with right implementation. Its outstanding features from product management to successful checkout has managed things in a smart way. Streamlined workflow encourages the workers to manage tasks smartly and get extraordinary output in different ways. Well-organized features have raised retailer’s level of comfortability and satisfaction.
Inventory Management
Inventory management is all about knowing whether the product is available in stock or not. It also about knowing the accurate location of stock along with its complete transformation route. Manually managing inventory for an organization is not an easy job, you need to check all details physically still it is not an optimized and effective approach of management. You’re not sure whether the states are correct or not. ERP software implementation has resolved this problem with an automatic inventory management solution integration. It helps in assuring the availability of the product to meet ROI goals. Right software improves the visibility of products to manage the different level of retailing. You can track all of your inventory by categorizing it is a different form to improve analyzing strategy.
Reporting
If you’re having a problem with your debit and credit in the retail industry, this is going to be the worst situation. Furthermore, unavailability of market competitive products may help your customers in letting go and find the solution to your competitors. Therefore, real-time reporting is considered the most significant advantage of retail ERP software. It automatically gives a comprehensive overview of your products and routine operations. It secures a lot of time of retailer spend in generating reports and calculation. This is undoubtedly a cost-effective solution that provides an online platform to manage all your transactions and reporting and keep you engaged. You’re well aware with market competition and your best-selling products so, it becomes easier to plan strategies for your best selling products.
Catch you Clients
The system is not just about selling products but also supportive in marketing processes. It helps the business in finding more potential clients to positively raise business ROI. The customer care portal of cloud-based retail software help in keeping the clients satisfied with your outstanding services and support. A happy customer is a significant reason to increase sales graph. Outstanding customer care plays an important role in building a relationship of unbreakable trust with valued customers. You can connect with potential clients through different tools and social media to keep them contented. The software keeps your customers engaged with all your existing and upcoming solutions. It gives a platform to clients to share their problems and requirements that help in knowing about their feedback and expectation level. Once you’ve have made a customer happy, they’ll share your product reviews in the market and attract more clients.
Significant Modules/Features of Retail ERP Solutions
ERP is not a single solution but a complete suite integrated with different modules. These integrated modules collectively make it the most powerful software solution that guarantees to organize all your processes. All your workflow management and increased productivity are dependent on your selection of ERP software. If you’ve selected the wrong solution for your retail business, it may increase the challenges. But at the same time, right selection helps you in having good sleep. In order to select and implement a right software solution for your business, you need to understand your requirements and workflow along with market trends. Here are significant features of right retail ERP solutions to worth your investment and implementation.
Customer Management
Customer management module of ERP software is integrated to manage client’s demands and collect all information about them, i.e., personal information and interests, etc. Data collected from the client management module stored in the database. An effective customer management feature offers the following benefits:
- Provide a list of potential clients according to interests
- Enable detailed analysis and vast reporting
- Allow instant information transaction through a secured way
- Help in identifying major demands and areas for improvement
Reward Management
Customer loyalty programs are needed to be managed and execute in a proper way. It is an essential requirement to build long-term client’s relations. ERP software implementation enables innovative customer engagement programs and its effective management. The retailer can easily manage client’s membership plans and offer different discounts and rewards to them. Successful customer rewards management supports in maximizing the satisfaction levels and improve loyalty through different promotions, special offers, and discounts.
Reward management module allows the retailer to craft different programs for regular customers according to updated marketing schemes. It supports in building segmentation among clients and get more advantage.
Product Management
Every retail ERP software has an integrated product management module. This feature supports effective data management, inventory categorizing, product management, and maintain the complete hierarchy. An effective product management shares unlimited benefits some of them are enlisted below:
- Well-organized products by categorizing them according to type, size, seasons and others
- Support for offering a different type of variations within the product and, i.e., material, size, color, and features, etc.
- Assign different barcodes to the products and make it easy to find as well as manage through the scanner
- Support in handling entire product life-cycle and managing all from manufacturing, selling and warranty
Employee Management
Employees are the backbone of any organization. Therefore, it is crucial to manage and support them for business success. ERP software vendor always understands employee’s strength and importance. Advanced ERP solution is responsible for managing staff time schedule, progress, and payroll, etc. It helps management in the tracking of their working hours and routine progress.
In the retail industry, sometimes commission on sales is also allowed to employees. A reliable employee management module automates the sales monitoring according to individual’s sales. The administration will be able to monitor every individual employee’s overtime and performance capabilities. So, at the time of commissions and annual increments, there will be no hurdle.
Warehouse Management
Warehouse management is another important feature of retail ERP solutions that support retailer in tracking and managing inventories. This tracking process is not on weekly but executes on the daily or hourly basis. Complete inventory management life-cycle is tracked through warehouse management module of ERP software. In order to know how ERP software supports in an effective warehouse management check following benefits:
- Linking the warehouse to different franchises enable easy tracking of workflow
- Stock storage information automatically update within the software
- In the case of two or more warehouses, it helps in dividing them into different zones to monitor and manage software
Sale Reporting
ERP software is offering an actionable dashboard to keeps all statistics visible. It helps in making the right decision for your retail business. Real-time reporting feature of ERP supports in making products and prices visible for easy comparison. Modern software own functionality to monitor and analyze all of the important sales, marketing, and customer data. It automatically captures monitor and maintains a record for each product. It automatically keeps tracking for business revenue against every product separately. Unlimited advantages of real-time reporting support in identifying priorities and staying focused to take the right decision at right time.
Price Management
Advance retail ERP solution should offer extended features of price management and discount handling on a seasonal basis. Effective price management automates a variety of business process and product segmentation. Automating price management supports in improving the productivity of business and team. Implementation of the right solution eliminates the chances of errors and keep customers satisfied.
An effective price management software should be able to offer the following features to support a business:
- Automate sales & purchase price listing
- Automate price management according to product versions
- Manage sales pricing for products
- Supports in future price planning
- Comparison with market price list
- Multiple product management with a single price
- Maintain promotional pricing management
- Immediate and on-time automated pricelist management
- Maintain and manage discount schema reporting
- Vendor wise pricelist management
- Update special offers and discounts of different products at the same time
- Invoice management according to the updated price list
Supplier Relationship Management
Being a retailer, you’ve to deal with different vendors and establish good relations with all of them. So, you’ve to prepare a complete set of rules according to their region and products. A reliable software supports in maintaining a good relation to manage deliveries automatically. The software allows the retailer to set rules and approval categories according to the suppliers at multiple levels of management. Let’s suppose you’ve received quotations from a supplier, an online price comparison tool of supplier management immediately compare according to market trends.
These are few significant modules of retail ERP solutions, but you can include much more just with right selection. It supports the retail industry to manage a variety of process and automate the entire workflow. One can build a clear and good relationship with employees, supplier, and customers. All stakeholders will be satisfied, and business revenue automatically increases just with right software selection.
Author Bio:
SolutionDots Systems is owned by Mohammad Imran, a well-reputed business software development service provider located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. SolutionDots Systems is engaged in the development of ERP based solutions for a variety of industries.
SolutionDots Systems is dedicated to providing extensive IT services to meet client expectations. Along with development services, articles are published on regular basis to share updated technology solutions development tricks.
