Varsha SureshSept. 9, 2020
Retail Industry is one of the fastest growing industry that contributes to the economy of a Country. Retail is the sale of goods or services from a business to a consumer for their own use. A Retailer is a person or business that you purchase goods from. A retail transaction mainly handles small quantities of goods. Whereas, wholesale deals with the purchasing of goods on a large scale. Retail Industry is one of the fastest growing industry that is highly influenced by customer needs. Retail stores face numerous challenges. The problems faced by retail stores are huge and require the use of ERP systems to overcome them. Hence, an ERP for Retail Industry becomes inevitable.
ERP systems are software that integrate all the data and related business processes of an organization. It is good to have an ERP software for Retail Industry since they face high competition in market. They also requires capable systems and processes to achieve short-term success and attain long term business goals. Retail sector is made up of a series of sub-sectors and managing them efficiently is crucial to increase the profits. ERP software uses a single database that allows different departments to communicate with each other. That is, ERP for Retail Industry could be a correct solution. The Odoo ERP for Retail Industry is a perfect choice which increase profit and and enhance productivity.
Sales management is an important module in retail industry. If you sell services or products and need an effective solution for managing your leads and customers, then the sales management is a must-have module for you. The features include lead and customer data management, sales cycle management, email scheduling, quotation and invoice generation, and in-depth sales reporting.
Point of Sale has become very important in Retail Industry. POS machines are basically a system that organize the transactions happening in any retail outlet. Using POS machines, it automatically feeds the transaction details into the system. It eliminates the need for extra effort and the scope of human errors. ERP tools now come integrated with the POS machines which is a big reason behind real-time data. ERP takes the advantage of POS machines one step further. All transactional data is reflected immediately not just in the retail outlets, but in the central ERP tool too.
The Retail Industry mainly consists of consumer goods which makes demand very volatile and also dynamic. Inventory management is a very critical problem in retail. Both excess inventory and inability to meet the demand can lead to financial loss. An ERP offers inventory management as an integral feature. It stores details of your entire inventory, including the individual product details. This ensures exactly what is present in the inventory and which items are going to run out of stock. It also tracks the shelf life and notifies if any product is about to expire.
ERP also has the ability to make demand forecasts. Analyzing past trends and customer habits, it can be forecasted if the future demand would rise or fall. It gives you an edge by allowing you to modify your inventory accordingly for meeting the demand.
Like any business, for retail too customer is everything. Brand loyalty is like a sand castle on the beach, and there is always a fear of losing customers. ERP in retail could play a vital role in customer management and retention. As mentioned earlier, ERP operates on information; information that can be vital once you analyze it. For instance, you can sort the purchase history of customers and pick the most active ones, showering them reward points.
Good services will give customers who will allows you to create promotions and deals that cater to their needs. Going beyond sales and marketing, ERP also helps you to solve customer grievances in a timely manner. ERP provides with an integrated view of all customers and makes it accessible to every relevant faction of your business.
The primary advantage of using ERP in retail industry is managing the employees. The retail industry operates via retail outlets, spread over various geographical locations. ERP facilitates the management of employees through an integrated system. Most vendors offer mobile solutions with the ERP package, thereby making employee management more feasible. Essential employee details are stored in the ERP system, along with real-time information like shift timings, work hours etc. All of this contributes in managing the employees more efficiently and making communication with them easier.
One of the most important ERP for every industry is the Accounting Management. The accounting management module include billing management, asset and depreciation management, tax management, invoice management, financial analytics reports, currency management, etc.
The future business and its growth is completely in the hands of ecommerce. Retail business owners have an opportunity to increase their sales by allowing their products to be chosen by a customer on their smartphones and tablets and giving them, the convenience of shopping on the move according to channels of customer preference. Retailers can start their online business immediately and accept credit card payments online. Ecommerce has taken the growth of the business to another level of development.
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