From point of sale to shipped and received: 5 ways NetSuite drives success for omnichannel retailers

While September brings respite for parents up and down the country, the transition to autumn also represents ‘back to business’ for SMEs – where the new year feels firmly on the horizon and B2C retailers step up a gear to prepare for the holiday period. Yet, whether the majority of sales are generated during the last quarter of the year or the business is evergreen, there is no room for error in today’s landscape where customers hold all the power. Here, we discuss five ways Oracle NetSuite cloud ERP can drive business success for B2C and B2B omnichannel retailers both now, and in the future.

1. Turn complex solutions into quick and convenient choices

In a landscape where same-day delivery is a tangible choice for many items, how can you deliver customers the outcome they expect? Can your system ship directly from your storefronts, or move stock from distant locations closer to customers for a simple collection? If not, it could be time to upgrade and utilise a system like Oracle NetSuite. Imagine a customer who can’t wait for an item to be delivered from your central warehouse, but doesn’t want to drive 30 miles to a shop with availability.

By managing internal stock transfers – with auto-scheduling deliveries and bookings with couriers – you can get the product to where the customer deems appropriate within a time frame they’re happy with. The reverse of this is also true; the ability to efficiently handle returns (even online-only purchases) at any in-store location will improve customer loyalty, in-store footfall, and associated incremental revenue.

2. Build above-and-beyond customer service with a comprehensive view of the customer

No longer can a customer be expected to relay information more than once to different areas of your business. Instead, a comprehensive profile can help enhance visibility with updated activity, whoever happens to be dealing with them. This means any issues raised in store need to be communicated to your call centre, which should also be made visible on the customer’s online profile.

To do this, you need a comprehensive solution that re-connects these often-disparate silos, stitching the required information together seamlessly for your employees to harness. Oracle NetSuite enables you to focus the attention and support customers require by showing your entire business their online and in-store transactions, as well as any other customer support interactions.

3. Ensure up-to-the-minute stock information is always available

Once your customer has made the choice to purchase your product, the clock is already ticking regarding their expectation of availability. In this day and age, it’s a given that customers are told the closest physical location with stock of their product, or that your shop floor employees have live point-of-sale (POS) devices to keep customers easily informed. Yet misinforming customers over stock levels, either in-store or online, could prove massively detrimental to their confidence.

With Oracle NetSuite, you’ll have accurate, up-to-date knowledge of all your stock levels and movements between areas of your business. If an item is being transported from the supplier and is due for imminent delivery to your warehouse, a cloud ERP system can manage that just-in-time delivery so you can report to the customer that the item is available for same-day shipment. With a smart inventory tracking system like Oracle NetSuite, you’ll avoid disappointing the customer who would otherwise seek an alternative elsewhere.

Read more about NetSuite’s Supply Allocation feature in our functionality focus blog found here.

4. Enhance your customer touchpoints and improve customer delight

Whatever device or interface your customers choose to use, whether it be a smartphone, a laptop or tablet, be sure you incorporate responsive web design to help drive customer delight. With NetSuite Customer Relationship Management (CRM), you’ll get a 360-degree view of each customer, giving your business unparalleled insight into their browsing and shopping habits. This allows you to dynamically deliver content that’s always optimised for each digital touchpoint your customers make.

Showing your customers the right product at the right time, and knowing what touchpoints drove them to their decisions, really sets you up for success.  When it comes to fostering brand loyalty, exceeding your customers’ expectations remains a key component – both now and for the years to come.

5. Utilise customer data to promote and upsell other products

No matter the industry or the product you sell, having a single view of a customer’s entire purchase history and all their interacted-with products is a powerful trove of information. By leveraging this key knowledge from across your channels back to your customers, Oracle NetSuite can help push the right products via their preferred platform. This allows your business to deliver focused cross selling and upselling promotions that foster customer engagement with your brand, while also bolstering revenue.

Without the backbone of a solution such as Oracle NetSuite cloud ERP and CRM, this pooling and utilisation of data is just not possible.

If B2C and B2B retailers can implement these steps, they’ll come to the realisation that the key to differentiating themselves from other businesses is the effort to improve the customer experience. Using an omnichannel strategy is vastly superior to outmoded untailored online marketing. To innovate new marketing strategies and embrace new technologies means to continually improve your customers’ touchpoints, and know how your changes are driving their behaviour.

To do this, Oracle NetSuite has the right scalable solution for any business that will make innovation standard and our team of experts are ready to get to know you and your business. Contact us for an informal discussion and when you’re ready to take the next step towards digital transformation, we’ll prepare a solution demo relevant to your challenges.