Blogs from ArcherPoint Retail

Want to move inventory and keep customers coming back? Use LS Nav’s offers and discounts features.

Online sales are up, but so are returns. Shoppers and retailers are generally frustrated with the process, which affect the customer experience. How do you tackle the returns issue?

 If you use LS Nav, you can benefit in many ways by joining the Dynamics NAV User Group (NAVUG), where end users, partners, and experts share valuable knowledge and insights.

Find out what retailers are focused on in this summary of Innovative Retail Technologies’ annual subscriber survey on retail technology spending drivers for 2017.

This blog discusses some of the most effective social media promotion strategies around Black Friday. Often retailers will ensure they have coupons, ads, and inventory ready for Black Friday shoppers; this blog explains why social media promotions are an important part of the retail mix.

Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, is one of the biggest days of the year for retailers. As more and more consumers are turning to online shopping, retailers are turning to mobile apps to take advantage of this prime online shopping time. As research as shown that the majority of purchases are made within hours of downloading a retailer’s mobile app, time is of the essence: to attract Black Friday shoppers, retailers need to start acquiring them now. 

Apple Pay and other mobile payment options have gotten off to a rocky start. But retailers should not give up on them. They are here to stay—and with good reason.

This blog provides a look into the latest tax proposal addressing cross-border sales tax issues for online retailers.

In this blog, you’ll learn how to perform a bulk import of image files into the Retail Image Table in LS Retail's LS Nav solution for retailers.

Loyalty programs are important. App-based programs and card-based programs gain interest from different types of programs and should be used simultaneously. 

Learn the 6 powerful, scientifically proven principles that you can apply to increase sales at your retail business.

The new hit game has ways retailers can cash in on the crowds. Learn more.

Visa and MasterCard are both easing the transition to EMV for retailers, learn more.

Go beyond omni-channel by building a unified foundation that allows you to create retail experiences that last.

Don't let the weather hold your retail business back. Discover how weather affects shopper's behaviors.

Discover New features in AdWords that Retailers Can Use to Increase Sales

Selling products on Google Merchant? You must have the Global Trade Item Numbers (GTIN) assigned by the manufacturers in your account by May 16th. Learn more…

Happy employees create a better customer experience and allows employees to thrive, letting you reduce turnover costs, employment issues, and training issues.

ArcherPoint’s Marketing Manager shows the benefits of creating an omni-channel retail app along with the pitfalls retailers should avoid in app development.

Retailers need to be aware of the possible tax implications when exploring new distribution channels.

In this blog, our friends at Avalara discuss the challenges of managing sales tax in the apparel industry and the advantages of automation.

These stats will help you drive mobile traffic for your retail business while increasing purchase amounts per user. Discover the best way to capture m-commerce.

It is well known that e-commerce retailers lose a large part of potential sales due to abandoned shopping carts. Learn why and solutions in this infographic.

Dara Daly shows how LS Nav lets you to automate basic replenishment tasks, giving you a higher level of item availability and reducing stock-outs.

National Retail Federation’s (NRF) “Retail’s BIG Show” 2016 is held annually in New York City and runs January 17-20. Come, learn, and meet with ArcherPoint.

In this blog, ArcherPoint's Retail Insights team examines HookLogic’s Holiday Halftime Report, which analyzes retail sales and traffic statistics.

Your products and services are getting noticed – whether you like it or not! Suzanne Scanlan explains how to leverage both good and bad online reviews.

Use the EMV changes as an opportunity to engage with your customers—and help them out in the process.

Do you have a restaurant or café collocated with your retail store? Dara Daly shows you the advantages of using one financial software system to handle both.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly introduces Instagram’s Advertising option and its benefits.

As you evolve your small business into your big dreams, there are a few things you can do along the way towards turning that dream into a reality.

ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly offers tips to retailers gearing up for their holiday promotional online campaigns to help them make this year the best year yet!

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly explains what’s really important about these terms for retailers when it comes to purchasing a system that will meet all your needs.

Retail apps are used by consumers for more than simply purchasing an item once they are in-store. Dara Daly shows how retailers can use this to their advantage.

ArcherPont’s Kelly O’Brien discusses what it takes for your company to achieve retail agility and obstacles you may face along the way.

The most important retail KPIs and their formulas that provide you with insight into important areas of your business. Include these in you retail KPI dashboard.

This blog reminds retailers that the EMV deadline is fast approaching and provides a resource for helping with the big decisions that need to be made today.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly talks about pop-up shops and trunk shows, why they work, and how to compete if one shows up in your area.

This blog discusses the perils retailers encounter without a reliable, end-to-end retail management system. Read to learn the benefits of retail software.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Hannah Horning continues the discussion of the advantages of Pinterest for retailers.

This blog describes three steps that will help retailers looking to expand from brick and mortar into eCommerce.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Hannah Horning discusses how buyable pins by Pinterest will affect other retailers.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly outlines signs to look for to determine if it’s time to replace your POS system.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly shows the numbers behind mobile searching and discusses the importance of staying involved in the information stream.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly explains Google’s new “Buy Now” option, soon to be offered in its search results, and what it means to retailers.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Hannah Horning discusses the importance of retail staff having product knowledge or access to information for good customer service.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Suzanne Scanlan discusses the importance of deciding the level and type of service your sales staff should provide.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Hannah Horning provides a retail pricing strategy that utilizes the anchoring effect to influence buying decisions.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Suzanne Scanlan discusses the importance of actively soliciting—and acting on—customer feedback.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly explains why websites need to be mobile friendly for the algorithm being rolled out by Google on April 21st.

In this blog, we discuss what is ultimately the most important benefit of technology for retailers—being able to provide fast, convenient service to customers, regardless of what you sell.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly explains the importance of being consistent with messaging to take advantage of its power—from the ad to the store.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly discusses easy ways to make a landing page more effective.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly discusses the importance of gathering detailed information to build successful email marketing campaigns.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Hannah Horning provides a guide to mobile wallet terminology, with explanations of their component parts, for retailers and consumers.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly uses her experience as a Millennial to discuss the importance of knowing where customers shop and how to connect with them.

This blog outlines six questions retailers that are truly forward thinking ask themselves in order to adapt and stay competitive.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly provides highlights of LS Retail’s latest release of its premier omni-channel retail and hospitality solution, LS Nav.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly provides an overview of the benefits retailers can gain from the combination of NAV 2015 and LS Retail.

In the final installment of this 3 part series, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly shows how to get the most out of Pinterest analytics as a retailer.

The recent data breach at Sony teaches us that companies should keep an eye on their employees as well as their networks.

ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly shows how to find valuable data within your Facebook account to determine the value of your social media campaigns on Facebook.

Carl Mazzanti offers his insight on the impact of online sales on the brick-and-mortar retailer – and how the brick-and-mortar retailer can win!

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Suzanne Scanlan gives retailers a heads up about tax deductions you can take advantage of before the end of 2014.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s marketing manager, Suzanne Scanlan, talks about the many surprising benefits of name badges.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s marketing manager Suzanne Scanlan gives some simple advice to restaurant owners to improve the customer experience.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly reminds retailers that technology needs to fit form as well as function.

In this edition of Suzi Shopper, Suzanne laments missing out on an evening of indulging in stadium nachos, all because of poorly trained retail staff.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Suzanne Scanlan discusses challenges retailers must deal with regarding packaging deficiencies and how they can overcome them with visual cues.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Dara Daly discusses perspectives to consider when choosing a POS system.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Suzanne Scanlan reminds retailers that regardless of what you sell, paying attention to the details can set you apart.

Retail artificial intelligence represents the next generation of upselling, a true blending of human and computer, taking advantage of the qualities of both.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Tina Terrezza gives retailers a heads up about Generation Z—the future of consumerism—and how to prepare for it.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s marketing manager Suzanne Scanlan questions how retailers handle long lines and loyalty program enrollment at the POS.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s marketing manager Suzanne Scanlan reminds retailers, regardless of size or location, product or service, that an internet presence is a must.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s marketing manager Suzanne Scanlan explains the importance of ensuring outsourced services are working correctly through a personal nightmare of an experience.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s Tina Terrezza discusses selling and managing a retail and hospitality business without compromising efficiency or profit.

Getting customer information is vital to your business. This blog offers 6 tips to make getting that information a little easier.

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s marketing manager Suzanne Scanlan stresses the importance of communicating to your customers—especially about sensitive issues.

In Part 2 of this series, ArcherPoint’s Matt Street uses Dynamics NAV and LS Retail to limit the discounts cashiers and managers are authorized to allow at the POS

In this guest blog, ArcherPoint’s Hannah Horning shares how poor quality and faulty products can do damage to customer loyalty that can’t be undone.

 In this short video, ArcherPoint’s Matt Street shows how cashiers can offer discounts at the POS using Microsoft Dynamics NAV and LS Retail

This blog explains the value of having an integrated Point-of-Sale and eCommerce solution

In this blog, ArcherPoint’s marketing manager Suzanne Scanlan talks about how poor grammar and punctuation can hurt your company’s reputation and business.

This blog outlines the importance and the basics of PCI compliance best practices for any retail point of sale system

However, at one point, I did have to place a call to the filing cabinet manufacturer for some assistance. Unlike trying to reach the cable company, it was easy to reach this company because the part number, page number and customer service number was printed on the bottom of each page of the instruction manual. Nice!

So, she not only listened, but she also looked and then took action. I was so impressed that I sought out the manager to let him know that Sally went above and beyond to satisfy the customer.

Mobile inventory management solutions have been around for a while, but now it’s possible to run retail management software from many popular mobile devices. This new mobility helps increase the efficiency of employees checking inventory and stocking shelves, as well as warehouse staff transferring goods from vendors or a central warehouse.

If you don’t have the right number of registers available, you’re probably losing money, either in lost sales or hard costs. But mobile Point of Sale (POS) software could introduce a safety net into this fraught balancing act. With mobile POS retail software you’re able to quickly and inexpensively scale up during peak hours.

At this point, many mid-market companies use one or more retail sales software platforms for eCommerce and separate point of sale software for their brick-and-mortar stores. But these divided systems make it difficult to personalize customer interactions across retail channels, and people have come to expect a consistent experience.

Inventory reconciliation requires the coordination of complex data and functions, adjusting what your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system thinks you have to reflect what’s actually on the shelf. How you configure your retail software solution has a significant impact on the system’s efficiency and your data’s accuracy at any given time.

When you want to reward your most frequent shoppers and loyal customers, you may be talking about two very different groups. Just ask your retail sales software. A good loyalty program has many facets — it’s not all about dollars and cents. Building these relationships requires understanding, a personal touch and a solid data foundation.

Retailers that don’t have some kind of social listening strategy are missing out on positive and negative messages from customers, along with opportunities to join the conversation on social media. Monitoring and responding to what your customers say online helps engage customers, guide business decisions and protect your store’s reputation.

Integrating your retail management system with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business intelligence tools creates a powerful foundation for operational efficiency and sound business strategy. When tightly integrated with other software, business analytics provide valuable support for data-driven decision-making.

ArcherPoint recognizes that retail, and in particular clothing and apparel companies, face unique challenges when it comes to sales tax compliance. We’ve teamed up with the sales tax experts at Avalara to bring you these four key truths about clothing and sales tax.

Learn more about expanding your retail operation from brick and mortar to bricks and clicks in our new infographic. Improve the visibility into your entire retail operation and reduce your operating costs and increase your profitability with a fully-integrated, end-to-end, retail management software solution. Also stay up-to-date with the latest trends like flexible buying options and free shipping.

In any business, the last thing you want to do is waste money marketing to the wrong people. Retail software solutions help you target your marketing and increase sales though customer segmentation. To work well, your business data needs to flow smoothly, with integrated software solutions that coordinate tasks and share information.

Social media is reshaping the retail landscape. With the help of retail management software, businesses are able to cultivate sales leads, boost brand recognition and improve customer service from Facebook “likes,” Foursquare check-ins and other social media data. This helps retailers to more effectively manage campaigns that use social media.

Centralized purchasing offers a lot of efficiencies for retailers, but it’s not always the right answer to optimize your retail supply chain. Sometimes, it’s best for stores to do their own purchasing, as store managers are able to provide greater insight into which products sell best on the local level.

ArcherPoint’s new video shows retailers how they can use Dynamics NAV combined with LS Retail to complete a voucher for payment transaction, from POS to invoice. This procedure also captures and verifies information to make sure the voucher is valid and that the retailer has all the necessary information needed to generate invoices and have the payments approved.

Mobile commerce is more than just another shopping channel. It’s a medium to engage customers, influence them to shop and encourage them to keep coming back. Retailers looking to increase their mobile presence should invest in features that optimize the mobile user experience: readability, convenient shopping features and social media integration.

Once considered a habit to combat, “showrooming” is now a practice that mid-market retailers embrace. In fact, retailers treat showrooming as an extension of their omni-channel operations. To make showrooming an area of strength for your business, encourage your customers to purchase from you on any medium.

For retailers, tracking items by the most detailed level possible - color and size, for example - results in more effective and profitable business operations. ArcherPoint is constantly working on ways to make these inventory management processes easier.

Customer segmentation may provide the needed push for retailers to start taking action on the gold mine of customer data collected by loyalty programs. By grouping customers according to demographics, income, gender and other segments, retailers can improve their marketing efforts to target individuals that maximize overall sales.

Integrated technologies certainly have made it easier to run a business, but mid-market retailers still must ensure that their retail ERP solution is more than a shiny new toy. It’s important to look for ERP features that make managing your operations simpler while still adapting to long-term changes in the industry.

When it comes to sales forecasting, retail business intelligence helps mid-market retailers to get a better view of what’s beyond the horizon. Retailers should follow three tips when getting started with analytics: gather analytics that support organizational goals, evaluate the quality of the data collected and use Big Data to predict trends.

Retailers can improve their operations, particularly their inventory management, by automating much of the inventory replenishment processes through a retail ERP solution. Keep in mind that the automated replenishment process can be as simple or sophisticated as needed, but the capability depends on the quality of data provided to the system.

The latest in retail fulfillment — ship-from-store and in-store pickup — have moved on from being the new kids on the block. These services are essential for a successful omni-channel strategy that meets the needs of the changing customer. Technology and updated inventory processes can help retailers offer such important services.

A retail ERP system can help retailers optimize profit margins by providing measurable data to analyze and use in managing costs. By having measurable information about your operations readily available, you’ll better understand what the numbers mean. This is important in an ever-changing retail environment.

With the rise of cross-channel shopping, consumers have retailers at their fingertips. Mobile retail solutions like smartphone apps enable customers to access nearly all the same services available when shopping in a store. Mobile technology enhances what every retailer seeks to do, which is to fulfill customers’ needs better than their competition.

As the retail industry adjusts to the needs of the changing consumer, stores must look at whether their inventory management processes meet those demands. Identifying optimal inventory levels is integral to minimizing losses and maximizing profits. Start by examining three key inventory management areas to find room for improvement.

Managing vendor relationships is crucial to better inventory demand planning. Varying lead times or inconsistent order fulfillment can lead to stock-out conditions, dissatisfied customers and more. Retailers that effectively track vendor performance are better able to create inventory forecasts that account for supply chain disruptions.

A retail management system can help businesses determine optimal staffing levels at a competitive cost. Labor costs often eat away at store profits if they aren’t managed efficiently. The key is to gain visibility into your labor expenses. Technology holds the power to provide valuable insight into employee pay, staffing levels and technology.

Your retail solution can determine how well your company rides the tide of a changing marketplace. Is your system ready for the next retail wave? Upgrading your retail ERP system depends on several factors, but taking advantage of features in newer retail solutions can greatly improve how well you respond in the modern retail landscape.

The color/size conundrum is a challenge that many apparel retailers face as it relates to tracking the details in their POS and backend systems. Setting up each color/size combination as an item in their system seems to be the preferred approach. But using and setting up an item with variants makes the most sense for retailers.

The ways retail back-end systems communicate are changing in the shifting retail environment. A retail software solution that is compatible with electronic data interchange (EDI) and web portals can improve supply chain communication between store systems and vendor systems. Deciding when to use these systems will depend on your unique operations.

ArcherPoint’s new Lunch and Learn: Stay Ahead Of Sales Tax Changes will help retailers and wholesalers/manufacturers better understand their drop shipping sales tax responsibilities. Register now to learn about the current state of sales tax legislation and get some additional practical tips for identifying and mitigating audit risk.

A retail management system must make sense of more than just dollars; it must also be able to understand other emerging forms of payment, such as mobile apps, mobile scans and those ever-popular gift cards. Knowing how your retail POS system handles these transactions can help you manage your store’s gift card program.

When it comes to navigating an ever-changing retail landscape, streamlining customer data-gathering with a retail ERP system is vital to ensure business growth beyond the horizon. Through a series of “info codes” and “triggers,” the data gathered by a retail ERP system empower retailers with faster decision-making and the ability to identify trends.

An ever-changing retail landscape requires flexible inventory management, an objective possible through open-to-buy planning. Open-to-buy planning refers to budgeting merchandise costs that align with sales forecasts. It’s an aspect of inventory management that can help you effectively control inventory during seasonal periods.

When it comes to spotting trends, retailers can benefit from a variety of comprehensive retail solutions to forecast what’s beyond the horizon. Apparel retailers in particular can identify relevant trends affecting their industry and business operations when they turn to these four sources: historical data, suppliers, benchmarks and sales breakdown.

A retail ERP solution can help uncover customer trends such as the driving force behind retail’s newest makeover: male bargain shoppers. An article from CNBC reports on this trend. Retailers need to monitor and track trends using analytics. A retail ERP solution can manage that data, helping you to make strategic decisions that lead to growth.

It’s well known in business that it’s easier to keep current customers satisfied than it is to attract new buyers. Technology solutions like a retail point-of-sale (POS) solution can supply retailers with the necessary analytics to get more from current customer relationships, including engagement, sales incentives and expectations.

In addition to processing modern forms of electronic payments, a retail ERP system should also manage a basic and common point-of-sales transaction: cash. According to research cited by a blog post on the National Retail Federation website, shoppers use cash for “nearly one out of every two” purchases.

In an improving economy, all signs point to increased consumer spending. A retail ERP system can help you make decisions to meet some of that changing demand. More people are purchasing big-ticket items and durables as the economy picks up, states an article in The Washington Post, because consumers want to purchase items that will last.

With the help of a retail ERP system, retailers can more accurately determine the impact that promotions and campaigns have on overall sales. An article on the National Retail Federation’s website reports on a growing initiative among some retailers to sell more U.S.-made products. Retailers can track those items in their retail ERP system.

When it comes to special orders, many retailers don’t use a retail management system and instead handle the process manually. But now, with the updated capabilities of retail management systems, stores can improve their special-order process by tracking buying trends, product status and managing inventory fulfillment services.

The growing use of digital technology has fueled consumers’ expectation that retailers integrate omni-channel features in all their storefronts. That’s why brick-and-mortar stores must transform their businesses now for what’s beyond the retail horizon. An article on the Chain Store Age website highlights how with three key strategies.

A retail ERP system can put the science back into the art of creating accurate demand planning and sales forecasts, which are crucial for your business to expand. The system can do the heavy lifting of demand planning while still enabling retailers to give approval or manually make inventory adjustments when necessary.

Finding innovative retail solutions to measure your latest marketing campaign may sound overwhelming, but retailers can start with these three key metrics that determine the success or effectiveness of your promotion: capturing customer data, comparing promotional sales to a baseline and analyzing a customer’s total purchase during the promotion.

Free shipping shouldn’t come at the expense to your bottom line; leveraging this innovative retail solution is a matter of timing and promotion. Retailers can use free shipping as a competitive edge. The key is that retailers must use free shipping to entice customers to shop, according to an article on the Multichannel Merchant website.

Retailers can avoid losses caused by poor in-store planning by measuring the effectiveness of visual merchandising with data from a retail ERP system. A recent report in a Retail Information System News article describes in-store merchandising as the biggest area with inefficiencies and profit losses.

If showrooming is here to stay, then retailers need to embrace showrooming and find ways to profit off of it. The key is to use an omni-channel retail strategy. Devise ideas and processes to get customers to purchase from you — period. As a recent article on the LinkedIn website highlights, the future of retail is exciting.

Brick-and-mortar retailers must embrace the omni-channel movement or risk being left behind in a changing retail landscape. Setting up a retail ERP system, gathering customer data through a loyalty program and expanding your eCommerce website capabilities for in-store pickup are three key ways to jump start your omni-channel retailing.

Vendors can have a direct impact on your overall business productivity. Fortunately, a retail ERP system can provide information to help you monitor your vendors by tracking four key areas of vendor performance: replenishment cycle, price variance, order accuracy and product quality. Evaluating these areas can help you improve your operations.

The reasons behind showrooming — a practice when customers review products in-store before purchasing them online — illustrate that retailers must embrace an omni-channel concept to avoid losing out on profits and customers.

As coupons take on a digital life, retail POS integration can help retailers manage and customize their coupons to maximize customer return. An article on the MediaPost website looks at how digital coupons are faring and how retail POS software can help with activities like using a mobile app that combines individual coupons into one scan.

Retailers have made strides in boosting mobile commerce capabilities, but mobile search is another essential feature to include in their efforts. A blog post on Shop.org offers a handful of ideas to incorporate the mobile search movement into your mobile commerce strategy, such as developing location-based search engine optimization for mobile.

“Knowledge is power” holds true in retail, but the strength of your data depends on your retail point of sale software. The ideal retail POS solution for your business will collect the most valuable types of consumer data in an effective and unobtrusive way while also helping you meet the needs of your customers.

Retailers are turning to emerging technologies to transform their physical stores into data gold mines — and retail ERP systems are playing a key role. An article on The New York Times website highlights how some brick-and-mortar stores are focusing on in-store tracking. But to gain customer buy-in, the customers must see how it benefits them.

Promotions play a key role in your inventory management and store sales, but implementing them takes more than a one-size-fits-all strategy. The right promotion will drive traffic to your store, and the wrong one will prevent inventory from moving off the shelves. A retail ERP solution can create and manage promotional campaigns to improve sales.

Omni-channel retailing — providing a seamless customer experience across multiple shopping channels — is achievable if you have the right logistics. Fulfillment often focuses on the e-commerce or distribution side, but an article on the Logistics Viewpoints website highlights how it blends into retail and determines your omni-channel capability.

In an omni-channel strategy, retailers must remember that mobile and loyalty programs should go hand in hand. According to an article on the Ad Age website, mobile shoppers hardly use their phones in certain product categories. To make mobile relevant, retailers should send customers targeted coupons based on their individual shopping preferences.

Retailers should not operate in silos; they will drive higher sales when taking an omni-channel approach to running their business, an article on Retail Info System News website reports. But the key is to focus on omni-channel retailing throughout the whole process, from purchasing to financial reporting and everything in between.

A retail ERP system or POS software enables retailers to better track sales patterns and respond to changing market trends. These tools function as an early warning system, identifying positive or negative inventory trends in as close to real-time as possible and helping retailers adjust accordingly.

A retail software solution can help stores make the most of the always important back-to-school shopping season. As an article on The New York Times website reports, retailers know there’s stiff competition for consumer dollars in today’s economy. The key for retailers is to look at historical data.

Can a retail software solution nudge a customer to buy instead of browse? Department chain retailer Sears hopes its business strategy can do more than “bring a horse to water,” as the old saying goes, by tailoring its sales to each customer’s specific shopping behavior. An article on the Bloomberg Businessweek website explains how it could work.

Mobile commerce technology, considered fundamental to many retailers, still has plenty of room for innovation. An article on Shop.org recaps executives’ new takes on mobile commerce, including recommendations to enhance print catalogs with mobile technology, use image recognition and motivate shoppers by inspiring loyalty.

It’s common for retailers to have separate systems to manage different aspects of their retail operations. But a fully integrated retail ERP system can be a better long-term solution to improve overall efficiency and profitability. Retailers should consider seven key benefits of integrating different systems into one ERP solution.

Some retailers may have the if-it-isn’t-broke-don’t-fix-it attitude when it comes to upgrading their ERP or point-of-sale (POS) system. However, the latest ERP and POS systems offer more advanced reporting and data tracking. Retailers should assess their current software before it becomes outdated and no longer fits their needs.

Retailers want to provide customers with more reasons to shop in their stores. That’s why Target is using the Internet to encourage shopping at its bricks-and-mortar locations by launching an app in collaboration with Facebook. An article on Forbes.com explains how Target hopes to bridge “the in-store experience with social technology.”

Can retailers strategically predict impulse purchases? Yes, but they must identify customers and know their demographics. A blog post on the Resource Nation website shares three product placement tips that encourage shopping spontaneity through tracking buying habits. Retailers need data to analyze these shopping trends.

A post on the Business 2 Community blog describes the rise of geolocation targeting, which displays custom content according to a person’s location, demographics or other criteria. While the technology is the wave of the future, to be successful, retailers need software that allows them to track customer data and a process to identify customers.

The cost of vendor contracts could make the difference between a store’s profitability and losing money. An ERP system can help retailers negotiate vendor pricing by providing an analysis of operational costs. Retailers can work with vendors for better pricing by defining the relationship, reducing shipping costs and tracking distribution methods.

With ERP analytics, retailers can strategically navigate the ebb and flow of product supply and demand. Accurate retail forecasts are critically important to businesses. ERP software compiles data from vital areas of a retailer’s supply chain to develop accurate forecasts, focusing on customer data, historical trends and inventory hierarchy.

Before retailers can dive into analytics, they must gather customer data. They can then use that information to boost store performance. An article on the Retail Info Systems (RIS) News website highlights how retailers are looking for ways to dig deeper and uncover more details about store performance as “Big Data” becomes more prevalent.

Location is everything. An article of the eCommerce Times website explains that retailers must ensure their multiple storefronts – including those online – offer consistent services.

Executives can decrease margin risk and increase margin performance by reshaping their supply chain in five ways, an article on the Supply Chain Digest website explains. Increase on-time deliveries, improve supply chain lifecycles, select vendors that provide accurate delivery, evaluate vendor transportation and communicate with vendors frequently.