When a point-of-sale system is slow, it isn't just the customer dealing with a frustrating experience.
The retailer or brand depending on that POS is likely just as annoyed, or more frustrated, as they know the customer experience is king when it comes to customer loyalty, drawing in new customers and ensuring sales associates, especially at the onboarding point, aren't starting their job with a frustrating and overly complicated training experience.
A POS system clogged with manual processes, and heavy with lots of workarounds, can very easily impact everything from the customer experience to a retailer's back-end processes such as those being relied on to drive a personalized experience and a better store associate experience. One example is customer data and purchase history.
Those were just some challenges American retail brands Filson and Shinola were wrestling with daily. The brands are owned by Bedrock Manufacturing Co., a manufacturing and design group that is home to a stable of design-led, global brands. Detroit-based Shinola offers products from timepieces to leather goods, jewelry to audio. Seattle-based Filson is known for its high-end outdoor clothing and accessories.
Bedrock wanted to change the POS scenarios in the retailers' stores so it was faster, more efficient and could be connected to other sales channels. It also wanted a system that provided access to accurate customer and order data, in a centralized platform, to create a better store associate experience. The goal, essentially, was to modernize the in-store experience for everyone in the store.
Finding a solution
So Bedrock CIO Rob Sayre embarked on a journey to find a technology platform that could do all that and maybe even more.
After assessing various omnichannel solutions the brands are deploying the NewStore mobile point-of-sale, order management, and store inventory solutions.
"We've been exploring modern POS systems for years and have run into NewStore at tradeshows and became acquainted through our research. It was clear that they were constantly innovating and evolving in the retail market," Sayre said in an email interview.
NewStore's track record of working with game-changing retailers and the fact the provider's platform can be implemented at the brands' pace aligned with the brands' needs. NewStore also has a strong network of tech partners, which was important, according to Sayre.
The platform will provide both brands mobile checkout, endless aisle, store fulfillment, buy online pickup in-store and buy online return in-store capabilities. The companies will be able to streamline operations, improve inventory accuracy while also gaining valuable customer insights which was a missing element to driving a more unified shopping experience.
Filson and Shinola store associates will be able provide a more personalized level of service by consolidating customer, order, and inventory data into one iOS app. They will be equipped with iPhones, enabling them to access real-time data, assist customers more efficiently, and process transactions from anywhere on the store floor.
The NewStore omnichannel-as-a-service is a mobile-first, modular cloud platform that includes POS, order management, clienteling, inventory, and native consumer apps.
Deployment and goals
The tech deployment will leverage both in-house and partner resources, according to Sayre.
"We've gone out of our way to make sure our entire company and both brands are aligned with the efforts that are devoted to this deployment. Also, each organization's store managers and associates will be relied on for training, education, and adoption of the new technology," he said.
One big success point will be attaining consistency between the in-store customer experience and the online digital customer experience.
"Whether you interact with our brands online or in-store, we want those experiences to feel consistent," said Sayre. "Unifying the customer journey across channels is key to ensuring high-quality customer interactions. Filson and Shinola's products speak for themselves, and we wanted their online and in-store experiences to match."
But there's also a twin goal — an improved customer experience, noted the CIO.
"Creating better customer experiences was always at the forefront of this initiative," he said. "Enabling easy transactions is table stakes when it comes to meeting customer expectations in today's marketplace, so we needed a platform that will allow our brands to remove as much friction as possible. We also knew that we needed a platform that could constantly evolve and that would stay ahead of customer expectations so that Filson and Shinola can continue to exceed those expectations."
Sayre's advice to brands embarking on a similar tech solution quest is focused on knowing the customer.
"Always start with your customer and work back from there," he said. "It's easy to look at these kinds of initiatives and figure out what it solves for you as a company, which is important. But you should always be looking for ways to delight your customers. Once your customers are taken care of, make sure you're not neglecting your employees who support those customers every day. Understand and design your employee experience as much as you do your customers."