Now that you’ve caught your breath after the busy holiday season, I’m sure you’ve been reflecting on how things went with your October through December sales. You’ve probably looked at your return on investment and how your brand’s performance compared to your organization’s goals for the season and for the year. The question is, have you given thought to the overall functionality of your e-commerce offerings?
Shopify is one of the more popular platforms for online sales. The point of sales (POS) is offered in several different versions. All offer a streamlined shopping experience for both your online and physical stores. Your POS plays an important role in the success, or lack thereof, of your online sales. While all-in-one platforms like Squarespace offer the convenience of a single source for your business efforts, we think it’s only fair to delve into the excellent e-commerce offerings of Shopify.
PROS of the PLATFORM
Ability to accept payment from a variety of channels
Benefit of comprehensive analytics and reports
Intuitive dashboard
Reasonably priced options
Robust customer relationship management (CRM) features
Instant synching of physical store and e-commerce
RECENT ADDITIONS
Shopify upped their game right before the 2018 holiday shopping season to ensure their clients could get the best functionality possible out of the Shopify POS. Whether or not you work on this platform, you’ll appreciate what these recently added features can do to simplify e-commerce interactions.
Gift Cards for Returns and Exchanges
We are in the heart of the after-holidays return season. Many merchants lose a percentage of their holiday sales during this time and feel the financial burden in a very real way. The Shopify POS offers you the ability to issue return and exchange balances on gift cards so you don’t lose the sale completely.
With just a few extra steps on the business’ end of things, the POS takes into account any holiday discounts, shipping charges, etc. This allows you to provide customers with the satisfaction of returning or exchanging their unwanted item while encouraging them to continue shopping with you as they utilize their gift card. This convenient process increases repeat business or, in the case of a gift recipient making the return, can introduce your brand to a new customer.
Bar Codes
Brick and mortar businesses that use the Shopify POS were thrilled with the introduction of camera barcode scanning. The mobile device barcode scanning feature allows merchants and their staff to make a sale from anywhere in their store instead of being stuck behind a checkout counter. Shopify offers different plans that determine whether you would use an iOS or Android device or a Bluetooth barcode scanner that works with your iPad.
Any of these technologies work to scan both 1D (parallel line) and 2D (square filled with a pattern of black and white blocks) barcodes. This scanning feature helps speed up checkout time since you no longer have to search for products by name and lets your staff spend their time improving your customers’ shopping experience.
Shopify’s POS lets you design and print barcode labels for your products. The system supports multiple sizes of Avery and Dymo labels. The Retail Barcode Labels app can be set up in a short series of easy steps and will revolutionize the way you handle your brand’s products. This feature that allows you to create unique, product-specific barcodes simplifies everything from inventory to sales to returns and exchanges.
CONS and REASONS TO RETAIN PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE
There are Shopify clients who feel that the platform is lacking in some of its inventory features and that it doesn’t necessarily function at 100% in offline mode. It is labor intensive to build on existing themes and certainly requires a large amount of time to start your setup from scratch. It can also be challenging to ensure that themes and third-party apps work within the platform. Because not every app integration is built in the same manner modifications are often required to make everything work properly.
Professionals with experience and expertise in Shopify can help you with everything from the set up of your store, to design, marketing, photography, and more. They can import and organize your product information and images, utilize a Shopify theme to set up your site structure, homepage, and navigation, and help you with payment configurations. They should also be willing and able to train you and your staff to operate and maintain your store once it is set up.
The experts at Strategy Driven Marketing thrive in the fast-paced world of retail marketing. We have worked with a number of Shopify-based clients to help them create amazing stores and provide the best customer experience possible. We would love to discuss your organization’s goals and needs to understand how we can best assist you in taking your brand to the next level. Whether you are looking for an agency partnership to fill in where your own staff needs help or want us to do everything from the ground floor, up, we are here for you! Contact us today to get started.