Cross Channel ECommerce
Cross Channel Ecommerce - Expanding Upon Multichannel Selling
There's a new phrase on the block... and that phrase is 'cross channel!'
Cross channel Ecommerce is all about utilising a single interface to sell through many different online and offline selling channels, enabling cross-promotion and cross-selling through all of these channels. The idea behind this is to both cut down on admininstration time and effort involved in order to clinch that all-important sale.
Why retailers need cross channel
If you run multiple selling channels then you probably at the moment use a lot of different admin systems to control the stock on those channels. These external channels and your e-commerce website probably at the moment all have different login admin systems to cope with, meaning that not only are you duplicating work (because product descriptions, images and price information all has to be put into several interfaces), you also run the risk of overselling stock because there is no central stock control system.
Cross channel integrates all of these admin interfaces into one central system, so that all stock is sold (and all reporting done) via one user interface. This way tasks such as putting up product descriptions and images are only done once, you know instantly what stock you have (and where you've sold it!)
Cross channel ecommerce, simply put, makes a retailers life a lot easier!
Included in the cross channel ethos is the ability to sell from one integrated stock control system. This means that every sale, whatever channel that sale may go through, reduces one stock level in a single database, meaning that there is no chance of overselling products. This is the only way to sensibly manage a multichannel selling business.
The Intelligent Retail cross channel selling solution
The Intelligent Retail integrated Connect EPOS system offers cross channel functionality out of the box. The intuitive interface allows drag-and-drop functionality into any online selling channel directly from the stock tree, meaning that putting up products into your website and other channels is as simple as drag and drop once that product has been set up in the database. This means that you can be up and selling on many different channels very fast and you only have to do things once!
The best thing about the Connect EPOS solution is that all sales from every channel come back into the integrated shop till, which means you can pick, pack and dispatch directly from one interface... and as the shop till is integrated with the stock control system this means that you never lose track of stock, you can't oversell and you can reduce the amount of stock your shop holds.
So how is cross channel different to multichannel?
The answer is (as far as the Connect EPOS system is concerned) it isn't. Connect has always offered some level of cross channel ecommerce selling ability, allowing retailers to sell and receive orders via one interface. This integrated functionality has offered Intelligent Retail clients cross channel selling via a fuss-free interface for many years.
If you would like a demonstration of the cross channel ecommerce abilities of the Connect EPOS system, please contact us by email or give us a ring on 0845 6800126
