Single Store Retailers

The Challenge

Single store retailers offer specialty products in shops with a convenient location that are typically a long way (both physically and philosophically) from the massive retail parks and shopping centers. The majority of single-store retailing involves clothing, groceries, or convenience stores.

Running a single retail store successfully presents a series of challenges. Not only do you need to have an easy-to-use, reliable, and ergonomic software system to support store operations and delivery management, you also need a system that allows you to analyze demand and business costs, and that offers fraud detection mechanisms for loss prevention. The major challenges facing single store retailers are:

• Speed of customer service

  Research confirms that quality of service is a more decisive factor for customers than location when choosing a shop. Customers who are served well and quickly are more inclined to visit a shop again – making it imperative to be able to complete a large number of transactions involving a wide range of products as fast and accurately as possible.

• Staff turnover

  High staff turnover is accepted as coming with the territory in single retailer stores. A successful retailer needs to quickly train new employees for the job.

• The right stock lines

  Increasingly, customers want products that are better suited to their requirements. At the same time, a rising number of customers indicate that if they cannot find a certain specific item in a store, it deters them from making any purchases whatsoever. It is more important than ever to be as familiar as possible with the habits and needs of your customers so that you can offer them the products they desire.

• Customer loyalty

  How to get it and how to keep it once you have it? This is a key question for any retailer. Customers who keep coming back are worth much more than those who only visit a store once. A happy customer is also much more likely to recommend your store to friends and acquaintances which can lead to an enhanced brand image and increased profits. This makes any form of loyalty program that can draw customers back for repeat visits a vital business tool.

• Shop management

  To run a single store profitably, you need to have full information on transactions, products, customers, and suppliers. Resource management for your single store does not end with transaction histories or sales figures for particular articles, you need to incorporate supply or inventory management mechanisms to deliver significant cost savings.

Comarch ALTUM Retail

The Comarch ALTUM Retail system for single store retailers combines all vital store functions in one place.

Comarch ALTUM Retail has a specially designed module to support fast retail sales. This is an application that is very closely tide to Comarch ALTUM, and its aim is to accelerate and streamline the work of shop staff. Comarch ALTUM Retail’s key assets are:

Comarch ALTUM Point-of-Sale interface	It is easy to use and has an ergonomic workstation that supports touch screens. Because the retail sales window has a clear, easy-to-read interface, it is an excellent and comfortable tool for your employees, which requires little training. The system allows you to integrate with devices, such as barcode readers, scales and touchscreens that automate work in your store and that can greatly speed up customer service.
Comarch ALTUM Sales Reports	The built-in Business Intelligence tool delivers sales reports on individual products and on groups of products over various time periods and seasons, so you can track the success of your product line. With this tool, you can also analyze your costs, promotions, and the buying behaviors of your customers. Meanwhile, the data provided on the number of products in your warehouse, and products on order with suppliers simplifies inventory management.
Comarch ALTUM CRM Campaign	The system allows you to award points to your customers for their purchases, which can then be redeemed for rewards or healthy discounts. Customers with loyalty program cards are recognized in the system during every transaction so their information and their preferences are gathered. This allows you to better match goods to customer needs both for the regular product line and for promotions. The application manages the shop’s warehouse and integrates finance, and accounting, costs, and cash flow. To ensure secure and accurate transactions, you can also set controls on user authorizations, require manager approval for transactions, and trace all user transactions and documents.

These are the features that make Comarch ALTUM Retail the complete out-of-the-box solution for single store retailers.

Better service with increased customer satisfaction

Comarch ALTUM Retail enables rapid, straightforward service at points of sale that have touch screens or classic monitor and keyboard cash register interfaces. Because the system is ergonomic and user-friendly, training new employees will be simple and fast. Implementing a loyalty system can stimulate customer retention leading to increased customer satisfaction. Since you will have more complete information about your customers and their behavior, you can better match your store’s product line to the needs of the market.

Cost savings

The Business Intelligence multi-dimensional analysis tool in Comarch ALTUM provides heightened and more precise cost control. A cross-analysis that looks at current inventory levels as well as goods on order will help you maintain optimum stock levels. This releases cash that would otherwise have been committed to goods and reduces warehousing costs. The enhanced receivables and liabilities management in Comarch ALTUM improves company liquidity and reduces financial costs. Finally, the system’s architecture and method of synchronization between stores and your headquarters also reduces your costs and automates day-to-day activities.

Product line that matches customer needs

The Business Intelligence tools available within Comarch ALTUM deliver reports that will help you decide which products to include and which to discard. The options to analyze customer preferences, the effectiveness of promotions and price cuts, and variations in sales according to season will give you the power to make decisions on your product line based on facts and not only on intuition. An analysis of the frequency of sales according to the time of day, day of the week, and month provides a further tool that can lift your customer service to the next level.

Lower software costs and better support

Comarch ALTUM Retail is an all-round solution that supports all single store business processes: inventory, sales, accounting, and data analysis. Because the system has complete functionality across all the departments in your business, you can use one piece of software instead of multiple products – allowing you to lower your costs to buy and maintain your system. Finally, since you will receive support of the highest-quality from a single provider who is an expert in the field, you know that you will have all the help you need to implement the system according to your company’s specifications.