5 reasons to have an on and off integrated management system

More and more physical stores end up selling online as well. At first, we do not normally pay attention to the type of management system behind both back rooms (among others). It has become one of the most important ones.

And is that, as orders are received through the online store, one realizes that the inventory management system or ERP store and the physical store is not updated by magic. 

In both the storehouse and in the store, those online orders do not exist, and therefore, the accounting and inventory of both stores are getting more and more synchronized as time passes. 

Taking into account that omnichannelity is one of the most important tendencies in commerce, it seems almost essential to have an integrated management system that allows us to be more agile and productive, avoiding living in two separated environments: the eCommerce and the physical store. 

If it is not clear yet, we are going to give you 5 strong reasons to have an integrated management system between online and physical stores. 

Having two channels generating orders, we have to use two separate databases. 

The problem is not only having to duplicate the work by the person in charge to follow up the orders; but also the multiple mistakes that can be made. 

Operatively, this situation can lead to chaos. Logistics is complicated from the moment when  products have to leave the warehouse and be sent to the store, but also to the final customer, in terms of order tracking, multiple delivery attempts, returns, reverse logistics... So keeping those two databases makes daily work very difficult. 

Beyond logistical problems, the control of the stock is one of the aspects an integrated management system can help us most.

When we have a physical store but we sell simultaneously through an eCommerce, we are not duplicating the stock. Everything we have stored can be sold off and on, so you have to have a thorough control of each unit sold. 

If we do not that, we run the risk of selling items in our eCommerce we have no stock of and also selling units in our store that are already in the courier truck being shipped to the other side of the country. 

All this has negative consequence on the client: poor service feeling and lack of internal coordination, problems of online reputation and of course, lose the possibility of building loyalty with those customers who were affected. 

In addition to all this, the returns from both eCommerce and physical stores, because this makes the stock even more dynamic with items that move in and out the store ready to be sold

Seen that way, it seems interesting to unify the stock control through a single tool, isn´t it? 

As for billing, we also work with two independent databases. If it is not unified, we run the risk of generating different invoices with the same number or numbered incorrectly. 

Tax-wise, this can be a source of problems, and if you count on the help of a manager he or she will go crazy studying the profitability of each channel if he does not know where sales are coming from.
 

With an integrated management system, that allows you to analyze your sales per channel and have the billing correct, everything would be much easier. 

When working with a POS in the physical store and another virtual within the payment gateway of the online store, it is less easy to keep control of the revenue. 

On the other hand, an integrated payment system allows us to know, in real time, exactly how many conversions are being produced. 

Thanks to this, you can be much more agile in the decision making, from promotion to price strategy, including purchase management. 

You will have access to complete statistics both globally and differentiated by online and offline payments, so the analysis of your business is also integral but you will continue to design the strategic actions at channel level. 

When we manage to identify the client through the different channels, we understand better their reality. The same user can be buying alternatively in our physical store and on our online store, he is a unique individual.
 

The most common loyalty programs are those in which the client is given a credit consisting of a percentage on the purchase made. If we have an integrated management system, we will be able to add that balance to the same ID both on and off, which makes it much more attractive to the customer. 

In addition to this, do not forget that now we can have even more information and consumer patterns of customers, so loyalty actions and promotion will be more effective and even customized.