The idea of creating a true omni channel experience for customers has been a goal of retailers for nearly two decades. Yet, as an industry, we have failed to provide the truly seamless experience that customers seek.
Most brands started as a store platform with retail and, sometimes, a wholesale channel. These companies focused primarily on product development and subsequently developed technology to accommodate supply chain, marketing, and their wholesale channel. And, after all of that, came the focus on online. A real afterthought.
To accommodate the rapid growth of online, retailers established a completely separate technology stack - distinct from the stack developed for their store platform. As a result, brands had massive technology systems that were siloed between online and in-store. They basically had two of everything. And that made it impossible to give customers one seamless experience.
Regardless of channel, there no longer needs to be any disconnect for sales associates servicing customers or for customers interacting with a brand at any point in the purchase journey. Modern POS systems remove that last pesky piece of the puzzle that has eluded the retail industry for so long. Brands that modernize their POS systems – and stop investing in old, redundant technology - can finally achieve the harmony the retail industry has been seeking for nearly two decades.