13 Benefits of ERP for Retail Every Retailer Must Know

When you think of an industry with a high level of complexity, fierce competition and constantly changing customer demands and needs, you're probably thinking of the retail industry.

We all know that the retail industry is in constant flux and organizations' ability to respond quickly and accurately to customer demands and competitive pressures is more important than ever as the big retail and ecommerce giants are doing.

In recent years, ERP for retail has grown in popularity in the retail sector, especially the mid-sized businesses that seek to increase efficiency, cut costs, and improve customer service by streamlining processes. In this blog post, we will explore the potential benefits of ERP for the retail industry and how retailers must have a competitive ERP for retail.

The limitations of traditional systems & ERP for Retail

Retailers who operate traditional applications direly need to customize their systems every time to adopt the multi-store trends as the key business segments are crucial, like inventory management, store management, demand planning, supply chain promotions management, workforce handling, accounting, and finance.

Separate applications and software solutions for various departments can frequently become a barrier to gaining insights and visibility. That is why the organization's scalability suffers, resulting in slow growth and reduced customer satisfaction. The ERP integrates all of an organization's business segments into a single platform, assisting decision-makers and operational management in making critical decisions.

The Need for ERP in Retail Industry

Modern-day shoppers has spoiled with multiple choices as they can buy from a Web store, a physical store, or any e-commerce platform. While physical stores continue to account for the majority of retail sales, online shopping is quickly catching up. As a result, retailers must focus on both channels and improve the in-store and online customer experience through omnichannel integration.

However, retailers face immense challenges such as real-time inventory updates across channels, shipping the product as soon as possible, transferring sales information to the accounting system, stock in hand and fast-selling items information, and keeping customers satisfied and loyal.

To be successful in the retail industry, you must have access to reliable and efficient technology. It is necessary to take into account inventory management, warehouse management, store operations, point of sale, vendor management, supply chain, human resources, customer management, demand planning, order management, and revenue management.

As the business grows, handling all these separate processes becomes unmanageable, that why having an ERP system is inevitable. An ERP system can allow you to manage the various components of your business and store all relevant information in one place, awarding you greater control of your operations.

ERP for Retail Industry: Impact and Benefits

ERP for retail offers a wide range of benefits for industry operators and leaders that covers every aspect of retail operations.

Let's see what are the benefits of ERP for retail industry.

• Monitor and Control Inventory Effectively

The retail industry primarily handles perishable goods, and because of the multi-store concept, it is necessary to keep track of warehouse stocks and inventory. With an ERP system, retailers can accurately track inventory levels, forecast demand, and optimize supply chain management.

• Order Management and Payment Recording Automation

Because of their numerous advantages, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have grown in popularity in the retail industry. Automated order fulfillment and management, which streamlines the entire process from customer purchase to fulfillment, is one of the most significant advantages of ERP for retail. Hence, Retailers can also automate sales and payment records, making tracking transactions and reconciling financials easier, saving time, reducing errors, and increasing overall efficiency.

• 360-degree Retail Management with Multiple Integrations

Only an integrated multi-channel system can bring all aspects of your retail business into a singular centrally managed solution, so a retail ERP system that enables retailers to integrate various systems, such as point of sale (POS) and inventory management.

That integration gives you real-time access to sales information, inventory levels, and customer preferences.

Similarly, it scales to meet the growing needs of a retail business and accommodate growth and expansion.

• Point-of-Sale (POS) System

Now consider the POS system, which entails the essential segment of an ERP system, and Retailers can operate POS to collect sales data, manage inventory, and accept payments. While Integrating a POS system with an ERP system, make sure that retailers get valuable information about customer behavior, sales trends, and inventory levels as well. The data after integration can help retailers make more informed decisions about pricing, promotions, and product offerings.

• Multi-Store Expansion

When local retail brands are up for growth, they try to create a multi-store expansion strategy, then ERP systems can be a game-changer for retailers.

Since the B2C classification of the retail sector has significantly increased global competition, a number of e-commerce and retail websites have established the highest retail standards ever.

With a centralized platform to track and manage multiple stores, ERP for the retail industry can boost multi-store expansion and qualify the company to monitor the performance of each store.

Moreover, ERP systems can also provide a centralized location for customer, supplier, and product data, resulting in a better customer experience and streamlined processes.

• Streamlined Financial Management

Financial management is another critical area that ERP systems can help retailers streamline. Retailers can easily drill into financial reports with an ERP system to record revenue and costs in the income statement as soon as transactions happen.

In short, With retail ERP software, retailers can simplify financial management, automate the accounting process and give accurate budgeting and financial reporting.

• Greater Visibility

ERP for retail gives retailers real-time visibility into all aspects of their business for better inventory management, supply chain, and financials.

ERP software also provides more splendid visibility into operations, and ultimately the real-time insights ables retailers to track better and manage inventory, customer data, and overall performance.

Well, if businesses want to make well-informed decisions and want to make sure that business operations are optimized then retailers must have an intelligent ERP system in place.

• Increased Profitability

ERP for Retail industry has all the stuff and capabilities to optimize inventory levels and enhance customer experiences.

Retailers have a high chance of increasing sales and profits with the help of automating processes and improving inventory management by ERP. Retailers can relieve their manual labor stress of overstocking and understocking costs.

• Enhanced Customer Experience

Having an ERP system entails a complete customer experience as it provides retailers with a 360-degree view of their customers, which enables personalized experiences and improved customer service.

As an ERP depicts complete control over inventory and cash, it increases sales with a reduction in lost sales, increased loyalty through multi-channel loyalty programs, enhanced quality of customer service, and fewer inventory costs.

• Enhanced Security

Everybody understands and realizes the importance of Data security as everybody knows security is the absolute priority.

Enhanced Data security comes along with many other benefits of ERP. Particularly when we see retail, it is far more important, as it can protect sensitive data from malicious attacks from the outside.

Many ERP systems can offer advanced security features, like encryption and multi-factor authentication, in order to assist retail businesses with their data security.

Other than usual on-site ERP systems, When retailers use robust Cloud-based ERP systems, they can experience powerful security features, such as protecting sensitive data from cyber threats and other security breaches.

• Improved Process Efficiency

Every retail business wants skyrocketed business processes so that they can deliver unparalleled customer experience and attract more customers to the business.

With a proper retail ERP, businesses can automate processes and simplify the entire retail process, ultimately improving efficiency and productivity by streamlining retail operations, automating tasks, and reducing manual data entry.

• Simplified Compliance

Managing compliance regularities and rules while managing other business operations is difficult to overhaul for retailers.

Many ERP systems for retail, on the other hand, have built-in manuals and instructions that help retailers comply with regulatory requirements and industry standards so this functionality of ERP can quickly reduce the risk of legal and financial penalties.

ERP software can help simplify compliance by providing powerful analytics that allows retailers to fully comprehend their operations and ensure compliance with all relevant regulations.

Last but not least ERP makes sure that businesses avoid costly fines and penalties while remaining competitive in the market.

• Improved Data Analysis and Decision-Making

The best way retailers can improve communication and collaboration is by having a smart ERP in place; with real-time analytics and data, retail leaders can make strategic decision-making and data-focused decisions.

Suppose it is the sales and customer related data or data from the warehouse and inventory department. In that case ERP System can seamlessly collect and analyze that data and give proper insights about all departments.

These insights and data from multiple departments can then be used to decide where to invest and allocate the resources.

Also it can identify areas that need modification and forecast future trends, which in return enhances understanding of the business and retailers' ability to make better decisions and remain competitive.

Conclusion

Retailers juggling multiple systems, struggling to keep track of sales and inventory, and manually entering orders are wasting valuable time that they could spend on more strategic tasks.

To compete with other retailers, businesses have to streamline their operations. With NetSuite's automated order management, sales records, integration with multiple systems, and robust POS system, we can help you overcome these pain points and take your business to the next level.

Don't let inefficiency and disorganization hold you back any longer - invest in an ERP system today and gain a competitive edge.

Talk to NetSuite Consultant.