For the retail industry, technology is one of those things it can just do without. They rely on it for customer reach and marketing, sales, payment processing, and inventory. And going by the growing number of retail businesses opening every day, this is a rich market for software development. However, retail software development is not just about meeting the market needs, it is also about meeting the specific needs of a business.
While all businesses have the same basic need to streamline and optimize the sale process, each is different from the others. Even with those selling the same products. The models and the processes in most businesses, though looking similar, are inherently different. This is why custom solutions exist to help meet the need your business might have that your competitor doesn’t.
What is retail software?
This is software built to help store owners automate and manage all processes on a single platform, and create a single information source. This helps to eliminate tedious and error-prone manual work which improves efficiency and productivity in the business. Retail software also helps to boost customer satisfaction as processes are generally quicker and smoother.
There are two ways to build your retail software, that is either off the shelf or custom and can be either cloud or on-premise based. However, there are many categories of retail software you can choose from depending on your needs, including the following:
- Omnichannel- those that help you manage both online and offline sales more effectively.
- Payment processing
- Inventory management
- Enterprise resource planning
- Retail management and;
- eCommerce platforms
This article looks at the reasons you should consider custom retail software development for your business as your tool of the trade.
More streamlined integration
Like other industries, your retail business probably has more than one solution or system to handle the human and product sides of the business. These solutions might have been built on different architectures or methodologies, and they might not integrate or support your existing hardware and systems. System incompatibility can lead to costly replacements rendering some of your systems unusable.
This can lead to inefficiencies in your business. Building your own custom retail software ensures that integration does not become an issue. You can easily have your systems integrated into a single platform. If you’re worried about how your new retail software will fit into your existing systems, think of a custom solution.
Higher security
It’s quite common for cybercriminals to target software systems. But this can only happen if they know about them. That means commercial retail software that is widely known becomes their first target. Since this off-the-shelf software is in the public domain, the hackers have all the time to study and find software vulnerabilities they can exploit. Besides, they are sure to hit numerous enterprises at once.
A custom solution camouflages your business under the cover of existing commercial solutions. It singles you out and makes your business less appealing to cyber attackers looking to make a bigger impact. Besides, your solution has been made from scratch and can be difficult to penetrate. You can also request extra security layers for higher protection.
A more cost-effective solution
The initial cost of developing a custom retail solution for your business is not small, but it’s more cost-effective in the long term. Commercial retail solutions have a lifetime recurrent charge for support and additional features unlike a custom one where you only need to pay once. A commercial solution might also have integration issues that might require you to upgrade your systems, leading to unplanned expenses.
Personalization capability
Another good reason to go for a custom solution in retail is the ability to personalize it with specific styles, colors, fonts, logos, and brand messages. You want to work with software that looks and feels like your business. A good solution should fit smoothly into the workflow and support your business model, promoting the uniqueness of your brand.
Flexibility and scalability
This is by far one of the top reasons you should consider custom software for your retail business, if not for any of the other reasons discussed here. See, you want your business to grow and are working hard towards achieving that. And with that, you need processes and systems in place that can handle this change and grow with it.
In addition, situations might arise where you might need to perform more complex processes or add significantly to your volumes and capacity for products and stages in sales. You need a solution that is flexible enough to accommodate your different needs at a given time. A custom solution will ensure that your business won’t be restricted and can move in whichever direction freely.
Faster adoption
a custom solution will be specific to your business. The features and functionalities are what you need and want. It fits quickly into your workflow, your team members will understand it better and training and orientation costs will be significantly lower, compared to if you choose an off-the-shelf solution. Ultimately, you don’t need to change your workflow to adapt to the software you’re using. You need one that adopts and fits into your work instead. Custom solutions are developed according to the way your business model runs and not the other way around.
Higher efficiency
When deciding on the retail software you need, first, it has to meet your needs and requirements. Sometimes finding a commercial solution that does all you need it to can be hard, if at all. Custom software will ensure your business functions are smooth and meets the automation, collaboration, or communication needs you might have. This leads to increased efficiency.
Takeaway
Retail business solutions need to have features and functionalities that boost their efficiency, security, and productivity. Building custom software is a good way to place your business on track with that. Fortunately, working with a custom developer allows you to tailor your retail software to your current and future needs while maintaining higher levels of data and systems security.
