When it comes to shopping, each of us has our favorite small businesses that we enjoy supporting. At heart, we’re sympathetic to their struggle with the big retailers. Increasingly, however, technologies are giving small retailers an upper hand to outplay the Goliaths that they have to face every day. Take the rise in affordable cloud-based POS systems that give these small businesses an opportunity to ready some important ammunition (stones) to help them battle like “David” in this ongoing combat with Goliath to win over customers. Many SMBs have already armed themselves with important stones; they just need a way to quickly gather and use their ammunition to maximize returns. Affordable cloud based POS tools should serve as a wake up call to small businesses, which historically have been too tied up in the day to day, unable to keep on top of innovation to outmaneuver the Goliaths. Without question, all SMBs feel threatened by the huge chains that have overrun many of the mom & pop stores of yesteryear. Besides their sheer size, Goliaths have had an advantage in their ability to offer better overall pricing, quantity and selection. They’re also able to exploit their own ammo such as expensive CRM systems coupled with deep pockets to promote their products, build their brands and attract customers. Let’s take a closer look at the three important stones that SMBs can utilize to aim and deliver a bulls-eye hit on Goliath’s forehead.
Stone 1 – An Entrepreneur’s Specialty
This is where the entrepreneur excels and it’s one of their biggest advantages; it’s why they went into business in the first place; whether it’s a deep knowledge of wine, a love of golf, or an exceptional talent for handcrafted artwork. Their field or specialty is what they know best, and is not something that can be easily copied. Their passion for what they do and deep knowledge is part of why we, as the customer, are loyal to them. Their ability to also understand what we may want next is what keeps us coming back. They may own a winery and have figured out that having live bluegrass music brings customers in droves, but they also understand tomorrow, these changes might evolve and it may be country music that attracts the same customers. They may own a retail shop that knows where to reasonably procure intricate Sri Lankan clothing, but they see a Panamanian fedora trend coming. We’re gladly willing to pay more for their one-of-a-kind items and unrivaled customer service; these are exactly the types of businesses that we’d like to see succeed.
Stone 2 - Customer Knowledge
Time-crunched SMBs need efficiency across the board for everything they do to keep their business afloat. One of the most important business goals is to drive sales and profitability. Some of the newer cloud-based POS solutions can help small merchants identify and be more proactive to the needs and wants of their customer base.
One key advantage that SMBs have is that they know their customer considerably better than the Goliath retailers know their own. In commenting on a recent market survey done by Boston Retail Partners, its principal, Ken Morris noted, “Big retailers are slow to implement the capability of automatically identifying customers as they walk into a store. While the technology exists to do this today, it is a far more complex undertaking to do this for 1,000 locations, than it is for a single store operator. In addition to the complexity, this is a significant expense that most retailers are not ready to absorb.”
Often the SMB merchant is right there in the shop hearing immediate feedback directly from both customers and employees. Leveraging predefined reports in newer cloud-based POS offerings don’t require countless hours of customization, so SMBs can easily capture important personalized data such as: a customer’s birthday, their favorite color, size, brand or particular style. They also have the advantage of remembering their customers’ faces. A cloud-based POS allows SMBs to use technology smarter so they can analyze their customers’ behaviors.
Akin to a barrage of stones being lobbed at Goliath, SMBs can do things like import customer lists and categorize patrons by shopping behavior or purchasing history, which will allow them to cater to customer preferences and sell more. They can also quickly set up private sales to select groups of customers, or offer numerous customer loyalty options including birthday rewards, group discounts, and even digital punch cards. By offering attractive incentives to their customers to sweeten the pot, small retailers can continue to reward and incentivize those that are most loyal to their business and also try to draw in new demographics. Cloud-based POS platforms allow SMBs to harness technology and bring in customers by servicing them better, smarter and faster.
Stone 3 – Organized Accurate, Relevant Data
Small and medium-sized merchants know they need to keep their business data accurate, updated, and easily accessible. It’s critical that SMBs are able to gather, analyze and disseminate customer, product, pricing and inventory data in real-time. Whether it’s identifying inventory oversupply, daily sales, employees with the biggest sales, and the most loyal customers, SMBs understand the need to be able to crunch these numbers and react quickly. A cloud-based POS can give SMBs access to accurate data quick, easy and from anywhere. These data analysis tools allow SMBs to fight Goliath and manage their businesses effectively from anywhere – no longer restricted to the confines of the company. They can sort their data by specific cash register, various dates and times, category, supplier or by specific product. All of this important store data is in one place. In a glance, anywhere, anytime, they can find out current sales, number of transactions, weekly progress, etc. Again, organizing and reacting to this type of data is a tremendous undertaking for large Goliath retailers, which need huge data warehouses with armies of data crunchers. For the SMB, their agility can outperform the slow moving giant. A cloud based POS gives power to the small business owner, leveling the playing field through smart, simple and inexpensive technology.
Time is a precious commodity to SMBs. It’s best spent continually working to exploit their specialization and extending their goods so that they can stay ahead of the lumbering Goliaths. With a simple to use cloud-based POS, SMBs can ready their stones and use them as needed, whether their battle is in the Valley of Elah or right in their hometown.
Dror Liwer, Pose CEO
Stone 3 – Organized Accurate, Relevant Data
Small and medium-sized merchants know they need to keep their business data accurate, updated, and easily accessible. It’s critical that SMBs are able to gather, analyze and disseminate customer, product, pricing and inventory data in real-time. Whether it’s identifying inventory oversupply, daily sales, employees with the biggest sales, and the most loyal customers, SMBs understand the need to be able to crunch these numbers and react quickly. A cloud-based POS can give SMBs access to accurate data quick, easy and from anywhere. These data analysis tools allow SMBs to fight Goliath and manage their businesses effectively from anywhere – no longer restricted to the confines of the company. They can sort their data by specific cash register, various dates and times, category, supplier or by specific product. All of this important store data is in one place. In a glance, anywhere, anytime, they can find out current sales, number of transactions, weekly progress, etc. Again, organizing and reacting to this type of data is a tremendous undertaking for large Goliath retailers, which need huge data warehouses with armies of data crunchers. For the SMB, their agility can outperform the slow moving giant. A cloud based POS gives power to the small business owner, leveling the playing field through smart, simple and inexpensive technology.
Time is a precious commodity to SMBs. It’s best spent continually working to exploit their specialization and extending their goods so that they can stay ahead of the lumbering Goliaths. With a simple to use cloud-based POS, SMBs can ready their stones and use them as needed, whether their battle is in the Valley of Elah or right in their hometown.
Dror Liwer, Pose CEO
