4 Retail Solutions VARs Should Recommend For The Holidays

By Francesca Nicasio, Vend

With the holiday season just a few short months away, it’s high time for you to start assisting your retail customers to gear up for the upcoming rush. While experts are predicting consumer holiday spending to increase by around 3.5 percent in 2014, the retail world is more competitive than ever, so merchants have to stay on top of their game.

This holiday season, help your retail customers do just that through the following:

Omni-Channel Solutions

The numbers surrounding omni-channel services, such as click-and-collect, were record-breaking for the 2013 holiday season (click-and-collect orders were up 61.8 percent from 2012). Furthermore, with an increasing number of consumers using multiple channels to research, browse, and shop, you can expect this trend to continue this year. That’s why it’s essential that VARs equip merchants with capabilities that would help them bridge the gap between offline and digital channels.

One of the first tasks in accomplishing this is to provide inventory integration solutions that would enable retailers to manage inventory across various touch points and offer Web-to-store services, such as click-and-collect or in-store returns.

Having the capabilities to seamlessly manage customer relationships across ecommerce, mobile, and brick-and-mortar will also be a big boon for retailers, especially during the holidays. If merchants can view their customers’ purchase history and browsing across multiple channels, they’ll be better equipped to make relevant recommendations and tailor their marketing efforts.

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