To succeed as an apparel retailer, it’s important to keep up with trends not only in the styles you carry but also with the technology you use in store. Installing the right clothing store POS can improve your business in several ways, from increasing customer loyalty and boosting sales to adding robust features and enhancing email marketing.
Create a Solid Foundation
Every POS comes with a range of features, so prioritize the capabilities that should be standard for your clothing retail business.
Inventory insight: A clothing store POS can keep your inventory levels stable by automatically reordering merchandise according to predetermined stock levels and sales history. Apparel businesses with multiple brick-and-mortar locations and/or e-commerce can leverage inventory insights to ensure that a customer seeking an out-of-stock item at one store can have it shipped from another store or online warehouse where the product is available.
Layaway programs: To satisfy today’s demanding customer, it may be important to offer a layaway program and collect a deposit on merchandise that’s being held for a shopper out of the general inventory pool. A good clothing store POS should be able to track and update information for products on layaway to keep customer frustrations at a minimum.
Put Data to Work with Targeted Email Marketing
Customers offer up a significant amount of valuable information, such as birthday, address, and clothing size, whenever they complete a transaction at the POS, and that data ultimately can help you provide a better customer experience. Choose a clothing store POS that can help you put that data to work by creating targeted, personalized email campaigns.
Segment to stand out: Pay attention to what your customers like and send only the offers that are most relevant to them. For example, email customers who’ve previously purchased apparel from a specific brand when you receive a new shipment from that label and offer an in-store preview or coupon.
Benefit the bottom line: A clothing store POS that can integrate with popular marketing platforms to create highly specific targeted campaigns will ultimately generate higher profit margins.
Make the Most of Loyalty and Gift Cards
Turn occasional shoppers into loyal fans. Look for a clothing store POS that supports gift cards and loyalty programs.
Keep it simple: Customers want a quick and painless checkout experience, so ensure that activating loyalty and gift cards is streamlined and speedy.
Easy access: Store associates should be able to look up a customer’s loyalty account by phone number if the shopper doesn’t have the physical card on hand, ensuring the customer doesn’t miss out on earning loyalty points.
Capture Cross-selling and Up-selling Opportunities
Customers love a good deal and apparel retailers love to increase sales. The right clothing store POS should support pricing bundles to reward shoppers for buying additional products.
Cross-selling: The POS can be set up to suggest customers also select complementary items that coordinate with their primary purchase. Someone buying a winter coat might also be prompted to consider a hat and gloves, for example.
All bundled up: Offer “packages” to add value by combining groups of items, such as a blouse and skirt, or a full set of lingerie for a flat price. Your clothing store POS should be able to offer “buy one, get one” bundles as well.
Up-selling: A customer purchasing apparel from one designer also might be interested in taking home other accessories from that label.
Choosing the right clothing store POS can transform your apparel retail business, improve the customer experience, and pave the way for higher sales and the next level of success.
