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How Independent Retailers Can Survive In The 21st Century

Written by: Laura Gonzalez

Article Overview: Tips for retailers trying to survive in the 21st Century.

How Independent Retailers Can Survive In The 21st Century

In the 21st century, independent retailers face serious challenges that determine their survival. The five biggest dangers threatening small to medium businesses are: inventory management, shrinkage, employee training and retention, the growth of the multi-channel shopper, and accurate marketing research to identify consumer behavior. As a result, recent studies report over 175,000 US businesses have filed bankruptcy since 2000 (Fortune 500, 2004). Survival by using the latest technology in the Wal-Mart era is critical in order to remain viable and successful.

Independent retailers that do not have a comprehensive point of sale/inventory control system now should carefully consider the tremendous benefits of implementing one. Allowing the POS system to keep track of all aspects of inventory, customer data, employee data, and merchandise vendor information, guarantees improved profitability. Most importantly, a POS system would allow the store owner to increase and expand personalized service and focus on customers’ needs. There are a myriad of retail systems on the market. The true challenge ultimately becomes finding an established technology partner with the expertise and commitment to provide ongoing support.

Achieving business benefits from a POS system, and getting the most return on investment from the system itself requires an innovative technologically-advanced partner. Independent retailers who find that synergistic relationship will succeed where others will experience frustration and fail. The right partner can bring many advantages; mainly keeping the retailer operating at peak efficiency, and maintaining that cutting edge technology in order to stay competitive. A great partner will provide network consulting, thorough employee training, proper implementation, and on-going support. A fast response time on all technical issues is vital. After all, what purpose will the POS serve if it is not functioning accordingly? There are hundreds of technology companies vying for retailer’s business. Choosing the right partner is essential.

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Article Tags: business benefits, consumer behavior, customer data, cutting edge technology, fortune 500, independent retailers, inventory control system, inventory management, medium businesses, ongoing support, peak efficiency, personalized service, proper implementation, retail systems, shrinkage, store owner, synergistic relationship, technology partner, true challenge, wal mart



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