Three Ways Custom Software Helps Retailers During the Holiday Season

The holidays bring shoppers out in force, and retailers with custom software have the tools to make the most sales. The right software transforms holidays from a chance to make a few more sales to an opportunity to win new customers and match the rest of the year’s earnings combined. In order to meet these goals, businesses must rethink their multi-channel selling systems, ensure they have the supply to meet the demand, and trim costs as much as possible. Although a single piece of custom software may not be able to meet all of these needs, a basic suite of programs could revolutionize a business’s holiday earning ability.

A Better Multi-Channel Selling Experience


Online sales rise every year, making multi-channel selling a critical strategy for businesses of all sizes. Offering multi-channel selling, however, demands an extremely high level of organization and communication between different software products. Even a basic arrangement demands links between physical point of sale stations, online shopping cart applications, and inventory lists. A better system includes connections to warehouses and even vendors. This allows customers seeking sold out items to see how long it will take for backed-up orders to arrive, or how long it will take their local store to replenish their stock. This kind of advance service and preparation make all the difference for customers struggling to find the season’s most popular items.

The right custom software provides the necessary links and channels of communication without interrupting a customer’s experience. Retailers need these powerful tools in order to handle increased demand. Online shoppers want lots of information and a good shopping experience on the go. You need applications that can handle big data while simultaneously monitoring available stock. The business that provides information and products fastest wins.

You need software that can handle the pressure of the holiday rush without damaging the user experience. Happy customers buy more, creating opportunities for additional sales. Customers are more likely to make extra purchases online. This makes the holiday season an especially important time for online storefronts. Custom software development makes techniques like cross-selling much easier, so you can hit goals faster. If your online sales portals do not utilize custom solutions designed to cater to your unique customers, then you are missing out on a huge number of add-on sales.

The Right Products, in the Right Place, at the Right Time


It takes more than pretty decorations and good customer service to win over busy customers during the holiday rush. Supply chain management is essential. There is no time for accidents, delays, or faulty shipments. Speed is everything. Unfortunately, most software cannot keep up with sudden bursts of demand. Holiday season is also breakdown season. POS systems fail, inventory lists become scrambled, and everything that can go wrong will go wrong. These accidents aren’t limited to retailers, unfortunately. They hit vendors, manufacturers, and shipping companies, too.

Without the right stock available in the right store at the right time, holiday sales simply won’t happen. Many retail businesses rely on the holiday season to make their annual goals. Sometimes holiday sales provide a safety net of savings for slow points early the following year. High sales mean survival and growth. So, how can retailers get ahead of these problems?

Custom software provides the kind of logistics control businesses need to overcome delays. Planning ahead is easier with the right software. Custom products can also solve your business’s unique holiday supply problems. You may need automated controls to reorder stock when it gets low, or you could require a system that can handle multiple vendors in case of emergencies. No matter what supply chain issues you face the right software solution is your answer.

Trimming Costs


The holiday season may be an opportunity for customers to increase spending, but it’s a great time for businesses to cut back. Custom software gives businesses the tools they need to aggressively pursue reverse logistics, overhead reduction, and other revenue-saving techniques and policies. Although everyone wants to save money, it’s extremely difficult to make significant changes without upsetting your workflow.

Custom software allows retailers to use advanced techniques to save and reuse potential waste products, reduce excess labor through scheduling adjustments, and much more. Since custom software is designed to suit your individual needs, it’s easy to customize products to address specific concerns. Many cost reduction training seminars and products miss the mark because they don’t take businesses’ unique needs into consideration. Custom software never poses that problem.

There is no way to guarantee sales numbers during the holiday rush, but it’s easy to make huge profits with the right tools. Custom software gives online shoppers a more reliable, pleasant experience without confusing inventory numbers. The right solutions can keep supply chains moving and cut back overhead at the same time. Don’t shop around for the best software solutions. Contact us today to build a custom solution.