Synchronise your Shopify and retail store

In this modern age we can sometimes forget that not all of our customers simply run Shopify stores online only. 

Many of our customers currently offer traditional retail via a bricks and mortar store, and are looking to expand their reach by launching an online Shopify store as an added revenue stream for the business. In this common scenario it is worthwhile that our customers think about whether they would like to synchronise product inventory and all sales between the bricks and mortar shop, and the Shopify store. 

One option is to use an inventory management and Point of Sale system (POS) system such as Lightspeed POS that can act as an in-house POS to accept payments in store. In addition these systems can sync the products and inventory directly within the Shopify online store. This method will ensure that products sold online are reflected within the inventory system, and vice versa. This will allow for sensible inventory management and collation of sales data.

Another option is to take advantage of Shopify POS.  The Shopify POS system will act in a similar way to the above scenario however the Shopify platform will act as the inventory management and sales data system with sales either in store, or online reflecting within Shopify.  This method has some excellent advantages but will require some hardware investment to make sure shopping in house is as simple as possible.

A final note worth considering is that whichever way our customers would like to manage their multi-channel sales it is important to weigh up which option is the most convenient.  It is worth investigating which is the most simple to manage & cost effective, especially when it comes to merchant fees and software / hardware costs.

Our team of Shopify experts can assist and advise on whatever scenario works best for our customers needs, so feel free to reach out to our team at the Insider Media group.