Retail POS and CRM software integration is a great option for businesses that want to take their sales, marketing, and customer experience to the next level or to improve the processes they have in place. If you’re not familiar with POS-CRM integrations or you wonder, “What is CRM in retail?” we’re here to help.
Learn what an integrated POS CRM system is all about, the benefits of CRM retail software, what software options are available, and what steps you can take to get your CRM and POS integrated and working together to improve your customer experience.
What Is POS and Retail CRM Software?
CRM software and POS software both have different roles during the customer experience and sales process. Point-of-sale (POS) software is the system a physical retailer uses to process customer sales. POS systems can be as simple as a card reader or iPad, or can be a custom-built system for large, big box retailers.
The type of POS system you choose depends on your needs, but many smaller businesses are leaning towards simple POS solutions that they can customize themselves.
CRM software is a little different, dealing with the backend of the customer transaction process. It provides added features that allow your business to better market to your customers and improve customer value. CRM software helps you better target your audience so you can provide customized marketing campaigns that make your front-end sales efforts go further.
Benefits of CRM-POS Integration
Retail POS and CRM software can work together to create a comprehensive customer experience. When you integrate them into one system, they can provide new insights to your sales, marketing, and retail teams about what they can do to retain more customers.
A POS-CRM software integration offers other benefits, such as:
- Improved Customer Segmentation: This means businesses can get more information on who their customers are and break them into target groups to better customize their marketing approach.
- Help with Promotions: Knowing your customers allows you to provide custom recommendations for products your customers are already interested in purchasing.
- Increased Customer Retention and Loyalty: A retail POS and CRM integration can help you identify and reward your loyal customers. You can offer them exclusive discounts and customer programs.
- Real-Time Integration: Customer data that is captured on the retail and sales side of the transaction process is automatically stored and shared with your CRM system. This provides you with additional customer details for your marketing campaigns.
- Quick Data Capture: Shipping addresses, customer names, etc., are all entered into your POS system. Integration allows this information to be automatically shared with your CRM. That means sales, marketing, and customer service reps can access the data they need when they need it.
- Better Overall Experience: POS-CRM integration provides a better experience for customers and employees alike. Not only does your internal team have access to POS data in their CRM, your front-line salespeople will have access to CRM data on their POS! This makes it easy to create an amazing customer experience and keep customers coming back.
A better understanding of your customers is vital to the success of every business, and retail POS and CRM software integration makes it possible to expand the benefits of your POS and CRM platforms.
Best POS and Retail CRM Software
With so many POS and retail CRM software systems on the market, it can be hard to find a retail POS and CRM platform that’s right for you. When considering a POS-CRM system, make sure you start by identifying the features you need and want; then, find software that suits your needs effectively along those lines. Here are a few of the best POS and retail CRM software systems for you to consider as you start searching.
- Hubspot CRM: This CRM offers excellent flexibility, is easy to use, and, best of all, is completely free. Businesses can easily track their leads and business metrics on this simple and straightforward platform.
- Microsoft Dynamics: The retail side of Microsoft Dynamics allows businesses to gather new customer data and integrate it with their existing data for a connected and transparent customer engagement experience.
- Pipedrive: This retail POS and CRM software makes your business processes and analytics completely visible to you. It includes email integration so you can easily get your email marketing campaigns up and running.
- Sugar CRM: This CRM point-of-sale software helps businesses manage their customer relationships with ease by offering their own POS integration options.
- Freshsales: This CRM retail software allows you to easily segment your customers so you can target them with personalized marketing campaigns. Freshsales also provides a free trial option so you can give it a spin before you decide if it’s the right fit for your business.
- Salesforce 1: This CRM retail software allows for seamless integration with mobile devices and terminals alike. It allows for easy access to your salesforce customer purchase history so you can build great customer relationships.
There are hundreds of CRM point-of-sale and CRM software packages to choose from. Doing a little research on which features you need for your business will help you find the right one that integrates well with your other business platforms.
How to Integrate Your CRM, POS, and Other Systems
How you integrate your CRM retail software with your POS system depends on the types of CRM and POS system you have. Some offer built-in APIs that allow for easy integration, whereas others require a custom approach.
If you have a system that offers built-in integration, you may still find that you would like to integrate your CRM and POS with other platforms that don’t include built-in integration. Examples are your finance, sales, marketing, ERP, and other systems. This is where third-party integration can help.
Third-party integration services allow you to take a custom approach to how you do business and give you the option to pick and choose your integration features. You can choose to integrate all your platforms or just the ones you need. This can increase the visibility of your data and streamline business processes throughout all business departments.
Bringing Retail POS and CRM Together
Integrations of retail POS and CRM software help businesses that want to increase their software functionality across all their business platforms. You might choose POS-CRM integrations for CRM retail software, because they can help you streamline your business processes so you can focus on scaling your business.
Now that you know the answer to the question, “What is CRM in retail?” you are prepared to find the best CRM point-of-sale software to meet your business needs. Be ready for it to help you create a better customer experience geared towards the growth of your company.