Omnichannel retail means a customer can browse online, try in store, buy at a market stall and return by post, while the brand sees one customer and one pool of stock throughout. In practice many brands run their stores and website as separate businesses that happen to share a logo. Stock is counted twice, loyalty points live in one system and store staff cannot see web orders.
We connect point of sale and ecommerce so the record is shared. That starts with deciding whether the POS should be part of the commerce platform or a separate system that syncs with it.
Native or connected POS
Shopify POS runs on the same platform as a Shopify Plus store, so products, inventory and customers are shared without a sync. Square suits brands that want a standalone POS with its own hardware and payments, connected to the online store. Brands with established retail systems often keep them and integrate, accepting a sync in return for not retraining every store. We look at your store count, hardware, staff workflows and reporting before recommending a route.
What we connect
- Inventory. Stock levels by location, visible to staff and customers, with transfers between stores and warehouses.
- Customers. One profile holding online and in-store purchases, so marketing and loyalty see the whole history.
- Cross-channel orders. Buy online and pick up in store, ship from store, and orders placed by staff for items that are not on the shelf.
- Returns and exchanges. Online orders returned in store with the refund or exchange recorded correctly.
- Reporting. Sales by channel and location in one view, without stitching exports together.
Getting stores ready
Technology is half of it. Store teams need clear processes for pickups, transfers and returns, and the hardware has to be set up and tested in each location. We plan launches around your trading calendar, keep them away from peak periods and usually pilot in one location before rolling out to the rest.
Shared stock depends on reliable routing, covered under OMS and fulfilment integration, and in-store returns connect to returns management. Both are part of our omnichannel and B2B commerce service.
