Today’s retail customers are busier than ever. With much of their time occupied by work, family, and fun, many shoppers are opting to skip the in-store grocery trip and instead order their essentials from the comfort of home.
Catering to online shoppers is an excellent opportunity for your grocery store to boost your sales — but to take advantage of this trend, you need a grocery e-commerce platform.
In this blog, we’ll explain how to choose the right grocery e-commerce platform for your small business to start attracting more customers and making more sales.
1. Consider Your Grocery Store’s Unique Needs
Before you embark on your journey to find the perfect grocery e-commerce platform for your small business, you need to spend some time thinking about your goals and priorities for your online operations.
The size of your grocery store is one of the most influential factors to consider when searching for an e-commerce platform. Some platforms like Instacart are best suited for large grocery stores, while others like Mercato will work for stores of any size.
Another factor to consider is whether or not your grocery store accepts EBT. If you want your online customers to be able to use EBT to purchase their groceries, you’ll need to make sure your e-commerce platform accepts these benefits. Local Express and Freshop are two platforms that are EBT-compatible.
2. Look for Full Integration With Your Point of Sale System
Integration between your point of sale (POS) system and your grocery e-commerce platform is a must.
Without a seamless connection between your POS and e-commerce platform, you’ll have to manually sync your inventory and sales data between the two — costing you valuable time and leading to errors.
In contrast, an integrated e-commerce platform provides the best possible experience for you and your customers. You’ll enjoy the benefits of effortless online sales and recordkeeping, and your customers will enjoy a consistent experience whether they’re shopping online or in-store.
To start your online operations off on the right foot, check with your POS provider to learn which grocery e-commerce platforms your system integrates with.
3. Prioritize Seamless Inventory Management
Inventory management is one of the biggest challenges in running a grocery store — but it’s also one of the most critical aspects to get right.
Managing inventory across your in-store and online operations can be tough without the right tools. Fortunately, many grocery e-commerce platforms make it easy to monitor your stock levels.
Most e-commerce platforms feature an inventory management dashboard, allowing you to track what you have in stock and what’s being sold.
If your grocery e-commerce platform integrates with your POS system, inventory management is even easier. Your e-commerce platform and POS system will keep your inventory data up to date at all times, accurately reflecting the sales you’ve made online and in-store.
4. Watch for Easy Reporting
Keeping a close eye on your sales trends is crucial for small business success. Sales reports help you better understand your customers, monitor the health of your business, and make informed decisions to grow your grocery store.
If you’re planning to build your grocery store’s online presence, then you need an easy way to view all your sales data in one place.
Your grocery e-commerce platform should connect with your POS system in real-time to share your online sales data. When it’s time to review reports, you’ll be able to see a comprehensive overview of your grocery store’s sales across your entire operations.
Launch Your Online Grocery Operation With IT Retail
With all the options available on the market, choosing a grocery e-commerce platform can seem overwhelming — but there are a few key ways to narrow down your options and find the right solution for your small business’ unique needs.
The most important factor to consider during your search is which platforms integrate with your grocery store’s POS system. Choosing an integrated grocery e-commerce platform will make selling groceries online effortless, allowing you to monitor your inventory and sales data all from one convenient place.
If you’re looking for more guidance on your journey to launch your online grocery platform, we’re here to help! IT Retail is a powerful point of sale solution designed for small businesses just like yours, and it has everything you need to boost your grocery store’s online and in-store success.
Schedule a personalized demo with one of our grocery industry experts today to see how IT Retail can make a difference for your small business.
