Having more than one retail location doesn’t mean you have to manage multiple IT systems for each storefront. Disparate IT solutions can leave you open to operational inefficiencies and considerable cybersecurity risks not to mention they are costly to manage and maintain. But with the following tips, you can centralize your tech and provide a better IT experience of each store, giving your business the best of both worlds. In this blog, we outline four retail IT solutions that make it easier to do business when you’re managing multiple locations.
Use SD-WAN for an Enhanced Network
SD-WAN allows you to manage and monitor network activity from a centralized location remotely, saving both time and money. More importantly, you can use SD-WAN to optimize your network’s performance across retail locations, deciding which applications and workflows need the most bandwidth and setting up your system accordingly. With SD-WAN, you can benefit from guaranteed performance delivered over the cloud to create seamless enterprise connectedness.
Invest in Unified Communications
Retail IT solutions like unified communications gives you the power to manage multiple phone lines across distributed retail locations—all while using a single backend management system. Not only does this simplify your management, but it also paves the way for better communications between employees and customers at difference retail locations. Since unified communications are cloud-based, you get greater reliability and uptime when paired with SD-WAN to improve customer interactions.
Enable a Network Firewall
Keeping your retail business safe from cyberattacks can be difficult without the proper retail IT solutions in place. A managed firewall can help by being a first line of defense against internet-based attacks. Not only can it help keep your network and customer information secure, you can also benefit from greater visibility and control of your network.
Incorporate a Centralized Inventory System
By creating a single, centralized inventory solution, you can streamline your purchasing and order fulfillment processes. In this way, you always know what you need to buy to support the inventory of each location—all on one screen. In addition, you pave the way for seamless sharing of inventory between your different locations. Instead of over-investing in buying and shipping inventory to individual stores, you can transport excess stock from one location to another, saving both time and money.
Use Virtual Meetings to Consistently Connect With Employees
It can be very complex to touch base with employees as frequently as you need to when you have multiple locations. But if you use a virtual meeting system as one of your retail IT solutions, you can enjoy meaningful interactions without having to invest time and energy into traveling to your different locations. In this way, employees can be made to feel like an integral part of the company’s culture. When everyone gets the chance to provide and receive feedback, you can create a culture that values everyone on the team. You also get the chance to address employee issues as soon as they arise instead of waiting weeks or longer for an opportunity to visit their site.
These retail IT solutions can make it easier to manage and scale your business to even more new locations. By using cloud-based solutions with centralized management, you save time and money while taking advantage of rich feature functionality that helps improve operations. To learn how managed retail IT solutions can make using these and other technologies easy, connect with TPx today!