With the ever-evolving industry trends, it is necessary for all retail businesses to stay on top of their games and be more competitive. With modern businesses getting exposed to the latest and innovative technologies, most retail brands are able to ensure a smooth buyer’s journey.
One of the most common ways to utilize these tech-savvy methods to generate more leads is by using an effective retail management system software solution for your brand. This way, you will be able to manage and streamline the operations of your retail business.
To integrate everything according to your specific business needs, you can also leverage custom retail software. Find out more below:
What is Custom Retail Software
As the name suggests, a custom retail application software is a solution that is built and designed in order to fulfill a retail store or organization’s certain business requirements. This kind of software can help you change the dynamics of your business for the better.
This software for retail shops can come with a wide variety of options and benefits. All you need to do is to contact a good retail software development company that can help create a solution that is the best possible solution for your organization.
You are likely to witness a tremendous transformation of your business and innovate the way things work. With the cloud technology of these software, you can certainly accelerate your sales and give a quick boost to your store operations.
Reasons to Build Retail Shop Software
Here are some of the top benefits of utilizing custom retail software for your business:
- Automate internal store operations
- Effective inventory management
- Streamline payments and supply chain
- Enhance customer support and relations
- Leverage AI-based marketing campaigns
- Switch to e-commerce efficiently
Statistics and Overview
Here are some interesting facts about retail business and software:
- The global retail ecommerce is expected to reach $3.3 trillion dollars by 2025.
- The number of digital buyers has increased from 259 million to 2.14+ billion.
- The ecommerce retail sales are expected to reach $173 billion by the end of 2023 in the US.
- The Asia-pacific share of retail sales is expected to grow to 81.2% by 2025.
- 74% of North American and European retail businesses plan to improve their use of technology for better company analytics and data insights.
Here are some retail sales trends insights:
The number of online buyers of retail businesses using social media:
Cost to Build
On average, a simple ecommerce custom retail software is likely to cost around $50,000. However, it certainly depends on your development needs and the features of the software solution.
Cost of development according to seniority level and region:
| Region | Junior Developer | Middle Developer | Senior Developer |
| North America | $95-100 | $120-130 | $140-148 |
| Asia | $20-30 | $25-35 | $25-35 |
| Eastern Europe | $25-35 | $30-40 | $40-50 |
| South America | $25-35 | $35-45 | $35-50 |
| Western Europe | $35-45 | $45-55 | $50-65 |
Features
Most retail software solutions are known for these features:
Types
Some of the most common types of custom retail shop software include:
Examples
Getting your custom retail software developed might sound like an overwhelming process to figure out your business needs. So, here are the examples of some popular retail software working in the market:
- Lightspeed
- Shopify
- Epos Now
- NetSuite
- Erply
Steps to Create
Follow the following steps to have a perfect custom retail solution designed for your specific business requirements in an effective manner.
Research and Analysis
The first phase of any project development is to properly begin with analyzing the market trends and understanding your business needs accordingly.
This involves gathering information from stakeholders about what they want the software to achieve, including the features, functionalities, and overall goals of the software. This helps in identifying potential competitors, unique features, and potential opportunities for the software solution.
It is also essential to determine the technical requirements of the software solution, including the hardware and software specifications, programming languages, and frameworks to be used. Based on this feedback received during the user testing phase, refine the software solution to ensure it meets the user’s needs and preferences.
Choose the Right Vendor
Selecting the perfect vendor to build your custom retail software is one of the most crucial steps of the process. However, before selecting a vendor, it is important to define your requirements for the software solution.
This includes the features and functionalities you require, the timeline for development, and your budget. Once you have defined your requirements, research potential vendors that specialize in developing retail software solutions.
Look for vendors that have experience in developing similar solutions, and read reviews and case studies to understand their track record. Evaluate each vendor’s capabilities in terms of their expertise, the technologies they use, and their experience in integrating with other systems to make the right decision.
Plan and Budget
Once you have decided who you might partner with to develop your custom retail solution, the next step would be to plan everything accordingly and create a budget in order to determine how much capital you are going to need to fulfill your purpose.
Remember, the cost of development depends on a number of different factors, including the region and location of the vendor, time, features, and type of retail software solution. You would also need to describe all the functional requirements beforehand.
Create and monitor a budget plan that outlines the costs of the project, including all the expenses that were estimated. Ensure that the budget plan aligns with the project plan. Consider the return on investment (ROI) of the project when creating the budget.
This involves estimating the potential benefits that the software will bring to the business, such as increased efficiency, improved customer experience, and increased revenue.
Design and Implementation
In the design phase, the team should identify the requirements of the retail software, such as its purpose, functionalities, and features. This can be done by conducting meetings with stakeholders and end-users, reviewing existing systems, and analyzing market trends.
Once the requirements are identified, the team should create a detailed design of the retail software. This includes creating wireframes, mockups, and user flow diagrams. This phase also involves selecting the appropriate technology stack and database architecture.
The implementation phase involves coding the software using the chosen technology stack and database architecture. The team should follow coding standards and best practices to ensure the software is scalable, maintainable, and secure.
Test and Run
This is the last but one of the most important steps of development. The software should be thoroughly tested to ensure it meets all the requirements and is bug-free. This includes functional testing, performance testing, and security testing.
Once testing is complete, the software can be deployed to the production environment. This involves configuring the software for the production environment and ensuring it is stable and reliable. After deployment, the team should provide ongoing maintenance and support to the software.
This includes fixing any bugs or issues that arise, adding new features, and ensuring the software is up-to-date with the latest technology trends.
