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5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing an ERP Software for Your Retail Business

  • 12th September 2024

Written by Mamoon Malik, Digital Marketing Executive

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Retailers who struggle to scale their brands are often dealing with inefficient supply chains, fragmented tech stacks and unreliable data insights, hindering growth and profitability. After the implementation of ERP software, 46% of businesses say their key business processes improved and 49% improved almost all business processes. These improvements show how critical it is to choose right ERP for your business to gain a competitive edge and successfully scale your brand.

Before selecting ERP software, you need to ask the right questions to ensure it’s a suitable fit for their business, both now and in the future. The chosen solution should scale and grow alongside the business, accommodating increasing data and more complex processes. Here are some questions that can help you assess whether an ERP is the right fit for your business.

What are Your Business Goals?

The most crucial question to ask is: what are your long-term business goals? If your aim is sustainable growth, consider a scalable ERP software that can expand with your business across multiple stores, concessions and channels. If your goal is entering into new markets, choose a solution that integrates seamlessly with leading marketplaces to connect with potential customers. If you need accurate data for forecasting and strategic decision-making, ensure the software provides precise and valuable insights.

Selecting an ERP software that evolves with your business is essential because failing to do so can result in delayed response to market trends and growth opportunities, a misalignment between business strategy and operational execution and ultimately impact decision-making.

How Scalable is the ERP Software?

Every business experiences growth, accumulating numerous products and thousands of customer transactions. Choosing a scalable ERP solution is critical to managing increased transactions, products, and customer data as your business scales. Look for robust technology with various modules built to support growth. A scalable ERP software like Merret Pro can adapt to evolving needs, streamline complex operations and support long-term growth, becoming an integral part of your business.

Choosing an ERP that lacks scalability can restrict your ability to process higher transaction volumes, manage larger product inventories and accommodate extensive customer data. Due to this, retailers often encounter lost sales, customer dissatisfaction from poor service and delays and missed opportunities to enter new markets due to an inability to scale.

What Features Do You Need?

Not all ERP softwares are the same, and each offers a unique set of features. Start by compiling a list of the functionalities that are absolute must-haves for your business. Are you looking for accurate stock information across all channels? Perhaps your goal is to increase warehouse efficiency or reduce manual errors. Clearly identifying the operational issues your business is facing will inform the features needed for your ERP, helping you make a more focused and effective ERP selection.

Merret Pro, our centralised ERP designed by retailers for retailers, has all the essential modules to help retailers grow:  

What Integrations are Available?

When selecting an ERP, it is crucial to assess its integration capabilities. Your ERP should seamlessly connect with eCommerce platforms, third-party marketplaces and logistics providers. This ensures real-time inventory and order management, enhances the customer experience and streamlines your supply chain operations.

Our scalable ERP software, Merret Pro, is designed to meet these integration needs, making it an ideal solution for retailers. It seamlessly connects with eCommerce platforms like Shopify, Magento and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, leading marketplaces such as Farfetch, Zalando and Very, and logistics providers Royal Mail, Metapack and DPD.

Without an ERP that offers a range of integrations, you’ll face fragmented operations, inefficient workflows and impaired growth, ultimately limiting your ability to compete effectively in the market.

What is the Implementation Timeline?

ERP implementations can be anywhere from a few months to a few years, depending on the size of the business and the scale of the project. Knowing the anticipated timeline of implementation will help you plan your resources and business activities accordingly. Choose an ERP partner who can provide a realistic timeline and has a proven track record of meeting to project schedules.

High street brand, Mint Velvet, launched with only three months to get its They chose Merret Pro, a partner that understood their needs, supported their expansion, and helped them grow into a £100m+ brand today.

Risks of Choosing the Wrong ERP Software

Choosing the wrong ERP software can lead to operational inefficiencies,  create data silos, inaccurate stock levels and negatively impact sales and customer satisfaction. It may fail to scale with your retail business or integrate smoothly with essential third-party systems, leading to more manual work, errors and high costs. To avoid these pitfalls, look for an ERP that offers seamless scalability and integration.

If you have any questions about choosing an ERP or would like expert guidance, our experienced solutions team is here to help. Explore Merret Pro or speak to one of our specialists today and take the first step towards scaling your brand.

  • 12th September 2024

Written by Mamoon Malik, Digital Marketing Executive

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