Storis’ product team has spent hundreds of hours on-site at their retailers’ showrooms uncovering common challenges to inform the design of its web-based Mobile POS. One noteworthy finding was how often sales associates had to physically track down their managers for price override approvals.
Mark Braun, product manager for the Mount Arlington, New Jersey-based provider of retail software solutions and services to the home furnishings industry, shares his findings, “We observed an average of three overrides per sales order, which translated to upwards of 20,000 individual manager override requests at Top 100 retailers every day. We knew there had to be a better solution, so our team set out to solve this common retail challenge.”
Price overrides are a necessary practice in retail as they ensure inventory is being sold at a price that maintains margin requirements. But this can lead to a clunky customer experience and annoyance to managers and associates alike. Today, Storis is thrilled to present Remote Manager Overrides, a new feature of its Storis NextGen Mobile POS. This new mobile approach eliminates frustration, enables associates to stay with their customers, and expedites checkout.
Braun notes, “We observed managers’ time being inundated with overrides on peak days taking them away from productive tasks. Storis NextGen’s new override experience eliminates the redundancies we observed to save hours of valuable time that can be dedicated to driving sales and developing store teams.”
Remote Manager Overrides enables a sales associate to send a manager a request through their mobile devices. This management-level user must be given the appropriate security permissions. They are then eligible to receive SMS text alerts to their cellphones with a direct link to approve or deny override requests with the click of a button. Additionally, approvals can be sent for the entire order, eliminating the tedious nature of line-by-line approvals. This alone can cut override requests by two-thirds.
Sales associates will need to request a manager override if they add a “manager-only” discount code to an order or manually override the price of a line item that exceeds margin thresholds. The request will clearly communicate why each line item is triggering a price exception and how far outside of the variance the request is. This allows the manager to make an informed decision on approving the request.
If the manager chooses to deny the request, they can reply with an explanation or a recommended solution that is agreeable to all parties. For example, an associate may have requested a price variance of 15%, but the manager is only comfortable approving up to 10%.
If your customer experience is bogged down by tedious manager overrides, Storis NextGen Mobile POS is a game-changer. Just request, text and approve.
