FOLSOM, CA – JUNE 18, 2020 – Retail Pro International (RPI), developer of the global Retail Pro POS software named top POS for midmarket retail, concluded its third installment of a webinar disclosing seven insights retailers will need to glean from their data as they reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 brought an unprecedented and wholly unexpected market downturn,” comments Retail Pro International CEO, Kerry Lemos. “Helping retailers maximize operational efficiency and gain insights from their data using deep capabilities in Retail Pro POS is at the heart of our mission at RPI. Now this is more important than ever to help retailers combat the ongoing effects COVID-19 will have on consumer mindsets and economies.”
This webinar, which can be accessed on the Retail Pro website, is the latest of Retail Pro International’s efforts to be a strong support to retailers around the world who temporarily closed stores to protect employee and customer wellbeing.
Global support augmented during the pandemic
Retail Pro International, deemed an essential business by US federal guidelines, remained open and operating at full capacity – and even grew their staffing – to support their essential and nonessential retailer clients.
“RPI adopted thoughtful and flexible measures to maximize care and minimize health risks for our team so they could continue undisrupted development and support for the Retail Pro software and our retailers’ teams,” explains Retail Pro International COO, Mike Bishop.
RPI’s Global Technical Support team continued providing around the clock, 24/7 service to the worldwide network of Retail Pro Business Partners as they served to support and guide retailers through these challenging times.
Bishop continues, “To ensure timely support for our reseller partners and retailers during the pandemic and beyond, we hired additional staff members for the Tech Support and Software Quality Assurance teams, as well as boarding 4 new resellers to offer focused support for Poland, Sweden and the Nordics, Kenya, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.”
In addition, the company launched a special liaison effort to provide avenues for retailers to get in contact with their Retail Pro Business Partner if they did not already have established contact.
Empowering COVID-19 frontlines
As a new exemplar for bravery emerged from the global pandemic – medical and pharmacy workers – Retail Pro International stood ready to support the needs of pharmacy retail worldwide.
Dedicated pharmacy professionals played a large role during COVID-19 in helping people maintain a level of wellbeing with the prescriptions they fill, and their essential work is supported by technology with the use of Retail Pro POS and retail management software to ensure accuracy and efficiency in their operations.
“Retail Pro International provides support to the courageous contributors on the frontlines in pharmacy retail globally. In Pakistan, for example, pharmacies like Meri Pharmacy, Ehad Healthcare, DVAGO, MedAsk, and many others, leverage the flexible Retail Pro Prism point of sale platform in their retail locations to work with both speed and precision,” commented Retail Pro International VP for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific, Bevin Manian.
“Our Retail Pro Prism platform has an accessible application programming interface (API) which allows the software to be customized to fit the needs and specific operations of a wide variety of retail verticals – including pharma retail,” Manian explained.
Preparing retail technology & operations for the remainder of 2020
Though nonessential retail saw darkened windows in storefronts, the 9000 retailers leveraging Retail Pro across 130 countries were far from dormant. In addition to serving online shoppers with the market-wide operational shift to ecommerce, retailers also invested time in training their staff and recalibrating both operations and technologies to position them for a strong reopening.
“Due to the severe and unexpected inability to sell, retailers will need to work hard and fast for the remainder of 2020 to make up for lost time, and will need to operate with utmost efficiency so teams can focus on serving customers and generation sales,” said Retail Pro International Senior VP of Client Services, Bill Colley.
“Technology is essential for increasing efficiency. We saw numerous visionary retailers hard at work in digital transformations to ensure they are technologically stronger and ready to go when business resumes full strength. The Retail Pro Professional Services team has been consulting with our customers throughout the pandemic to help them tailor and tune Retail Pro for their specific needs and operations,” Colley continued.
Brands like Puma, Under Armour, Payless LATAM, Stella McCartney, Mothercare in APAC, and Cyclegear leveraged expertise from the Retail Pro Professional Services team during the global downtime to upgrade and tailor their Retail Pro POS software for retail efficiency.
Others, like MUJI, Valentino, Ryohin Keikaku, Ferrari, Missoni, Domasco, Gentle Monster, Dover Street Market Ginza, Bon Ami, and Karaz Linen across the APAC, European, and Middle Eastern markets also invested in Retail Pro technology upgrades, with some expanding various business units.
During the pandemic, Retail Pro International also offered its retailers free access to full online training for its current solution and legacy products, empowering retailers to deepen their knowledge of the POS software they rely on to optimize the efficiency of their operations.
Welcoming new retailers to the Retail Pro community
While retailers who already leverage Retail Pro are engaged in digital transformations, many others took advantage of the downtime to evaluate technology solutions available on the market and chose to adopt Retail Pro.
Retail Pro International welcomes to the global Retail Pro community the following retailers from the Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and North America regions.
“Though the global pandemic undoubtedly impacted retail, we saw retailers’ characteristic resilience and ingenuity shine through as they pivoted in their strategies to stay connected with shoppers to serve their needs at this time,” commented Lemos. “We also aimed to double up on support for our retailers during COVID-19. One thing became clearer than ever: our worlds are interdependent, and we must stand together to come out stronger.”
More from Retail Pro News:
Retail Pro® Ranked Top Retail POS in Market Share, Global Reach, Innovation, and Growth
Kanmo Group Rolls Out Omnichannel Strategy with Retail Pro Prism
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