What every retailer wants to know about Acumatica

Finding the right software to manage any business can be difficult. But after over 30 years of matching businesses with the technology, they need to succeed; we’ve found that retailers have some specific questions about Acumatica and how it adapts to their workflows. And while you can answer some of them with a quick Google search, others require a little more digging and a deeper understanding of the product. So, we thought we’d save our readers some time (and confusion) and answer a few common questions about the Acumatica retail-commerce management solution here. Let’s dive in!

 

Does Acumatica retail work on an iPad/other mobile device?

Absolutely. Unlike many other cloud ERP solutions, which are essentially legacy systems retrofitted to work in the cloud, Acumatica’s designers built it from the ground up as a cloud product. So, all you need to access Acumatica is a web browser.

This is often a game changer for retail businesses where not every employee has their own desk or workstation. Instead, they might need to enter information on a shared computer or mobile device. Acumatica handles these situations with ease, thanks to its native android and iOS apps which work on any smart phone or tablet.

Because working on a small phone or tablet screen differs from working on a computer or laptop, Acumatica’s mobile app takes full advantage of your device’s built-in features, like the camera. For example, with the Acumatica mobile app, creating an expense report is as easy as snapping a picture of your receipt. Machine learning and AI then use the image to create the expense report automatically for you.

Best of all, there’s no limit to the number of devices you’re allowed to install Acumatica’s no charge mobile apps on. And the information someone inputs into Acumatica via the mobile app syncs in real time with the system. So, you can finally stop wondering whether your inventory, time tracking, or other key information is up to date.

 

What can you do with the mobile app?

Here are just a few things of the many things Acumatica’s mobile will help your team accomplish:

• Inputting time and expense records
• Allowing managers to approve time and expenses easily
• Staying on top of important to do list items
• Keeping everyone in the know with mobile push notification
• Capturing signatures on key documents

 

Does it connect with my ecommerce platform?

Chances are very good Acumatica will connect with your existing e-commerce platform. Altogether, Acumatica offers 69 connectors for the e-commerce and retail industry. These include several of the biggest names in e-commerce platforms, like Shopify, Big Commerce and Magento.

With these connectors, you can simply roll Acumatica into your existing technology stack. So, if your current ecommerce platform is working for you and your team, there’s no need to overhaul everything. Even if you have unique needs or wish to integrate Acumatica with a system not currently on the impressive and growing list of integrations, the right partner can help.

 

What about my POS system?

Like with e-commerce connectors, retailers have several choices for connecting a POS system with Acumatica. A few of the credit card processing/point of sale systems Acumatica already integrates with include:

• Pay Fabric
• Centara
• 1retail
• VelocIT
• Avalara
• TaxJar

 

Choose the ones that work best for you, and Acumatica will automatically capture customers’ credit card information, help you handle complex tax and regulatory compliance issues and more. With these point-of-sale connectors, the Acumatica retail-commerce management solution is your single source of the truth for your most sensitive and important customer data.

 

Can it handle our inventory needs?

Acumatica’s designers built the software for a variety of businesses that depend on inventory, including retail, manufacturing and distribution. Because of its strong focus in these industries, Acumatica offers some unique inventory tools most other ERP systems cannot match. One of the favorite Acumatica inventory features among e-commerce and retail shops is its inventory matrix feature.

 

What is Acumatica’s inventory matrix and how does it work?

Let’s say you’re a retail shop that sells witty T-shirts online. Your inventory would likely contain a variety of different T-shirt designs, each available in an array of sizes and colors. With most ERP systems, creating your inventory list would mean creating a separate inventory item for each of the design, color, and size combinations.

But Acumatica’s inventory matrix eases the heavy burden this sizable and tedious workload places on your staff. Instead of creating hundreds or even thousands of item SKUs, you tell the system what options you’d like to offer (designs, sizes, and colors) and it fleshes out your inventory automatically, creating items from each of the combinations. Not only does this cut down on your upfront work, but it also makes keeping your inventory up to date much simpler. If you need to add or take away certain options, update prices or descriptions, you can do that once and the matrix will automatically disseminate your changes through all products in the family.

 

Can customers/vendors manage their own accounts?

Acumatica offers customer self-service portals which allow your customers to create a private account which stores all their account information for them to access whenever is convenient for them. Not only can they view historical documents, account balances, due dates, payments you’ve received and amounts still due. They can also update their contact information and user credentials with just a few clicks.

But that’s not all. Acumatica’s customer self-service portal also allows for online ordering. Customers can see your complete product catalog with photos and place orders themselves with always up-to-date inventory information. Putting the ordering power in the hands of your customers not only increases their satisfaction and loyalty. It also takes much of the paperwork responsibility off your sales and customer service teams so that they can focus on other activities.

Plus, does your customer service team spend too much time answering the same simple repetitive customer questions? For many retailers, these are often things like:

1. “How quickly do you process my order after it’s been placed?”
2. “Do you offer expedited shipping options and how much do they cost?”
3. “What is your return policy?”

With Acumatica, you can build a knowledge base of articles in the customer portal, which gives users instant answers to these and other common customer service questions. Freeing up your staff to focus their attention on more complicated, pressing customer issues.

 

Can Acumatica handle merchandise returns?

Acumatica retail-commerce management solution includes return merchandise authorization (RMA) features, which streamlines the return process. It can process these orders as an exchange (replacement for damaged goods) or a credit to the customer’s existing balance. And the system makes it simple to mark each return with a reason code, specifying why the item is being returned, which can be very helpful in spotting troubling trends or understanding whether merchandise may be defective.

Besides making the return process seamless for customers, many retailers like to offer special promotions or discounts to customers whose last purchase did not 100% meet their satisfaction. Acumatica makes this simple with its flexible discount and promotions features. They allow you to set custom discount policies and rules that make sense for your business.

 

See for yourself—Build your own demo

Ready to dive deeper and Acumatica and find out why it’s quickly becoming one of the most popular ERP solutions among retailers? You can see all the features we’ve discussed in this blog; plus others we didn’t get to by building your own custom Acumatica on demand demo. Use it to get an inside look at the software and find out if it’s right for you.

Questions about Acumatica? Ready to talk to an expert about taking the next step towards empowering your retail shop with a modern ERP? We are happy to help! Book a call with our experts today.

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