One of the most disruptive trends in recent years has been the adoption of cloud services – companies across industries are moving more data to the cloud, whether they be patient files, financial information, customer lists, business tools and applications or anything else. Of course, retail is one of the many sectors in the process of embracing the cloud, simply because it is so useful for omnichannel retailers that look for greater flexibility for their operations.

As a Retail Wire article recently noted, cloud solutions brings a lot to the table for retail organizations in particular. Cloud-based solutions allow merchants to consolidate systems and bring them together to eliminate fragmentation and silos that typically plague omnichannel sellers. Different business units within retail organizations desire the cloud for separate reasons, because of scale, customer experience, and security to name a few.

“The cause célèbre for a quickly-expanding chain might be the need to deliver seamless brand experiences across channels or scale home-grown processes to work across channels and international borders. For a youth-oriented fashion chain, speed to market – involving everything from new product procurement to merchandising and mobile marketing – might be driving the cloud migration,” the news source added.

For the average retailer, the cloud can act as a third platform that effectively brings the point-of-sale, financial data, inventory management, order management and customer relationship management under one central hub. This can greatly reduce the number of “gears” needed in a successful retail machine, helping streamline several processes at once and improving visibility across all channels.

How are retailers using the cloud?

Retailers can use the cloud to accomplish a variety of mission-critical tasks. Here are some common use cases:

Moving the POS to mobile devices: When point-of-sale applications can be moved to the cloud, that means tablets and smartphones can become POS solutions themselves. The value this brings should go without saying – not only can merchants reduce the physical footprint of their front-end, they can also begin processing payments while on the go (like in the aisles of their stores or at local events).

Customer information on the fly: When data winds up being tied to machines or devices, it can be difficult to use. Cloud-based solutions can ease that by giving store associates information wherever they stand. Imagine being able to access customer profiles or order histories from any mobile device or any location, allowing further personalization and improvement of the shopping experience.

Improvement of warehouse operations: If all inventory management and warehouse information is stored in the cloud, retailers will be better able to synchronize these operations. They can quickly and automatically check inventory levels across all locations, whether they are physical stores or regional warehouses, and choose the right location to fulfill the order from.

SalesWarp: An example of what cloud eCommerce management systems can do

While there are numerous cloud-based retail solutions out there, SalesWarp is a great example of what these tools can bring to the table. SalesWarp is a cloud-based eCommerce management software designed for midsize to enterprise level businesses, and can be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from management of products and orders to inventory and customer data management.