What are the best digital tools you can use for selling?

Not so long ago, the only technology a store had to close a sale with a customer was a cash register. Now, on the other hand, “the retail sector must adapt and provide value with the resources it has, its stores and its human team,” explained Emilio J. Luján, general manager of Moddo, on 9 March.

In the webinar Technological solutions for retail: from the cash register to omnichannel, organized by the Chair of Future Retail Scenarios of the UPF Barcelona School of Management, Luján presented the solutions offered by his technology for retail company, which has its own technology that adapts to different needs, and which has tried to “bring digital to the physical world to compete on equal terms”, both in large and small companies for the last 25 years.

According to the general manager of Moddo, the store of the future will not have cash registers because everything will go through mobile devices and omnichannel technology.

In this regard, Luján identified and explained five new ways of selling that are already here: by QR, by mobile POS, by WhatsApp, by video and in marketplaces.

First of all, selling by QR is increasingly widespread, because QR no longer needs a specific application to work, but can be activated directly with the smartphone camera. However, Luján said that this technology is underutilized, given that it can be reprogrammed, reused and used for much more than what it is currently used for, such as finalizing the purchase and paying.

For its part, sale by mobile POS is a system that has the advantage of speed, because it allows sellers to access all the information on the company's computer system and the entire catalogue of products on their smartphone (or tablet, or computer). In this way, you can charge without using a cash register (with an integrated contactless device, or by sending the check out to the customer's smartphone), as well as provide the product directly, and also delivery it to their home.

As for sales by WhatsApp, this allows very close communication between the seller and the customer (for example, sending photos and videos to customers, and finally a payment link, all integrated into the ecosystem of the company), but it is a channel that requires someone to take care of its management and advertising: you can add a button on the homepage of the website, in the shopping cart of the online stores, on the product sheets, newsletters, and also advertise on physical elements such as bags, tickets, windows, etc.

In this regard, Emilio J. Luján reported the example of a store in Madrid in the textile and footwear fashion sector that, in less than six months, increased its sales by 40% thanks to sales by WhatsApp, which already accounted for 30% of the total sales of the store.

An extension of sales by WhatsApp would be sales by video, in which the most important thing is the communicative capacity of the seller. It can be presented in several formats: individual calls with a client, and live broadcasts in which questions can be asked by chat, among others.

Finally, selling in marketplaces can also be tried, such as Amazon or eBay, but Luján recommended doing it little by little and analysing the data well. A marketplace is nothing more than a digital shopping centre, so opening in one ends up being a similar experience to opening a store in a shopping centre: it attracts traffic, but there is no exact science, and some succeed and others do not.

Sometimes there are marketplaces that contain a lot of competition, and the margins are low, and in most cases the important thing is not being the top seller, but selling under the right conditions. Like everything, the only way to learn is with experience, and taking care of the channel like any other.
In short, QR facilitates self-service and real-time integration of all the essential elements for selling, mobile POS avoids going through the checkout and speeds up the service, WhatsApp brings the customer closer, video reinforces the presence of the seller at the moment of purchase, and marketplaces are digital shopping centres which allow everything to be integrated in one place.

We each need to decide which tools are best for our business.