In the fast-paced era of retail commerce, time is the most precious currency. The difference between a happy client and a missed transaction can boil down to mere seconds – whether it’s that moment of checking the stock, returning an item, or processing the payment transaction. For any retailer who is utilizing the comprehensive abilities of Retail Management Hero (RMH), as well as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, having that connection between the two platforms is vital.
That’s where x2x comes into play. In its role as a specialized platform integrator, x2x can do far more than just transfer data from one end to another. Instead, x2x brings together two disparate systems and creates the synchronization needed for true real-time retailing.
Removing Data Silos
Due to latency issues there are data silo’s in traditional systems. An event happened on the register side, but the finance team would know about it only at the end of the day. A user updated his data, but the following day the cashier had outdated information. Such delays caused data silos, resulting in overselling and accounting inconsistencies.
x2x does away with data silos by creating a seamless communication link between RMH and Business Central. As soon as an event occurred on either side, x2x ensured that both parties got instant feedback. There was no need to wait till the end of the day. The cloud and the store formed a unified system.
The Importance of Real-Time Inventory
Inventory control and tracking is x2x integrator’s main benefit. In the traditional sense, inventory levels tend to differ between the physical store (RMH) and the ERP in the cloud (Business Central).
In the case of x2x, however, the process takes place instantly. Once the item is scanned by the cashier in the physical store, the transaction is communicated to Business Central through x2x in real-time. Also, the inventory level is decreased correspondingly. This feature is especially important for companies who have both physical and online stores. It avoids an often-unpleasant experience known as “overselling”. When an item purchased in the physical store is then bought from the website just after being scanned.
Financial Reconciliation – Accelerated
Finance departments are always concerned about the month-end close. Entering sales figures manually into the ERP from the POS system is prone to mistakes and takes up lots of productive time.
The process of entering sales figures becomes completely automated through x2x. While sales take place, x2x feeds the sales information into the GL modules in Business Central. Tax, payment method, and discount information are automatically classified as per predefined business logic. What it does is that while you close your shop for the day, all the financial information in the cloud is updated.
Customer Unified Intelligence
Today’s retail industry does not involve simple transactions; rather, it involves relationships. For instance, a customer may purchase a gift item in the store via the RMH process and then log onto your website that operates on the Business Central platform to purchase items for themselves.
In essence, the x2x integration makes it possible to have consistency regarding the customers’ view. If the customer makes changes to his or her email address or delivery preferences when making purchases in the store via the POS system, the data will be updated immediately in the cloud-based Business Central application.
Future Proofing Retail
Migration to cloud-based operations in Business Central will give scalability, accessibility, and intelligence to the retailer. However, migration should not compromise speed in retail operations. This is where x2x comes in as the only solution by combining the speed of RMH POS at the edge and the intelligence and connectivity of Business Central at the core.
Conclusion
In summary, x2x can be described as a way for retail commerce operations to leverage technology while being able to retain the benefits of operating at full speed. For companies that want to improve their tech stack without interfering with their storefronts, x2x offers that solution.
