The future is intelligent commerce

The last few years have been a rollercoaster for businesses, from the sudden and dramatic shift to online selling through the global pandemic, to the recently reported slowdown in online sales.

Based on research presented by Benedict Evans in February 2023, this shift isn’t actually a downturn, it’s a return to the eCommerce trendline.

While the eCommerce spike benefited businesses that were able to quickly adjust and pivot, the increased spending wasn’t sustainable. The re-alignment with the existing trendline shows that eCommerce sales are actually continuing to grow, driven by organic growth factors including a shift in overall consumer behavior and technology advancements.

 

Another revolution in commerce

But behind the scenes, there’s another revolution impacting the way we run our businesses. We’ve already seen a tremendous shift from analog commerce to digital commerce, moving from green accounting pads and cold-hard cash to always-on eCommerce stores and seamless connectivity. But the next revolution is the shift to intelligent commerce.

What is intelligent commerce?

Intelligent commerce expands the use of advanced technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve the customer experience, drive operational efficiency, and drive business growth.

With intelligent commerce, businesses can get real-time insights into their inventory levels, sales trends, and customer demand. Business owners can optimize their demand forecasting, leveraging historical sales data and other variables, including seasonal trends, customer behavior, and even the impact of marketing campaigns by leveraging advanced tools within their existing systems. This enhanced forecasting reduces the risk of stock-outs and ensures that customers can purchase the products they want, regardless of the channel they choose.

What’s driving this shift and why now?

The current technological landscape is witnessing a rapid pace of innovation, including automation, mobility, and intelligence. These advancements pave the way for intelligent commerce, where businesses can leverage data-driven insights to personalize customer experiences and make informed decisions. Several of these technologies are already being used by large enterprises, but the time is right to democratize them for small businesses.

At Cin7, we are committed to making intelligent commerce accessible to all by providing affordable and easy-to-use solutions. The convergence of automation, mobility, and intelligence has created a unique opportunity for businesses to improve their operational efficiency, enhance customer engagement, and ultimately drive growth.

 

The future at Cin7

Cin7 Core and Cin7 Omni have helped over 8500 customers in 75 countries transition from analog to digital commerce and take advantage of opportunities for accelerated growth.

“It’s the perfect growth platform for small to medium inventory businesses.”

– Cale Watson, Operations Manager for Mega Medical

Our product investments are guided by customer feedback and evolving market needs.

We gather feedback and insights from our customers and partners to identify pain points, unmet needs, and opportunities for improvement. This information is then used to guide product development and innovation, ensuring that the resulting products and services align with customer expectations.

In addition to investing in products based on customer feedback and needs, we also recognize the importance of investing in future needs based on recent technological advancements. We understand this dynamic and are committed to offering products that help our customers today while also building a future-proof solution.

Our approach involves leveraging the latest technologies and trends to create products that can adapt and evolve with our customer’s changing needs. By taking a forward-thinking approach, we enable our customers to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive advantage in their respective markets. Our focus on both customer needs and future trends ensures that our products provide value and relevance to our customers, both now and in the future.

With this balanced product investment, we will enable our customers on Cin7 Core and Cin7 Omni successfully transition to intelligent commerce taking advantage of advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning, automation, and mobility to optimize their operations, and ultimately drive growth and profitability.

This includes investments in:

  • Personalized, intuitive applications. With role-based dashboards and interactive charts, every member of your team will have the information at their fingertips that they need to make key business decisions.
  • Actionable insights. Optimize your operations with intelligent forecasting based on customer behavior to optimize inventory levels and production schedules. Leverage AI and machine learning to simplify product management, marketing, and more.
  • Strong ecosystem. Cin7 has already built strong connections with key industry partners, including Intuit Quickbooks Online, Xero, Shopify, Amazon and we are committed to investing in our ecosystem and developing best-in-class native integrations with additional partners including Shiprush, Shipstation, and others. These partnerships and integrations empower Cin7 Core and Omni customers to grow by leveraging the power best of breed solutions that are connected seamlessly using Open APIs.

 

Our Product Vision: A personalized platform with actionable insights, smart automation and seamless integrations

This shift to intelligent commerce requires product investments over the next couple of years and we are starting now. Here is a preview of what you can expect to see from those investments through 2023.

 

Cin7 Core Cin7 Omni
Enhanced usability
  • Get the insights you need with new role-based dashboards
  • Quick access to data with global search
  • Easily preview and action with side panel view
  • Context-based help within app
  • Simplified tax view at product/service level
Future proof platform
  • Simplified sign-in in WMS, MES and POS mobile apps
  • SMS notifications
  • Rapid release with phased deployment
  • Additional API endpoints (e.g. write cartonization)
Deepening module capabilities
  • Ml/AI enabled features (e.g. forecasting, personalization)
  • Calendar view for production scheduler
  • New stock calculation engine
  • Improved stock take in WMS
Best in class Integrations
  • Continued QBO integration enhancements
  • New best of breed solution integrations with our partners
  • Updated/New Shopify dashboards
  • New Avalara Tax integration

 

Looking beyond

At Cin7, our curiosity and commitment extend to discovering new ways to enhance the value of your inventory, warehouse, and manufacturing systems. We are determined to provide you with cutting-edge tools and solutions that have traditionally been complex, expensive, and only accessible to large corporations. We are constantly learning more about the unique challenges faced by our customers so we can develop solutions to address their needs. By working closely with our customers, we provide tailored solutions that drive growth, efficiency, and profitability.

We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s to come, and what is possible. Cin7 is committed to building the runway for our customer’s long-term growth through our strategic investment in the Cin7 Core and Omni products. Step into the future of intelligent commerce with us.

4 Ways Businesses can Future-Proof their Inventory and Accounting Systems

The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges to most businesses, especially small businesses. It was tough to manage inventory distributions in brick-and-mortar locations amid lockdowns and increased demand for online purchases. Then came the supply chain shortages and other issues. But some small businesses succeeded despite those challenges. How did they do it? What lessons can other small businesses take from their successes?

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1. Operate efficiently in a changing economy

Manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers like you are experiencing a seismic shift in what they focus on to grow their businesses. Improving operational efficiency is most important, while adding new sales channels is getting less attention. Manage sales across multiple channels and share accurate data with a precise view of actual inventory costs and landed costs in real time.

2. Better identify pain points with an integrated cloud-based system

Shifting your business focus means identifying your most-important operational challenges so you can find solutions that will make you more efficient. The right cloud-based system integrates all your company data in one place to help you find what you need quickly. Data accuracy, systems integration (especially with 3PL systems), inventory control and forecasting are the most-felt challenges across the board.

3. Get your “must haves” in one cloud-based solution

Moving away from desktop systems and into the cloud saves you time and money, while enabling you to better manage the products you manufacture and sell. A high-impact cloud solution for inventory, accounting and complete business management can satisfy all your must-haves.

Check out Cin7 Core’s powerful feature list.

4. Moving to a cloud-based solution can be faster and less expensive

66% of product sellers say the biggest block to cloud migration is not being able to implement a solution on their own. Easily overcome that issue with Cin7 Core + QuickBooks Online, which takes up to a month less to implement than other solutions and cost $6,000 to $11,000 less.

You want to grow, become more efficient, deliver exceptional products, and easily adapt to rapid changes in the economy, including spikes in demand. Cin7 Core + QuickBooks Online offers one powerful solution for your inventory and financial management needs, from sales to purchasing, production, warehousing, shipping and returns, at a fraction of the cost of an ERP. Save time and money while better managing your products and accounting with a scalable, cloud-native solution that is actually affordable.

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