Venditan is a retail technology and eCommerce platform provider based in Manchester, UK. Specialising in integrated, end-to-end solutions for independent small and medium-sized retailers, Venditan aims to provide an alternative to what is often a complex, fragmented market – multiple vendors selling partial solutions that the customer is often left to piece together.
Venditan Commerce, the company’s flagship platform, has been developed to manage every aspect of retailers’ online and physical operations from a single point of control.
As Michael Simcoe, Venditan’s Head of Technical Operations, explains: “Venditan Commerce is the result of over a decade of continuous development spanning cohorts of excellent developers, and we truly believe it offers the best technology available for retailers to scale with minimal growing pains.
“Our platform offers interconnectivity across all aspects of a retail operation; multiple websites, mobile commerce, physical stores, click and collect, and the various online marketplaces that we know users shop on. All of the variables sing from the same hymn sheet and the platform can be moulded to suit the client’s product mix, making it viable across B2B, B2C and B2B2C markets.”
Omnichannel Integration
In particular, Venditan places a lot of emphasis on delivering seamless integration between in-store retail systems and ecommerce. This is an area that remains particularly challenging for many smaller retailers because the two are still widely treated as separate markets.
“‘Omnichannel’ is a word that is at the core of our product offering,” continued Michael. “For us and our clients, it is all about ensuring that the online and offline experiences are as in-sync as possible for both the retailer and the customer. Our clients need to be able to operate with a single view of stock and customer behaviour across all touchpoints. The customer needs to be provided with a consistent experience whether they are browsing in-store or online.”
“The most basic relationship between online and offline retail technology needs to be a functional one. If a customer buys a dress online, they should be able to return it in-store. For the most part, this is now standard practice in 2022/23.”
Adding EPOS to the Mix
While Venditan’s expertise lies squarely in the field of retail software, this interest in connecting online and offline into a single streamlined whole has led to it offering clients in-store EPOS installations as part of a comprehensive retail solutions package. And it is through this that Venditan struck up its relationship with AURES.
“Our relationship with AURES goes back as far as 2017 when we first worked together to deliver our EPOS solution to a retailer based in Rutland and Ambleside,” said Michael. “Working with AURES enabled us to provide our robust EPOS solution coupled with the reliable, well-supported and industry-leading hardware AURES supplies and we are happy that our relationship continues to this day.”
Over the course of five years, Venditan has installed approximately 60 AURES SANGO, YUNO and YUNO B all-in-one EPOS terminals to a number of different clients, as well as peripherals such as the ODP 333 thermal printer and 3S430 cash drawer.
“We have had great feedback on the YUNO and SANGO for their attractiveness on the counter and for their reliability,” said Michael. “We have always found AURES to be highly reliable, with the company’s service matching the dependability and quality of the products we have supplied to our clients.
“Across our five-year relationship, we have only had to use AURES’ on-site maintenance on one occasion. The service we were given was fantastic, with an engineer arriving on site the very next day.”
Evolving Roles for In-store Tech
While there is perennial debate over whether in-store retail can survive the irresistible march of digital shopping, with smaller independent shops viewed as most at risk, Michael believes the continued evolution of technology is ultimately what will save rather than kill off stores.
Even in the fall out of the COVID-19 pandemic, which did so much to accelerate ordinary shoppers’ use of ecommerce, Michael sees clear signs of retailers adapting – with in-store technologies including EPOS still very much part of their strategies.
“The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated technology adoption in retail, particularly with regard to ‘traditional’ retailers looking to transform the way they operate digitally,” he said. “We noticed a slight slowdown in demand for EPOS for new stores and EPOS units due to COVID, but this trend has started to turn around as we see more businesses wanting to invest in a multi-channel solution such as Venditan Commerce.
“The best future technology will be centred around genuine and worthwhile customer engagement, building brand loyalty through innovative schemes that are reflected across all retail touchpoints. If the same customer returns to the store to shop again, what can the store’s EPOS prompt the staff to mention, based on their previous interaction with the brand online? “I can see that you used your store credit to purchase X. How was that for you?” It is this sort of personalised experience which will set brands apart.”
For more detail of Venditan’s Commerce platform please get in touch today and for further information on any AURES hardware please contact AURES UK on;
Email: salesUK@aures.com
Call: 01928 599 966