Barely 20 years ago, retail stores had one piece of technology: a clunky monitor and computer terminal housing a green-screen Point-of-Sale (POS) system. My how things have changed! Today any retailer can afford technologies that were once only available to the biggest retail chains! We’d like to review some of our favorite tools for you. Who knows, there may be a helpful new app on your horizon!

Dor People Counter for Retail (getdor.com)

Most retail stores intend to track how many people walk through their door each day, and some even do a good job of it. But monitoring and logging store traffic is haphazard at best. If you want to know how many people visit your store each day without having to constantly remind your team to log visitors, there’s Dor. Dor is a thermal-sensing camera hooked right on the entrance door of your store, connected to an app that feeds you data and insights. You can monitor traffic trends and make better operational decisions based on having actual door data!

Magicplan (magicplan.app)

Magicplan is an app that allows you to instantly create and share floor plans and create estimates about what those floor plan changes will involve and cost. It was originally created for contractors (and is still extensively used by them), but retailers have discovered that Magicplan is a fantastic google for gaming out floor plan ideas, entering measurements, adding photos and sketches, and making notes about what floor plan changes might involve. With Magicplan, you have more information at your fingertips when you sit down to meet with your contractor, lighting consultant, or cabinet-maker.

Docusign (docusign.com)

With so much business being done over the computer today, it can be a hassle to collect purchase agreement signatures from clients. With Docusign, you can send the digital document to your client via email or text link and collect a signature without anyone having to find a printer, scanner or fax machine!

Online Booking Calendars (keap.app or calendly.com)

With an online booking link you can eliminate all the back-and-forth communication about setting up a meeting time and let clients and prospects simply select a time on your calendar. Many options are available for this, but here are two of our favorites: Calendly and Keap.

Calendly does only one thing: it books appointments. Keap is a highly affordable CRM and email marketing alternative to Hubspot or Salesforce - more tuned to the needs of small business owners. Both will allow you to create multiple appointment links that you can share on your website, put in your email signature line, or text to customers. Customers click a button, pick a time that works best for them, and viola! You just have to shop up for the meeting.