In the ever-evolving landscape of retail, the concept of unified commerce has become a crucial element for brands looking to thrive in a competitive market. Tecovas, a Texas-based American retailer founded in 2015 and known for its exquisite cowboy boots and Western-style apparel, stands out as a prime example of a company that has successfully implemented the unified commerce approach with Shopify Point of Sale.
Recently, Shopify's Anisha Datwani had the opportunity to sit down with Kevin Harwood, the Chief Technology Officer of Tecovas, to delve into what unified commerce truly means for him and what growth levers it unlocks for the brand.
Radical Hospitality
The spirit of the West and southern hospitality has long been embraced by Tecovas. Known for their timeless designs and quality craftsmanship, they are also popular for their unique in-store experiences like complimentary alcohol and boot shines to create a welcoming atmosphere.
Those physical retail experiences are something they pride themselves on, but they also embrace their digital customers too by catering to their preferences. Whether in-store or online, Tecovas leverages Shopify POS to blend in-store and online experiences so customers can choose how and where they shop, including adopting Split Cart later this year.One of our brand mantras is actually radical hospitality. So how do we bring that into a digital customer journey?
Kevin Harwood, CTO, Tecovas
“I've been working with Shopify on something called Split Cart, which allows us to serve our customers in a way that's seamless.” Harwood explains. “In the past, there’s been a little bit of transaction friction, where they may have to do two transactions. A customer purchasing an item that they're going to leave with, and another transaction for the item that they want to ship. But now with SplitCart functionality, we're actually able to do that in one single transaction.”
The implementation of Split Cart functionality within Shopify's Point of Sale (POS) system allows for brands like Tecovas to offer customers flexibility and enhances the overall shopping experience, empowering customers to make purchases in a manner that suits their needs.
Going beyond Omnichannel
In the realm of retail and e-commerce, providing a seamless omnichannel experience has become a cornerstone for businesses looking to enhance customer satisfaction and drive sales. While integrating online and offline channels is crucial, going beyond the omnichannel experience involves optimizing the backend processes to ensure efficiency and productivity.
I very much want to make sure my team's focused on one, solving problems that either elevate our customer experience and continue to allow us to differentiate ourselves there. Or two, allow us to streamline internal business operations and efficiencies.
Kevin Harwood, CTO, Tecovas
Shopify POS allows staff to manage inventory across all channels, providing real-time updates on stock levels and ensuring accurate product availability for customers. By having a centralized inventory system, staff can prevent overselling, track stock movements, and optimize replenishment processes.
“Buy online, pick up in store is a feature that I'm very excited about.” Harwood states.
With Shopify POS, brands like Tecovas can offer a user-friendly interface that simplifies the buy online pick up in-store process for staff, reducing transaction times and improving customer satisfaction. It doesn’t stop at order fulfillment. By integrating Shopify POS with other business tools and systems, staff can create a cohesive backend ecosystem that enhances operational efficiency. Whether it's connecting with accounting software, CRM platforms, or third-party apps, staff can optimize workflows and streamline processes.
This holistic approach empowers staff to deliver a superior customer experience while driving operational excellence in the retail environment.
Advancing while you grow
Tecovas places an emphasis on customer satisfaction, so they needed a partner that did too while simultaneously understanding the need for advancements that would help them grow along the way.
I've been really impressed with some of the advancements over the last few years that Shopify has been investing in on the retail point of sale front.
Kevin Harwood, CTO, Tecovas
For example, Shopify has developed new POS UI Extensions that have only enhanced the customer-facing experience while providing solutions for associates so your brand is ready to provide the best experience. Whether an associate needs inventory data immediately or they want to access a discount code for a particular customer, the UI extensions are beneficial in more ways than one.
“With POS UI extensions, we're now able to integrate information natively.” Harwood explains, “So that's going to create a better customer experience without them even knowing that it was enabled by POS UI extensions. But it's a memorable retail moment for customers and I think it'll drive more brand affinity for that experience moving forward.”
But Shopify POS offers endless capabilities beyond UI extensions. As the backbone of your business, POS offers a fully integrated inventory system that updates your stock both online and in-store, flexibility with POS systems on-the-go, and email marketing that provides a bespoke approach to market to the right customers. It’s the only POS system tailored to brand-specific and back-end needs yet still remains customer-centric.
I'm looking for systems that solve the bread and butter problems for me, but also offer extensibility, a robust set of APIs, and the ability to customize for our specific business processes.
Kevin Harwood, CTO, Tecovas
Harwood turned to Shopify POS for these reasons. Having a background in software engineering, he understood Shopify’s vision to work outside of the box. Shopify POS does this by offering a versatile platform that enables brands to create a custom approach catered to their unique needs and extend across the business, ultimately advancing their growth and success in the market.
Advice for Scaling Brands
For brands aspiring to scale beyond a hundred million in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), Kevin offers valuable advice, “Be customer obsessed.”
When prioritizing customer insights, seamless data integration, and automation of processes, brands can unlock scalable growth opportunities and drive meaningful change within their organizations. But not every POS system can streamline that process.
Kevin's insights underscore the transformative power of Shopify's POS tools in revolutionizing retail operations.
There's an incredible plethora of tools that are available to you as a technology leader now. So how do you pick the right tool that integrates with the system in the right way that doesn't require a ton of repeat work to pull off and allow you to focus on the value propositions that your brand specifically provides to the customers and double down on those.
Kevin Harwood, CTO, Tecovas
By harnessing the full potential of these tools, brands can elevate customer experiences, drive operational efficiency, and unlock new avenues for growth in a competitive retail landscape.
