Red Chapter Clothing took advantage of cloud-based iPad application Register, built and executed by Zing, which offers payment, ecommerce and email marketing integrations and will add in social components, shipping and order management, online ordering, accounting and employee timekeeping in the near future. Until recently, Red Chapter Clothing was event-driven and maintained an on-the-road distribution model but is now focused more on retail.

“If you aren’t selling online, we can help open an online shop with a press of a button,” said Nate Stewart, founder and CEO at Zing, Austin. “Since every customer in Register can be synced into other platforms we are integrated with, the easiest way is to utilize the power of other platforms. If you aren’t using email marketing, we can help automatically build your customer lists.

“It’s our vision to help businesses utilize the tools they should be using, but don’t have time for, by automating those integrations as much as possible. With Zing, brands can plug in and scale up, letting us handle the heavy lifting so they can focus on the growth of their business.”

Making the switch
The Zing Saas platform is hosted entirely online, so merchants can download and install the software to their own local system, access data from any location and then integrate Register with existing solutions and POS hardware.

Zing takes responsibility for updates, upgrades and backups, which aims to free merchants from the task and enabling them to concentrate solely on their business matters.

Red Chapter wanted to automate its Bigcommerce store, capture customer data between channels and sync that information into its marketing platform during its shift to a retail focus. Through this move, the brand had to convert its existing customer base, which now shops Red Chapter clothing at other retailers, such as Boot Barn.

Through Register, Red Chapter can receive customer analysis across all sales channels, implement customer retargeting and use social channels to converse with their customers.

When customers make a purchase via Register, the merchant will already know who they are, how they got there and how Red Chapter should handle their business. Register aims for seamless access to customer and company data, so when customer data changes, Red Chapter will be made aware.

Saas integrations
In 2013, restaurant chain Friendly’s used a new mobile survey platform so it could speed up the process for adding new items to the menu that customers wanted.

Friendly’s partnered with On The Spot Systems to create the SaaS mobile tool and began using it in January to conduct internal and consumer taste panels at its test kitchen in Wilbraham, MA. The mobile survey let Friendly’s get real-time feedback using iPod touch devices that were mounted on a bamboo board and given to panelists to answer survey questions (see story).

Similarly, a remote point of access has not only been the focus of Zing’s output but a key component for Red Chapter and its business development to ensure a loyal customer.

“Zing enables a true omni-channel experience for the customer via real time integrations into platforms like Bigcommerce and MailChimp,” Mr. Stewart said. “Orders placed online can be exchanged in-store and history is preserved across channels. The employees have a complete view of the customer and each transaction is seamless.

“From the business owner’s perspective, inside Zing, this functionality comes without any additional effort.”

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon, editorial assistant for Mobile Commerce Daily, New York