[{"_id":"project-settings","settings":{"translateMetaTags":true,"translateAriaLabels":true,"translateTitle":true,"showWidget":true,"isFeedbackEnabled":false,"fv":1,"customWidget":{"theme":"dark","font":"rgb(255, 255, 255)","header":"rgb(0, 0, 0)","background":"rgba(0, 0, 0,0.8)","position":"right","positionVertical":"bottom","border":"","borderRequired":false,"widgetCompact":true,"isWidgetPositionRelative":false},"widgetLanguages":[{"code":"es-LA","name":"Español (América Latina)"},{"code":"fr-CA","name":"Français (Canada)"}],"activeLanguages":{"fr-CA":"Français (Canada)","es-LA":"Español (América Latina)","de":"Deutsch","en":"English"},"enabledLanguages":["de","en","es-LA","fr-CA"],"debugInfo":false,"displayBranding":true,"displayBrandingName":true,"localizeImages":false,"localizeUrls":false,"localizeImagesLimit":false,"localizeUrlsLimit":true,"localizeAudio":false,"localizeAudioLimit":false,"localizeDates":false,"disabledPages":[],"regexPhrases":[],"allowComplexCssSelectors":false,"blockedClasses":false,"blockedIds":false,"phraseDetection":true,"customDomainSettings":[],"seoSetting":[],"translateSource":false,"overage":false,"detectPhraseFromAllLanguage":false,"googleAnalytics":false,"mixpanel":false,"heap":false,"disableDateLocalization":false,"ignoreCurrencyInTranslation":false,"blockedComplexSelectors":[]},"version":5025},{"_id":"en","source":"en","pluralFn":"return n != 1 ? 1 : 0;","pluralForm":2,"dictionary":{},"version":5025},{"_id":"outdated","outdated":{"#UN <span ljsid-1=\"\">20</span>-minute live Q&amp;A with the iQmetrix team":1,"#A <span ljsid-1=\"\">20</span>-minute live Q&amp;A with the iQmetrix team":1,"#7 Retail Inventory Management Practices":1,"#Inventory can be a struggle. Too much, to little, no space. Sound familiar? Spare yourself the stress with these 7 alternative solutions.":1,"#iQmetrix | 7 Retail Inventory Management Practices":1,"#shutterstock_1237494769":1,"#Channing Kochylema":1,"#Feature Photo: Dmitry Kalinovsky / Shutterstock.com":1,"#are only seven of the many ways your business can optimize inventory and ensure stock doesn’t go stale. Interested? Register for the upcoming iQmetrix Spring Cleaning webinar and refresh your stock with tips from the inventory experts.":1,"#Speaking of product visibility mentioned above, bringing data-driven logic to ordering can give retailers more opportunities for revenue growth. Relying on data, like historical sales and analysis of the impact of past promotions, helps retailers avoid the twin perils of overstocking and understocking. Using irrefutable data from your inventory center means avoiding the most common inventory turnover challenges. many ways your business can optimize inventory and ensure stock doesn’t go stale.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">4</span>) Bringing Data-Driven Logic to Ordering":1,"#, into an inventory management process allows retailers to offer an expanded array of products and accessories, without taking up valuable shelf space.":1,"#We know it’s not possible to stock every item; however, there are ways to ensure the customer can always leave with the product they want. Incorporating a fulfillment solution, like iQmetrix’s":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">3</span>) Go Beyond the Physical Stock":1,"#, businesses have an eagle-eye view of inventory data. It makes it easy to forecast stock requirements and automatically order popular items that keep customers coming back.":1,"#iQmetrix’s retail management solution, RQ":1,"#Retailers need to consider deploying the appropriate retail software, like those with vendor managed inventory (VMI) functionalities. These tools can integrate with and pull the necessary data from the most current internal retail management systems. With a fully VMI-integrated tool like":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">2</span>) Automating Inventory Management and Ordering":1,"#Understanding your inventory needs and ordering appropriately can be a huge win for controlling costs. Having visibility into what you have and what you need is vital to the success of the inventory manager. This allows them the opportunity to lower the per-item charges with bulk purchases and mitigate expansion costs by leveraging buying power with vendors.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">1</span>) Leverage Inventory Cost Control Opportunities":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">4</span> Ways to Improve Inventory Management in your Retail Store":1,"#But how do retailers get over their inventory obstacles? Well lucky for you, we wrote a guide on strategies for approaching inventory management.":1,"#system capabilities, it can mean a ripple effect of benefits for their entire retail business.":1,"#inventory management":1,"#When a retailer focuses on improving and rationalizing their":1,"#to help alleviate some of the challenges in keeping retail stores stocked. Through analysis of market trends and conditions, these partners help retailers keep inventory balanced with optimal stock levels.":1,"#vendor managed inventory partners":1,"#industry-leading":1,"#Whatever retail industry you operate in, you have undoubtedly had challenges with stocking, ordering, delivering and, most importantly, selling products to your customers. Trust me when I say, you’re not alone. iQmetrix works with":1,"#These three alternatives for inventory control can solve many problems encountered by brick-and-mortar retailers. Worried about not being able to sell a product that’s only available online? Endless aisle has got you covered. Concerned over your retail square footage? Consider drop shipping. What about those long nights counting stock for the holidays? That becomes so much easier with intelligent inventory. With these modern inventory management solutions, companies are in a better position to succeed.":1,"#Effective solutions for inventory management problems":1,"#Auto-generate purchase orders for convenient order fulfillment.":1,"#Gain real-time visibility into stock quantities and details.":1,"#View inventory history reports.":1,"#Many companies aren’t leveraging analytics to manage their inventories. According to <a ljsid-1=\"\">a report by Wasp Barcode Technologies</a> by Wasp Barcode Technologies, <span ljsid-3=\"\">43</span>% of small businesses manually track inventory stock or don’t even track it at all. Upgrading to an automated digital process can easily bring inventory control up-to-date. With <a ljsid-5=\"\">intelligent inventory</a>, retailers can harness big data to manage their stock and order more before they run out.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">3</span>. Intelligent inventory":1,"#Gain insight into product views and session durations, which can help determine what to stock more of in the future.":1,"#Easily update product pages through a centralized platform.":1,"#Enable customers to quickly find what product they’re looking for.":1,"#Customers have grown used to finding and ordering anything from online stores, whether it’s a rare baseball card from eBay or a specific pair of noise-cancelling wireless headphones in rose gold from Amazon. They expect the same flexibility when they walk into a brick-and-mortar store. That’s why sales associates need to have a digital tablet ready when they greet a customer, so they can offer the store’s entire catalog upfront. <a ljsid-1=\"\">Endless Aisle</a> is an effective way for retailers to bring the digital and physical components of shopping to the in-store experience.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">2</span>. Endless aisle":1,"#Ensure customers can easily receive their orders at home, work, or in-store.":1,"#Allow employees to focus on being <a ljsid-1=\"\">brand ambassadors</a> to help improve sales.":1,"#Minimize the amount of floor space required and save on rental costs.":1,"#Instead of using traditional techniques like just-in-time management, which relies on accurate forecasting and warehouse management duties, retailers can turn to a more convenient form of inventory control. By using <a ljsid-1=\"\">drop shipping</a>, they no longer have to store and ship items — cutting carrying costs and saving time. Once an order is submitted, the vendor or wholesaler is notified and they can handle this task instead. That means retailers can concentrate on more important matters, like providing their customers with a satisfying shopping experience.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">1</span>. Drop shipping":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">3</span> Alternatives to Traditional Retail Inventory Management Practices":1,"#But making moves to keep inventory, well, moving, shouldn’t be left up to the small retailers; effective inventory management is beneficial for all business. Here are a few techniques that wireless retailers - big and small - can employ to keep stock fresh.":1,"#Traditional inventory control practices currently aren’t cutting it. According to a <a ljsid-1=\"\"><span ljsid-1-0=\"\">2019</span> study</a> by PwC, says that the distance between large and small companies is increasing and a main driver of this is in regards to inventory performance. Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO) is an efficiency metric used to understand how long a company holds inventory before selling it. Larger companies, on average, are able to clear out their stock rooms <span ljsid-3=\"\">27</span>.<span ljsid-5=\"\">8</span> days sooner than smaller businesses. However, smaller retailers are taking strategic measures to optimize their inventory which is reflected in a narrowing of the DIO gap.":1,"#Inventory management is a balancing act. If there’s a shortage of merchandise, retailers may lose out on potential sales. If there’s too much, retailers may have to deal with warehouse costs, spoiled products, out-of-season goods, or other concerns.":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Channing Kochylema</span> on Mar <span ljsid-3=\"\">20</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2020</span> in <a ljsid-7=\"\"> Retail Industry Trends </a>":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">7</span> Retail Inventory Management Practices":1,"#What’s more, once it was in place, it needed to be adaptable based on those moving goalposts mentioned earlier. Phee explains, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>RQ made a pretty simple, once we figured it out, to be able to change on the fly with Verizon, as they change their compensation when they offer SPIFFs to us to change sales behaviors. That made it easy for us to do that for our entire salesforce in a quick manner.”":1,"#Phee of TEAM Wireless explains that, since his stores run on RQ, most employees go directly to the commission reporting tools to show them exactly how much commission they will make on that sale. <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>Our team members have access to all that information. They’re very interactive with RQ on a daily basis as a tool to give them that transparency on commissions. And then we send daily reports out to all team members using BI [Business Intelligence] out of RQ. And we also use Shiftlab, which plugs into RQ, to help with our scheduling.”":1,"#Addington, who joined Shiftlab after many years of working directly in wireless retail, added, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>I see retailers that have seven different things that affect your commissions and by the end of it you think, hey, I sold this much, I should make this much, but they have all these rules in there that say, but if you do this then you lose a percentage. And if you don’t hit your protection sales target, then you lose a percentage. And in another situation, you lose it all. Plus, those rules are constantly moving the goalposts, by changing from month to month. That’s where it’s so confusing.”":1,"#Shiftlab’s Shawn Addington suggests that simple is better. <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>So many companies do two things: one, they change how they pay people so often that it confuses them. And two, they complicate it so much that workers feel like they’re being cheated of wages. And the truth is they just don’t understand how they’re being paid.”":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">“</span>You need a system where employees and their personal schedules and preferences are honored in the store shift schedules. And make it easy for employees to manage their schedules with features like shift and break reminders and the ability to request time off through a mobile app.”":1,"#It may be the easiest route, but this is where mistrust from employees takes root and can grow. One of the <a ljsid-1=\"\">CWA survey</a> respondents, who works at an authorized retailer-run store in Alabama, said his employer used a performance tracking tool with chronic <span ljsid-3=\"\"></span><span ljsid-5=\"\">“</span>system issues” that always calculated staff compensation discrepancies in favor of the store owner. Such a practice might result in higher profits for the retailer, but is highly unethical and creates an extremely negative culture that is ripe for pay disputes and staff resignations.":1,"#Addington explains, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>This is where it can get tricky. It can be a difficult push to convince retail operators of the need for that transparency. From their point of view, it’s often easier to limit the employees’ access to this kind of information. Some companies might even have the policy, which is not the right practice, of keeping this information limited and allowing the employees who notice something is off, to notice it and say something to rectify it — and allowing the ones who don’t notice it, to not notice. This is not the right thing to do ethically speaking, but as a company, this is oftentimes the easiest route.”":1,"#Shawn Addington of Shiftlab says, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>It’s important to bring all that information together in one view, where the employer is seeing all their shifts and the hours they worked, and what their hourly rates is they’re getting paid, and having that daily view that keeps them up to date. So, at the end of the pay period, there’s no moment of <span ljsid-5=\"\"></span><span ljsid-7=\"\">‘</span>what happened to my pay? I thought I’d worked this many hours last week, but I’m only being paid for this many.’ Having a system where employees get a daily look at where they’re at, not just for hourly wages but also all their commissions and bonuses, makes staff feel at ease and understand why they’re being paid that amount.”":1,"#Even an area that should be simple, like number of hours worked and the base hourly pay that is due, can be complex in the world of retail. Store associates might be scheduled to cover a shift, but give it to a colleague. They might work overtime, or through their break in order to leave early. They might turn up late and ask their colleague to punch them in on time — otherwise known as <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>buddy punching.” These and many other permutations of shift work can create confusion and mistrust between employee and employer, especially when it comes to pay.":1,"#Ultimately, communication, training, clarity, and understanding are the foundations on which to set up workers with their compensation structures. Bergman adds, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>In the vast majority of cases, I don’t think there’s any malice or intention to underpay workers. Retailer operators just have to use systems and tools to create the full transparency that’s needed from the start, so that expectations meet reality.”":1,"#An unintended consequence of commission-based earnings can be overselling — which in the telecom retail sector could result in a disproportionately high number of chargebacks for the associate. Bergman explains, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>Very good salespeople who understand the business will have relatively few chargebacks, because they have understood their customer’s needs and ability to pay and have sold accordingly. If I’m an aggressive salesperson, and I’ve sold you a six-line deal when you’re a two-person household, you’re more likely to deactivate several lines when you don’t use them, and then I’m hit with the chargebacks.”":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">“</span>You have to offer a competitive pay package, and clearly show how they will make their money, otherwise you won’t get any applicants,” Bergman told iQmetrix. <span ljsid-2=\"\"></span><span ljsid-4=\"\">“</span>In some ways, these employees have the ability to literally write their own check. By their own efforts they can dictate how much commission and bonuses and SPIFFs [sales performance incentive funds] they’re going to make. As an employer, you can explain what the base rate is and the commissions and the amounts that they would earn on these different elements that they sell, and they can create their own earnings goals for themselves.”":1,"#iQmetrix | Three Signals from MWC 2026 That Will Reshape Telecom…":1,"#Access the Telecom Retail Summit Recordings":1,"#The winner in telecom retail will not be the brand with the best digital app. It will not be the brand with the coolest store. It will be the brand that makes the two completely indistinguishable.":1,"#The operators and retailers who act now, who rebuild their retail architecture, who connect the digital front door to the physical experience, who lay the foundation for the agentic transition, will shape this moment on their own terms. The ones who wait will find that the experience layer has been claimed by someone else.":1,"#Despite all the AI energy at MWC, there is still little evidence that AI is driving network traffic growth on its own. The real monetization layer will come from services, experiences, and ecosystems, not raw bandwidth. The most strategic battleground is customer experience. Which is precisely the domain of telecom retail.":1,"#Barcelona made one thing clear. Telecom networks are rapidly becoming AI-native infrastructure. But the place where customers actually experience that infrastructure, the store, the app, the buying journey, is still built for a previous era. The next phase of telecom transformation will not be defined by faster radios alone. It will be defined by who reinvents the customer interface to that intelligent network.":1,"#The Window Is Open":1,"#This is where iQmetrix operates. Our primary role today sits within the orchestration layer that connects digital and physical channels across the retail ecosystem. We coordinate workflows, transactions, and data across systems, stores, and touchpoints. From that foundation, we are expanding further into the experience layer itself, supporting capabilities such as the mobile app for a CSP, helping operators create a more seamless bridge between the customer’s digital journey and the in-store experience. From app to chatbot to store. From intent to activation. One brand, one journey, many touchpoints.":1,"#The store is the absolute last physical defense against commoditization. And the operator that owns the digital front door, the AI touchpoints, the app experience, and the physical store as one connected system will own the customer relationship.":1,"#There is also a warning here that the industry should take seriously. The Motorola Rokr story from the <span ljsid-1=\"\">2000</span>s shows how incumbents can accidentally train their disruptors. In telecom retail, large operators risk unknowingly preparing the ground for Apple, Amazon, hyperscalers, and AI commerce platforms to capture the customer relationship layer. If a third-party brand owns the hardware, the ecosystem relationship, and the physical retail experience, what is exactly left for the carrier? Without an experience layer, carriers devolve into invisible utility providers competing on price alone.":1,"#Apple figured this out years ago. The Apple Store is not a distribution channel. It is the pinnacle expression of the brand, a physical interface for a digital operating system. It generates an estimated $<span ljsid-1=\"\">5</span>,<span ljsid-3=\"\">550</span> in sales per square foot, multiples more than the top telecom retailers. That gap is not about product superiority. It is about experience architecture. Apple treats the store as brand theater where service and sales become the same interaction. It trains guides, not clerks. The primary metric is dwell time and engagement, not throughput speed.":1,"#The modern telecom journey is a connected arc: the app builds awareness, the AI chatbot answers initial questions, the customer configures and pre-qualifies, and then visits the store to complete the transaction with a knowledgeable human. That arc should feel seamless. But too often it does not. A customer configures a plan in the app, selects a device, gets a trade estimate, sees a monthly price, and then walks into a store where the associate has no visibility into any of it. The store should feel like the crescendo of that journey. Instead it feels like a restart.":1,"#That dynamic is about to get more complex, not simpler. MWC <span ljsid-1=\"\">2026</span> made clear that the device ecosystem is expanding well beyond phones, tablets, and watches. Google demonstrated prototype Android XR smart glasses with live translation. Physical AI and embodied AI were prominent themes. Each new device category adds complexity to the customer interaction: catalogs grow, compatibility management becomes harder, activation orchestration gets more intricate. More devices means more complexity, and more complexity means a greater need for orchestration at the retail edge.":1,"#And yet, here is the reality that the digital-first narrative consistently overlooks: <strong ljsid-1=\"\">the majority of high-value telecom transactions still close in a physical store.</strong> Upgrades, trade-ins, multi-line family plans, device financing, accessory bundles. These are high-consideration interactions that involve physical product, personal guidance, and trust. Even as digital channels handle more of the discovery and qualification, customers are choosing the store for the moments that matter most. The digital journey builds intent. The store fulfills it.":1,"#For decades, the industry believed that location equals traffic, traffic equals acquisition, and acquisition equals growth. That model is over. Customers now expect clarity before they ever step into retail. They expect the brand to know them, to remember what they researched, and to make the in-store visit productive from the first moment.":1,"#Perhaps the most significant emerging pattern is the carrier app’s evolving role for existing customers. The app is no longer a billing portal. It is becoming the relationship engine. It notifies a customer that they are eligible for an upgrade. It surfaces the devices available at a nearby store. It lets them configure a plan, get a trade-in estimate, pre-qualify for financing, and schedule a device transfer appointment, all before they leave the house. The app is building intent, qualifying demand, and routing the customer to the right channel at the right moment. The front door to telecom has moved to the phone.":1,"#Digital leaders like T-Mobile, Verizon, and MobileX have leading app experiences with strong mobile identity, transparent plan logic, upgrade eligibility, real-time usage visibility, and in some cases, eSIM activation built in. T-Mobile’s T-Life app now handles roughly <span ljsid-1=\"\">75</span> percent of the company’s upgrades digitally. Verizon has embedded a Gemini-powered AI assistant into its My Verizon app that handles upgrades, billing, line additions, and account management, and reports that its <span ljsid-3=\"\">28</span>,<span ljsid-5=\"\">000</span>-agent service team saw a nearly <span ljsid-7=\"\">40</span> percent increase in sales after launch. AT&amp;T’s CEO confirmed that digitally fulfilled transactions will accelerate through <span ljsid-9=\"\">2026</span>. AI chatbots, voice agents, and self-service flows are rapidly becoming primary touchpoints for routine interactions.":1,"#The way customers enter and navigate the telecom relationship is being redesigned in real time. eSIM was everywhere at MWC <span ljsid-1=\"\">2026</span>. Amdocs launched a Global eSIM Traveler Solution. Juniper Research projects eSIM connections will exceed <span ljsid-3=\"\">1</span>.<span ljsid-5=\"\">5</span> billion over the next four years. But eSIM is just one dimension of a much broader shift in how customers engage.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">3</span>. The Front Door Has Moved, the Channels Are Multiplying, and the Store Still Closes the Deal":1,"#But the agentic store only becomes possible on a modern foundation. Telecom complexity is real. Every channel runs slightly different logic, and the experience fractures as a result. What the industry needs is a coherent orchestration layer: a real-time coordination engine that unifies product catalog, synchronizes pricing, shares eligibility rules, connects inventory, and maintains persistent customer state. Digital and retail have to subscribe to the same brain. That is the precondition for agents to actually work.":1,"#At our Summit, this is where the conversation became most forward looking. The store of the near future will not be a place where associates process transactions. It will be a place where AI handles routine complexity and humans handle judgment, empathy, and the moments that require trust. As hardware ecosystems grow more complex, the role of the human shifts entirely from transaction processing to complexity navigation. The goal is to train guides, not clerks.":1,"#One of the more striking observations from the MWC analysis is the speed mismatch between AI and telecom. AI evolves at internet speed. Telecom evolves at standards speed. That structural gap means that innovation will likely happen outside the network core first, in applications, commerce, retail, and digital journeys. This is where companies that operate at the retail and experience layer have a genuine advantage. Retail platforms and commerce systems can move faster than the core network stack.":1,"#The retail implications are already becoming concrete. At MWC this year, Microsoft introduced a telecom agentic store reference framework that replaces traditional click based journeys with natural language interactions where coordinated agents manage discovery, sales, billing, and support end to end. We also co presented several of our own agentic retail solutions with Microsoft at their booth. What this makes clear is that agentic retail requires deep orchestration across billing, activation, inventory, CRM, POS, and digital channels, which is exactly where iQmetrix operates, providing an orchestration layer that connects digital and physical journeys while enabling a unified digital experience layer.":1,"#Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon framed his entire keynote around the concept, calling <span ljsid-1=\"\">2026</span> the inflection point where agents redefine digital experiences beyond smartphones. Samsung elaborated that Galaxy AI is evolving from reactive tools into a truly agentic companion, demonstrating multi-step orchestration across apps, devices, and services. China Telecom’s leadership declared that AI has fully advanced into the Agentic AI stage, characterized by autonomous execution and intelligent collaboration.":1,"#If there was one word that defined MWC <span ljsid-1=\"\">2026</span>, it was agents. Not chatbots. Not assistants. Agents: autonomous, context-aware systems that act on behalf of users and businesses without requiring a human to sequence every step.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">2</span>. The Age of Agents Has Arrived, and Retail Is One of Many Proving Grounds":1,"#In other words, we are orchestrating the telecom retail experience at the point where the customer actually interacts with the brand.":1,"#This is the problem iQmetrix is solving at the retail edge. Our orchestration layer coordinates the systems that power telecom commerce across both digital and physical channels. By connecting device, inventory, plans, customer identity, and transactions across the ecosystem, we enable a unified digital experience layer where journeys can move seamlessly between mobile app, web, and store.":1,"#Telecom’s challenge is not just fragmented data, it is fragmented execution. Customer journeys today span billing platforms, activation systems, device lifecycle platforms, CRM, retail POS, ecommerce, and mobile apps. Completing a single upgrade or activation often requires multiple disconnected systems to work together in real time.":1,"#At our Telecom Retail Summit, the honest conclusion across the room was architectural. Most retailers are running on systems designed for a world that no longer exists. The stack itself has become the constraint. AI does not fix bad architecture. It amplifies it. The industry is reinventing the network, the compute layer, and the device layer, but the retail experience layer is still largely built for a previous era.":1,"#For telecom retail, the implication is direct. If the network is the nervous system, then retail is the sensory interface. Stores are where devices enter the ecosystem, where customers adopt new capabilities, where services are explained and trusted. The store becomes the human interface for an increasingly AI-driven network economy. But that interface only creates value if the systems behind it are as modern as the network powering it.":1,"#But here is the insight that deserves more attention. As the network becomes intelligent infrastructure, the strategic value shifts upward, toward the layers above it. Operators are actively searching for the value layer above connectivity. They have reason to search urgently. In the <span ljsid-1=\"\">4</span>G era, the industry failed to capture the platform layer. Apple, Google, and Amazon claimed it. The question now is whether the same thing happens again with the experience layer.":1,"#SK Telecom outlined a full AI-native rebuild of its network and customer systems, scaling its sovereign language model past one trillion parameters. Deutsche Telekom demonstrated MINDR, a multi-agent system built on Google’s Gemini models that autonomously monitors and corrects network performance across radio, transport, and core layers. Orange, SK Telecom, and others described ambitions to move from connectivity provider to digital ecosystem orchestrator. These are production commitments, not research prototypes.":1,"#MWC <span ljsid-1=\"\">2024</span> treated AI as a bullet point on a spec sheet. MWC <span ljsid-3=\"\">2025</span> positioned it as a competitive differentiator. MWC <span ljsid-5=\"\">2026</span> presented AI as infrastructure, as fundamental to mobile computing as the radio stack itself.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">1</span>. AI Is Now Infrastructure, and the Race for the Value Layer Above It Has Begun":1,"#I was in Barcelona not just to listen, but to convene. iQmetrix hosted the Telecom Retail Summit on March <span ljsid-1=\"\">4</span><sup ljsid-2=\"\">th</sup>, bringing together telecom operators, retail leaders, and technology innovators for a focused conversation about the future of telecom retail. We also had the opportunity to co-present with Microsoft at their booth, where we showcased several of our emerging agentic solutions and how they can begin to reshape the telecom retail experience. Three signals from the week stood out above all others, and each one carries real implications for the road ahead.":1,"#More than <span ljsid-1=\"\">109</span>,<span ljsid-3=\"\">000</span> attendees from <span ljsid-5=\"\">205</span> countries gathered at Fira Gran Via under the GSMA’s chosen theme: The IQ Era. Qualcomm’s CEO declared <span ljsid-7=\"\">2026</span> the year of agents. Samsung introduced its Galaxy S<span ljsid-9=\"\">26</span> as an agentic AI phone. Microsoft announced landmark AI partnerships with Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Telefonica. NVIDIA unveiled a coalition of a dozen global operators committed to building <span ljsid-11=\"\">6</span>G on open, AI-native, software-defined platforms. The NVIDIA narrative was especially telling: <span ljsid-13=\"\">5</span>G and <span ljsid-15=\"\">6</span>G are being repositioned not just as connectivity, but as AI infrastructure for the physical world. The network is becoming the nervous system. The question is who builds the sensory interface.":1,"#Every year, Mobile World Congress draws the global telecom industry to Barcelona to showcase what is next. Every year, there is more AI, more edge compute, more talk about transformation. But MWC <span ljsid-1=\"\">2026</span> felt different. This was not a show about what might happen. It was a show about what is already happening, and what operators can no longer afford to ignore.":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Christopher Krywulak, CEO</span> on Mar <span ljsid-3=\"\">12</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2026</span>":1,"#5 Trends and Challenges Disrupting the Telecom Industry":1,"#The telecom industry has seen rapid and huge changes over the past year—here are the biggest factors disrupting the space and causing retailers to pivot.":1,"#iQmetrix | 5 Trends and Challenges Disrupting the Telecom Industry":1,"#Read the State of the Telecom Retail Industry Whitepaper":1,"#Want to read more about the state of the telecom retail industry? Our whitepaper gives you a deeper dive into the trends disrupting the market today, and where the sector is headed.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">“</span>By bringing a whole new set of products to market that telecom retailers are not traditionally comfortable with, and don’t yet understand what they will mean or bring to consumers. <span ljsid-2=\"\">3</span>G and <span ljsid-4=\"\">4</span>G didn’t radically change the technology, the hardware, or rate plans, but that bubble that retailers have been working in will burst. <span ljsid-6=\"\">5</span>G will change products, rate plans, and services, as well as store operations in general. This will create both threats and opportunities.”":1,"#The rollout of <span ljsid-1=\"\">5</span>G will also disrupt traditional stores and the products they’re selling, added Hamer.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">“</span>Service and education will always be needed,” said Yaskowich. <span ljsid-2=\"\"></span><span ljsid-4=\"\">“</span>As these products and services get more and more complex, consumers will come to the stores for help. But the reason they are in-store for an hour shouldn’t be because they’re waiting around to be served and because the retailer’s system and processes are slow and cumbersome.”":1,"#And yet, for all that change, the reality is that most consumers still go into the store to complete the last mile of their purchase. Even with store closures and the pandemic, brick-and-mortar stores accounted for <span ljsid-1=\"\">63</span>% of sales between January and June <span ljsid-3=\"\">2020</span>, according to a <a ljsid-5=\"\">study by J.D. Power</a>.":1,"#The physical store model is changing. Black Friday as we knew it — crowds of shoppers waiting outside stores at dawn and fighting to grab the best deals — was proven all but dead in November <span ljsid-1=\"\">2020</span>, as shoppers moved online and stores largely remained quiet. To compete with initiatives such as Amazon’s Prime Day, as well as provide a safe shopping experience when encouraging shoppers to pack stores is not advisable, many retailers spread their deals and promotions over the course of several weeks. While online sales over the <span ljsid-3=\"\">2020</span> Thanksgiving weekend broke new records, in-store purchases decreased.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">5</span>. Physical stores and evolving products":1,"#Hamer said, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>The pandemic obviously caught everyone off guard, and traditionally telecom retailers haven’t had to pivot very quickly to new things. That luxury got ripped away and they pivoted rapidly in all areas of their business. There were massive changes to how they engaged staff in new selling processes, making sure staff felt safe, and then how they served customers. What was really cool was how quickly telecom retailers innovated in the early days before the technology caught up, with low-tech creative solutions enabling curbside pickup, social distancing in-store, rearranging store layouts, payment device workarounds, and so on.”":1,"#Naturally, e-commerce exploded in <span ljsid-1=\"\">2020</span><span ljsid-2=\"\"></span><span ljsid-4=\"\">’</span>s first quarter as consumers stayed home and ordered everything online. The sector saw a classic hockey-stick effect in terms of penetration in the US, with <span ljsid-6=\"\">10</span> years of growth occurring over the course of three months. Verizon, for example, saw a <span ljsid-8=\"\">20</span>% increase in web traffic in one week due to the pandemic.":1,"#The main effect this pandemic had on telecom retail is an accelerated change in technology. Technology that may have been previously considered optional or a <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>nice to have” — such as buy online pick up in-store, curbside pickup, or contactless payments — are suddenly table stakes. Features that were already important, like home delivery and omnichannel fulfillment, became critical and will remain so.":1,"#Of course, it’s impossible to discuss retail in <span ljsid-1=\"\">2020</span> without mentioning the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Luckily, telecom retail was deemed an essential service and for the most part, was able to operate in its natural state. In many aspects, the telecom industry led the way. Forbes <a ljsid-3=\"\">published a video</a> ranking the top companies that responded well to the pandemic, and three of the top five were carriers.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">4</span>. Global pandemic":1,"#Stacy Hamer, Vice President of Client Experiences at iQmetrix, said, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>These are online-only providers without a storefront. This means they’re cutting out all these other costs and are highly competitive on their prices. You would never have thought five years ago you’d buy so many clothes online, but now everybody does. Now phones are going the same way. These providers ship the phone to you in a single day and activation is way less complicated. Plus they run on the big carriers’ networks, so they typically have really good coverage.”":1,"#If all that was not enough competition, in addition to established brands or retailers entering the market, there is also the emergence of completely new companies such as Mint Mobile and Dish’s new brand, Ting.":1,"#Further to this, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Samsung, are also getting in on the action by making a play for the wireless revenue, creating even more competition in the telecom retail space. Yaskowich added, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>Obviously they’re selling only their own products, but they’re trying to get into the wireless space, and they’re even more focused on the brand experience — the <span ljsid-5=\"\"></span><span ljsid-7=\"\">‘</span>wow’ experience for their customers. If you can go to an OEM store and get excited about their product — Apple did this better than anyone — you go for an educational experience, and that’s worth visiting a store for. It might be more about showrooming, but it works in this sector.”":1,"#It’s not just wireline getting into the wireless game. There are also more and more big-box brands such as Staples and Costco introducing multi-carrier wireless stores-within-a-store. Yaskowich said, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>If a customer is already in Costco, where they have to go for groceries anyways, they can go in and get their phone and get it activated. Why wouldn’t a customer want to get everything they need from one provider? Existing carriers and authorized retailers need to serve customers where those customers want to be served in today’s market, not using the <span ljsid-5=\"\">1996</span> business model. It’s time to think differently.”":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">3</span>. Big-box brands, OEMs, and online providers entering wireless":1,"#Marty Yaskowich, VP of Retail Customer Development at iQmetrix, said, <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>In the past, consumers have always gone to one place for their cellphone and another for their TV and internet services. But with wireline and cable companies moving into the wireless space, all of that is offered by one company. What’s more, they’ll come into your home and not only hook up your TV and activate your cellphone, but also hook up your smart fridge and your new car that has an advanced communication system.”":1,"#The industry has also seen a major telecom market convergence. Traditional telecom lines separating wireless carriers — such as Verizon and AT&T — from wireline and cable operators — such as Dish, Comcast, and Charter — have continued to blur, to the point where they are no longer two separate markets. This convergence is set to create a major disruption to the retail model being used by existing wireless carriers and authorized retailers.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">2</span>. Telecom market convergence":1,"#In the authorized retailer space, there have also been some bold acquisitions, resulting in a handful of major players as the trend of market consolidation continues.":1,"#One of the later plays in <span ljsid-1=\"\">2020</span> was Verizon acquiring Tracfone and Bluegrass Cellular.":1,"#Canada saw the official launch of Shaw Mobile, following Shaw’s acquisition of Freedom Mobile in <span ljsid-1=\"\">2016</span>.":1,"#The T-Mobile and Sprint merger was finalized, consolidating two of the US market’s top-tier carriers. This resulted in the divesting of Boost doors and enabled wireline player, Dish, to become the fourth entrant in the US wireless space.":1,"#The first major set of changes in the telecom sector has been caused by industry mergers and acquisitions.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">1</span>. Mergers and acquisitions":1,"#Looking back on <span ljsid-1=\"\">2020</span>, there were some major trends and events that resulted in massive industry changes, disrupted the market, and are still creating significant threats to existing wireless businesses. Here’s a look, taken from our recent whitepaper <a ljsid-3=\"\">The State of the Telecom Retail Industry</a>, at the five biggest factors affecting the industry today.":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Joannah Connolly</span> on Jan <span ljsid-3=\"\">28</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2021</span> in <a ljsid-7=\"\"> Featured </a> <a ljsid-9=\"\"> Omnichannel Retail Trends </a> <a ljsid-11=\"\"> Wireless Trends </a>":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">5</span> Trends and Challenges Disrupting the Telecom Industry":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Tanya MacPherson, Director of Growth & Demand Gen, iQmetrix</span> on Mar <span ljsid-3=\"\">24</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2026</span>":1,"#iQmetrix Joins TM Forum as ODA Component Directory Partner, Giving…":1,"#Vancouver, BC, Canada — March 24, 2026 — iQmetrix announced it has joined TM Forum and earned recognition as an Open Digital Architecture (ODA) Component…":1,"#iQmetrix | iQmetrix Joins TM Forum as ODA Component Directory…":1,"#iQmetrix Interconnected Commerce is an AI-native telecom commerce platform that acts as a system of intelligence. It replaces fragmented legacy stacks with a modern, modular operating layer, connecting telcos, retailers, and OEMs into one flow across channels and markets so teams can reduce complexity, lower cost, and move faster.":1,"#What is iQmetrix Interconnected Commerce?":1,"#plug-and-play” software components that integrate within multi-vendor ecosystems. This reduces vendor lock-in, shortens transformation timelines, and supports scalable, AI-native digital operations.":1,"#ODA alignment enables telecom operators to adopt modular,":1,"#What does ODA alignment matter for telecom operators?":1,"#Being listed as a TM Forum ODA Component Directory Partner means that iQmetrix’s solutions are mapped to defined ODA components and built according to industry-recognized architectural standards. This provides CSPs with transparency, interoperability assurance, and reduced integration risk.":1,"#What does it mean to be a TM Forum ODA Component Directory Partner?":1,"#TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) is an industry framework that defines standardized, modular software components and open APIs to help communications service providers modernize legacy systems and transition to cloud-native, interoperable architectures.":1,"#What is TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA)?":1,"#BN in sales annually, handling nearly":1,"#years, we’ve been passionate about helping the leading brands in telecom to grow by providing best-in-class software, services, and expertise that enables them to adapt and thrive. Our solutions power $":1,"#iQmetrix is a global provider of Interconnected Commerce software solutions for telecom retail. Interconnected Commerce is an AI-native telecom commerce platform that acts as a system of intelligence. It replaces fragmented legacy stacks with a modern, modular operating layer, connecting telcos, retailers, and OEMs into one flow across channels and markets. The result is less complexity, lower cost, and the speed to move ahead.":1,"#Unlock the full potential of modern telecom retail. Learn how iQmetrix Interconnected Commerce can reduce complexity and accelerate your digital transformation:":1,"#By contributing to TM Forum’s ODA framework, iQmetrix positions itself as a partner in advancing a shared, composable software standard for the industry, reducing vendor lock-in, shortening transformation timelines, and giving operators the architectural freedom to evolve.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">“</span>CSPs don’t want another platform that requires heavy integration to prove its value,” added Krywulak. <span ljsid-2=\"\"></span><span ljsid-4=\"\">“</span>They want solutions that align with industry standards, deploy cleanly, and scale without baking in new technical debt. That’s exactly what ODA alignment enables, and it’s exactly how we’ve built this.”":1,"#What Sets iQmetrix Apart":1,"#The platform connects telcos, retailers, and OEMs into a single coordinated flow, replacing fragmented stacks with a modern operating layer that reduces complexity and lowers total cost of ownership, without requiring operators to rebuild from scratch.":1,"#iQmetrix Interconnected Commerce is an AI-native telecom commerce platform that acts as a system of intelligence. Rather than layering AI onto legacy complexity, it embeds intelligence directly into commerce workflows, enabling real-time orchestration, improved visibility, and faster decision-making across retail channels, partner ecosystems, and global markets.":1,"#An AI-Native System of Intelligence for Telecom Retail":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">“</span>Telecom operators have spent years stitching together disconnected systems with fragile glue code and legacy patches,” said Christopher Krywulak, Founder and CEO at iQmetrix. <span ljsid-2=\"\"></span><span ljsid-4=\"\">“</span>We took a different approach from day one. Interconnected Commerce is architected as a modular operating layer, not bolted together after the fact. Our ODA alignment confirms that what we’ve built isn’t another silo, it’s infrastructure for modern telecom.”":1,"#As a TM Forum ODA Component Directory Partner, iQmetrix maps platform capabilities directly to defined ODA components. For CSPs, this translates to a concrete operational advantage: interoperable, composable deployment within multi-vendor ecosystems, without the fragile custom integrations that slow transformation and inflate cost.":1,"#What ODA Alignment Means for Operators":1,"#The recognition comes as communications service providers (CSPs) accelerate AI adoption and move away from integration-heavy legacy environments. For operators under pressure to reduce technical debt, lower cost, and move faster, architecture standards are no longer a procurement footnote, they are the deciding factor.":1,"#<strong ljsid-0=\"\">Vancouver, BC, </strong><strong ljsid-1=\"\"><strong ljsid-1-0=\"\">Canada — March <span ljsid-1-0-1=\"\">24</span>, <span ljsid-1-0-3=\"\">2026</span></strong></strong> <strong ljsid-3=\"\"><strong ljsid-3-0=\"\">— </strong></strong>iQmetrix, the global provider of <a ljsid-5=\"\">Interconnected Commerce</a> solutions purpose-built for telecom retail, today announced it has joined TM Forum and earned recognition as an <a ljsid-7=\"\">Open Digital Architecture (ODA)</a> Component Directory Partner. The achievement validates that iQmetrix aligns with the ODA vision and that its platform is built around standardized open APIs, modular cloud-native components, and interoperable architecture aligned with how leading operators are building their digital futures.":1,"#Platform’s Standards-Based Architecture Reduces Integration Risk and Accelerates Transformation for CSPs Worldwide":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Joannah Connolly</span> on Jan <span ljsid-3=\"\">8</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2025</span>":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Joannah Connolly</span> on Oct <span ljsid-3=\"\">31</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2024</span>":1,"#by Statflo on Dec <span ljsid-1=\"\">5</span>, <span ljsid-3=\"\">2022</span>":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">PayBright</span> on Jul <span ljsid-3=\"\">27</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2020</span> in <a ljsid-7=\"\"> Partners </a> <a ljsid-9=\"\"> RQ Retail Management </a>":1,"#iQmetrix | Why is Real-Time Reporting so Important?":1,"#Customizable dashboards let you be informed without having to sort through spreadsheets so you can focus on bottom-line impact.":1,"#While we offer a ton of reports right out of the box, we know each business is unique.":1,"#When information is captured and analyzed up-to-the-minute, it betters all areas of a wireless business. From store experience to effective stocking to appropriate staffing levels to an optimized earned revenue, it all comes down to how quickly you can drive insights.":1,"#Real-time reporting is about more than just the numbers":1,"#Added functionality meant that Cellular Sales had the right data when they needed it and more time to make sense of the insights to drive profitable decisions in-store.":1,"#Making the move to a cloud-based, innovative technology didn’t only enable transparent and powerful reporting, it also meant staff training decreased from <span ljsid-1=\"\">5</span> days to <span ljsid-3=\"\">5</span> hours and transaction times went down by <span ljsid-5=\"\">50</span>%.":1,"#JT Thome is the COO at <a ljsid-1=\"\">Cellular Sales</a> and for him, having a robust and adaptable platform was key. Not only did the technology need to be able to support the growth strategy of the business, but he also expected there to be a scalable team of experts to guide him through toward success: <span ljsid-3=\"\"></span><span ljsid-5=\"\">“</span>Switching our business practices along with our software system allowed my team and I…to be better across the board.”":1,"#As your business grows, you’ll notice what’s working and what’s not. For Cellular Sales, their homegrown retail solution wasn’t able to scale with the wireless retail success story. They knew that to be able to continue to increase profits and meet their goals, Cellular Sales had to leave their legacy retail software behind.":1,"#Does a new process support my growth strategy?":1,"#: Customer engagement, activity, and habits should help to create positive paths to purchase across all channels.":1,"#Online and in-store fusion":1,"#: Trends are easily acted upon when it matters if insights are earned as customers buy.":1,"#Actionable results":1,"#: Accurate, real-time reports drive informed marketing copy that translates into sales":1,"#Email marketing integrations":1,"#As the retail industry evolves, legacy point-of-sale systems aren’t capable of adding functionalities that help your business keep up with the competition. Effective, real time reporting informs other areas of business that are key to wireless success but not all solutions can offer the same functions. Does your current legacy system have the capacity for:":1,"#Expanding channel offerings isn’t an excuse to forget about your customers. Retention of current and acquisition of prospective customers. Lifetime value (LTV) measures the value customers bring into your store and the revenue they generate from their purchases. This ensures high-value customers are catered to while lower-value customers can be nurtured with effective messaging that brings their value up.":1,"#Total Lifetime Value of a Customer [(Average purchase value x average number of visits per customer) x gross margin]":1,"#This metric assists in understanding how proficient your team is at the art of the upsell. Customers are coming to your wireless store with something in mind, but add-on items are likely both complementary and beneficial to use in congruence with their purchase. Upselling techniques will increase the average shopping cart size, and tracking this helps your staff learn what they’re strengths are and where they can improve.":1,"#Size of average shopping cart [Total number of products purchased / total number of transactions]":1,"#Want to reveal the monetary value of every customer who walks through your doors? This metric is for you. Not only does total shopper value help forecast how much your store could increase revenue through an increase in in-store traffic, but it also compares the value of in-store customers vs. those on other channels. This helps your marketing team adjust spend and allocated funds in the most beneficial place.":1,"#Total shopper value [Total sales / total shopper traffic]":1,"#Making the most of your sales floor means using every asset at your disposal to its best ability. If this metric is low, consider adding features to your store that makes it a more holistic experience. Digital signage, interactive screens, and captivating displays not only fill store space effectively, but they also engage customers along their path to purchase.":1,"#Sales per square foot [Total sales per store/size of selling area in square feet]":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">As a successful wireless retailer, you already have metrics that you’re tracking that help steer your business towards increased profitability. But additional metrics added to your checklist can create further efficiency and increased </span>revenue—<span ljsid-2=\"\">if used correctly. </span>":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">These may seem like easy questions, but the answers get complicated</span>—<span ljsid-2=\"\">fast. Let’s walk through each one and analyze your business’s real-time reporting needs. </span>":1,"#Does a new process support my strategy for growth?":1,"#How capable is my retail software?":1,"#What information do I need?":1,"#But adding in advanced reporting functionality doesn’t happen overnight and there are a few important considerations to be had. Ask yourself:":1,"#To get the kinds of insights your business needs means you need eyes on <a ljsid-1=\"\">real-time data </a>from your stores. Which means you need real-time reporting.":1,"#Without the up-to-the-minute insights from collected transactional data, your team is making unguided decisions.":1,"#From managing inventory (sometimes in multiple locations), to ensuring an efficient in-store experience, to keeping up with the omnichannel expectations of today’s modern consumer, there’s a lot to cover and it’s hard to keep on top of it all.":1,"#As someone in charge of wireless retail operations, you’ve got a lot on your plate.":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Stephanie Boyle</span> on May <span ljsid-3=\"\">5</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2020</span> in <a ljsid-7=\"\"> Data Analytics </a>":1,"#Vancouver Sun.":1,"#The Globe and Mail":1,"#million activations, and are used by hundreds of thousands of telecom retail professionals across almost":1,"#BN in sales last year, handling more than":1,"#Mal":1,"#For <span ljsid-1=\"\">26</span> years, we’ve been passionate about helping the leading brands in telecom to grow by providing best-in-class software, services, and expertise that enables them to adapt and thrive. Our solutions powered $<span ljsid-3=\"\">17</span>BN in sales last year, handling more than <span ljsid-5=\"\">53</span> million invoices and more than <span ljsid-7=\"\">26</span> million activations, and are used by hundreds of thousands of telecom retail professionals across almost <span ljsid-9=\"\">800</span> clients. iQmetrix is a privately held software-as-a-service (SaaS) company with employees in Canada, the U.S., India, and Europe. For more information, please visit <strong ljsid-11=\"\">www.iqmetrix.com</strong>":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Tanya MacPherson, Director of Growth & Demand Gen, iQmetrix</span> on Dec <span ljsid-3=\"\">17</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2018</span>":1,"#PCI DSS & SOC<span ljsid-1=\"\">2</span> Typ <span ljsid-3=\"\">2</span> Compliant":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">8</span>. Click Load Key List to load the PIN key on the terminal. If prompted, click <span ljsid-2=\"\"></span><span ljsid-4=\"\">„</span>Save” first.":1,"#www.canadastop <span ljsid-1=\"\">100.com</span>":1,"#Vancouver, BC – <span ljsid-1=\"\">11.</span> Februar <span ljsid-3=\"\">2025</span> –":1,"#Get Integrated: 5 Ways Streamlined Payments Make All the Difference":1,"#Disjointed or frictionless? When it comes to your in-store and online payments, which sounds better? Payment integration turns cumbersome into…":1,"#iQmetrix | Get Integrated: 5 Ways Streamlined Payments Make All the…":1,"#Shutterstock / <span ljsid-1=\"\">279</span>photo Studio":1,"#To learn more about payment integration and how it can benefit your business, download our free infographic that compares operations running with payment integration and those taking transactions without. You won’t believe the streamlined difference!":1,"#Adding payment integration to your operational mix unlocks a host of benefits surrounding automation, speed, efficiency, and reduced human error. It can become your back-end lifesaver like in the case of automated reconciliation or even connect to new features to help optimize your payment system like custom terminal flows.":1,"#from mobile line-busting devices to larger screen units that display your latest promotion.":1,"#next-gen devices":1,"#Integration connects your operations to custom device experiences built specifically for your industry. Flows — including surveys and branded screens — help to increase customer engagement and capture important customer information which can’t be done on stand-alone, non-integrated hardware. In addition to custom flows, integration allows you to access an extensive range of certified":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">5</span>. Custom Terminal Flows":1,"#Payment integration’s automated back-end processes provide convenient access to your business’s transactional data, housing all invoices in one spot; users can easily pull up transaction reports to view daily sales information. Payment device data is also captured through integration, letting users run real-time terminal reports displaying terminal history, sales to date, payment methods and types, and more.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">4</span>. Transparent Analytics":1,"#In addition to providing a better customer experience by reducing payment friction for your front-end staff, payment integration has tremendous advantages for your back-end staff as well. While payment integration automatically pushes the sale to your devices, it transmits that same transaction data back to your POS at the same time, once the amount is settled. This acts as a central ledger recorded in the same system that created the sale in the first place. With both pieces of data held together, reconciliation between your sales invoices and amounts tendered occurs automatically. Refunds leverage this same data path to ensure that the right amount is being refunded to the right card. Verification is invaluable in protecting your business from defrauding attempts.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">3</span>. Automated Back-End Processes":1,"#Fast efficient checkout is one of the most important aspects of the retail experience. When a customer is ready to pay, they should be able to do so as simply as possible. Payment integration removes some of the friction points during checkout by decreasing the number of manual steps your front-line staff performs. Integration automatically registers card differences like debit vs credit, Visa vs Mastercard, and more, so the only question your staff needs to ask is <span ljsid-1=\"\"></span><span ljsid-3=\"\">“</span>will that be cash or card?”. Not only that, but integration also enables quick transactions with less chance for human error by automatically pushing the sale to the payment device. No longer will you have to rely on the rep to manually punch in the correct transaction amount. This increases the professionalism of your store and ensures greater accuracy when you go to reconcile at the end of the night.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">2</span>. Faster Checkout Experience":1,"#<a ljsid-0=\"\">Payment integration</a> optimizes your credential setup by centralizing all payment settings through the Hub portal. Users can control all RQ settings, merchant credentials, verification methods, terminal settings, and analytical reports through Hub’s convenient online platform.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">1</span>. Centralized Payment Setup":1,"#Read on as I describe <span ljsid-1=\"\">5</span> reasons why you should get payment integration today.":1,"#Retailers who take advantage of this feature have noticed quicker checkouts and even faster reconciliation at the end of the night. In an increasingly competitive environment where customer experience is king, adding payment integration to your mix may be the secret sauce to a winning strategy.":1,"#As I’m writing this post, over <span ljsid-1=\"\">90</span>% of iQmetrix retailers have opted for an integrated payment system — and for good reason too. Integrated payments take your electronic transactions to a whole new level with automation, transparent reporting, and faster refund abilities.":1,"#by <span ljsid-1=\"\">Margeaux Girardin</span> on Nov <span ljsid-3=\"\">15</span>, <span ljsid-5=\"\">2018</span> in <a ljsid-7=\"\"> Payments </a>":1,"#Enterprise (USA) Pricing":1,"#check mark":1,"#The Elevate plan provides dedicated Program Managers that understand the unique needs and demands of this enterprise account. The Program Manager works closely day-to-day with these clients, managing resources, contracts, daily needs, planning, upcoming projects, support, after-hours needs, and much more. The Program Manager builds partnerships with the client’s leaders and stakeholders at all levels, including executive relationships.":1,"#Clients on the Advance plan have access to our <span ljsid-1=\"\">24</span>÷<span ljsid-3=\"\">7</span>÷<span ljsid-5=\"\">365</span> live support.":1,"#A Client Manager is assigned to each account on the Advance plan, who understands the client’s unique business operations, needs, and pain points, and helps maximize the client’s ROI.":1,"#included in all licences":1,"#Our most advanced launch offering, this package has everything to get you ready to sell on your go-live date. With the help of your dedicated Project Manager and Senior Business Consultant, or team does all the heavy lifting for you. Plus, you get <span ljsid-1=\"\">250</span> hours of full-service support.":1,"#Want to be a little more hands-off? Leave the configuration to us. This package gives you <span ljsid-1=\"\">80</span>-hours of hands-on support. Plus, we’ll consult with you on any advanced setup options you’d like implemented.":1,"#This launch package is designed to get you up and running. We ensure the baseline functions are fired up so that when you take the wheel, you’re ready to go. Plus, you’ll get access to launch resources and <span ljsid-1=\"\">25</span> hours of one-on-one support from our team.":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">0</span>.<span ljsid-2=\"\">6</span>%":1,"#<span ljsid-0=\"\">2</span>.<span ljsid-2=\"\">60</span>% + $<span ljsid-4=\"\">0</span>.<span ljsid-6=\"\">10</span>":1,"#Standard Rate":1},"version":5025}]