Top Retail Software Development Companies

From customer-facing Point-of-Sale (POS) systems to backend logistics, retail software drives innovation in every aspect of the sales cycle.

These are the eight core touchpoints, or software categories, in retail:

1. Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems

   POS software manages the in-person purchasing process, including sales, returns, and receipts. With a custom solution, you can integrate POS transactions with other software categories, like tracking sales data in your CRM or inventory management system.

2. Inventory Management Systems

   The backend of inventory management tracks stock levels, manages supply relationships, and helps inform retailers of when to reorder products. This is often synced with your POS, so that your inventory is automatically updated when you make a sale.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

   CRMs help retailers optimize the customer journey by managing customer data, communications, loyalty programs, and personalized marketing. It can also provide powerful insights into your sales journey by integrating with other categories and tracking conversions.

4. Payment Processing

   When a sales transaction is made, the payment processing software captures the customer’s financial data, encrypts it, and then sends it to the appropriate financial institution. This is often fulfilled by third-party integrations that maintain proper compliance and security measures.

5. eCommerce Platforms

   eCommerce platforms allow retailers to sell their products online. The software that runs these programs manages the online storefront and website, the shopping cart, checkout system, product listings, payment processing, and inventory management. They might also include software tools to help retailers see where their sales are coming from and how their webstore is performing.

6. Analytics and Reporting Tools

   Business intelligence tools provide retailers with key insights to analyze sales trends, customer behavior, sales and marketing performance, and more. These solutions collect and analyze data, and often create visualizations and reports to help retailers make faster, more informed decisions.

7. Supply Chain Management

   To manage logistics effectively, supply chain management software enables retailers to track shipments, manage warehouse inventory, and optimize delivery routes for maximum efficiency.

8. Marketing Automation Tools

   From email marketing to personalized shopping recommendations, marketing automation software helps retailers optimize their customer outreach to increase sales and conversions.

   When integrated into an entire system, you can gain powerful insights as to where your sales are coming from and where to scale your marketing efforts.

As you can see, there’s not just one software that retailers use. Instead, modern retailers rely on an integrated ecosystem of software solutions to manage all operations efficiently.

The retail development companies on Techreviewer.co specialize in creating these essential digital tools and tailoring them to meet the specific needs of each retailer.

POS (Point-of-Sale) software manages your sales transactions, inventory updates, and customer data through the checkout process. It’s a key factor in curating your brand’s omnichannel experience, with features like:

• Sales processing and receipt generation
• Inventory synchronization
• Payment processing (cash, card, digital wallets)
• Integration with CRM and analytics tools

The POS is where each sale happens. Most POS systems have a retailer interface and a customer-facing interface where customers can review their purchase, add a tip, or make a payment themselves. This makes it even more powerful as a branded tool within your custom retail ecosystem.

In addition to off-the-shelf solutions, there are developers who build custom retail software. It’s custom solutions like these that help retailers manage their unique systems in a way that out-of-the-box software cannot.

Here are some of the key benefits:

The Operational Benefits of Custom Retail Software

Tailored solutions help retailers address their pain points and redundancies in operations. From internal workflows to optimizing the customer experience, custom software provides a scalable solution to save resources as your business grows.

• Streamlined Workflows + Reduced Costs: Custom software helps retailers streamline their workflows and operations, ultimately saving time and money.
• Automated Repetitive Tasks: These custom solutions easily automate repetitive tasks, improving accuracy and freeing strategic resources, so retailers can run their storefronts more efficiently.
• Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Custom software also provides a customized experience for customers, enhancing customer satisfaction through personalized services in a branded interface.

The Competitive Advantage of Custom Retail Software Solutions

Out-of-the-box solutions are everywhere for retailers. This can create a saturated market with many similar products, services, and customer interfaces. Custom software elevates your brand to the next level, maximizing potential and growth.

• Differentiation: When retailers use custom software, their products and services are automatically differentiated from those of their competitors.
• Integration Capabilities: The unique features and integration capabilities with existing systems enable custom software to work more efficiently through a self-branded experience.
• Scalable Architecture: The flexible infrastructure of custom software allows the business to grow without being hindered by compounding costs and usage-based limitations.

The ROI of Custom Retail Software

Custom solutions do require an initial investment, but the returns are multifold.

• Staying Relevant: The Retail Management Systems Software Market is expected to grow by +12.06% between 2024 and 2031 according to Verified Market Research. Investing in custom software goes beyond efficiency; it keeps retailers relevant.
• Long-Term Savings: While the upfront costs of a custom retail management system may be higher, the long-term total cost of ownership (TCO) is typically lower than out-of-the-box options.
• Freedom + Flexibility: Custom software eliminates reliance on third-party platforms and clunky integrations. With an entirely custom solution, you own your customer data and can scale on your own terms.

In summary, custom developers deliver tailored solutions that off-the-shelf products cannot match. Techreviewer.co connects you with providers who understand the unique needs of your business.

Finding the right development company can seem like a challenging task. Luckily, Techreviewer.co makes the process quick and simple with their easy-to-navigate platform, detailed company profiles, and filtering features.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to choose the right development company for your business.

1. Define Your Project Scope

Before you start looking at development companies, you need a clear idea of what you want your custom software to do.

Analyze your current processes and identify the pain points in each process: customer-facing, inventory/logistics, and marketing/communications.

Define your project’s goals, budget, and timeline. These will help refine your search in the next step.

2. Use Techreviewer.co to Find Relevant Software Development Companies

With Techreviewer, you can filter development companies by:

• Industry focus
• Technology expertise
• Client ratings and reviews
• Project size and locations

This will generate a list of vetted companies that align best with your project.

3. Review Past Projects

Review each company’s case studies and past projects in their portfolio. See which projects are relevant to retail application development and how their work aligns with your goals.

4. Request Proposals + Compare

Request a detailed proposal from any companies that seem to fit your requirements and compare their service offerings.

Once you’ve narrowed your selection of developers, it’s time to choose the right developer for your shop. Here are some important things to consider when hiring a development company.

1. Industry Experience

Finding a company to develop custom retail applications requires experience in the retail industry. You want a partner who understands the unique needs of a retailer and who can tailor a solution to fit your needs.

Techreviewer makes it simple to find developers with relevant experience at: https://techreviewer.co/case-studies.

Here, you can explore different case studies from developers and filter the results to find partners who have experience building retail solutions.

From POS applications, visualization tools, operations, and more, Techreviewer’s case study portal lets you browse retail applications that have already been developed so you can see a potential partner’s work before investing.

2. Technical Expertise

If you’re looking for a custom solution, you’ll want to ensure that your development partner is fluent in any core technologies or platforms essential to your business.

Each company profile on Techreviewer outlines the programming languages and frameworks that the company works with. You can also ask during the interview process about their familiarity with other apps or platforms you currently use. This ensures a smooth connection to any existing program you’re currently using.

3. Proven Track Record

Look for a proven track record of developing custom retail solutions like yours. Review their case studies and services to ensure the best fit for your brand.

In their company profile, you’ll find valuable information such as previous clients, their portfolio of work, and ratings and reviews.

4. Transparency

A trustworthy development partner will be transparent about their process, pricing, and project timelines. Techreview.co makes it simple to understand each development company’s pricing structure and hourly rate range.

Steer clear of vague deliverables, unclear project scopes, and gated pricing.

5. Security and Compliance

As a retailer, you know the importance of maintaining compliance and protecting sensitive customer information. Whether it’s transactional data from your POS, cookies from your eCommerce store, or cybersecurity measures to protectsaved customer data, security and compliance need to be taken seriously as a retailer.

Find a developer who is well-versed in developing a custom application that maintains compliance and protects your customers’ data.

6. Scalability

You need a custom retail program that grows with your business. You also need a development partner who can scale with your business, too, and support the future growth of your business.

7. Effective Communication & Collaborative Approach

Custom application development is a journey. Look for a development company that matches your working and communication style in the vetting process.

This is, after all, a partnership, and you’ll likely be working closely to build your retail application. Be sure you can work together effectively.

How much does it cost to develop a custom retail application? Retail application development prices can vary depending on the level of expertise, location, and more. Here are a few factors that contribute to the final pricing.

• Project complexity and feature set: More complex features and integrations mean a higher cost. This is the overall complexity of the entire system. Some projects may only require a POS interface, while others need custom applications to manage and integrate with their entire
• Level of customization required: How much original code and build needs to be incorporated into your custom solution? Oftentimes, developers have existing systems for common retail solutions that can be white-labeled or customized to meet your brand’s needs. If your custom application requires new or unique functionality, these higher-level customizations will cost more to build and develop.
• Choice of development platform (web, mobile, hybrid): How many platforms do you need? Some shops need just customer-facing web tools or simple retail solutions. Others need more robust systems with proprietary apps for backend use, like warehouse or inventory management.
• Size and location of the development team: How many people will be working on the development, and where are they based? The size of the team will largely influence the speed of development, and the location greatly influences the overall cost.
• Integration with third-party systems: Your custom application can be connected to external systems like payment gateways and ERPs. Each integration will add to the program development price.
• Ongoing maintenance and support needs: Regular maintenance is expected for all applications as third-party integrations, devices, and other software are updated. Custom retail solutions with mobile apps may require more updates and support.

The estimated cost for custom retail software development varies depending on the business size and scope of the overall project.

Once you’ve outlined the scope of your project, you can request quotes from multiple developers. This will give you a better idea of what your unique application might cost.

Be transparent with your developers about both your budget and the scope of the project. Beware of scope creep where small features are added throughout the project, sometimes making significant increases in the cost and the timeline. Stay on the same page with detailed project briefs that include clear milestones, helping the project stay within your budget.

Multiple tools, programming languages, frameworks, and platforms are used to build and run your custom retail application. The combination of these makes up your tech stack.

Each layer may require a different set of tools and languages. The developer will likely choose these based on their fluencies and professional experience, but it’s good to have a basic understanding of the kinds of tools used. Some might be optimized for performance, while others might be optimized for security.

You’ll want to communicate any preferences with your developer to ensure your custom program meets your business’s unique needs.

In retail development, a tech stack typically includes:

• Frontend (Customer-Facing): This is the user interface, or what your customers see when they interact with your application. This includes the design of your eCommerce store or your POS screen.

  (ex. React.js, Angular, Vue.js)

• Backend (Server-Side): The backend handles the business logic behind the scenes of your app, likeprocessing orders or managing inventory.

  (ex. Node.js, Django, Ruby on Rails, .NET)

• Database (Storage): The application itself requires data storage, in addition to the data that you input into the database (customer data, products, transactions, etc.).

  (ex. MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB)

• Payment Gateways: These ensure secure transactions for your sales.

  (ex. Stripe, PayPal, Square)

• Cloud Infrastructure: Think of this as where your software “lives.” Cloud infrastructure allows for the most scalability.

  (ex. AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure)

• Integrations: These are the different connections your application needs to make. This includes hardware connections to things like your receipt printer or scanners, and third-party APIs to services like ShipStation, or CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot.

The timeline for developing a custom solution for your shop varies greatly depending on the scope of the work, number of integrations, and level of customization. Here are some rough estimates of the average timeline for development.

• Small Projects: 4–6 weeks (includes basic features)
• Medium Projects: 3–7 months (multiple modules and integrations)
• Large Projects: 7–12+ months (enterprise-level application, advanced features, heavy customization)

What affects the development timeline?

• Overall size and complexity of a project
• Size of the team and their experience level
• Integration requirements and testing needs
• Client feedback and requested revisions

Techreviewer.co makes it easy to find the right developer for your project. Here’s a snapshot of what Techreviewer has to offer:

• Curated listings: see the top development companies and sort them by your preferences.
• Detailed company profiles: view case studies, ratings, services, and more.
• Easy comparison tools: browse retail application development services and easily compare by using filters to sort companies by services, tech stacks, industries, location, and more.
• Streamlined connections: connect with the right development partner for your project directly from the platform.