Getting Started is Easier Than You Think
Here's something that might surprise you: building powerful business applications doesn't require a computer science degree anymore. In fact, with platforms like Automat App Maker—available right in the ERPLY App Store—you can create custom solutions for your retail business in hours, not months.
Think of the App Store as your business toolkit. You'll find everything organized into clear categories:
- Products – inventory management and catalog tools
- Payments – secure transaction processing solutions
- Invoices and Orders – streamlined billing and fulfillment
- Reports – analytics and insights dashboards
What makes this really powerful is the variety of solutions available. You can choose from:
- Full Application Bundles – complete, integrated systems where everything works together seamlessly
- Assets – building blocks like UI libraries, calendar components, and payment integrations
- Modules – add-ons that extend your existing applications with new features
The best part? You can test everything in a simple, safe environment. Once you're confident it works the way you need it to, deploying to production is just a click away.
The Reality Check: Why Most Retail Businesses Are Struggling
Let me paint you a picture that probably feels familiar. You're running a retail business, and every day brings new challenges. Your customers expect seamless experiences whether they're shopping online or in your store. Your team needs tools that actually help them work faster, not slower. And meanwhile, you're watching competitors launch new features while you're still waiting for your IT person to return your call from last week.
Sound about right?
I worked with a mid-sized retailer in Scandinavia a few years back who was facing exactly this problem. Their e-commerce was growing, but their old systems couldn't keep up. Every time they wanted to add a simple feature—like sending personalized promotions or updating inventory across channels—it took months of development time.
Fast forward to today: that same retailer now launches new customer-facing apps in days using ERPLY's platform and Automat App Maker. Their inventory syncs in real-time across all channels, store managers can build their own workflows without IT tickets, and they've seen double-digit growth year over year. The difference? They stopped waiting for the "perfect" solution and started building with tools that let them move at the speed of their business.
What's Really Changing in Business Technology
Three major shifts are reshaping how successful retailers operate:
- Technology isn't optional anymore – AI, automation, and cloud systems aren't "nice-to-haves" for forward-thinking businesses. They're requirements for staying competitive. Gartner predicts that by 2026, most established companies will be using at least four different low-code platforms.
- Customer expectations have gone through the roof – Whether someone walks into your store or visits your website, they expect you to know their preferences and deliver personalized experiences. Salesforce research shows 73% of customers now expect companies to understand their unique needs.
- The pace of change has accelerated permanently – The pandemic didn't just temporarily speed up digital adoption—it compressed a decade of transformation into two years. Now, agility isn't just an advantage; it's survival.
Look at how brands like Zara can go from design concept to store shelves in just weeks. That kind of speed comes from having systems that support rapid iteration and change, not ones that slow you down.
Learning from the Companies That Got It Right
Sometimes the best way to understand where we're headed is to look at who's already made the journey successfully.
Take Apple in the late 1990s. They were nearly bankrupt, but instead of playing it safe with incremental improvements, they bet everything on innovation. The iMac, iPod, and eventually the iPhone didn’t just create new products—they responded to what people actually wanted before people even knew they wanted it.
Tesla didn’t just build electric cars; they reimagined the entire car-buying experience, from direct-sales to over-the-air software updates that make your car better while you sleep.
What these companies share isn't just vision—it’s the willingness to act on that vision quickly, learn from real customer feedback, and iterate based on what works.
Your Practical Roadmap for 2025 and Beyond
1. Build and Launch Faster Than Your Competition
The old way of doing business software—months-long development cycles, expensive custom builds, endless IT tickets—doesn't work anymore.
With Automat App Maker and ERPLY, you can:
- Prototype new ideas in hours instead of weeks
- Launch secure, scalable applications that integrate with your existing systems
- Empower your team to customize their own workflows without waiting for technical support
Start here: Pick one manual process that frustrates your team every day. Build a simple automation for it using the drag-and-drop tools in Automat App Maker. Get feedback from the people who’ll actually use it, then improve it based on what they tell you.
2. Make Every Customer Interaction Count
Your customers don't care about your internal systems—they care about how you make them feel. But behind every great customer experience is data that's connected and accessible.
Connect your POS, e-commerce, and customer data to create a complete picture of each customer's journey. Then use that insight to automate personalized offers, streamline checkout processes, and provide self-service options that actually solve problems.
Real example: A specialty tea shop I advised used ERPLY and custom apps built in Automat App Maker to send promotions based on customers' actual purchase history—not generic “20% off everything” emails. Their repeat purchase rate increased by 20% in six months.
3. Future-Proof Your Operations
Manual processes and disconnected systems aren't just inefficient—they're business risks. When you can't see what's happening in real-time, you can't respond to problems before they affect your customers.
Move your core operations to ERPLY’s cloud platform, automate routine tasks like inventory management and reporting, and use real-time analytics to spot trends while you can still act on them. Start with tools like stocktake and inventory management features.
Case study: A fashion retailer automated their stocktaking and reordering processes. Stockouts dropped by 30%, and their staff could spend time helping customers instead of counting inventory.
4. Build the Right Mindset in Your Team
Technology is only as good as the people using it. The most successful businesses I work with share a few key attitudes:
- Experimentation over perfection: They're willing to try new things, even if it means making mistakes along the way.
- Learning over knowing: They invest in training and encourage teams to stay curious about new tools and approaches.
- Results over activity: They measure what matters and pivot quickly when something isn’t working.
Quick action plan:
- Identify your biggest operational bottleneck this week
- Test a simple low-code solution using Automat App Maker
- Get feedback from the people actually doing the work
- Iterate based on what you learn
- Scale what works and celebrate the wins
Real Results from Real Businesses
The Athlete's Foot manages over 400 stores across 26 countries. Using ERPLY and Automat App Maker, they gained real-time inventory visibility, launched location-specific promotions, and deployed new tools across their entire network in record time. The result? Measurably higher customer satisfaction and increased per-location sales.
The Spice & Tea Exchange automated their customer retention campaigns and inventory management while building custom dashboards—all without writing a single line of code. They've seen improved customer retention and significantly fewer operational errors.
One e-commerce startup I worked with launched an entirely new sales channel in under a week, with fully integrated payments, inventory management, and analytics. Now they pivot strategy as quickly as market conditions change. You can find more in our case study collection.
Your Next Steps Start Today
The future belongs to businesses that can learn, adapt, and execute quickly. You don't need a massive IT budget or a team of developers. You need clarity about what you want to achieve, the right tools to build it, and the courage to start before you feel completely ready.
Here's what you can do right now:
- Try Automat App Maker. See how quickly you can build something useful for your business. Or if you'd like to discuss ideas, write to us.
- Pick one process to automate this month. Start small, learn fast, and build on what works.
- Ask your team: “What could we accomplish if technology actually helped instead of slowed us down?”
The tools are available, the opportunity is real, and your competitors are probably already getting started. Learn more about how ERPLY supports different business types and overall retail solutions or explore our thought leadership on our blog.
The question isn't whether low-code platforms will change how retail businesses operate—it’s whether you'll be leading that change or scrambling to catch up.
Ready to see what's possible? Start your free trial of Automat App Maker in the ERPLY App Store today.