Xero and Vend Partner for Retail Innovation

New Zealand-based, cloud software companies Vend and Xero are partnering to be preferred providers of services to their customers. The collaboration sees Vend and Xero formally unite under joint business and product development goals in key international markets for the first time.

Industry leaders in cloud software, Vend and Xero first integrated in 2010 and already share thousands of customers worldwide. Under the agreement, both companies will pursue a range of product updates and joint marketing activities, to deliver the most advanced end-to-end solution for small business retailers.

“Some 30% of Vend customers in NZ and Australia already connect to Xero, and we want to accelerate this growth in other markets too, such as the UK and USA. We’ve been working hard with Xero to develop a truly innovative offering for retailers, one that makes it easy to take advantage of the benefits of moving business operations into the cloud.” Alex Fala, CEO, Vend.

Vend provides point-of-sale, inventory and customer management for retail, while Xero is sophisticated accounting and payroll software. Sales, customer and cash-flow data is shared in real-time between the two systems, which reduces the overheads and administration required to run a small business. Recently, Vend launched a number of industry-leading updates to the integration including tracking of stock margins (cost-of-goods), which allows business owners to make better decisions on how to increase cash-flow and profitability.

“Vend have put a lot into developing their integration with Xero,” says Will McTavish, CEO of Xero partner Link Solutions. “It makes retail easy. In my humble opinion, it’s the most advanced integration in the Xero ecosystem and the benefits of using it are huge.”

Both companies are also partners in Apple’s Mobility Partner Program, and have been working closely with Apple to leverage mobile and iOS to innovate the customer experience.

“We don’t think of software as creating a solution but as an ecosystem that makes everyone’s business better,” said Rod Drury, CEO, Xero. “Partnering with Vend helps us deliver on that vision. Integrated cloud apps are the future for businesses and with cloud accelerating globally, it’s an exciting time in the industry.”

New features of the Vend-Xero integration

Real-time profit snapshot. Cost-of-goods-sold now post to Xero, providing an accurate snapshot of how a business is truly performing in real-time, with easy view of profit against total operating expenses.

Streamlined invoicing. Manual editing and updates for invoicing and payment due dates is eliminated, reducing admin and giving retailers even more hours back in their day.
Bulk account payments. Multiple account sales or laybys can be paid off in a single transaction and payments sync from Vend to Xero automatically.
Customer sync. Contacts and any updates to customer details also sync between Vend and Xero automatically.
Enhanced user-experience. Improvements to the design and layout of the system mean it’s now easier than ever for a retailer to navigate between Vend and Xero.

Accounting