A Point-of-Sale (POS) system is one of the most important tools for your small retail store. With this one piece of equipment, you can make sales, track sales, track inventory and motivate your staff and customers and get valuable information about the state of your business.
There are as many features available on a POS system as there are types of equipment, and it is vital that you know how to use these tools to get the most out of the system for your business. Here are some tips on how to make the most of your POS retail sales software in your retail business, and what features to look out for.
1. Manage Your Sales (Better)
Perhaps the most critical aspect of any business is managing sales. Your POS system was created to do this. Not only can it easily keep track of purchases and accurately record the transactions, but it can also easily apply:
- Applying discounts – most POS machines can be programmed with options for applying discounts quickly and easily.
- Processing returns – Your employees can efficiently handle returns and exchanges and keep track of what products are coming back.
- Credit card processing – credit cards are so integrated into the modern-day business environment that, by not using them for transactions, you are missing out on sales opportunities. You need a system that can work with multiple credit card companies and processors and the options to switch companies if you have any issues.
- Gift card & loyalty card processing – process gift cards quickly and accurately. You can also keep track of customers’ loyalty cards, and any rewards or benefits they are entitled to.
- Customer requests – you can also keep track of special customer requests or notes on a specific transaction for referencing at a later date.
2. Manage Inventory (Quicker)
Your POS system is an accurate real-time reflection of your inventory system. With one click, you can see a list of all the items in your inventory and the quantities that you have in stock. This quick and accurate accounting can help you make decisions accurately and quickly to avoid waste and scrambles for missing products.
You can also program your system to automatically create orders based on the accurate information gathered through previous sales and trends. You can set amounts for restocking automatically and never run out of supplies. This means you are using data to make your decisions rather than guesswork to help you avoid waste and overstocked items.
If you have more than one location, you can also set up your system to show the inventory at different locations, so you’ll always know where products are and how to access them. This allows you to manage inventory at multiple locations and keep track of sales and trends.
This also works if your business has an online component. See where your products are and how they are selling across locations, in-store and online all from one machine.
3. Manage Employee Scheduling (More Simply)
In addition to managing your inventory, a POS system is great for managing your employee scheduling. With time clocks and schedules built into many systems along with sales tracking and other employee stats, your POS system will give you all the information you need to make informed and accurate decisions about staffing needs.
The POS can keep track of the number of sales based on location, time and staff and help you determine the correct number of employees you need at any given place or time. You will know when you need to bring on additional help and avoid being overstaffed.
You can also keep track of individual staff sales and monitor their time, speed and give individual employees access to reports and information they need to do their job. Business owners can keep track of their staff, and also give their employees the tools to manage their work.
4. Generate Sales Reports (More Accurately)
The better POS systems for retail will help you to produce sales reports that will give an accurate overview of your sales at any given time or location. It can also keep track of the taxes and overall cost of goods sold so you have a solid idea of where your business stands. Your POS system will also keep track of what is selling and what is not selling at a given retail store.
It is a retail sales system that lets you keep track of your sales, inventory, staffing and customers in real-time. This way you can run promotions to help generate sales on specific items or order more of an item that is selling very well to keep it in stock.
You can also generate reports on your customers and find out who is buying and what they are buying to target your marketing and promotional strategies better.
4. Increase Productivity (And Reduce Mistakes)
An easy to use POS system is good for your customers and it is good for your staff. You can eliminate errors by using mobile POS devices to serve customers where they are and create orders on the spot.
Most POS systems are also easy to use and offer intuitive touch screens with icons to help eliminate errors or even mobile scanning to input the product code. This is much more efficient than entering numbers into a cash register, or bar codes into a terminal. In some places, the system is so easy to use that customers can serve themselves through self-checkout.
5. Increase Your Mobility (And Decrease Customer Waiting)
Nobody likes to wait in line, especially customers. With a mobile POS system, you can handle the transaction from anywhere – on the sales floor, in the parking lot or even in the pop-up store in your garage.
Your customers don’t need to wander looking for a register; they can get help and buy their goods anywhere a salesperson is. You can take orders online, make a sale in the parking lot, or when you make a delivery. These types of options for your customers not only increase your sales, but they also make your customers feel happy and cared for.
Mobile POS systems also mean you can take your products where your customers are – for small businesses, this can open up new markets for your products or simply provide a way for customers to access all your wares. Farmers’ markets, craft shows, music venues or pop-up stores are all examples of places that cheap POS systems can be vital for a business.
A good point-of-sale system is a valuable tool for your business that integrates many tasks into one machine and provides insight and information on all aspects of your business. It can also help you grow your business.
If you need help finding the right POS for your retail business in Burlington, contact us at Point Of Sales Research Group, or POSRG today. We want to help your retail business succeed in today’s competitive world — and we can help you find the right POS system for your business.
Take a look at our list of services or give us a call at 905 332-8809 for more information.
