All retail businesses share one main goal: to increase product sales. However, for this to happen, you need to provide more than quality products or have a good marketing strategy in place. One vital part of improving sales is the quality of customer service.
Today, point-of-sale software is a brilliant tool to boost the quality of your service.
What Is POS?
According to SoftwareAdvice, some businesses have reported an increase in sales of 200% via the reporting POS feature alone. Their survey during the pandemic shows that a quarter of the business leaders prioritize the POS infrastructure more than ever.
POS, or Point of Sale software is a tool that allows for smooth transactions, organization, and basically helps businesses run more efficiently. From inventory tracking to cash flow and sales transactions, POS systems can have multiple functions all at once.
Every POS comprises hardware and software components. The software can be installed on-premise or cloud-based. Which one you’ll choose depends on your business’ needs, but because of the higher flexibility and lower cost, the latter is a much more popular option today.
For example, a small retail business owner who needs a single cash register might decide to opt for an on-premise POS. They’ll host the software on a single computer and update it whenever necessary. They’ll also buy some hardware items like a cash drawer, barcode scanner, receipt printer, card reader, etc.
Anything bigger than this might benefit more from a cloud-based POS with centralized payment processing, a customer loyalty program, inventory management, and other useful features. If you manage one such business, you’ll still need some hardware such as cash drawers and terminals, but the system will carry most of the functions – and be available at all times.
Choosing a POS system: how to make your decision
Many day-to-day operations in your retail store can be exhausting and very often, impossible to do right. If you make the right choice for a POS system, you’ll make your life simpler – and that of your team. An organized, automated software can help you avoid many mistakes, eliminate many unnecessary expenses, and rid yourself of stress.
When choosing a POS system, you must consider the needs of your business. What kind of software do you need? Would you prefer it to be cloud-based? What’s your budget? What features do you need?
Some solutions are highly popular with retailers because of their versatility of features, as well as proven quality. With a reputable inventory control software like LightSpeed, you can simplify many of the tasks with ease – and without investing a fortune. Some of the many features this tool offers include:
· Easy access to work orders stored directly in the system
· The option to create many product variations linked to color, size, and material
· Combining individual items and selling them as packages
· Set a unique serial number to every piece of inventory
· Create personalized orders to meet the customer’s needs
· Track SKUs and inventory levels across multiple locations
· Avoid overstocking and keep your store stocked with the necessary items, etc.
Smart software tools like these are designed to drive growth and improve your business operations, as well as boost customer satisfaction.
Reasons why you should be investing in POS
If you’re still wondering whether or not you’ll need a POS for your business, here are just a few reasons why retail companies use it.
1. Offers nifty insights into your inventory – and sales
Imagine this scenario: a long-term customer comes to you requesting a product they’re always buying. No one noticed that it’s sold, so you cannot sell it to them. They go to a different business and stay there. You lose the customer.
Let’s consider a different scenario now: You spend a fortune when stocking your store, buying items you think will be sold. You don’t have the time to review previous sales, and it is too complicated anyway. In the end, many of the things you bought remain on the shelves, and you’re running out of bestselling items. You’ve invested a fortune into products that simply don’t sell.
Most retailers don’t have the time to organize everything. Very often, important items go out of stock because no one noticed, or the stores lack inventory that’s in demand – and have too much of the item that’s simply not selling.
With the right POS, you can eliminate errors and maximize sales. How?
A smart system will tell you which products are your best-selling, remind you that you need to restock, and even automate purchases to keep your stores full with what you need. Such tools will keep track of your inventory, allow you to anticipate the needs, and help you meet your customers’ expectations.
2. Saves you tons of money
Some of the items in the store aren’t earning their keep. It’s about time that you evict them from your inventory, but how do you know which items to toss away from your next order?
POS systems can save you tons of money for multiple reasons. First of all, they help you make the most important decisions based on your budget – which items are not worth it. With the right POS, you’ll learn which products are ‘duds’ in your store, and you’ll know not to stock up later.
Not only that – but the information provided with this type of software can be invaluable for the hiring process. You can collect data that will show you how many employees you need – and for which positions. And, you can maximize your sales because you’ll always have the necessary items in store – simply because your POS knows they’re in demand.
3. Saves you time
Handling many products and orders can be tricky unless you have something to organize the data. A quality POS can tell you whether or not you have the item in stock, how many of them you have – and even where the items are located. This means no more scouring the storage areas for products, hoping to come across what your customer needs.
As soon as your retail store gets a request from an interested customer, you can simply look up the information in the POS and tell them instantly – whether or not you have the product. Then, you can use the POS data to find it instantly, without having your employees look around in stores and storage areas.
4. Builds your brand loyalty
Brand loyalty increases the odds of existing customers coming back to get new products. Everyone knows that existing customers are much easier to sell to since they’ve already had an experience with your brand. According to Hubspot, you are 70% more likely to sell to existing customers compared to a 5 to 20% likelihood of selling to new prospects.
This means that the people you convince to buy from your retail store are your strongest asset for growing the business. Brand loyalty is key to success, and POS software solutions can help you boost it.
How do you keep the existing customers coming back for more?
When it comes to a customer database, personalization is your strongest asset. With the right POS system, you can keep track of what each of them has bought, asked about, and even put in their wish list. Based on this, you can offer exclusive incentives they won’t want to miss out on, and customized offers based on their needs and preferences.
5. Optimizes the payment process
Don’t you hate it when charging customers takes forever? In this modern world, not accepting mobile or tap pay, not accepting card payments, could mean the end of your business.
People enjoy contactless payments more than ever, especially now that we’re dealing with a pandemic. Paying should not be a pain – and it should be optimized for the needs of every customer who steps foot into your stores.
With a sleek payment terminal and quality cloud-based POS for online payments, you can leave a polished, amazing impression on every customer who decides to buy from you.
6. Builds rapport with consumers
POS systems have been irreplaceable for retailers. They do so many tasks and save a lot of valuable time, allowing the customer service to spend more time handling the demands of customers. You can automate the POS system to chat and answer customers’ questions, and handle many of the common concerns and questions for you. This will leave you more time to handle the more complicated questions, and your consumers will get an instant response – so it’s a win-win.
Wrapping up
Every one of us has had a bad experience with a retail store. For some, it was the frustrated and tired employee who couldn’t handle all his tasks at once. Some stores couldn’t deliver on their promise and told us that the items we needed were out of stock. In other stores, it takes forever to process the payments.
All these are signs of poor management – and poor choices. As a retail business owner and manager, you need to make sure that everything runs smoothly and that your consumers are satisfied. It all comes down to a single solution – a versatile and high-rated POS system.
