Gone are the days where the cash registers used to open with familiar “ka-ching!” sound. Now we have more sophisticated systems that take care of not only billing but also help in inventory management.
Nothing beats the utility and ease of walking down to the store for some flour when you need it. That’s why traditional brick and mortar stores are still in existence. It’s highly unlikely they’ll ever be wiped out by their digital counterpart as well.
Many upcoming and growing retailers are afraid of using expensive POS systems . The fear of trying something new and failing is natural. That’s why we list out some of the advantages of using a retail POS system.
Faster Checkout
A POS system comes with everything you need to give your customer a faster checkout process. If not, you can add these features as your business grows. You can have the system on your computer and connect a barcode scanner and a swipe machine. You can accept payments faster than collecting cash and doling out change for everyone.
Inventory Management
The biggest highlight of using a retail POS system is the inventory management you can do with ease. Many large stores bring in hundreds of products to be sold at a time, with the total number of products extending far beyond 10,000. In these cases, it’s impossible to keep track of every product in your inventory.
A POS system can make this process easy. All you have to do is add all the products with their quantities in the system. The system will subtract the products from your inventory after your customer checks out.
Another great feature that POS systems have is the reminder feature. As soon as the stock of a product starts to run out, the POS will remind you to order a new stock for the product. There are even some systems which automatically place orders when the quantity of a certain product falls below a certain threshold that you set.
Just In Time
Sometimes, having too much or too little stock of products can be an expensive mistake. If you have too few in stock, you might have to refuse orders. Having too many in stock can be expensive as far as warehousing is concerned. They will not only occupy more space, increase labor requirement for maintenance, but can also lead to a loss if the product is perishable.
That’s why most retail POS systems have a Just In Time (JIT) feature. With this, you can store a small stock of perishable products. As your inventory starts to run out of the product, the POS system will send you a notification and you can order a fresh stock. This will not only reduce labor cost but will reduce your losses on perishable products.
Financial Reports
You can also link your POS system to your business accounts to get detailed financial reports. With this, you can easily track your company growth. Along with this, you can also track how much money you’ve earned from debit or credit cards. This way, it becomes easy to keep up with tax reports. You’ll also be less prone to manual errors.
Slow Growth Without A POS
Without a retail POS system, you’re forced to manually gauge your sales every day. You might be used to it, but many customers don’t like to wait while you finish punching each item into your system. Apart from this, you’re also missing some features that can help you expand your business.
The Right POS Systems
There are several POS systems that claim to make your life easier. But finding the right one can be difficult. The type of POS a store requires differs from business to business. A small boutique won’t need a sophisticated POS system when compared to a busy supermarket. Choosing the right POS becomes extremely important.
There are several POS systems out there, from vendors like Shopify, Magento, and more. A plus point of Shopify would be that it not only has a POS software for brick and mortar stores but also an online solution if you’re planning on expanding to e-commerce. With Shopify’s website building software, you can manage physical and digital stores with ease. That means you can focus more on building your business than just managing your stores and inventory all the time.
