According to Finances Online, ‘The market size value of POS software is expected to hit $18.1 billion by 2027.  

Every modern day store, whether it’s big or small, is incomplete without a point-of-sale (POS) system.

But why do you really need a POS software?  

A point-of-sale (POS) system can help manage business operations for any retail, restaurant, or ecommerce business, ranging from megamarts and stores to coffee shops. POS systems are capable of far more than just logging sales, calculating taxes, and processing payments. 

A POS  system can handle everything from sales tracking to personnel management. It also aids in the processing of transactions made across a rising variety of sales channels, such as in-store, digital (through websites and social media), delivery, and buy-online-pick-up-in-store.

6 Essential Ways to use a POS to run your business

Today’s POS systems are extremely user-friendly, and they include all of the features you’ll need to meet client demand for safe, personalized, and quick service. 

Let’s take a closer look at what a POS system can do and how you may use it in your business setting.

• Process orders

A point of sale system does more than just collect funds at the time of a transaction. It can be used to take product, service, or meal orders. It can also take orders over the phone or online. 

In 2019, online transactions accounted for 11% of total retail sales in the United States, and this figure is expected to quadruple to nearly 22% by 2022.

Most modern POS systems are either linked directly with eCommerce tools or offer the option of creating an online ordering site that feeds orders to your POS automatically. 

As soon as online orders arrive, your POS will notify you. As these orders are linked to your inventory, you don’t have to worry about selling things that aren’t in stock.

Aside from processing payments, the advanced retail POS software includes features, such as abandoned cart notifications, which can help you persuade clients who are on the fence to make a purchase. 

If shopping carts are abandoned, a certain segment of customers will return if they receive an abandoned cart alert in an email – to complete the transaction. 

• Process payments and transactions

It’s simple to ring in transactions. Order screens with photos or color-coded buttons for each item can be created for small stores with a streamlined product line. 

Alternatively, you can connect a barcode scanner to your point of sales system and ensure your employees scan each item before adding it to the sale.

The following are the basic processes for using a POS system to ring up transactions:

• Increase the number of items available for sale

Customers bring their items to a central counter where you ring up the sale and take payment in practically every retail establishment. You can, however, meet consumers at the point-of-purchase (POP) with mobile POS machines. 

Mobile POS machines are on the rise and hence, it makes sense to incorporate them in your business. In fact, software that converts smart devices into POS machines are becoming more widely available.

• Make a link between the sale and a customer profile

You can also add the customer to the check if they are a recurring customer. Purchases will count toward a customer’s points total if you run a loyalty programme. 

You’ll acquire more insights for your reports and sales forecasts if you can link the sale to a customer. Additionally, your customers will benefit from more personalized services and simpler returns.

• Add discounts and incentives

You can apply discounts, give current specials, or encourage new buyers to join your loyalty programme after you’ve added the items to the sale. 

Loyalty programs are one of the finest ways to keep your current customer base. Therefore, if you have one, complete your sales during the promotion by processing a payment.

• Make a payment

You may accept credit and debit cards, gift cards, loyalty points, house accounts, cash, or cheques, depending on your business type. Most POS systems can be set up to accept any type of payment. 

House accounts and room fees, on the other hand, are a little more specialized; if you need to take these payment methods, double-check that your POS supports them.

Your sales and inventory reports will now show that sale. It will be linked to the client who made the purchase as well as the employee who handled the transaction.

If you need to handle a return, evaluate your team’s sales success, or select which things to purchase later, all of this information is searchable.

• Control inventory

Another advantage of POS systems is that it simplifies the process of inventory tracking. You can establish low-inventory alerts and customize the software to track the amount of items available and their locations.

You may be able to incorporate expiry dates if you sell perishable goods. You can also establish a good rapport with a specific vendor to ensure that you always know when to reorder.

Most POS software provide inventory modification features. As things are sold, the POS system will keep track of inventories. There are other instruments for recording manual inventory counts so that modifications can be made or missing goods can be identified. 

Many POS solutions allow you to speed up manual counts by using a barcode scanner or a smartphone inventory management software.

Reordering is a feature of some POS software. You’ll need to have the vendor information saved first, but once you have, you may have the application produce suggested buy orders or send notifications when your stock goes below a certain threshold.

• Manage buyers

Knowing your customers is the most effective approach to boost sales and build a loyal following. 

In fact, customer surveys have revealed that personalisation pushes consumers to buy 47 percent more than they expected. 

Even the tiniest businesses may provide customers with the personalisation they seek with a customer relationship management (CRM)-enabled POS system.

Customers’ contact information, buying preferences, and spending history can all be collected with the POS system. The data is stored in the system and can be used by your sales clerks to make suggestions to customers in the store. 

It can be used to build client groups that are segmented. Targeted promotional emails to these consumer segments are a great way to increase loyalty and assist shoppers find goods they’ll enjoy.

It’s fine if this appears to be a tool that your company will not use. As an opt-in or supplementary function, most POS brands offer personalized marketing promos. 

Alternatively, if you already have a CRM solution that you enjoy, you can probably locate a POS that integrates with it. For instance, Lightspeed offers a complete payments solution integrated with your POS system.

• Manage employees

At its most basic level, POS systems require you to create user profiles for your employees so that they may log in and have any sales they make associated with them. This feature helps you in identifying errors or suspicious returns or transactions. 

Employee logins are also used as a timeclock in most POS systems, allowing you to track your employees’ effort hours. 

Depending on the nature of your business, you may also need to keep track of specific commissions or tips, as well as create permissions so that your staff can only access the tools they need to perform their jobs.

Schedule-building features are included in the more powerful POS systems, while others interface with adaptable third-party scheduling software. You can set your POS to notify you when an employee needs to take a break or approaches overtime in particular instances.

• Report and forecast

Sales over a certain period, sales by item, sell-throughs, and products commonly purchased together are all reports generated by POS systems. 

Take some time to look over each software’s built-in reports and customization options.

Most POS systems also allow you to export raw report data in Excel or CSV format for additional math or use in other programs, such as inventory management or accounting software. 

These reports can help you learn more about your business, such as what things sell well, who your best salespeople are, what special events or sales provide the best results, and where you can improve.

Some POS systems also allow you to create bespoke reports, allowing you to customize the data you track on a daily basis. 

In many situations, you can email this data at predetermined intervals directly from the POS dashboard, ensuring that you and any managers or business partners are on the same page.

• Customize and personalize

Every point-of-sale system has several levels of service. However, you can always add features like an integrated website, powerful marketing tools, gift cards, or custom-branded loyalty apps.

Adding integrated software or third-party software solutions to your POS system allow you to further modify and enhance its capabilities. Employee scheduling, payroll processing, accounting, online ordering, and delivery are all popular connections.

When you design a POS from scratch, it is time-consuming and uses up a lot of resources. Hence, a better option is to integrate the aforementioned features in an existing POS. It makes more sense for a POS to establish an integration rather than designing their own solution.

Conclusion

Using a POS system to run your business enables you to provide customers with the speed and customization that they expect. 

What you receive out of your POS software, however, is determined on what you put into it. Investing the time to learn your software’s capabilities, input any essential data, and teach your employees on how to use it effectively will ensure you get the most out of your investment. 

However, you’ll have plenty of help along the way; most POS firms provide videos, online knowledge bases, or one-on-one training to assist you in growing your business.

Let us know in the Comments section below if you would use a POS system any different in your business. 

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