Why you need a Point of Sale System

Why buy a Point of Sale System

Many retailers have built a very successful brand without a point of sale system. Whether they rely on pen and paper, or cash registers, credit card machines, and accounting systems, a point of sale system is sometimes merely an afterthought to a thriving retail business. Yet, retail is changing; competition is increasing, customers are re-evaluating where and how they buy, and point of sale systems have now become standard equipment.

Retailers who are considering point of sale know that critical business information is often lost in the disorganization of multiple systems, and redundant data entry. Employees too, lose productivity when they are faced with complex systems, inaccurate records, and confusing processes. Most retailers know they need to eliminate disparate systems and non-integrated components, but the time required to do so is often daunting to a busy retailer; some believe thy already have detailed knowledge of the business performance; albeit instinctual. In addition, retailers are hesitant to adopt a point of sale system, as they believe it will require outside service providers, lost historical data and sometimes, just too much of an investment.

Yet automation of the point of sale has tremendous benefits to the retailer including:

Managed and visible inventory: stock to par levels, record and use sales and ordering information for immediate and future decisions, search, filter, and retrieve inventory information easily.

Faster checkout: enable productivity with easily identifiable merchandise through bar codes and quick look ups, automated tasks and easily retrievable information lead the sales and checkout process.

Improved customer detail: keep customer data on file, track purchases, enable target marketing, and reward loyalty.

Reduced costs and increased revenue: easily identify operating cost, labour and shrinkage, quickly realize and track revenue increases.

Point of sale systems have grown beyond complex software systems with cumbersome hardware components. Rather they have become very easy to setup on your counter top and install. Most may be shipped right to you with the software and hardware peripherals already loaded, with simple wizards that ease the task of entering inventory, store, and employee information. Most existing, historical sales data may be imported simply, and systems will now integrate with a variety of popular accounting systems, loyalty programs, and multiple credit card processors. There are tremendous cost effective solutions suited to your unique business that enable you to set up quickly, and expand and grow as your business does. They may even provide you information about your business that your instincts did not. Take a look.

About the Author:
Daymion Rogers is the Retail Product Manager for Business Machines, Inc. She has extensive retail store sales and management experience, with over 10 years in apparel stores. She has worked in the point of sale systems industry for the last 6 years providing point of sale solutions to independent retailers in the US.