4 Reasons to Implement Retail POS Software
Good service and quality products are key components of generating new and repeat business, however, those two elements alone will not ensure success. Retail Merchants need a payment platform that helps answer the question of ‘What next?’ after selling to a customer. Solid marketing and a loyalty rewards program are proven methods of attracting new and existing customers into your store. The “right” Retail POS System puts several tools in your hands to help you accomplish this including automated tracking of loyalty plans and tools to market directly to your customers.
4 Reasons to Implement Retail POS Software
1. Service New & Repeat Customers
2. Track Inventory and Reduce Theft
3. Employee Management and Labor Scheduling
4. Ring Up Sales Fast & Easy
Services New & Repeat Customers
• Built-in customer tracking
• Record birthday and anniversary dates
• Fast customer lookup with membership cards, last name, phone number
• Record itemized purchase details of each customer
• Flexible customer loyalty plans to generate repeat business
• Automatically tracks and gives rewards
• Accounts Receivable
• Birthday bonuses
• Frequent visitor discounts
• Ability to send informational newsletters, coupons, sales and new product announcements
• Ability to send mass e-mails
• Customer loyalty cards tie to customer accounts that track loyalty activity
• Print customer mailing labels with optional bar code
• Scan customer license to auto-populate customer record
Track Inventory and Reduce Theft
Accurate and robust inventory control is a key component of a retail store’s profit margins and overall success. The inventory tracking capabilities within your Retail POS System must detail which products are selling, what needs to be reordered and identifies items that have been stolen or are otherwise missing. An integrated purchasing functionality is used to track vendor lists, manage item costs and generate and receive purchase orders. Stock can be counted or received away from the register using the integrated Pocket Inventory software on a handheld computer.
Important Features
• Purchase orders
• Low stock alerts
• Actual versus Theoretical Inventory Counts
• Add items “on-the-fly,” even during a sale
• Discrepancy reports
• Size/color apparel matrix
• Track serial numbers
• Group pricing, mix & match
• Detailed inventory reports
• Track by case or individual
• Late, rented videos, videos in store
• Fast Lookups by Barcode, description
• Track item costs and profit margins
• Detailed sales history of each product
Control Your Employees and Secure Your Business
Employee theft is one of the leading causes of retail shrink, caused by a combination of theft of cash and inventory, as well as unwarranted discounts. The right Retail POS System includes multiple theft prevention features that introduce accountability to your employees. System functions such as discounts, no-sales, voids, and price changes can be accessed or restricted based on an employee’s unique login ID or job code. Various reports can be generated on this activity to identify potential theft or wrongdoing. Strict cash control features can be used to identify cash discrepancies down to the shift or the cashier. A camera security system can be connected to your point of sale system to further enhance the accountability of your employees and security of your store.
Employee Management and Labor Scheduling
Labor is typically the largest expense in a retail store outside the cost of the products being sold. The “right” Retail POS System has integrated time-clock and labor scheduling functionality to help you manage staffing and reduce labor costs.
Important Features
• All store employees can clock in and clock out, as well as check out and in for paid or unpaid breaks
• Hours and Wages reports summarize employee earnings and commissions
• Integrated labor scheduler makes it easier to manage shifts and ensure a sufficient but not excessive amount of labor is on hand
• Create & print labor schedules including hours, breaks and job code being worked
• Punctuality controls ensure timely arrival and also prevent clock-ins from employees not scheduled to work
Ringing Up Sales, Fast & Easy
The intuitive check-out interface requires minimal button touches, enabling cashiers to ring up sales fast and keep the lines short. Ringing up an item is as simple as scanning its bar code, or touching its button on a touch screen if it does not have a bar code. The “right” Retail POS System is designed to require the least amount of touches necessary to ring up a customer. Quick tender keys make cash transactions fast, and closing out a sale to credit, gift or debit card is as simple as swiping the card—no buttons required.
Top Retail POS Systems
Openbravo POS – Open Source retail point of sale software. Requires the Planetauthorize payment gateway service and a merchant account in order to process credit card transactions. A card reader is required in order to swipe credit card transactions. Swipe transactions provide a lower rate/cost to the merchant.
RetailPayments VPOS – Free retail point of sale software for Windows. Requires the Planetauthorize payment gateway service and a merchant account in order to process credit card transactions. A Magtek card reader is also required to swipe credit card transactions.
Cash Register Express – Commercial point of sale software for retail stores. Requires a merchant account. Hardware and software included as a platform bundle.
Restaurant Pro Express – Commercial restaurant point of sale software. Requires a merchant account. Hardware and software included as a platform bundle.
