A Point of Sale System – or as we will call from now on - POS System is an automatized sales software in which the cashiers input the products, tally the costs and conduct the financial transaction.
It is clearly an evolution over the cash register and the old ways of selling. But it is also so much more than that. With advancedPOS software
, you may also track your inventory, automatically create order lists and know all there is to know about your customers and therefore, your business.
Modern
POS Systems
can even offer you a little extra: All the information will be at the fingertips of every user.
That way they can anticipate customer’s questions and offer them a particular item which they did not even know they needed. With all this information, you will be able to identify your less successful sales staff, so you can provide training to those who need it most, so everyone can be at the same level, knowledge-wise.Here are ten of the clearest advantages of switching to a Point-of-Sale System:
Sales History
: with a
POS system
, you can easily look up past transactions and discover which product is stuck on the shelf for weeks as well as which products are selling the most. Which will make inventory management that easier.
Inventory Management
: Inventory management can be time-consuming, expensive and for some, a digital form of nightmare. A lot of products may have multiple sizes, colors, flavors, volumes, among other variations. Thanks to an accurate sales and purchase orders control, you will know how much you have in stock of each product. You may also categorize the products by name, brand, supplier, supplier code, SKU, color and a multitude of other categorizations. If that is not enough for you, you can perform inventory counts or coordinate online store collections to organize the product catalog and adjust your inventory.
Sales in Real-Time
: even when you are not in the store, you can access your back-office server remotely and know everything it is going on. We are talking about reports in real-time of Overall sales, profit after markup, sales attributed to each employee, and many more specifications. Many
POS systems
will allow you to customize those reports so you can see exactly what you need, from wherever you are, even when you are in the comfort of your home.
Saving Time and Money
:
POS systems
are way faster than manual cash registers. Everything from reading the product barcode to credit card transaction over the Internet will save you time, thus making the customer – and yourself, of course – happier. This kind of software allows you to use add-on devices to help make things quicker and make the sale faster, such as electronic cash drawers, barcode scanners, credit card readers and receipt or invoice printers. No more writing it down on a piece of paper or summing it up on the calculator. That is outdated!
Sales Tax and accounting made easy
:
POS Systems
will help you – some will do almost the entire work – on how to calculate your due sales tax based on the exact amount sold on your store.
POS Software
will also come, in most cases, with integrated accounting modules, including general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, among other features.
Financial Control
:
With
POS Systems
you can abolish the “put it on the cuff” way of selling. Or at least have a much more accurate way to manage it. You will know how much everyone owes you and to when it is due. You can also manage installment plans and interest rates, so these are also possibilities that you can explore in your business. The accounts receivable and payable may be all accounted for and you will not have cash breakages or shortages anymore.
Management and ERP Systems Connectivity
:
you can connect the POS terminals to other terminals and to a back-office server. That way you can plug in your ERP system and manage everything: sales, inventory, orders, accounts payable and receivable, etc. Attention here: some
POS Systems
may require full connectivity to a back-office server to work, but most of them will not and will work even if things have fallen apart over at your back-office.
Workers familiarity with electronic devices
: nowadays, kids are born with electronic devices, so it is easier for them to get used to working with handheld devices, smartphones and computers, and its peripherals. You can forget that weeks or days of training that once were necessary to get them used to the software. Now, with a few hours of training, they will be more than ready to perform even the most advanced activities on it.
Everyone gets more information
: the customer, the cashier, and the management, they all get more information about the sales. The cashier will know what they are registering, so it is easier and faster to run all items. Most importantly, the management will know what they are selling, for how much and to whom. The customer will also benefit from the
POS Software
as well, as he will know exactly what it is they are buying. They will get an invoice or a receipt with accurate and detailed information about the products he or she just bought.
Mobility
:
Forget the customer waiting impatiently in queues that turn around the corner while the cashiers enter the details of each purchase manually. With a
POS System
, you will work much faster. You will even have the possibility of using handheld and mobile devices as you please. With them, every corner of your store is accounted for and the customers do not have to go through that routine of going to the cashier if that is the way you want to work.
With all these advantages, it has become even clearer that POS Systems are a powerful tool to help you grow your business, no matter how small or local it is.
There is a large quantity of Point-of-Sale Software
on the market, it is just a matter of finding the right one for your company.