However, the truth is that switching to a POS that works for your retail business can have a profound impact on your productivity and customer service. Not only will you be able to offer customers a more thorough experience, you will have better access to the kind of knowledge you need to build better marketing campaigns, more efficient inventory ordering processes, create more workable budgets, and much more. Here are seven signs that you’ve outgrown your POS, and how ERPLY offers an easy solution to each.
Your POS Doesn’t Do Inventory Transfer
If you’ve grown to the point of needing multiple locations and warehouses to store your products, you need a POS that can track the movement of inventory between locations. There are several reasons why this can be very helpful, but the biggest is to avoid any complications, such as overselling a product because it appears in multiple locations, or causing a customer to wait longer than estimated, because stock wasn’t moved in a timely manner directly after the order was processed.With ERPLY, inventory transfers are managed in two ways:
- Warehouse transfers are made right after an order is saved in the system. The warehouse transfer is part of the receiving process, so that the product location is tracked during the process.
- A transfer order command can do one of two things. It can put an item on hold until it can be transferred, so that you cannot oversell. Or it can remove an item from your inventory altogether during a transfer, which can be an easy way to prevent any complications.
If your POS cannot allow you to both order inventory to be moved at the sales process, or allow you to somehow tag or remove inventory to prevent overselling, it is a good time to move up to a better system that supports your business’ needs.
Your POS Doesn’t Have Sufficient User Rights
Every organization is made up of tiers of people who will be using a POS in different ways. For example, sales associates will use the system to enter customer orders and create invoices. Managing associates might use the system to order new stock and keep an eye on inventory. The further up you go in the company, the more the need for the POS changes. At the very highest level, corporate executives might be more interested in using the POS to gather customer data, for example.But many POS systems don’t allow for multiple user groups, each with different feature access, to be created. This leads to a confusing system where everyone can access everything, or where managers may have to have those above them constantly allowing them access to tools they use regularly. Instead, ERPLY allows your company to set up multiple user groups, and define which features each group can access and use.
The use of specific features inside the POS is called user rights, and you can modify what rights every group has. Each group has the ability to access the POS system itself, something that all or most employees will need; the API, something that perhaps only your IT department needs; the ERPLY back office; and any other apps you have through ERPLY.
From there, you can also determine which user groups can make changes in the specific modules of the POS system and more. This allows you better delegation and more efficient operation on a daily basis.
You Don’t Have Built-In Customer Loyalty Tools
If your company has grown to the point of needing multiple warehouses to store product, chances are your customer base has exploded since you started. If you haven’t already implemented a customer loyalty plan, what has been holding you back? If you are like most growing companies, your answer is that implementing a program is a complicated procedure and you don’t really know where to start.
With the right POS system, you don’t have to create a program from scratch. The ERPLY system has a built-in customer loyalty program that allows you to assign rewards points to enrolled customers for every dollar they spend with you. You can even define how many points they earn, and what those points can be spent on or how much they are worth. For example, this rewards program might allow customers to:
- Apply points to get a percentage off their total
- Apply points to get a sum off their total
- Apply points to unlock a special price for an item
- Apply points for a percentage or fixed sum off one specific item
- Have the promotion applied automatically, with no extra steps needed from the cashier.
- The promotion can be applied manually by the cashier.
- The promotion can be triggered by a coupon.
The system also allows you to reward enrolled customers on their birthday if you prefer, so it’s easy to build loyalty among your most dedicated consumer base.
Your POS Doesn't Do Detailed Reports
One of the biggest reasons that any company has a POS system is to get detailed reports about customer purchasing trends, comparison reports, and more. If you don’t have these options, you are really not getting anything more out of your POS system than a fancy cash register could offer. But so many of the basic POS systems offer very simple reporting features, meant for start-ups who are just beginning to gather information about their customers.In order to build a complete picture about your target audience, you will need a POS system that can offer you a very in-depth report about all your customer’s buying habits. The ERPLY Report Generator features a wide range of reports for all areas of your business. From tracking overdue invoices to coupon use, customer information, and much more, this system allows you to go behind the scenes of what is really happening in your business. Under the Report Generator tab, you can see:
- Sales
- Cost of goods sold
- Purchases
- Inventory registrations
- Inventory write-offs
- Tasks and time billing
- Inventory
- Overdue invoices
- Products
- CRM
- Z Report
- Payments vs. invoice lines
- Employees
- Coupons and gift cards
- Finance
- Assignments
Your POS Doesn’t Offer Comparisons in Reports
One of the most powerful ways to ensure that your business is growing the way you want it to, is to compare data. Not only should you compare data from previous months or years to help predict your growth, but you should also be comparing data across categories to get a better understanding of how your customers respond to advertising, how your inventory stands up to big buying sprees, and much more.ERPLY offers all of these crucial comparisons in easily-exportable spreadsheets so that you can take the numbers with you to meetings. Inform your decisions with these critical comparisons so that your business can continue to grow.
There Are Not Enough Filter Options for Reports
When you look at the report offered by your POS, how easy is it for you to zero in on the information you need at that specific time? If you can’t filter a report to show you only certain pieces of information, and these are an important part of your budgeting, marketing campaign planning, inventory ordering, and other processes, then you’ve definitely outgrown your POS system.ERPLY has a wealth of filters, that range from the currency used to pay for the order, the terms of the delivery, the transaction type, and the tax ratio, to things like the customer contract, the transport type, and much more. No matter what information you want included on your report, ERPLY will allow you to pick and choose based on many different filters.
Your POS Doesn’t Offer Real-Time Data
The final sign that you’ve outgrown your POS system is if your system does not offer you real-time data. That is a very hectic situation to be in – if you don’t know with 100% certainty that your inventory is where your system says it is, you could easily oversell a product, sell something that is not in your physical location, or make other major blunders.ERPLY syncs your data automatically, so you always have an up-to-the-second view of your entire business. You’ll know exactly what your inventory situation is, how many open tickets you have, and much more.
Making the Decision to Switch
When you have realized that you’ve outgrown your POS system, what is the next step? Switching to a new system may be a big step, but the new efficiency it brings to your business could be exactly the tool you need to continue to scale your growth. What you should be looking for includes:- All the features listed above that you need for your business.
- A POS system with a pricing structure that works for you.
- Compatibility with the hardware you already have, unless you are looking for a complete upgrade. Most hardware, like barcode scanners, will work with most POS systems, but if you have any specialty equipment, you may need to consider what system you switch to. Our software uses UPOS compatibility, meaning we can work with IBM/Toshiba and add new driver providers quite easily.
- Data migration support. Make sure the company will import your data into the new system, so that you can easily start making sales without having to worry so much about the transition.
One of the ways that ERPLY has managed this need is to have detailed, step-by-step diagrams of every function of the POS system online, so that you can always access help whenever you need it.
Checking around with multiple POS providers is a good way to help you compare and contrast features before you make your decision. But once you’ve realize that it’s time to upgrade, don’t wait too long! Your business could start growing even more in just a few days with the right POS system that offers you the room you need to evolve even more.