…Unless You Enjoy Losing Money
If your payment processing is hopelessly retro, or worse yet, you are still tracking sales and inventory manually, then it is time to upgrade your point of sale (POS) system. While not cheap, a great POS system is essential. Why? Here are 10 reasons that your business needs the best system that you can afford.
- Bad POS = Loss of Profits
More than ever, convenience drives your customers to buy your products or services. If your Point of Sale System (POS) can not keep up with the ever-evolving needs of your customers, you will lose money. One of the biggest shifts in recent years has been mobile payments. In fact, insiders predict that mobile payments will soon increase by over 16% and will continue to climb.
If your point-of-sale system can’t process Google Wallet, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and other mobile payments, you can expect to lose a lot of money in the future. Studies show businesses that don’t accept mobile payments will lose 6% in revenue. This number is expected to grow substantially in the near future.
- Slow Payment Processing Frustrates Customers
Another negative of having a bad POS is that slow processing, even a few extra seconds, will frustrate customers. Long lines create bad customer experiences, which is likely to prevent customers from returning to your store.
- Smooth Checkout Builds Customer Confidence
A fast, smooth checkout helps create a positive retail experience in your customer’s minds. According to a survey done by Salesforce, 94% of customers are likely to continue purchasing from the same brand or store after a positive experience. This alone is enough reason to upgrade your POS system. Even better if you can utilize self-checkout kiosks using tablets as part of your point-of-sale system. This not only cuts down on wait times but also helps customers with social anxiety avoid unwanted social interaction.
- Fast, Easy, Accurate Inventory
Forget the days of manually tracking inventory. This burns up workforce hours and profits. A good POS will help you monitor inventory in real-time, automate reordering, eliminate surplus and/or shortage mistakes, and can even send you alerts when your inventory is running low. Not only does this save time, but it also prevents lost sales from unavailable products.
- Improved Employee Management
Like inventory, managing and tracking employee productivity can eat up a lot of your time. However, with an advanced POS, you will be able to:
- Track employee hours worked
- Manage shifts (and juggle shift change requests)
- Follow employee performance and productivity
- Make More Sales Online
Upgrade your online sales by integrating your POS system with your e-commerce platform. A study by the Harvard Business Review found that your customers will not only research you online through your website but those that do end up spending 13% more in your brick-and-mortar store. Integrating your POS with your online sales creates a seamless, unified shopping experience for your customers, it can also:
- Help you synchronize inventory (for both online and off-line sales)
- Process online orders easily
- Track and manage your online and in-store sales from one interface
- Monitor customer behavior, and implement frequent-buyer rewards programs
- Promote Sales Across All Channels
A great POS system will help you promote sales across all of your platforms. This means that instead of having one sale for Instagram, another for your website, and yet another for in-person purchases, you now have the option through your point-of-sale system to run the same promotion across all channels at the same time. This can also be used to help you with personalized promotions.
- Harness the Power of Personalized Promotions
Today’s customers prefer personalized interactions with their favorite brands. This is one of the reasons many big businesses have turned to influencers, and micro-influencers, on social media to promote their products. You can give your customers the personal touch they crave by investing in a POS system that can:
- Help you send automated and personalized emails
- Mass send personalized text messages and push notifications
- Wish your clients a happy birthday
- Curate a shopping experience based on their past purchases and behaviors
- Scalability
Your business will grow. Our POS system needs to be able to help you scale to keep pace with your growth. While good POS Systems are not cheap, they are a fantastic investment because they ensure scalability and flexibility. Tracking sales, inventory, re-ordering, online sales, and employee data manually will slow down your growth and cost you a lot of revenue, long-term.
A great, modern point-of-sale system allows you to:
- Automatically track inventory and sales across multiple platforms
- Add new registers
- Add and integrate new locations
- Process payments on-the-go
- Protect Your Customers
Credit card payment processing systems are a playground for cyber hackers. Old, outdated processing or customer management systems, or worse, manual entry into spreadsheets, leaves your customers’ data vulnerable to cyber thieves. Cyber security experts found that data leaks of customer payment info lead to a ripple effect that can take years to recover from financially.
POS System – Final Thoughts
A strong POS system that can withstand malware attacks with built-in security features, such as encryption, helps keep your customers’ info safe. A safe check-out experience also builds consumer confidence in your business, leading to repeat customers both online and off.
FAQ
A: A POS (Point of Sale) system is a software and hardware combination that streamlines sales transactions and inventory management, improving overall business efficiency.
A: With real-time sales tracking, inventory insights, and automated reporting, a POS system helps identify best-selling products and optimize sales strategies.
A: Absolutely! Faster and more accurate checkouts, loyalty program integration, and personalized offers create a seamless and satisfying shopping experience for customers.
A: Yes, a reliable POS system tracks inventory levels, alerts low-stock items, and provides insights on stock movement, preventing stockouts and overstocking.
A: The best POS systems offer robust data encryption, secure payment processing, and compliance with industry standards, ensuring the safety of your business and customer data.
