5 top point of sale software features that you need to know

A retail business management is not a simple thing to do, especially when you don’t have any supporting equipment.

I had various difficulties managing my retail shop when it first started about two years ago. Everything I used at that time was some notebooks and my memory. Until now, I am still surprised thinking of how many thing I could memorize back then. However, if you use something for too long, it will eventually get broken. So does memory. When my business started growing up and numerous different things arose, I knew that it was time to ask for assistance.

The funny thing was that I purchased tens of point of sale systems for my stores but never discovered how useful they were in management. Realizing how silly I was, I began studying about the system and learned to use it. Now, I am quite familiar with the tracking data and skillful in processing them. Therefore, this article I am writing today will show you the most crucial point of sale software features. You can consider them standards when choosing a system or learn how to use it like me.

5 top point of sale software features that you need to know

1. Sales report and analytics

This is an essential feature that every system needs to have. It is also requested by most of the retailers from all over the world. A point of sale has to be able to keep track of which products are being well-sold, the cost of goods sold, return on each product, and so on. You will also be able to calculate the number of discount items and how much they affect your total revenue.

To do all of those, these are the things that a point of sale system will extract for you:

• Receipts
• Saved sales
• Open orders
• Layaways
• Gift certificates
• Daily total sales

You can ask to check all of these pieces of information when buying a point of sale system. If it allows you to view, print, reprint, change, transcribe the receipts and orders, it is a satisfied product. In case you may feel a little strange at the first time using the system, this is what the sales manager will look like:

2. Managing customers

It sounds so unfamiliar when you can handle your clients with a point of sale system, does it?

Nevertheless, what I mean here is not to put them under arrest. It is to manage their information and purchasing histories, which will show you which clients you should target. This function will replace your memory and differentiate normal customers with regular visitors. It is imperative to know who often buys at your store and what he or she usually purchases because that is where loyal customers come from. Many experts have shown that only 20 percent of our total customers will become loyal ones. But they will hold 80 percent of our profits.

Therefore, if you can take advantage of this function well, you will be able to boost your revenue and expand your business in no time. To manage customers well, these are what you need to check at the point of sale system:

• Customer cards
• Customer accounts
• Customer image, birthday, and e-mail
• The products customer buys
• Time and price level for discounting
• Loyalty program

And you can check the screen of the system when purchasing by comparing with this picture:

3. Managing inventory

Another must-have feature of a point of sale system is inventory management. Without it, you would need hundreds of notebooks to check all of your goods. Just imagine when you have a huge retail store, notebooks will become a disaster. Therefore, 74 percent of retail managers require having an inventory administration at the point of sale system.

Besides, tracking items is a great function for only you but also your clients. Whenever they want to buy something, they can just ask your employees to check on the system and find it. With modern technology nowadays, it will take only some seconds. Waiting will become unnecessary, and your customers will feel very satisfied as well.

These are some information which will appear on the point of sale screen:

• Receiving histories
• Stock Number
• Stock Barcodes
• Purchase orders
• Manufacturers

You can find more practical items to check when choosing a point of sale system in this picture:

4. Managing employees

I was really surprised to see a point of sale system can even manage my employees. I never expected that it would be so versatile. Some of its primary functions are:

• Tracking the working hours

A point of sale system can replace a timekeeping machine, which counts the number of hours your employee works in a week. Instead of using fingerprints, each person will be provided with a PIN code and access it whenever they go to work. As a manager, you can access to their profiles and see this information.

• Offering training programs

Not all of the systems have this feature. There will be some demo data inside the machine, which allows you to train new employees before they work in real situations. You can just ask the seller to show you this function when buying.

• Making schedules

Some employees work all day and some do not. Therefore, your point of sale system will show you what their shifts are, and you will see who is at work that day. It’s much more convenient than using a notebook, right?

• Reporting pay-day

If you only have a small retail store, it won’t be so difficult to remember the pay-day. Nevertheless, if you own a supermarket with hundreds of employees, it will get hard someday. A point of sale system will make it much easier when reminding you when and how much to pay each of your workers. Nothing could be better to them than tasting the fruit of their labor.

• Rewarding outstanding employees

And after checking how much each employee will be paid, you will be able to find out which one has the highest sales and best performance of a month. Rewarding him will create motivation for all of the other employees and make them work harder.

5. Compatible hardware devices

This is the last thing you need to know but also critical. It plays like the last gate between you and your customers and records all of their actions in the store. Moreover, it is the last chance for you to make impressions with them. If the speed of transaction is too slow, it will affect significantly to their thinking, and of course, it will become a minus point of your store. Therefore, you should check the functions of printing receipt and scanning barcodes when purchasing. I believe you will find out the best devices for your store.

Conclusion

Have you written down everything I mentioned in this article?

To make the most appropriate choices in checking and buying a point of sale system, I hope you have. If you like this article, do share it on your social media. I think it is very worth sharing. Furthermore, if you have any questions or opinions, please make your comment down below. I would be a triumph to discuss with you.

To sum up, thank you for reading my writing, and I hope to see you in later ones. Goodbye.

 

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