A Point of Sale (POS) system lets your small business ring up customer purchases quickly and easily. What many small companies don’t realize is that today’s POS systems can actually help your company sell more too.
POS systems work by linking one or more checkout terminals to your inventory tracking, your sales data and your business’s accounting system. The terminal you use is up to you. It can be stationary, such as a cash register, or mobile, which means you would use a tablet or smartphone equipped to process sales from any location.
Regardless of the terminal you choose, your company has the potential to gain the following sales benefits from using a POS system.
Track Inventory in Real Time
POS systems record sales as they happen and automatically update your inventory at the same time. This means you can accurately analyze stock levels on the fly. Popular items can be reordered as soon as inventory drops, ensuring that best sellers are always available. Sales clerks can tell customers instantly if a product they want is in stock. They can also check on the arrival of new merchandise and suggest complementary products based on customers’ past purchases.
Know How Much to Purchase
A POS system’s software gathers detailed information that can be used for your inventory purchasing. The software creates reports that can identify the times of day and days of the week when sales are highest and provide other sales trends that can help you stock up on items when customers will want them. Maintaining optimal inventory levels will help your company capture the most sales.
Learn What Sales and Marketing Works Best
POS reports can help you determine what marketing efforts bring the most people through your door. For example, they can reveal if a 25 percent off coupon you posted results in higher sales and profits or if Tweets bring customers to your business. Your system can also be used to capture customer contact information and associated purchase history to help with ongoing, targeted marketing.
Identify Popular Inventory
By analyzing sales data from your POS system, you can pinpoint your top selling items and the inventory that is the most profitable. You can use these insights to highlight desirable products in your marketing pieces and to update the layout of your store or website. Popular items should be easy for customers to find in-store and online.
Build Customer Loyalty
You can use your POS system to track customer purchases for loyalty programs and other perks that will encourage your best customers to buy more from you. Add a personal touch by tracking and acknowledging special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. You can also quickly review past purchases and recommend new merchandise that is likely to appeal to repeat clients.
Process Transactions From Anywhere
Whether you’re a retailer holding a sidewalk sale, a vendor selling on a trade show floor, or a landscape company making monthly home visits, you can increase sales and speed cash flow by integrating mobile devices into your POS solution. Rather than asking customers to stand in checkout lines or mail monthly payments, you can use tablets and smartphones to process payments and reorders on the spot while working one-on-one with customers.
