Using a point of sale (POS) system helps unify and grow your retail business. A point of sale system streamlines daily processes like keying transactions, viewing sales reports and managing inventory. POS features are designed to help your business run smoothly.
A POS system is software based and used to process business transactions. It is a system where customers execute payments and taxes are paid. When you make a sale, a POS system posts the transaction, gives a receipt and has the sold item deducted from your stock. The right set of POS features will boost your business’s productivity.
A POS system is the central hub of your business. It’s where everything from inventory and sales to customer management is handled. It allows your business to accept payments from customers and track sales. Let’s look at the POS system features that your business needs.
Billing and Payment Processing
Point of sale systems integrate payment processing to help businesses streamline payment transactions.
With a POS system, you don’t have to manually enter a customer’s debit or credit card information. Every time you make a sale, the integrated payment provider processes the payment automatically.
You can accept all payment types, from card and cash to mobile money. The POS system provides information on key business metrics, such as average transaction amount, timely reports and total amounts per transaction method.
Using POS for billing and payment processing reduces the chance of human error. It makes payment handling and end-of-day transactions easier.
Sales Monitoring and Reporting
Businesses reports from your POS system help in strategic decision making. Without accurate business reports, you cannot truly understand how your business is performing. The sales monitoring and reporting feature gives insights into entire business operations. It facilitates critical decision making.
POS reports give you a chance to know your best and worst selling products. Sales monitoring provides real-time performance data that you can leverage to make critical decisions. You can rely on current and past data to predict future outcomes.
Inventory and Returns Management
Point of sale systems help keep track of inventory. With it, you can analyze stock movements, trends in returns and more. It keeps track of all goods, so you know when to place an order to replenish your stock and what to track. When a sale is made, the system deducts the sold item from the list of goods in stock.
Your POS system allows you to do the following:
- Track stocks across multiple locations
- Count products digitally
- Create unique product identification codes
- Track out-of-stock goods
Some POS systems allow for automatic reordering, especially for best-selling items. When a product runs out of stock, the automated reorder function notifies the supplier immediately. This way, you can avoid the cumbersome and time-consuming manual ordering system.
Employee Performance and Management
Tracking the performance of your employees is critical. Productivity tracking helps maintain a financially sound and secure business environment that fosters growth for your employees.
A POS system helps set targets for each employee. Besides, it provides real-time performance monitoring, so you know which employee performs well and the one who needs improvement.
A POS system helps in the following ways:
- Tracking employee hours
- Creating and modifying work schedules
- Adding and removing employees to/from your system
- Calculating employees’ earnings automatically
- Establishing performers and non-performers
Most POS systems offer support for multiple accounts. With this functionality, different employees can log in to the system with their credentials to remain accountable for the work they complete.
Customer Data Management
POS systems help you to collect, track and manage customer data. This data enables you to understand your customer base in order to improve the quality of goods and services you provide them.
You can gather contact details through the system while it also tracks purchase history and trends. Customer data is key in business decisions, such as product improvements. It gives insights into what customers want, improving the overall shopping experience.
Loyalty Programs and Gift Cards
With a POS system, you can add loyalty programs or integrate with third-party loyalty programs. This allows you to run loyalty programs and reward points on each purchase. Loyalty programs go far in encouraging purchases and return visits to your place of business.
Choosing the Best POS Features for Your Business
If you are not currently using a POS system, you are doing your business a great disservice. It’s the best way to handle overwhelming and complex business transactions. When looking for a POS system, look for a provider who offers the features mentioned in this article.
AxiaTP provides one of the best POS systems available. We partner with global leading POS software companies, likeRetail Pro, to deliver the right system for your business. Apart from implementing the right POS system, we also create custom software that seamlessly integrates with your other systems.
Get in touch with AxiaTP today to find out what a reliable and functional POS system can do for your business.