Over the past few years, ecommerce platforms have become incredibly popular, attracting a large number of buyers and sellers who are looking for a safe, rapid, extremely convenient method to close transactions. Wondering what exactly separates entrepreneurs who make millions of dollars on the retail market from the ones who barely manage to survive in the same sector?
The answer is quite simple: the first category of merchants uses hardware and software tools designed to ensure trouble-free product and order management, improved relationships with clients and the ability to make smart decisions in the long run.
If you want to boost your profit while growing a thriving online business, or if you want to handle both your online store and your brick-and-mortar retail location, in a cost and time-effective manner, consider opting for modern POS software. The POS (point of sale) solutions are great candidates for a number of reasons, including the following:
1) Various Ways to Accept Client Payments
According to a TechNavio forecast, cited by ReportLinker, “the Global POS Software Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.03 percent over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the Increasing usage of credit and debit cards. The Global POS Software Market has also been witnessing the stringent regulations for secure payments.”
Some customers carry a significant amount of cash wherever they go. Others are obsessed with credit cards and don’t have a cent in their wallet. Some may need to pay for your goods using both cash and credit cards.
The question is this: are you ready to accept all these payment methods? If you aren’t, you should start to change things fast, or you risk losing a significant number of prospects.
How much should you actually spend on a POS system? Entrepreneur sheds some light on this matter, indicating that “a simple POS system might cost you as little as a couple thousand dollars. More complex systems can cost much more. You may be able to lease a system or pay a monthly subscription fee to get you started.”
Luckily, mobile POS gives you the chance to save big and say yes to a variety of payment methods including cash, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard and Amex), and debit cards.
You can even go the extra mile to accept client IOUs, checks, or payments made utilizing external devices. You can even encourage your buyers to pay for your merchandise using a combination of payment methods (like for instance cash and credit card), since the POS solution allows you to slip tenders and process partial payments. This higher level of flexibility will certainly be appreciated by your customers, who will find a new reason to buy from you, instead of opting for commodities sold by your less tech-savvy competitors.
2) The Chance to Manage Your Orders Anytime, Anywhere
Most of your clients are mobile; therefore, you have to follow the same trend to become successful in this field. While using modern POS software, you automatically gain full control over your inventory, your orders and your client relationships.
You can manage all your orders from any kind of mobile device, including the iPad that you use in your store, your iPhone or your desktop. You can take a look at transaction history, check out special notes written for certain products, refund several items and print receipts—all this and so much more with the point of sale software that responds to all your needs and demands.
3) Keep Your Clients Close in the Long Run
Perhaps the biggest challenge in the retail market is to keep your clients close. With so many competitors that are eager to grab the biggest slice of the pie, it seems difficult to cultivate the loyalty of your buyers and turn them into real brand evangelists. Fortunately, the POS solution introduced by some ecommerce platforms has everything covered. It lets you
a) Gather and store email addresses, which could be utilized during your next email marketing campaigns
b) Create clients’ profiles and enable you to gain some insight into the buying behavior of your customers
c) Offer your clients the chance to profit from fast, reliable, safe wireless transactions anytime, anywhere.
New mobile POS systems are an excellent asset mainly because they encourage store owners to reduce the time spent on a daily basis to finalize transactions and to eliminate paperwork. POS systems increase productivity, minimize expenses and allow entrepreneurs to manage their business the easy way and stay organized at all times.