Gearfuse Technology, Science, Culture & More
A point of sale system can be the key to taking your retail business to the next level regarding growth, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. How can you make sure that you find the right POS for your business if your knowledge of the marketplace is limited at best? Don’t worry: with smart use of Google and internet resources, you can quickly start making a list of the POS systems that could work for your business. Here are four factors to keep in mind as you search.
Industry Targeting
Here’s a key tip to drive your POS research: you are most likely to end up choosing a POS that was designed specifically for your industry. Retail Management Solutions is a company that designs a POS system geared toward pharmacies, for instance, while Lightspeed offers POS systems tailored for bike shops, gaming stores, pet stores, and more. When a company has built a POS specifically for use in your kind of business environment, the chances that the system will do everything you need it to do right out of the box are much higher than they would be with a so-called “all-purpose” POS system. As such, the first thing you should do in your shopping process is head to Google and type in “point of sale system [insert your industry or business type here].”
Security
The last thing that your business needs is a POS breach that compromises the personal information and credit card numbers of your customers. Unfortunately, POS breaches have become quite common in recent years, so it’s hard to make sure your business is completely safe. Your best bet is to look for a POS system that touts security as a top priority. Don’t just take the company’s word for it: look for a POS terminal that is completely compliant with all EMV regulations.
Scalability
Part of the reason to invest in a good POS system is that it can help your retail operation. When you are tracking everything from revenues to inventory manually, you can’t hope to operate seamlessly. A POS system can automate most of your store’s key tasks, from monitoring inventory and letting you know when to reorder a specific product to tracking customer purchase history for loyalty and reward programs.
POS systems feature extremely smart software, and allowing that software to streamline the retail process lets you check out customers faster, serve those customers in a more satisfactory fashion, and avoid common retail pitfalls. All three of those factors can help your business grow. Just make sure you choose a POS that can scale along with your business as you expand. For instance, even if you don’t have a customer rewards program, it’s a good idea to plan for a future in which you might offer one. As such, it’s good to look for a POS system that has features and capabilities you might want or need to use as your retail operation continues to grow.
Future-Proofing
Planning for features that your business might need to take advantage of as it grows is one important consideration. Planning for new technologies that are likely to become more commonplace in your industry in the future is also a vital precaution. Choosing a POS that is scalable means selecting a system that can continue to provide support even if your retail company grows to 5, 10, or even 100 times its current size.
Choosing a POS that is “future-proof” means finding one that won’t be rendered obsolete by current or impending technological shifts. For POS systems, that essentially means looking for a system that can accept as many different payment options as possible. From smart cards to digital wallet apps like Apple Pay or Google Wallet to more established platforms like PayPal, having a POS that can work with these growing payment technologies is key. The more future-proof your POS is, the lower the likelihood that you will have to replace it—or pay significantly to update it—a few years down the road.
Conclusion
Once you’ve narrowed your list down to three or four POS systems, you can get in touch with the companies behind those systems and ask for demos. If you can try out a POS—or at least see it in action—you will be able to get a better sense of whether or not it is right for your store.
