The next-generation POS software will allow customers to pay their bills at the billing counters. They will also allow customers to place orders at restaurants by themselves.
Digital interactive signs can be replaced by touch screens using touch screens. You can display your advertisements and offers on this screen. Customers can navigate the discounts and offer on the screen to find what they are looking for. This amazing ability is available to any retail or hotelier business.
Retail businesses are likely to be well aware of the importance of a Retail POS system. Today’s Point-of-Sale software does more than just process customer orders, record sales, and handle payments. With all of the latest technologies available today, a good Retail POS Solution should allow you to do more. A good POS software should be able to track inventory, customers, manage sales, empower staff, identify regular customers and set the right pricing.
Hardware for point-of-sale (POS) is an asset that can be used to support any business in hospitality, leisure, and entertainment, as well as physical retail stores.
Is it time to update your POS software and assets with the latest software? These are the four things you should ask.
Is your POS helping customers to be informed and empowered?
Kiosks are a popular trend because they allow consumers to take control of their own lives. There are many other ways that POS software can be used to give control back to customers.
Do your POS terminals have customer-facing displays? This allows customers to see what’s happening while you process a transaction. Trust is built when there’s more transparency. This transparency also opens up opportunities for up-and cross-selling, i.e. It allows customers to see what other options are available, instead of just talking about it.
Displays can also be used in a venue for promotions or marketing campaigns. Touchscreen terminals and kiosks can also be used to provide information to customers. This is similar to how commercial websites feature a self-service knowledge base that allows people to ask their questions.
Is POS software able to optimize the layout of your premises?
Take a moment to look around your restaurant, hotel lobby, or ticket hall. Try to imagine yourself as your customer. Is the layout of everything helping them to get from A to Z to C without too many obstacles? Do you see any bottlenecks?
You can bet that the location of your POS is a factor. POS software installations are traditionally focused on practical business needs and not customer experience optimization. Your POS terminals should be placed where cabling is most convenient, and where there is enough space to store the computing hardware.
All of this has changed. You can now locate your POS anywhere you want with wireless networks and cloud-based platforms. POS terminals are smaller and can be mounted or installed in a variety of ways.
Mobile POS allows you to reduce the number of fixed sales points. You can also mix and match kiosks and traditional POS to reduce long lines and eliminate bottlenecks.
Let’s take a look at the features of Next-Gen POS Software
Mobility – Give the checkout counter to customers
Customers bring their items to the checkout counter to pay in the traditional retail model. This model is changing with the rise of smartphones and tablets. Next-generation POS software allows your staff to be mobile and can allow them to take their customers’ smartphones to the store. They can also accept orders from anywhere within or outside of your store. You can now arrange your store to make it more appealing to customers instead of having it designed around a fixed checkout line.
Permissions and user accounts
Unless your business is a small one-person operation you will likely have several people managing your registers. To track sales made by each person, you need a system that lets you create a user. This feature will allow you to set sales goals or see if an employee is being dishonest.
Also, make sure you have the option to password-protect each user and allow you to control whether you would like to let them log in for every sale.
This decision will depend on how your store is managed. Target is an example of a big-box store where employees log in once and remain logged in for their entire time at the register. Because employees spend a lot of time at the register, this is a good thing. Employees are expected to leave behind their desks once a sale has ended at mall stores.
Superior Product Management Features Reduce Errors
Next-generation POS software features outstanding product management features. They will provide you with a complete picture of your product and minimize errors made by your employees. The following benefits of a good Retail POS Software will be offered to you:
- Automated sales price calculation based upon rules – reduces price calculation errors up to 100%
- Organization of products by category, type, season, and sale
- Keep track of stock levels and stop selling products if there is insufficient inventory
- You can offer multiple versions of your products such as different sizes, colors, and materials.
- You can assign multiple bar-codes to a single product using wireless barcode scanners
- You can sell any product with your Retail POS system.
Variants of product and composites
You should look for a system that allows the creation of multiple products. For example, think about a clothing shop. The system should allow them to sell the same shirt in six different colors and record it as one shirt.
Composite products are similar to this idea. Composite products are made from your existing products. A wine shop might be interested in selling a case of wine, as they offer a 10% discount on the cases. Instead of ringing every bottle and doing the math for the discount, the associate could use their inventory system to ring up the case at a lower price.
Increase sales by understanding your customers and better understanding them
You can build deeper relationships with customers using the next-generation POS Software. You will be able to learn more about your customers, their shopping habits and other details. Integration with a CRM – Customer Relationship Management App is possible to achieve this. The Vienna Advantage POS Solution can be easily integrated with VIENNA Advantage ERP Solution and CRM.
Customers’ order history must be tracked and referenced, regardless of where they were placed. It should be able to create customer loyalty programs and allow you to collect customers’ email addresses at checkout. This will enable you to notify your customers about upcoming sales or new products via email marketing apps.
Cloud-based POS for Retail gives you the freedom
POS Software can be beneficial in many ways, particularly when they are integrated with robust Material Management and CRM software. Cloud-based and web-based POS solutions are more flexible as you can access your data wherever you may be. You don’t have to worry about synchronization as your sales, inventory, and product data are updated every second. A modern cloud-based POS software can also provide instant and automatic upgrades. This will allow you to keep your retail business up-to-date with the latest technologies. A cloud solution costs you a monthly subscription. The provider takes care of all upkeep, development, and maintenance. There are no more costly, slow-paced upgrades.
There are many POS providers out there, but what is the best way to choose the right Retail POS Solution? Start by looking at the features and talking to customers about the POS system you are considering. Then, make your decision.
Conclusion
You will find all the features you need in top-quality POS Software that makes it easy to grow your business rather than worry about what you cannot do. Don’t settle for less.
Author Bio
Akshay Bhimani is a Software Analyst at Techimply, India. With experience in the technology-driven field, he has mastered his knowledge on How(s) and What(s) to be done for a business. Also, he’s keen to share his knowledge on a few technology-related topics such as cloud technologies, POS, CRM, ERP software, and data security with readers that can assist any kind of business.
