A point of sale system can have notable benefits for your business and make big changes in the productivity and the way the business runs. Here are some tips for choosing one below.
1. Clearly Define Your Business Model
When selecting a POS system, it is crucial to first establish all channels through which you intend to market and sell the mentioned products. And if you are looking to utilize every channel available, go for a solution that will flawlessly transfer information regarding prices, products, campaigns, gift cards, sales, inventory and customer levels to your selected e-commerce system. This provides you with an overview of all the purchases made as well as save you the agony of manually inputting data into multiple systems.
2. Prepare A Budget for the POS Project
The price of your Point-of-Sale system often depends on the number of cashiers and stores, your capacity needs, the size of your product register, as well as integration with another or other systems. Payment solutions and equipment costs will add to this total. The magnitude of the deployment project shall also vary considerably. You must think about the financing model of the POS project you intend to undertake. Try to be precise about the amount of time you will commit to a specific agreement. Most traditional systems will easily be acquired by covering all the costs upfront in the project’s initial stages or distributing all these costs over a period of time using a weekly financial plan (which is common for cloud-based POS systems).
3. Confirm the Reliability of the Supplier
Once you start looking for a suitable system supplier, it is advisable to first look at their financial stability as well as how actively they develop such systems. And based on your country, you will probably be in a position to review different financial data through an online service or request for a detailed report from your local financial information provider. A refurbished epos can be just as good and also be cheaper.
Prior to making a choice, it is important to interview all your potential suppliers. Make sure the system at stake bears a sufficient number of built-in capabilities. It is equally a good idea to look at how widely this system is used and whether the development efforts revolve around one large customer or if there are smaller customers involved. A good system supplier will also offer some extra custom features or services that have been developed by a partner, like self-service options, store display solutions, or mobile payment.
4. Validate the Supplier’s Expertise
It is essential that you go for a system supplier who is well versed in your sector and depending on the experience can recommend the right solutions for you. You should make sure that the proposed POS system functionalities have been properly tested and that their results are in tandem with your business needs. An appropriate supplier will have his fingers on the pulse of any upcoming trends that might affect your industry, like the new rules regarding General Data Protection and is aware of how to develop the system appropriately. Fruitful cooperation models tend to generate new business ideas and information about various solutions in the same sector.
5. Take Into Account the Important Features of Your POS System
Once you have narrowed your options to the top suppliers, you should take your time to think about how the system functions and how it can support your business and help save time. Try pinpointing some of the daily routines that tend to take up most time then challenge your supplier to deliver relevant results. The kind of solution you choose to go by must facilitate targeted marketing automation as well as inventory management in addition to provide different payment channels. In order to reap optimal benefits from this kind of system, you require ongoing equipment support and implementation training. Look at how fast and the manner in which the supplier is prepared to offer services in the event that there is an equipment malfunction. Try to find out the services not included in the system’s price.
6. Consider The System’s Ability To Connect With Other Systems
Besides the POS system, there is a need for other systems to facilitate running the business. However good the POS system is, your entire collection of technological assets will have an influence on the success of your business operations. This implies that you must be keen on the POS system connectivity with different systems. It’s particularly crucial to integrate financial management services with the various POS functionalities. Make sure that the solution you go for provides both accounting, accounts receivables, and payable functionalities, in addition to billing services which are either a part of your solution or as an option to connect them. It can also help with loss control, which can make huge differences to a bottom line – loss prevention is vital to retail businesses
7. Confirm the Availability of Essential Analytics
In order to support your business’s development, you will need analytics that are clearly structured and reliable. This means that you should make a point of ensuring that you can access all analyses and crucial reports from the system. Detailed analytics obviously come in handy with tasks like tracking transactions against daily budgets as well as crafting a budget for purchases and sales. There must also be the capability to see how various products, product groups, stores, and campaigns sell, and easily set your target budget for all areas and monitor their final outcomes. Better yet, you’ll be in a position to utilize a store visitor counter and use the figures to confirm whether they match your sales data.
8. Benefit From Different System Users
Since you will not be the only one who has to deal with questions, make a point of taking advantage of the peer support. Conduct a background research on the solutions your competitors and nearby stores are using and their thoughts about them. And if you already have a specific system supplier in mind, request for contact information for any of their reference customer. For you to benefit the most, you must ensure that your system users’ needs match yours.
9. Perform System Trials
POS system suppliers will gladly show you the various system features and uses prior to making your purchase decision. Do not fear to request a system trial so you can have a feel of the solution before you can take it for everyday use. Once the trial is over, you will easily ask more specific questions and provide development ideas to your supplier. This aids in ensuring that you get a POS system that is suitable for your business.