POS Systems

By Dylan Mazeika

You're a business owner with a strong business, but you want your business to grow. One of the most cost-effective ways to help foster growth is via a point of sale system (commonly known as POS). POS solutions are electronic, computerized versions of archaic cash registers, but they offer many other benefits to your business.

If you've previously relied on standard cash registers, why would you spend good money to replace them? Here are five reasons to consider a POS solution to help streamline business operations:

Speed

Checkout times should speed up and your lines should shrink considerably. Scanning with POS is much quicker than keying in items by hand, and the process is more accurate. You won't need to worry about items without price tags since the solution offers better accuracy. It's also a timesaver since employees won't have to look up the prices of unmarked items. In addition, your customers will appreciate the detail available from most POS systems on their receipts.

Increased sales

Have you ever lost a sale because you couldn't locate an item your customer wanted? Or maybe the customer was in too much of a hurry to wait while you checked your back room or called other locations? Having a firm grasp of your inventory at each location can translate to more sales.

With a POS solution, you're not only getting a faster checkout process, you're also getting a powerful inventory tracking system. Since you know exactly what's in stock at a given time, you can better serve your customers which make them happy and keeps them coming back.

In addition, POS systems allow bartenders to open tabs for customers. There is a psychological difference between paying for each round of drinks (counting a dwindling supply of money) and opening a tab that customers can pay later. In the case of the latter, sales tend to be higher. Restaurant POS software allows your bartenders to open tabs with a customer's credit card and organize them automatically by name (which appears, without charging the card, with a swipe).

Lower inventory costs

Do you find yourself grossly overstocked on some items, while popular items are always on order? With a good POS system, you'll get detailed inventory reports which let you keep more of the items you need on hand and less of the items that don't sell well.

Better inventory management does more than help decision making at the end of the year. It also helps during the course of the year when you're ordering new inventory. POS solutions allow you to automatically run reports when certain items reach dangerously low levels and determine how much additional product you need to buy.

Reduced shrinkage

A good retail POS solution can cut down on theft by both customers and employees. Experts estimate that as much as 30% of all retail theft comes from store employees. POS systems help drastically cut that number by keeping close tabs on inventory. You're more likely to notice missing stock and less revenue, and employees are more likely to remain honest.

More efficient

POS solutions help you run your business smoothly and efficiently. You'll be able to easily take customers through the purchasing process and have a better system in place for taking and tracking inventory and purchasing new stock. A POS solution can also keep long lines moving quicker urging customers to return for repeat business and allowing you to collect more revenue more often.

For instance, split checks and part-cash, part-credit payments can throw servers for a loop when parties are waiting for tables on busy nights. A quality POS solution will make these transactions simpler. Instead of servers calculating the cost per diner, the system asks for a number to split and does it instantly. Cash amounts can be processed with the touch of a single button.

Streamline the reservation process

Are you having trouble managing reservations? Certain POS programs accept reservations automatically and will reflect whether the party has confirmed. If you have no confirmation 10 to 15 minutes after the reservation time passes, you can seat that table and avoid losing business. Along with clear policies regarding lack of confirmation, POS software will help settle this issue once and for all.

POS systems have gone through many evolutionary steps. It began as nothing more than something for the retailer to write notes on and keep in his or her pocket, and it has turned into the hi-tech devices you see today.