Possibly the most crucial tool in your store is your point of sale (or POS) system. The correct POS systems for retail business can keep your retail business running like a well-oiled machine, handling everything from cash register transactions and payment processing to inventory management and client profiles.
A point of sale system, however, is only as effective as the person utilizing it, much like other instruments. To get the most of your POS, it’s crucial that you and your team are familiar with all of its features.
There is no one correct method to respond to the subject of how to use POS systems because each solution is unique. Yet you should be aware that the majority of contemporary solutions today have some common functionalities.
This article will explain some of those capabilities in more detail and provide advice on how to make the most of your point-of-sale software.
Let’s get going!
How to tally sales with POS systems for Retail Business
You must become familiar with the sell screen of the system because your POS’s main job is to record sales. Although every solution is unique, generally speaking, your POS systems for retail business will allow you to process sales by following the procedures below:
Include products in the sale The checkout procedure begins with this step. Adding objects can be done in various ways depending on how your system is set up:
- scanning the barcode on the item
- Finding it via using the sell screen’s search tool (most POS systems have one of these)
- Utilizing a shortcut on the sell screen (Vend, for instance, includes “Quick Keys” for frequently purchased items)
Depending on how many units the customer is purchasing, you may then change the quantity.
Apply discounts – You should be able to use your POS systems for retail business to perform this if you’re conducting a sale or would like to add discounts to a line item or the entire basket. If your system lacks this feature, check to see whether you can manually change the item price.
The part where you get compensated is when you accept payments. Accepting cash or credit cards is relatively simple because these payment methods may be accepted by almost all POS systems.
However, alternative technologies allow you to provide other payment methods, such as:
Gift cards: If you sell gift cards, ensure your point-of-sale system is set up to accept them as payment. Check with your provider to see if you can get a discount as some point of sale solutions have relationships with gift card businesses.
Buy now, pay later – As its name implies, this service enables clients to take products home right away and then pay for them in recurring monthly installments. “Buy now, pay later” is quickly gaining popularity, especially among Millennials and Gen Z consumers, thanks to businesses like Afterpay.
Layby or layaway is a service where you collect a deposit from a consumer for a product, reserve that product, and allow the customer to pay for it in full at a later time.
Mobile payments – You might be able to accept mobile payments like Apple Pay depending on your POS systems for retail business and payment processor. For further information, ask your solution suppliers.
Loyalty – If your business offers a loyalty programme, you may accept loyalty points or prizes in exchange for goods or services.
Finally, you can add notes to a sale if you need to (for example, if a buyer has a particular request or you’re shipping an item to their address).
Using your point of sale solution to manage your inventory
Because of the close relationship between your retail sales and inventory, the vast majority of contemporary POS systems for retail business (especially those that run in the cloud) provide inventory management functions.
The details will vary from one system to the next, but at the most fundamental level, your POS ought to let you create a product catalog that describes your items, their characteristics, and their corresponding numbers.
To accomplish this, you normally must manually enter product information into the system or import it using a CSV file, in which case you must obtain a template from your POS vendor.
