Your business is your most prized accomplishment, so why struggle when you can use the right tools to make the job easier? In today’s world, there exist thousands of tools and resources for small and large businesses alike, and among them is the versatile POS System. This payment-processing tool is much more than just a credit-swiping terminal; it’s your all-in-one marketing, organization, management, and payment tool.
Using a POS system can help solve some pretty common issues that businesses of today face, and we’re going to show you exactly what those issues are and how a POS can help. Keep reading to learn more about these incredible tools.
Payment Processing
We’ll just start with the basics of the POS system’s functions to make it simple. A point of sale system is built to process payments of all kinds, including debit, credit, cash, touchless, online, and more payment methods.
This level of versatility is something you won’t find with old cash registers and point of sale software, and it’s what makes POS systems so necessary in our world of ever-changing payment methods.
The more payment methods you can accept, the greater your customer base will be. This is because everyone has a preference when it comes to payments. Think about when you go to the store. Which payment method do you use? Do you carry cash? Swipe your card? Use touchless payments?
If you wind up at a store that doesn’t accept your preferred method of payment, you might choose to not buy anything from that store for the simple fact that you’re being inconvenienced. Luckily, a POS system can accept just about any payment method you throw at it, and developers are always updating the software as new payment methods appear.
Let’s Talk About Inventory
If you’re like many retail and restaurant owners, even the mere mention of inventory brings a sense of dread. Tracking, managing, and ensuring accuracy in your inventory is exhausting, but it’s especially taxing if you don’t have the right tools to help.
Let’s face it; humans are prone to error. You just had a long day, you’re counting inventory, and you miscount. No big deal, right?
Except that you miscounted by fifty items, and by the time the truck arrives tomorrow with your new order, your counts are an absolute disaster. Now, you’ve got to spend hours going back and fixing the error. If only there was software that could track your inventory in real-time…
Most modern POS software has this awesome feature built-in. Everything from catalog orders for your stock to customer orders online to returns and sales are tracked in real-time via the POS software. Vend’s POS system is one of the few that uses cloud storage and backups to ensure that synchronized data is saved securely, so you’ll always have a backup to restore to.
Improve Your Customer Experience
Overall, the most important factors of running your business is customer experience. If your customers don’t have a good experience at your business, they’re unlikely to come back or recommend you to their peers, and word of mouth is still an important marketing tactic.
How does a POS system help with this? We’re glad you asked. First and foremost, it makes the checkout process quicker, simpler, and more efficient. Can’t go wrong there, right? Getting those customers through the line keeps their spirits high and their reviews positive because let’s face it; no one wants to stand in line for more than 15-20 minutes.
Most modern POS systems are mobile as well, meaning you can take them out on the sales floor and process payments while making sales and talking to customers. This cuts down on lines, wait times, and makes the customer experience that much better. Imagine having a mobile catalog of all your products as well as a portable processing system you could take anywhere in the store. That’s a POS system!
Collecting Information
POS systems also allow you to collect information on your customers, and this is vital to your marketing efforts. If you know what a customer is buying, it’s far easier to appeal to that customer with promotions tailored to their individual purchase habits. Not to mention, you can send out newsletters and updates on the business and its products, so customers are always up-to-date.
Should I Use a POS System?
The answer to this question is actually quite simple; do you need an all-in-one inventory/customer/employee management tool, marketing tool, customer service tool, and payment processing tool? Of course you do!
Paying for software for each of these things individually would cost a fortune, whereas POS systems are quite affordable. Some POS software charges a monthly premium, others use a per-transaction fee system, and still, others allow you to buy software and hardware outright. The choices are abundant and the software is versatile and affordable. Why wait?