Retail POS System

for Your Business

COVID-19 has impacted and exposed small businesses. Most startups that did not have the digital infrastructure now understand its importance. With the emphasis on contactless transactions, technologies that facilitate such payments are growing steadily. A point of sale system is now almost a must-have for any business that wants to edge competitors.Although most business owners know about POS systems, it doesn’t harm to define the term.

The point of sale refers to the location where the customer pays for products or services. In most cases, the POS is placed at the exit of a store to entice customers to buy more as they leave. Apart from the physical point of sale, online POS systems allow customers to pay for goods or services purchased through apps, online stores, or software.

A POS system is a component of hardware and software that helps to record transactions. The point of sale system’s objective is to help business owners track, monitor, and manage cash inflows and outflows. The fast-paced retail technology keeps evolving each day. Therefore, it is imperative to keep up with the industry’s developments for maximum profits, security, and customer retention. A POS system provides real-time data and insights to help you manage operations in your business.

A credit card terminal is a machine that helps in the verification of the validity of plastic money at the counter. The device scans, verifies and identifies any expired, stolen, invalid, or damaged card. It is also called an electronic data capture terminal (EDCT) or point of sale machine. The machine helps the merchant to avoid scammers.

The system also helps track and print receipts and track plastic money (credit & debit card) payments. Today, credit and debit cards are the most commonly used methods of payment in the USA. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Francisco, plastic money accounted for more than half of the payment instruments used in 2018. Therefore, a business does not stand a chance without a credit card terminal.

You can buy or lease a credit card processing terminal for your business. The price of the machine is approximately a hundred dollars. The lease varies from tens of dollars to the cost of buying the electronic data capture terminal. Therefore, you should consider the leasing and purchase cost before settling for any of the options.

Features of a Good POS System

According to Statista, the POS terminal market in the USA is worth more than $17 billion. Projections show that the industry will hit the $20 billion mark in the next 5 years. Currently, hardware POS takes the lion’s share, but the software is also coming up steadily. With the increase in online stores, software POS will be the primary system in the next 10 years.

The primary components of a POS system include barcode scanners, cash drawers, retail debit and credit card machines, receipt generator, and label printer.

Reasons to Have a Retail POS System for Your Business

Sales Management

The primary purpose of the point of sale system is to help in the management of sales. The system should generate precise and clear reports which can help you to monitor sales. You should be able to analyze your transactions for particular products, specific periods, and different service points. Additionally, you should be able to generate charts and graphs that you can use to analyze your store’s performance.

Inventory Management

Nothing puts off customers like finding empty shelves in what they thought was a one-stop store. The POS gives you insights on what you should restock and what to sell first. This data is essential in price determination because it shows the buying price and mark-up. It can also alert you on any products which are close to expiry.

Customer Management

It does feel good to receive a birthday wish from your regular store. But do you record all the birthdays on your calendar? That can’t work, more so for busy stores. A POS system records customer information for future reference and analysis. You can use the data to identify regular, repeat, and one-time clients.

Building customer relationships is an essential part of any business. Through retail credit card payment processing, you can get insights on the clients to target. You can request feedback from your customers, days after the purchase. As an appreciation, you can also offer loyalty programs to encourage clients to buy from your business.

Employee Management

Your employees are crucial to the growth of your business. POS systems offer integrated software to manage and interact with your staff. You can create login profiles for different levels of employees. It is also easier for the workers to generate and share reports with their line managers to make monitoring easier.

How do you schedule off and leave days? A POS system can help manage the number of employees available in each shift, day, week, or month. Your customers can also review the staff, and the POS system can track each employee’s performance.

Types of Point of Sale Systems

There are 2 primary types of POS systems:

Cloud POS system: the software allows you to process transactions anywhere. You can access the system dashboard even when you are far from the store. It is ideal for the management of mobile businesses.
On-premise POS system: the system is only accessible at the store. On-premise type is common in general stores and supermarkets at the retail credit card terminal where customers pay for the product or service.

Under each of these categories, there are other classifications depending on the device it is compatible with. Some of the most common POS types include mobile, tablet, computer, app, and multi-channel POS.

Are you looking for a retail merchant services provider? Contact us for a complete payment processing system that accepts all cards.