The retail industry is evolving at record speeds alongside the advancement of technology. Because of this extremely fast-paced landscape, staying efficient and competitive through the use of more advanced technology has become more crucial than ever. When you want to go more advanced with your business, however, it’s important to tick off the basics first; one of which is investing in a reliable point of sale (POS) system. It’s not a new development whatsoever, but in the present-day marketplace, consumers expect efficiency to be the standard for all businesses, and POS systems are one of the most prominent ways to achieve that.
But what’s a POS system, anyway? The common misconception is that a POS is merely a cash register used to accept in-store purchases. While this may have been true at some point, it’s important to note that POS systems have evolved so much that a cash register has become only one of its many components.
At its core, a POS system has become a seamless blend of software and hardware designed to facilitate and enhance business operations. While traditional cash registers could only record sales, modern POS systems integrate various functions such as inventory management, financial reporting, and many others. Integrations such as these can not only streamline operations–it can also help businesses make more informed and data-driven decisions.
If you’re considering an upgrade to a dedicated POS system, here are some key signs to look out for.
Inefficiencies in inventory management
One of the most glaring signs that your business might need a POS system is when you find yourself having difficulties with inventory management. Manual tracking of inventory, just like any other manual operation, is prone to human error and can lead to significant inefficiencies such as inaccurate inventory counts. While it can be argued that tracking inventory is a simple task, and therefore negates the need for a POS, the smallest mistakes in inventory management could cost businesses a lot of valuable resources. Not only will retailers lose time trying to figure out where an error was committed, it can also result in lost sales due to stockouts.
With a dedicated POS system, retailers can automate the entire process to ensure accurate, real-time inventory tracking. Although this is merely a basic feature for the modern-day POS, it has more profound implications that can help improve businesses’ profitability. For example, knowing your inventory levels at all times allows you to swiftly respond to changes in stock or align supply with demand, especially for businesses who sell products or services that are largely seasonal in nature. Of course, other factors such as special promotions or discounts should also be accounted for when forecasting demand for all types of businesses. But the point is, seamless inventory management with a POS lessens room for error and unlocks greater operational efficiency and profitability.
Time-consuming sales reporting
Generating sales reports from manually tracked sales and inventory is not only labor-intensive, but also time-consuming. Before completing a report, retailers would have to run through heaps of paperwork, do manual computations, and other tasks necessary to comprehensive sales reporting and this is without considering the fact that human errors could occur along the way. Such seemingly irrelevant inefficiencies can significantly delay decision-making and prevent businesses from responding to various market trends on the fly.
With a POS system, sales reports become readily available, containing information updated in real time. This is because a POS captures sales data instantly right at the moment a customer transacts with a retail store, ensuring that all reports are up-to-date and accurate. With such valuable information at the click of a button, retailers can focus on key metrics that matter most to their business without wasting time sifting through irrelevant data.
A suboptimal customer experience
Traditional transaction methods can fall short in today’s retail landscape, more so when a relatively huge chunk of what constitutes the customer experience in present-day relates to a retail business’ efficiency in handling transactions in-store. Long checkout lines due to slow transaction processing, for example, is enough of a reason for customers to steer away from your business. Existing customers could also end up feeling dissatisfied and eventually choose not to come back to your store due to a bad experience.
A modern-day POS streamlines the entire checkout process, which effectively reduces wait times for customers. Benefits such as these enhance the customer experience and encourage customer loyalty in the long run, which are important to the sustainability of any retail establishment. Basic improvements such as these have become critical for businesses to remain competitive in today’s market, and implementing a POS system is one way to realize these advantages.
Limited payment options for customers
According to Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, 60% of Filipinos carried less cash in their wallets while 84% tried going cashless in 2021. If you run your retail business without a POS system, you may have encountered customers who have asked if you accepted debit or credit card payments or e-wallet transfers–and if you didn’t, some of them may have opted out of purchasing from your store. Modern POS systems are built with multi-modal payment functionalities, so if you find yourself encountering payment method-related issues often, it might be a good idea for you to invest in a POS.
Difficulties managing employee performance
Without a POS, managing employee performance becomes a daunting task as well. Tracking hours, sales linked to individual employees, and performance metrics can be time-consuming and imprecise when done manually. This can lead to inaccuracies in assessing employee performance, which affects retailers’ ability to make informed staffing decisions and identify training needs.
A POS system can address these issues through automated time tracking and linking of sales performance to employees, which, in turn, can help retailers monitor employee efficiency. Other than easing administrative burden, getting data-driven reports on a business’ workforce can also give retailers a better understanding of their staff and allow them to leverage tools such as performance-based incentives and sales competitions, which could then motivate employee engagement and benefit the overall performance of a retail business.
Growing business scale and complexity
As your business grows further, the scale and complexity of your operations would naturally increase as well, making the transition to a POS system virtually necessary. Manual processes can only sustain businesses to an extent; once a business reaches a certain level, it will only be a matter of time until the limits of manual record keeping become more apparent.
In contrast, a POS system will be able to handle business growth effortlessly. Be it the rise of another branch, an increase in customer volume, or a quickly growing product catalog, POS systems can support businesses throughout any growth-related scenario, which could then pave the way for more success and greater expansion.
Conclusion
The retail industry continues to evolve, and with its evolution comes demands for businesses to adapt in order to remain competitive. Therefore, cutting-edge POS solutions that can adapt to these changes become all the more important for retailers. By addressing a myriad of operational challenges, retailers can achieve levels of efficiency like never before. Therefore, a POS system has become not just a technological upgrade, but rather, a strategic move towards operational excellence and sustainable business growth.
If you decide to listen to the signs and finally invest in a POS system for your business, you’ve come to the right place. We at iRipple pride ourselves in our core product, Barter POS–a POS solution that has been tested and trusted for more than two decades. Over the years, Barter has become a premier option among retailers in the Philippines looking for a dedicated POS system for their business.
You can visit our product page or contact us at sales@iripple.com for more information on Barter POS.
