An electronic point of sale system is a better way to run your business. While it’s primarily built around the sale, it’s also an easy-to-access, easy-to-operate hub that boils down the complexity of running a retail outlet to the touch screen simplicity of a mobile app.
You can use it to add discounts on a purchase, to fill out your employee roster for the coming week, to monitor sales figures over the past month, or to run an instant stocktake.
A single digital POS solution can perform:
- Product management
- Discounts, exchanges, returns, and bundled Items
- A range of payment options
- Inventory management
- Employee management
- Customer incentives
- Sales reports
To discover what ePOS systems are used for in retai,l you just have to consider what’s needed to run a business—because an ePOS solution will help with it all.
One System, Many Uses
An ePOS system replaces and expands the role of your cash register. As before, every transaction flows through the point of sale. Now, however, every other business task passes through the same systems as well. This makes it simpler to keep things moving, but also makes it possible to make connections that introduce efficiencies and information you can’t get by counting sales in a clunky old register.
The system is built of two basic pieces. Firstly, there’s the hardware. Thanks to modern apps and wi-fi mobility, this can be as discreet as an iPad and several connected devices, such as printers, scanners, a cash drawer, and payment tools.
The second part is kept up in the digital cloud. It’s an all-in-one platform that houses all the best business tools currently available, and can be accessed in store, remotely, by phone, laptop, or desktop.
With this combination comes the many answers to just what are ePOS systems used for in retail.
1. Product management
The ePOS system can become the central source for managing all the modifications, alterations, and customer-satisfying potential of your products. You can combine dozens of variables to make sure the right fit, color, and style meet the right price to close a sale and encourage return visits.
You can configure a main sales hub that sorts your wares according to your own system and makes everything available at the tap of an iPad screen. It’s a way of placing your entire inventory in one clean location.
2. Discounts, exchanges, returns, and bundled Items
The digital POS still has to be able to carry off the key requirements of your old register. By linking your sales, inventory, and accounting software together, though, you can get even more creative in search of a sale.
From an iPad terminal, you should be able to offer on-the-spot discounts, process exchanges and returns, and even throw together product bundles that make sense in the spur of the shopping experience.
The flexibility of digital gives you total control over every sale.
3. A range of payment options
The payment options available at even the most modest retail outlet reflect the overall tech trend toward smaller, more mobile, user-friendly hardware. An ePOS system lets you connect any payment method your customers demand, including:
- Chip and PIN readers
- Mobile tap’n’go devices
- QR Code scanners
- Google and Apple Pay facilities
- Gift cards
All these devices connect via USB or Bluetooth and are protected by the latest authentication and encryption tech.
4. Inventory management
This is where the central hub format really helps keep a business running. You can automate your inventory process and set up alerts that tell you exactly when you’re running low on an item, or you can let the smart system leave you out of the process altogether and directly contact your suppliers for new products when needed.
The biggest time-saver, however, is the ability to run instant stocktakes. A digital system runs a constant watch, accounting for future purchase orders, current stock levels, and live sales information so you’re only ever a tap away from a complete understanding of your holdings.
5. Employee management
The management team isn’t the only beneficiary of a digital solution. You can open up your ePOS system to your staff and allow them to manage their own rosters, switch up their own shifts, and coordinate their own HR needs. All you have to do is delegate password access and staff can make connections from their own devices.
At the same time, you can account for the influence of staff performance on the bottom line by tracking sales relative to shifts. It’s an insight that can help you optimize staff pairings and maximize your peak sales periods.
6. Customer incentives
Converting your sales events to a digital format gives you the ability to remember every customer and purchase. You can sign customers up to a personalized loyalty program—complete with your own branded cards—and tailor the details to suit their preferences. You can offer discounts, exclusive access to new arrivals, 2-for-1 incentives, and other rewards your customers would enjoy.
Digital systems are flexible and as deep as the internet, so your offers are limited only by your customer knowledge.
7. Sales reports
Finally, a digital ePOS solution can keep track of every cent of spend and sale that passes through your system, and help you reach your potential. One of the most important ways to grow as a retail outlet is to focus your resources on what sells and learning to give up on stock that doesn’t.
With a robust system, you can quickly run reports that cover recent days, weeks, or entire seasons, and get an insight into what your customers are buying. It’s like having a professional audit of your business, except this isn’t some overpaid external accountant, it’s the same system you’re already using to perform all those other retail functions above.
So, if you find yourself wondering what ePOS systems are used for in retail, the answer really is everything.
The ePOS solutions created by talech are powerful business tools that let you better understand and manage your retail outlet. From customer-facing tech that enhances the shopping experience, to inventory and report functions that improve the accuracy of your spend, talech’s systems are built to fit your business.
