There are three important questions when it comes to your retail business’s point of sale system. These are:
- Do you need to upgrade your POS system?
- How do you find the ideal POS solution for your needs?
- What are the steps to smoothly migrating to your new solution?
In today’s article, we will be looking at that first aspect – do you need to upgrade? Many retailers are still using a legacy POS system that they introduced in the early stages of their business, which leads to plenty of growing pains as inventory, stores and marketing needs all increase. These are some of the most common signs a change in your POS system may be warranted in the near future.
Your inventory levels have grown
Many entry level systems claim to be able to handle multiple stores and sizeable inventories – however, when you add a second store or reach over 500 lines of inventory per store these systems will often start to buckle under pressure. A dedicated POS solution for multi-channel and multi-store businesses will grow and evolve with your needs.
Your sales process is suffering
If your system is too difficult to use or lacks necessary functionality, your staff will struggle to find the products to recommend, cross-sell and upsell. This inevitably leads to missed sales and wasted resources, so choose an intuitive but powerful system with freely available access to responsive phone support and training to help your team easily master it.
You’re not yet in the cloud
Using a cloud-based system simply makes sense – it slashes your IT costs, provides multiple and mobile points of access for staff, and supplies one single source of truth that can be securely accessed even when you are not on site.
Your inventory counts are unreliable
Are your ecommerce and bricks-and-mortar stores running on the same operating system? Is your inventory data updated in real time, and does it factor in transfers or stock on order? If not, it is absolutely time to consolidate these into one comprehensive system.
You cannot track complex logistics
Purchasing, receiving, inventory and fulfilment processes can be complex, and your system should be able to keep up with these to provide important data at a glance. If you are having trouble keeping track, it’s time to upgrade and ensure you never double up on an order or miss a delivery again.
Product pricing is overly simplistic
Can you configure product discounts and pricing based on specific conditions? If you cannot, you may be losing margins or opportunities where you don’t need to be. Retail Express provides detailed control over pricing structures so your team members can quickly access the correct numbers.
You have to operate your online and offline channels separately
Running an eCommerce platform like Magento, Shopify or WooCommerce separately to your POS system causes all manner of headaches; ones that you, and your customers, simply shouldn’t have to endure
You are feeling limited by your loyalty functionality
Loyalty programs can be incredibly effective, but only if your POS solution is advanced enough to target the right customers at the right time with the right messaging. Tracking individual customer buyer behaviour, sending them customised e-marketing and recommending related products should be non-negotiables features.
Your accounting systems don’t connect with your POS
If you are having to manually export and import data between your POS and accounting systems, you are spending unnecessary time that could be spent on your business.
Analytics and data are letting you down
It should not be a struggle to effectively categorise and subcategorise your products, or to search and filter your data to the level of granularity you need. Your reports should be able to provide in-depth insights into trends, sales and customer behaviour. You will also have sophisticated user access rights to control who can see what.
You feel like ‘just a number’
Crucially, if you feel you do not have access to the training, knowledge or support you need then it may be time to consider another provider. Our proudly Australia-based team offers your own dedicated project manager for implementation as well as all-inclusive local ongoing support.
Ultimately, if you’re dealing with missed sales or opportunities, inefficiency or a poor customer experience, it’s time to look to your point of sale system as a possible limitation. Even if you are not yet feeling the constraints of an outdated system, consider your next 6-12 months of growth. By looking ahead and taking time with your decision, you will be able to smooth out that transition to a more evolved solution and see a marked improvement in profits and lifetime value.
If one or more of these signs apply to your business, it may be time to look into upgrading. Check out our handy 3 steps to choosing the right POS system for your retail business.
Looking to fast track your growth with a smarter Retail POS System? Contact the Retail Express team today on 1300 732 618.
