Signs You Should Upgrade Your Retail POS System

Is your POS system holding back your growth potential?
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min read
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Retail Express
February 7, 2024
Aaron Blackman
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CEO & Founder
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Retail Express
February 7, 2024

Table of contents

There are three important questions when it comes to your retail business’s point of sale system. These are:

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.

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We make switching to cloud POS easy

Our Retail Express onboarding and support team have all had professional experience as retailers and know the challenges you face. That's why it's our priority to ensure switching to our cloud-based POS software is easy.

  • Personal Support Manager: You'll have your own Australian-based Personal Success Manager who'll guide you through the process step-by-step. All costs included. They'll help format and import your data, get you up and running, guide you with your hardware and help with everything associated with set-up.
  • 5-Star ongoing support: Once you're set up, the support doesn't stop. We're renowned for our Australian-based customer support. Each of our experts has professional retail experience and knows the issues you face. Forget being palmed off to a help manual — you'll be individually cared for until we fix your problem, every time.
  • Knowledge Base, Training Academy & webinars: You'll have access to a comprehensive Knowledge Base with all instructions, a video library, Training Academy and more.
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