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| Why You Should Automate Your Business with a POS System |
By:
Joshua Goldberg |
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The reasons for automating your business with a Point Of Sale (POS) system are many, and compelling, too. If you do it right, you will reclaim lost time, increase cash flow, reduce waste, satisfy more customers, save money and even make better business decisions. On the other hand, the reasons for not doing so usually come down to just a couple - like ignorance, fear, or unwillingness to change.
The first thing is to disabuse yourself and your employees of the notion that a POS system is just a computerized and overpriced cash register. Cash registers, being one trick ponies, can do their one trick (exchanging payments for receipts) quite well, but they certainly do not rise to the level of a "system," something that integrates different components to give you more than the sum of the parts. POS systems do just that, and in such a way that both your company and its customers reap major benefits.
Systems, not devices
POS systems are not pieces of hardware, and are not even accurately described as being "just software." They are tools for combining different facts, figures, dates and data to keep you informed on a range of important subjects. They can tell you what sold best today, what will be out of stock tomorrow, the amount of money you brought in last week, how many returns are coming in, what your profit margin was on Widget #2 and what salespeople are doing the best job. POS systems bring intelligence to the checkout process, and every process that supports it, and this means you can make better decisions.
One major headache that takes a lot of time to do the old-fashioned pencil-pushing way is staying on top of inventory. If you are handling your restocking inefficiently, you will tie up too much operating capital in unnecessary inventory. With detailed inventory reporting you can establish something close to a "just in time" system that makes your money work more effectively by timing product purchases. POS systems, being software, can be "taught" to prompt you with alerts, suggestions, Purchase Order forms and other procedures triggered by sales histories, inventory levels or other markers you establish.
From packing to tracking
Some POS systems refer to themselves as "full-package business solutions" because they can tie your checkout process right into the inventory data, the "back office" accounting process, your shipping/receiving procedures, and even your website. No more double-entry mistakes and no more out-of-stock surprises. You can set your system up in the unique ways that support your style of business, too, converting RFQs (Requests for Quotes) and other documents into Invoices in one direction, and Purchase Orders in the other. The control you will get from a POS system can honestly change the way you do business, and all to the better, too.
The famous term, "inventory shrinkage," describes the average firm's losses due to (mainly) three causes, which are employee theft, paperwork errors and external theft. For most companies, these losses represent from 2 to 5% of total annual inventory. A good POS system will cut these losses by as much as half by getting rid of the first two problems. The larger the retail operation, the greater the dollar amounts, hence the greater the savings and value attributable to the POS system.
Customer benefits
Consumers don't want to stand in line. They want to get home, or back to their business, with their purchases. Whatever you can do to expedite the purchase process will result in increased customers' satisfaction. Fully implementing touch-screen technology, bar code readers and other checkout automation can get your customers out in a hurry, while also offering appropriate information at the checkout point, such as special order status, the arrival of a requested item, a list of regularly purchased items that are going on sale, etc.
When ongoing purchase data is added to the historical mix, you can increase both sales and satisfaction by recognizing customer preferences, seasonal buying patterns and other behaviors. You can also bring your POS system into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) operations, thus enabling you to target appropriate sales and marketing promotions to the customers that would most benefit from them.
The benefits of automating with a POS System are indeed many, and the cost of doing that is well worth the investment, the time, and the effort.About Author:Home Security equipment and Peachtree software are only the beginning of what we have to offer at Gemini Computers. Visit online to find the POS System, Point Of Sale Software or ELO Touch Screen LCD that's right for your business. |
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