Building a business takes all the support you can get, and shop owners have a tall order to manage. The multifaceted nature of retail makes it an especially challenging sector in which to serve consumers.
Business owners must keep a close eye on inventory to prevent the waste of overstocks or the revenue loss of stock-outs, and the same sort of balance needs to happen with staffing. No one likes paying their employees to stand around twiddling thumbs, but it is imperative to have enough help when the shop is busy.
In addition to keeping every aspect in perfect balance to maximise revenue, shop owners continually look for ways to build relationships with customers. The pressure just keeps increasing for retailers to curate the perfect customer experience in order to keep shoppers coming back.
With 86 percent of Brits using Amazon for at least some of their retail needs, consumers want to shop at brick-and-mortar stores that feel like visiting an old friend who knows what they like, while they provide convenience rivaling a living room point, click, and delivery.
If you run a retail business and wonder if a retail ePOS system would take some of the pressure off, the answer is a resounding yes! Applying a comprehensive ePOS system to your operational routine is relatively inexpensive, and it is akin to having a whole team of experts always at your disposal.
You can integrate the right system with all your business management software for an automated experience that will save you time and money, and give you the space to focus on taking a few deep breaths then scaling your business.
Get Control of Inventory
You did not open up a shop so you could spend all your time dealing with inventory, so why are you still entering stock counts manually and dealing with homemade spreadsheets? Manual entry is not just time-consuming, it also leads to errors causing loss of revenue and customers.
Keeping everything in outdated software makes it a challenge to see the bigger picture, and you may struggle to get a handle on the reality of what is going on in your stockroom.
An ePOS system specifically designed to handle your retail category will streamline your process, reduce the number of human errors, and produce reports that show you a clear view of trends and patterns, so you can master your inventory like the pro that you are.
Items will be automatically removed from your inventory as they are sold, no matter whether it is through your brick-and-mortar shop, your eCommerce store, or your shoppable Instagram posts.
Run daily, weekly or monthly reports that give you the insights you need to plan for consumer shopping patterns, and even set your system to handle stock orders automatically.
When your ePOS system has your back, you never have to worry about spoilage, overstock, or stock-outs again. Simply use system reports to make decisions about set points in which your system will create orders, and relax knowing you are covered.
Help Employees Succeed
Depending on the size of your business, bringing paid staff to your team can be a big decision. Even when you have a sizable retail business, the overall performance of your staff can make or break your shops. Of course, you want everyone to feel appreciated, but you also need to make the best possible use of your wage expenditures.
An integrated ePOS system gives you everything you need to successfully manage your employees, building a team that supports your company’s growth while creating working relationships that keep staff feeling satisfied with their job.
Inventory management is simplified with the support of quality software, customer checkout is a breeze with intuitive interfaces that support fast service and quality customer care, and assigned tasks will always be clear when you can use the same software package to communicate goals, tasks, praise, and needed improvement.
Even monitoring employee performance is more comfortable when you can step back and let your staff do what you hired them to do while using detailed reports to check-in and ensure your labour and expenses are being used most efficiently.
An ePOS system facilitates a productive relationship with your employees, giving everyone the resources they need to be part of an organised and efficient team.
Keep Customers Happy
You would not have a retail business if not for your customers, so you want to keep them coming back and telling their friends about your shop, too. Though the world is moving toward more digital interaction, building relationships with your patrons is more important than ever.
In order to compete with other shops, you need to know your customers’ names, what they like, and when their birthday is.
Fortunately, an ePOS system that you integrate with your customer relationship management software is one of the most powerful tools you can use to maintain the kind of service you set out to provide.
Modern integrated systems track purchase history and customer loyalty of all your registered customers, and registration is simple. They can do it right in your shop, or they can register later from their phone.
Your shop will make its mark when you use the information gathered from your retail ePOS system to automate targeted marketing campaigns, give VIPs special offers when they check out and acknowledge birthdays, holidays, and other special events. Managing customer relationships should be easy. An ePOS can take care of the data while you handle the smiles.
Final Thoughts
Should you invest in a retail ePOS system for your shop? Yes. Yes. And yes. When you consider the outstanding benefits of having a software package that feels more like a team of experts than a collection of spreadsheets, the cost is minimal.
Investing in an ePOS system will save you time and money, so you can focus your efforts on growing your business rather than merely maintaining it.
