As a young person, there’s few things that bother me more than when I go to retail stores, pull my wallet out to checkout, only to find that they have a Cash-Only-Point-of-Sales-No-Cards-Here-System that looks like my grandfather could have used it when he was my age. Apart from the aesthetic appearance of it, and the minor inconvenience, I never thought about it too much. Until I read this article https://www.essentialretail.com/news/longchamp-completes-global-pos/ about French handbag maker Longchamp doing a complete Point of Sale overhaul in over 300 stores. If they’re doing it, why shouldn’t retailers in The US? In Wisconsin? I did some research and here’s what I found
Why You Should Invest in a new POS system
There was a time when a Point of Sale system was just a cash register, but those days are long gone. Todays robust systems can perform a myriad of tasks, simplify the customer experience and increase your bottom line. But that’s just the basics, here are a few other things they can offer:
- Calculate accurate payments for every transaction
- Record payment methods
- Track money in the cash register
- Create regular sales reports
- Determine proper labor and payroll numbers
- Maintain inventory data
- Provide information on repeat customers (via https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-point-sale-pos-system-shmuly-preizler/ )
But POS systems are expensive
Yes, Point of Sale systems can be very expensive, especially for small businesses. According to tech.co, the total cost of an average POS system in 2019 was around $6,500 plus fees and upkeep. That’s a lot of money! But that doesn’t take into account the time(money) you’ll save doing sales reports, payroll, and other paperwork. It also doesn’t account for keeping track of your inventory data, the speed youll be able to checkout customers, and all the data it can collect about buying habits, returning customers, and much more.