Point of Sale in retail industry

What is point of sale?

Point of sale (POS)

indicates a retail shop, a check out counter in a shop, exactly where the transaction occurs. It tracks down both the sales and the inventory of the SKU’s. POS is considered equivalent to an electronic cash register. POS can be any hardware or a software used for check outs. POS are almost used in all the retail establishments such as supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and more. The process of transaction and tendering cash is essential for an organization. Incase if there is lot of transaction happening a POS would help you to save money than the cash register. POS finds solution for many of the problem that happens in your retail business. In case you are starting a new retail business investing in POS would be a brilliant idea. Many retailers generate revenue and profit reports, ordering reports and product sales reports through their POS software which is considered to be so difficult in the other ways.

POS for the retail world

– all types of stores from apparel to convenience

• Allows you to manage different prices for various products


• Conduct sales, clearances, and special offerings seamlessly


• Create matrixes to track the same merchandise by different aspects (size, style, color)


• Prevents items from being oversold by detailing how much is in stock, when it’s time to reorder, and whether or not to continue selling the item based on sales and popularity


• Compiles data of purchasing trends to offer items that appeal to your customers


• Saves critical shelf space by stocking more of the items customers want


• Manages profit margins by noting which items sell the best compared to the prices you pay for wholesale merchandise


• POS are most commonly used in stores such as


     
• Liquor and package stores

     
• Convenience stores

     
• Smoke (cigar) shops

     
• Apparel

     
• Sporting goods

     
• Hardware

     
• Automotive parts

     
• Furniture

     
• Race tracks

     
• Casinos

Benefits of using POS in your store

Equivalent to cash register

In an ordinary cash register you will be able to check only the days flow. It cannot give a detailed output on inventory, profit or selling products. But a POS can do all this. As a computerized cash register it can instantly tell you how much money is there, what are the items in stocks? What are the items that are running out of stock? It can act as reminder calendar too.

Preventing theft

By implementing POS in your system everyone be alert in their work. Even the employees would keep the track of inventory carefully because they know the stock is monitored. For instance in a small business POS can reduce the theft for about 2.5%.

Managing inventory

Managing inventory is by generating reports on the inventory and the sales that is happening. These reports help you to manage the flow of inventory and also it helps you to predict the needs in the future. Simply, it helps you to order more based on the reports not just by the prediction you have. It also helps you to understand which product needs more inventory? and why does it needs?

Managing specials

Discounts, coupons and offers are the most common phenomenon that happens in the retail world. But managing these discounts would be little difficult for the retailers As it runs in a short-term. By implementing POS it helps you to manage the current tracking and market down pricing too.

Reducing shrinkage

POS bring you the inventory report in a real time. So it helps you to understand the receiving and the inventory functions. Hence you are able to get accurate information on loss and out of stock materials. This makes you to improve your business easier.

Margin watch

Margin watch gives an account on materials what sells more and what sells less. By keep a keen watch on this the retailer can have more inventories on what sells more and inventory on what sells less.

Customer satisfaction

The barcode on the product will easily allow you to scan the material and it can speed up the check-out process. Even if you don’t use a scanner it can be made faster by entering the SKU number which is directly linked to pricing. Also it collects the customer’s data and helps you to reward them. Through the data collected by their transaction you can give more incentive programs too.

List of customers

POS software used in stores store the customer’s names and the address. This helps you to advertise by targeting on the particular sector of customers or also for promoting the products too.

Efficiency & Accuracy

POS software installation helps in improving the efficiency and accuracy. Improving efficiency means higher customer satisfaction, lower costs and higher sales. POS reduces the time spend on the paper work and also it reduces the time spend on doing double checking the inventory. Improving accuracy is effectiveness of pricing and advertising campaign. POS stores the price of the item and hence there is no need to cross verify every time how much it sells for. It gives the accurate results on the inventory of the item, revenue and sales. Hence it is easy to calculate daily gross revenue, cost and profit.

Using remote options

In a retail store access in remote is quite difficult. But by using POS packages it helps you to access from anywhere even where you are mobile or in an off. It gives access to different stores and able to take timely action when needed.

Flexible expansion

POS allows you to configure with many systems. It allows you to connect with various systems through the web or any connection method. This flexible option helps you to manage many stores from one location.

Some of the leading point of sale softwares

1. Retail Pro


2. Raymark


3. polaris


4. Shoper