Point of sale software are used in retail, hospitality, warehousing and almost every other industry. Often, there is a lag between the features offered by a POS system and the benefits reaped from it by businesses, as the managers and staff members are not completely aware about the functionalities and benefits offered by their POS software.
When using a paid or Free Point Of Sale Software, it is essential for managers and IT staff to completely familiarize themselves with features of the POS software installed in their business, so that they can ensure optimal software usage to maximize revenue and achieve business potential.
Here are a few POS software features and aspects you should learn about, so that you can ensure that sales and other staff members implement all the required POS activities to generate desired results:
Product Management
While using product management features of a POS software, merchandisers should add all available products to the system with their variations, details, prices, vendors, stock, images, etc. Ideally all the attributes should be filled for all the products, so that usage of POS software is effective. This helps in assessing customer purchase behaviour from various aspects.
Order Management
While managing and processing orders, sales staff must ensure that they choose the right categories and products. Staff members should login with their IDs to undertake sales. Cash and payment received from all other modes should be properly entered. POS staff should know how to park and retrieve incomplete orders, how to add discount, or enter a new product which is missing from the system.
Data Collection
While processing sales, point-of-sale staff should enter all the required details of customers, so that each purchase can be mapped to relevant customers and customer details can be collected for future marketing and loyalty management activities. Data collection is one of the most important activities conducted by POS software and sales staff, as it is a valuable asset which helps businesses grow.
Data Analysis
Managers should know about all the data analysis features available to them through their POS software, so that they can assess performance of all the activities being undertaken. This can help managers take sound and informed business decisions about inventory, product range, pricing, promotions, staffing, etc. With regular data analysis, managers can take actions to correct loopholes and optimise their business’ growth.
Staff Performance Tracking
All the staff members ought to diligently follow log-in and log-out processes, so that cash registers can be managed transparently. This also helps management to reward staff members who perform well to maximize sales, up-sell and process orders with efficiency. Staff performance in inventory department, revenue management department and operations can also be tracked on the basis of results shown by respective departments.
Inventory Management
Inventory management staff should keep a tab on purchase behaviour of customers to optimally stock stores. Merchandisers should ensure that old products are cleared before new products are introduced. Managers should understand what all features of their POS system can help in inventory management, as this can save a lot of cost to businesses and help maximize revenue. Product preferences of customers can be understood to manage inventory effectively.
Besides the above areas, managers should explore their POS software and take help from POS software support staff and tutorials, so that they can get maximum returns on their money and effort spent on installing and using paid, freemium or Free Point Of Sale Software.