A point of sale (POS) system can be a big investment, both time and money-wise. When is time to make that investment? Let’s start from the ground up… What exactly is a POS system? Point of Sale systems are packages of software and hardware that run the selling process in a business. Think bar code scanners, inventory, layaway.

Ok, but when is it time to invest in one of these systems?

1. Inventory Overload: Taking inventory cannot be done by hand. You just have too much stuff to count.
2. Buy the Right Items: Do you know what your best sellers are? Why not stock more of those items? If you don’t know what’s selling well, you aren’t stocking your store correctly.
3. Theft: If you don’t know what you have, you don’t know what’s been stolen. If you have NO clue if things have been stolen, assume they have. Taking inventory and seeing what’s missing will answer your theft question… and you’ll be able to CLAIM that number!
4. Marketing: Do you know who your best and worst customers are? Want to send mailings/email promotions to them? Ever thought of a customer loyalty program that can be tracked by a computer? You can with many POS systems.
5. Employee Automation: Are your employees “clocking in” with a pen and paper? Stop inaccurate hours with a time clock on your POS system. Employees simply sign in and out on the computer. Payroll can happen right from there too. Piece o cake.
6. Layaway: Do you have piles of items in the back room with sticky notes declaring who they’re for and how much is owed? This can often be a disaster. Automate your layaway process with POS, you can take deposits and payments from the computer and keep track of aging items.