What’s the Right Point of Sale (POS) System for my Small Businesses?

A POS system is more than just a tool that conducts transactions. It can help with a host of other activities including inventory management, customer behavior tracking and returns and exchanges. There are numerous systems available, which is why it’s important to shop around and find the best option for your business. This might seem challenging at first, but with this short introductory guide, you will at least know what to expect and look for when buying a POS system.

Knowing what works best for you

Since there are so many options out there, it’s important to first understand your business needs. This can help you sort through the features and quickly eliminate any system that does not fit your criteria. There are several factors to take into consideration here. First, there are inventory management capabilities. A POS system can help you keep track of your inventory with each sale by having a database of the products, and tracking each product as it is sold. This can be a great feature if you have a large sales volume.

There are also customer management capabilities. Some systems will allow you to collect data on customers through loyalty programs. The benefits here are twofold: you can encourage customer engagement with a point-based reward system, and you can gather information regarding customer behavior in order to find the most effective marketing techniques.

POS systems can have a returns and exchanges module integrated, which will make it easier for customers to return products, or to exchange them in-store. You may also wish to take into consideration the hardware element of a POS system. For example, you can purchase a system that has numerous components such as a terminal, receipt printer, card reader and others, or you can choose a mobile cloud-based POS, that takes up little space, and which can be used by an in-the-field sales team.

Buying the highest quality system for your budget

Aside from features and capabilities, it’s also important to take a look at the fundamental qualities of a POS system. To start, you may want a system that is easy to use. Some systems are more complex, while others are very straightforward. Personal preference does come into play here, but elegance and simplicity wins out in most cases.

You may then want to make sure that the system will integrate with other business components you may have in your store. Does it integrate with the software and hardware you currently have? This can be discussed with your vendor of choice before you make the purchase. Speaking of which, you may want to buy your system from a vendor that has a robust customer support service. You don’t want to take a chance of any disruption to your POS system, because your sales volume may take a huge hit.

For more information about POS systems, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.