When you’re running a retail business online or in a brick-and-mortar location, a point-of-sale (POS) system is a necessity that will facilitate business management and help keep your entire operation organized. It’s wise to invest in any advantage you can get in this highly competitive retail landscape, and a POS will function like a team of experts working in the background while you focus on selling. This gives you a leg up on your rivals while also easing your pain points as a busy retailer.
There are many POS options from QuickBooks to Lightning to others, but there are simply some that stand out from the rest for their robust functionalities. Here are some things to consider when choosing a POS system, as well as key indicators that it’s time to upgrade.
Reports & Insights
The smartest business decisions are the ones that are data-driven, so you’ll want to invest in a POS system that provides you data more often than once per month. Ideally, you get real-time reporting so you can quickly make changes to optimize your business.
QuickBooks POS software is one system that offers analytics and reporting, giving you helpful insights into your retail business and its health all in one place. You can easily track the performance of any product in your catalog, see the seasonality of your store, and prevent common inventory management mistakes.
Inventory Management
Inventory is the backbone of every retail business, but many sellers fall prey to mistakes like overstocking, overselling, or losing track of how much inventory is in each location. The larger the catalog, the easier it is to make errors—it’s human nature. This is why inventory management capabilities should be a top priority when choosing a POS system.
QuickBooks POS inventory management software keeps all your information up-to-date. You’ll see where everything is and the quantities at each location, and because of the reporting described earlier, you’ll know what to keep on hand throughout the year. Additionally, this ensures you’ll never have to send your customers the disappointing email saying you accidentally oversold and can’t fulfill their orders.
Time Saving & Customer Experience Improvement
As we mentioned above, having a POS system like Lightning is like having a full team that takes over some of your most tedious work. This is especially important for small businesses, which have fewer employees and resources to stay on top of important tasks.
How does time saving benefit your customers? You’ll have more time to engage with your customers more regularly and ensure you’re fulfilling their needs and letting them know their ideas are being heard. Successful businesses are built on communities, and retail is no different.
If you’re not saving time and investing it into your customer base with your current point-of-sale software, it’s time to upgrade.
Integrations That Streamline Your Operations
Another factor when choosing a POS should be its integration capabilities. Can you expand functionality with plugins or other extensions? Can you save even more time with automation? If not, your business is due for an upgrade.
For example, Webgility’s QuickBooks POS integration will bridge your online sales channel(s) and your QuickBooks while also automating all the data entry processes that take up so much of your time.
Once you set the Webgility scheduler, you can sit back and watch all your transactions get posted directly to QuickBooks at the times you chose. Webgility also uses the data in QuickBooks to help you forecast demand, stay tax compliant, and so much more. Webgility + QuickBooks are the perfect pair for boosting your business.
Webgility
