Benefits of Using a POS System will be described in this article. In today’s market, a point-of-sale (POS) system is a requirement for brick-and-mortar enterprises. The POS industry is expected to increase at a strong rate globally, from little under $10 billion in 2021 to $26.61 billion by 2028.
A POS system is replacing the traditional cash register in more and more organisations because it offers benefits including improved operational efficiency, better revenues, and happier customers.
Top 11 Benefits of Using a POS System in 2024
Top 11 Benefits of Using a POS System are explained here.
1. Saves Managerial Time
POS systems are becoming more and more of a hub that integrates all of your small company software resources, from payroll and scheduling to accounting and inventory management. They are not just tools for processing payments. Also check golf club cleaning services
Modern, cloud-based POS systems either come with all of these capabilities pre-installed or give you the choice to link to additional software programmes to create your custom software solution, a system known as “integration” or employing “integrated apps.”
You can cut down on the portion of management labour by selecting a cloud-based POS that works with your other business tools. This is another benefit of pos system.
You could, for instance, use your POS to make and receive inventory purchases and sync the sales information with your accounting programme.
Many POS systems, including Square, offer payroll services to handle the financial aspect of your business in just a few clicks in addition to interfacing with conventional accounting software.
Additionally, you may create staff timetables and track employee hours in your POS.
Through the register (or a mobile app), employees can clock in and leave, and the data can be sent immediately to your payroll processor.
Automate employee scheduling by integrating scheduling software.
To streamline its expanding business, Canadian brewery Steam Whistle Brewing added TouchBistro.
Them discovered that introducing the iPad POS allowed it to stop manually compiling daily reports in spreadsheets.
This one improvement in the company’s operations allowed the management to save two hours each day.
2. Improved customer Experiencse
It’s crucial for retailers to think about the customer experience as well as their logistical and back-end requirements.
In a Talkdesk survey, nearly 60% of consumers stated they expected better customer service now than they did before the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than half of Americans are also prepared to pay more for superior customer service.
You can enhance your client process in a number of ways with an enhanced POS:
Accommodate Various payment methods:
Provide a variety of payment options to avoid the awkward situation where clients have to search through their wallets for the proper card.
By providing e-wallet, contactless, and PayPal payment options, merchants may speed up client transaction times.
Saved Payment types:
When you save a returning customer’s preferred payment method in your POS, they don’t even need to pull out their wallets.
For boutique and service firms with close customer ties, this concept works quite well.
Saved Customer information:
Saving client information, such as loyalty programme points, contact details (for service sectors that accept appointments), or even just calling a customer by name, is just as significant as saving money.
Self-checkout:
Self-checkouts and ordering kiosks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but those who do value their quickness and convenience.
Self-checkouts can also reduce your labour expenses.
Checkout on the sales floor or at the table:
Reach customers without making them wait in line and meet them where they are.
As soon as customers make a purchase choice, employees may ring transactions on the sales floor thanks to mobile and tablet POS devices.
Easy item lookup:
Customers value receiving prompt responses to questions about the cost, whereabouts, or availability of the needed item.
Your salesmen and cashiers can get this data with a few clicks or a simple barcode scan thanks to POS systems.
Saving client information is necessary for several customer conveniences.
Make sure the POS system is properly protected.
3. Engage customers on a More Personal Level
Engaging customers directly goes hand in hand with better customer service. This is another benefit of pos system.
You may create targeted campaigns with customised messaging and promotions using all the POS data you have.
A tailored experience increased respondents’ likelihood to return as consumers by 60% in 2021.
These personalization initiatives are easier to manage and more productive with a POS.
Many POS systems allow for the addition of marketing-related apps and features or come with built-in marketing capabilities.
Email, social media, SMS, and other avenues could be some of them.
The best POS systems may consider the customer’s purchasing history when presenting promotions, discounts, or other marketing communications, which goes beyond just putting their name to an email.
Your loyalty programme is an effective tool for retaining customers that promotes return business, increased spending, and more word-of-mouth advertising.
In fact, a frequently cited statistic states that participants in loyalty programmes typically spend 20% more than non-participants.
An effective loyalty programme must be simple to join and use.
With a user-friendly interface, POS systems make it simple to connect clients to your loyalty programme and allow them to receive rewards as they pay.
creating a Toast client loyalty programme.
A customer loyalty programme can be readily added to a TouchBistro POS user’s POS. This is another benefit of pos system.
(Photo from TouchBistro)
Out There Outfitters, based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, was up against a problem: the majority of its products could be easily obtained from internet name-brand merchants like Yeti and The North Face.
It upgraded its POS system to include Lightspeed Subscriptions, allowing the business to provide discounts and loyalty programmes to clients.
Both overall sales and the percentage of repeat customers visiting its physical store have improved.
Trackable (and Actionable) Customer Feedback
Input Astute retailers not only get feedback from customers, but also pay attention to it and take appropriate action.
You can do more with a POS system than just keep an eye on your Yelp page.
Customers can be asked directly for feedback using a POS by sending targeted emails or in-store surveys following a transaction.
Customers can share their opinions by using the POS themselves.
This is significant since 71% of clients stated they would post a review if the business made it simple for them to do so.
4. Offers Ecommerce Capabilities
In the post-COVID era, e-commerce plays a crucial role in restaurant and retail sales.
In fact, 23% of consumers claim to do at least daily online shopping! This is another benefit of pos system.
The top POS systems provide options for integrating your online and in-person sales capacity, regardless of whether you are taking food orders through your website or selling things via an online store.
Demonstrating the wide range of POS systems that support online sales.
Online selling functionality is available with many POS systems, either for an extra cost or, like Square, at no charge.
(Square-sourced image)
An online channel can help even locally oriented retailers.
By the end of March 2020, Gym+Coffee’s online orders were straining its supply chain; the company had already started utilising Shopify for an online store and in-person POS when the pandemic struck.
It began utilising facilities for buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS).
Gym+Coffee actually opened two new retail outlets during the pandemic while other businesses were closed.
Using a POS system that is integrated with e-commerce, you can do the following things:
Free online store: Square is one of several POS systems that provides a free online store.
These are quite straightforward, but your POS system keeps track of them.
Some offer resources for selling on your page or through social media.
A select handful, including Shopify, provide an entire ecommerce system.
Inventory tracking: The majority of POS programmes, including Shopify, keep track of both online and offline sales of inventory goods so you can determine how many you currently have and when to place an order.
BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In-store): Online shopping with in-store pickup has become a much more popular service.
Due to COVID, it increased by 106% in 2020 (and by another 10% in 2021); more than half of consumers claimed they would keep using it for convenience.
The majority of POS systems offer this functionality.
Food orders: You can link with delivery services like DoorDash using the majority of restaurant POS systems.
According to the priority you specify, the best systems can also feed online orders directly to your POS or kitchen display system.
Demonstrating how pos software enables you to manage both online and offline orders in one place.
You may manage both online and offline orders with POS software.
5. Grows as Business trends change
In order to support new consumer trends, cloud-based POS systems are constantly updating their software.
This implies that as consumer preferences change, a reliable POS will keep your firm current. This is another benefit of pos system. Also check US Resume Writing Services
With a POS, it is simple to take more well-liked payment methods including contactless, near-field communication (NFC), online, and mobile wallet payments (like Apple Pay and Google Wallet).
More than half of all retailers aim to increase the number of payment options in 2022, according to a GlobalPayments survey.
These consist of accepting digital invoices (51%), adding digital wallets (60%), and accepting QR code payments (60%).
In fact, it is anticipated that 30% of POS payments would be made using digital wallets by 2023.
The majority of POS systems already follow these patterns.
demonstrating how consumers may use QR codes for menus, coupons, or even payment using Clover.
Customers can utilise QR codes for menus, coupons, or even payment with POS systems like Clover.
Using chatbots or live chat for customer support is becoming more and more popular.
Chatbots are the fastest-growing brand communication channel, according to StartupBonsai.
A POS integration makes it simple to integrate applications, such as live chat, to your website.
Live chat typically receives greater customer satisfaction scores than other help channels and is favoured by millennials and Gen Z.
Live chat software is integrated with some POS systems, including Lightspeed Retail.
These systems can process small orders and appointment bookings, give customers information on the status of their orders, and respond to simple enquiries from clients (such operating hours and parking information).
The Shopify POS may easily be expanded with the Ako ChatBot.
Voice ordering is a significant shift in consumer demand that will have an impact on independent merchants and eateries.
Consumer reliance on voice assistants has grown yearly since Apple launched Siri in 2011.
According to a Statista report, speech channels would be used for $19.4 billion of e-commerce transactions in 2023.
Voice-ordering integrations are already supported by POS platforms like Revel Systems (through RedShift Voice Technology), and likely there will be a large number more in the future.
There are many different POS systems available.
Check out our rankings of the top free POS systems, top restaurant POS systems, and best POS methods for small companies to find the solution that works best for your company.
6. Boosts Revenue
A POS system increases your revenue in a number of ways, including by enhancing the client experience and keeping up with technological advancements.
A POS increases the amount of income streams—or sales channels—your small firm can handle, increasing sales even without those cutting-edge capabilities. This is another benefit of pos system.
You can add extra ways for clients to interact with your business beyond straightforward in-person sales or appointments by offering online sales, mobile events, pop-up shops, catering, or subscription services.
Here are a few illustrations:
An online store may be added by a salon that offers cut and colour services and sells its own range of suggested hair care items.
- A well-liked burger restaurant might seek to branch out into catering.
- A vintage clothes shop might easily move their business outside to meet customers at fairs or open-air markets.
- Cutting profits is another strategy for boosting income.
With the use of a POS, you can classify your sales and correctly track your expenses.
If you need to hire more cooks to support your catering business or if your new pop-up store concept is worthwhile, you’ll be able to decide in real time.
Buy Now, Pay later (BNPL)
Offering BNPL, which enables a buyer to buy an item & pay for it over time, typically in four instalments, is another increasingly popular strategy for boosting sales.
Previously reserved for major purchases, they can now be used for all transactions, which is desirable.
Stores can actually boost conversion and ticket sales by up to 30% and 50%, respectively, by providing BNPL.
By 2026, it is anticipated that BNPL payments will represent 24% of all purchases.
BNPL systems like Afterpay are being included into POS systems like Lightspeed.
Find the top applications for online and in-store “buy now, pay later.”
Ask your POS company which platforms they support.
7. Provides Accurate, Real-time Data
Key performance indicators (KPIs) can be tracked manually using spreadsheets and shared files, but doing so will likely become time-consuming and distracting from more important business issues.
A POS allows you to focus on more important responsibilities like servicing customers, merchandising your sales floor, or creating new menu items by automating the majority of that tracking. This is another benefit of pos system.
Demonstrating how simple it is to create and export reports using most pos systems.
Report generation and exportation are often simple with POS systems.
Along with daily sales, it’s simple to keep tabs on the following:
Shopping Metrics
Dining Out Metrics
Inventory Management
Average Transaction Value (ATV) /Average Customer Spend (ACS): The typical sum a customer spends while making a purchase from you.
Number of Transactions per Customer: This enables you to identify your most devoted and frequent consumers and the products they buy.
Items per Purchase: How many goods people typically purchase; the units per transaction (UPT) metric, also known as items per purchase, estimates the typical amount of items sold during a customer transaction over the course of a given time period.
Sell-Through Rate: The proportion of a specific product sold over a given period of time.
Sales Per Square foot: The typical revenue generated by your store per square foot of sales area
Conversion rate: Measures the proportion of visitors to your website or physical location who go on to complete a purchase.
Cart Abandon Rate: The proportion of online consumers who add products to their carts but leave the store without making a purchase, thereby abandoning their virtual carts
Customer Retention Rate: How well a business is able to retain current clients and keep them coming back.
Gross margin: The portion of a business’s or a product’s sales that is profit
Sales Per Category: The total sales a store generates for each category of goods
Sales Per Employee: How much money each employee on the team makes
Returns: The number of returned objects and their nature
The best part is that you can run reports at any time to receive a clear, up-to-the-second view of your active costs vs sales so you can make choices that will still have an effect on your bottom line.
For instance, you can launch a sales push on your social media, SMS, or email marketing platforms if your day’s sales are lower than projected.
You can place a fast order in time for your supplier to refill if it’s a busy day and you’re on the verge of selling out of your best-selling jeans.
Visit our guide How to Use Retail Data Analytics to Drive Sales to find out more about KPIs for restaurants and retail and how to use them.
8. Automates Task
A wonderful way to manage your business more correctly and efficiently is through automation.
You can automate processes like personnel scheduling and inventory management if you pick the correct POS.
You can set up your system to notify you when the stock is low or when an employee is going to clock in extra time.
This lessens part of the tedious effort involved in keeping track of stock levels and prevents costly problems like stockouts, too much dead stock, or needless overtime. This is another benefit of pos system.
The majority of POS systems, like 7shifts and Homebase, include integrated employee schedulers or integrate with premium products.
These scheduling tools can arrange your POS to reject early clock-ins or overtime hours and automatically populate your employee schedules depending on sales and staff availability.
Time theft, which includes early clock-ins, unapproved overtime, and “buddy punching” (when one person clocks in for another), can lose a company up to 20% of its earnings.
You’ll also save some managerial time if your store has a management team; according to research, managers can spend up to 20% of their time creating schedules.
By automating your inventory (setting low-stock alarms, producing automatic buy orders), and online ordering channels, you can further reduce costs.
Advanced functions like predictive analytics and vendor management are also available with some POS systems.
9. Centralizes Operation & Analytics
You might wish to be able to track information for each location separately and for the entire franchise if you own many stores or a chain of outlets. Also check Tax Preparation Services
You may also need to be able to interact with other stores, for example, to transfer merchandise or even to send workers from one store to another in an emergency.
You have many of these options with POS software.
Vend is used by Australian retailer Skate Connection to run its eight locations across the nation.
They can easily match inventory to sales on the POS platform and make sure the right products are being stocked in the proper locations.
A POS system consolidates all of your company’s information by rerouting it from several data sources.
Customers in the US make purchases via brick-and-mortar businesses, online retailers, as well as Facebook, Instagram, eBay, and a number of other platforms.
Even conventional brick-and-mortar businesses are utilising these channels.
Single-channel commerce is a thing of the past.
New sales channels are an exciting opportunity to expand your retail company, but growth also brings new logistical difficulties.
The top point-of-sale (POS) systems serve as command centres for your restaurant or retail business, connecting your sales data to several other software applications.
These tools could be extended versions of third-party programmes that have been incorporated, or they could be built-in POS modules like sales, employee time clock punches, and incoming vendor orders.
Many high-performing POS systems can send all of this data to a mobile reporting app that you can access on any smartphone thanks to this sophisticated centralization.
10. Ensures Secured Information
With all this talk about improving revenue, increasing sales, and expanding operational capacity, you’ll want to make sure that the data you have on you (and your clients) is secure. This is another benefit of pos system.
Cyber-attacks develop along with advances in technology and data management.
Reputable POS manufacturers make sure that order streams and payment information are protected, shielding both your consumers from fraud and your company from lawsuits or data breaches.
Giving access to Square pos.
In a system like Square, setting user rights by role or employee is simple.
According to a PwC survey, CEOs’ top concerns for 2021 will be cyber dangers, followed by pandemics and health catastrophes.
Always verify that your POS system receives regular updates.
Online sources are where most data breaches occur.
However, to prevent employee access to unlawful information on your in-person POS systems, you should configure user accounts with various permission levels.
The majority of POS systems provide bank-level security.
Watch for the following:
PCI-DSS conformity
SOC I and II level security for payment processing
SSL/TLS encryption of data
Cloud server physical and electronic security
Admin access requires two-factor authentication
In our guide to point-of-sale security, you can read more about POS Security.
11. Provides support When You Need It
Your new POS system can do much more than just record sales, so you should become proficient with all of its capabilities to get the maximum return on your investment.
For you to obtain the most out of your system, all top-tier POS brands offer customer support services.
Many also offer searchable knowledge bases or blogs online that you can use whenever you want to learn new features that can help you grow your business.
For instance, this blog post from Lightspeed details how to install client Wi-Fi in your store and utilise this amenity to gather information that supports marketing initiatives.
Others offer instructional videos.
Retailers and restaurant owners are prepared to look back on the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, it’s crucial to keep in mind how POS partners appeared to support their customers with deals and professional guidance throughout the social distancing era.
Here are just a few instances of how POS businesses helped their little clientele survive the pandemic:
- Shopify offers free 90-day trials to new users and waived prices for gift cards, curbside pickup, and local delivery software for current customers.
- Toast backed lobbying efforts to enact the RESTAURANTS Act, supplied free gift card and online ordering software, waived all software fees, and set aside $35 million in a Restaurant Recovery fund.
- Square enhanced the usage of QR codes for touchless transactions at its POS and saturated its online knowledge base with useful articles on using PPP loans and adhering to local labour rules. It also provided free email marketing tools.
Small business ownership and management have always been difficult.
It will undoubtedly be simpler for you to steer a course through the rapidly evolving retail environment if you have a powerful POS partner by your side.
Some POS service providers provide business tools in addition to POS systems.
For instance, Square offers accounts and loans for small businesses.
The Shopify University provides free business courses. This is another benefit of pos system.
For business plans, schedules, menus, and other documents, Toast offers free templates.
Displaying Square business banking for loans, savings, and checking.
Instant access to your profits is one advantage of banking with your POS supplier.
Bottom Line
POS systems, which have never been more accessible and affordable, allow tiny, independent stores and restaurants to function as efficiently as much larger brands.
In truth, many reputable POS companies, including Toast and Square, offer systems with no additional software costs.
If you are attempting to choose between a register and a point-of-sale system, search for a company that offers free trials or short-term contracts and uses the hardware you probably already have (like an iPad).
To select a POS system that meets your needs, read our article on the top options for small businesses.