Cash or card: What payment option should you offer your clients?
Payment is an uncomfortable topic for most companies. Whether you’re a large company not sure where to store large sums of cash, or if you have doubts about how to go about small business credit card processing, payment always presents a plethora of options, each with its own benefits and its own headaches.
Luckily, point of sales systems are here to save the day. Bringing structure and synergy to any company, POS systems allow businesses to conduct sales transactions, as well as to handle a number of other activities, including inventory management, returns and exchanges and tracking customer behaviour- they really are an integral part of every company.
So just what is a POS system?
Back in the day, cashiers used to manually punch every item into the till, in what was a tedious process prone to mistakes. In comes the POS terminal, a computerised replacement for a cash register. This normally comprises of a personal computer as its core, along with specific integrated programmes for your particular environment.
Nowadays, POS systems can be found in most industries, like lodging, retailing and restaurants.
How does it help my businesses?
At this point you might be thinking: “It sounds good, but do I really need it?”
And you’re right to ponder, especially since you’ll probably have to fork out a grand for such a system. However, the benefits you’ll get it return will be worth every penny.
The biggest advantage of a POS system is the instantaneous and accurate assessment of your inventory. Every good that gets rung up is automatically subcontracted from your inventory list, each time an employee cashes out a customer. With upkeep of inventory being the most laborious and time-consuming activity for any business, just think about the time you’ll save and the mistakes you’ll avoid from having to do it all by hand! Not only that, but the POS system also lets you know when that good has reached its reorder point.
In addition to this, by tracking customer behaviour, the POS system helps you lead your business in the right direction, by signalling your most loyal customers and pinpointing emerging trends. With the customer’s purchase history available at the push of a button, any attentive cashier would be able to inform a tea lover that a new stock of herbal tea has just come in, surprising the client with top-notch customer service and pulling in an extra buck for the company.
The Future
Above all, it is the way of the future- it is 2017 and we should be embracing every available bit of technology that we can in order to help us be as successful, efficient, and forward thinking as possible. When it comes to the competitive world of business- those businesses that do not move with the times are the ones that get left behind– that is just the way it is! For those that want to be at the forefront of their industry, giving competitors a run for their money- a POS is the way forward!
With an array of systems available, there is the ideal system tailor-made to your own company needs.
