Point of Sale (POS) systems are used by businesses to monitor sales and accept payments from customers. As of 2021, there are 1,490.5 million users of POS payments worldwide and by 2022, this is expected to reach nearly USD 9,000 in value.
Selecting the appropriate POS system for your business involves the consideration of various factors, all of which play a major role in helping you make the right decision. Listed below are six tips that can be considered when selecting the best POS system for small businesses.
Evaluate Business’ Needs
In order to select the best POS system, you will first need to identify the precise requirements that your business is looking for. Factors to consider may include products, interaction and tools. Identifying your products will assist you in choosing a POS system that supports the sale of your goods and service. Additionally, analysing your business’ interaction with its customers by assessing your loyalty programs and communication with consumers will enable you to discern the level of customer management that you require from the POS system. Furthermore, identifying the tools that are already in effect for your business will allow you to select a system that is compatible with these particular tools.
Does it make things easier for your customer?
YES! Customers are always full of questions — availability, price and during social distancing and limitations due to pandemic situations, delivery options. A mobile POS software makes it easy for your teams to manage remotely while one person could centrally operate product, price and other changes. Furthermore, your customers will always be hunting for deals. A mobile POS software will be the best thing you would have to identify everything from the purchase patterns and preferences, which will enable you to create and run promotions for specific customer segments, using this information!
In a recent article, Google mentioned that using digital tools makes a meaningful difference — during the pandemic, revenue performance was 50% better for digitally advanced small businesses versus those that are less savvy and Google Searches for “who has” + “in stock” have grown by more than 8,000% year over year.
(June 2021, Coe, M. E., President, Google Customer Solutions). So unless you want to be left behind, now is the time to adopt!.
Allocate Budget
One of the most important things to consider when selecting a POS system for your business is budget. As of 2021, 54% of small businesses allocate an official budget, thus highlighting that most businesses derive value in maintaining a budget. Whilst considering the initial costs, it is fundamental that you also look at factors such as the cost per month, extra costs for customisation and the features provided for the cost you are paying. Free POS systems like SalesPlay are the most ideal setup for small businesses, simply because they do not entail any expensive costs.
Ease of Use
Evaluating the levels of sophistication that your business requires from a POS system will assist you in selecting a system that meets these needs. POS systems differ in terms of their complexity and levels of integration. Therefore, evaluating the ease of use will enable you to select a system based on how well it integrates with your existing apps.
Some POS apps come with full integration of Financial features such as the creation of invoices, Purchase orders, Goods received notes and it also enables you to directly contact suppliers and customers based on the information you see on the POS. It is also not uncommon to find POS software that comes with inbuild Cash flow statements, debtor management features and even Profit and loss and balance statements.
If your POS does not offer these features, you would be required to plug in an external app.
Market Research
Researching the market will assist you in making the right decision in terms of choosing a POS system. This can be achieved by referring to crowdsource ideas from groups for small businesses, visiting technology websites and
looking at what similar businesses are using. Assessing the ideas brought up in small business communities such as Facebook and LinkedIn will help you crowdsource recommendations for a POS system. Similarly, browsing through technology websites will enable you to obtain reliable information from software experts. Additionally, communicating with businesses that are similar to yours and getting their recommendations will give you more insight as to which POS system is more suitable for your business.
Software Trials
Trying out a POS system for yourself is the best way to get to know it. Most system providers offer free trials for 14–30 days. Signing up for these trials will allow you to test its features. Therefore it is important that you use the free trial to enter customer information and products, whilst also ringing up sales and generating inventory in order to assess whether the software is truly suitable for your business.
Hardware
Some POS systems tend to be expensive due to the inclusion of both software and hardware. These costs can be lowered by purchasing a system with only the software and making do with the hardware that your business already uses. However, you must first ensure that the hardware your business owns is compatible with the system. An effective solution would be the utilisation of a cloud-based POS system. These particular systems are convenient and beneficial because they allow mobile devices to function as cash registers, whilst processing and storing data online as opposed to an on-premise server.
