A basic Point of Sale (POS) system is used for recording the number of sales happening throughout the day. However, with the expansion in number of stores and channels like online, offline and omnichannel, there is a need for a more advanced level of POS system. This article talks about that advanced technology along with the benefits that it provides to compete in today’s environment.
Cloud-based POS system
Point of Sale (POS) is the time and place where a retail transaction happens. It is a combination of hardware and software systems used for the billing of a product. A POS system generally consists of a display unit to show the billing, a keyboard or touchscreen device to select products and enter data, a barcode scanner to scan billed objects, a printer to print the receipt, a cash register for storage of cash obtained during sales, and a software interface to complete the process.
These software are the brains of the POS system that helps retailers to process orders in retail stores with the help of available hardware. These software are designed as per the need of the retailers; a basic POS software may allow only the billing of the product with inventory management. With brands working on expansion to reach out to the customers for their convenience, there is a need for a better centralised system that helps manage different stores and sales channels remotely. Also, online retailing and omni-channel retailing have become a need for the retailers. Managing sales across all these different sales channels and number of stores is a cumbersome process.
However, cloud-based technologies have made the task easier for the retailers, allowing them to manage all the sales channels and inventory from a single dashboard. The technology is helping retailers in not just collecting data, but also analysing it for better informed decisions.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping retailers to predict the trends and customer preference of a product. These insights can be used for improving customer experience through the availability of products most liked by the customers, understanding the price point etc. The data further reveal which products are about to stock out so that the retailers can order those items in advance, saving the unavailability of the products which may cause huge losses otherwise.
Moreover, with the help of real time data insights of the sales, retailers can promote real-time targeting which may increase the product sales by special deals and discounts. These advanced systems are also integrated with the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and assist in secure in-store payment gateway. AI helps in accelerating payment processes by identifying the loyal customers and blocking suspicious payments easily. The further customer engagement can be enhanced through relevant product recommendations.
Advancing POS through cloud-based solutions
Vend POS
Vend is a web-based POS system that can operate on Mac or PC both online and offline. The company provides tailored solutions to industries like Health and Beauty, Sports and Outdoor, Small business and Fashion Boutique POS. The software is easy to use and can be effortlessly integrated with most of the POS equipment and hardware as well as with any payment providers.
Tailored for fashion retailers, the Fashion Boutique POS is designed considering the requirement of the apparel retailers. As the products in the fashion industry are very dynamic that keep on changing every season, the Vend POS provides data analytic that helps retailers understand which products are the most liked by the customers and promote them for better sales. The solution provides real-time reporting for better insights and taking data-driven decisions.
The solution has features like reporting and stock management which also makes it easy to add, edit and remove any product in the software. The cloud capabilities of the software allow easy integration with leading e-commerce, marketplace and mobile platform, sharing real-time inventory and sales across different channels. It also has other features like customer management, staff targets, inventory and integration with the leading accounting software.
Vend POS allows easy integration of online stores with the offline ones, so that the entire inventory and customer profiles can be handled from one platform. All the product information can also be synchronised to a centralised database which makes it easy to manage operations through a single platform.
The Vend POS system comes with an in-built loyalty programme that can save the customer details or offer them incentives and discounts to sign up after they leave the store. The programme also rewards them on their next purchase, encouraging them to shop more. The powerful reporting provides an accurate view of sales, customer, product performance, staff performance, identify trends and help identify areas that needs improvement. Connect your sales, customer and product data in real time to a marketplace of business apps. Streamline and automate your retail operations, save hours of time each day, avoid double entering data, and trade seamlessly on multiple channels.
The company helps their customers with a trial period of 14 days where they can check how the software is performing and then opt for the implementation. Few of its customers like Crane Brothers Auckland and Number Six have been successfully leveraging the technology. “Vend has saved us the equivalent of 40–80 hours a week in productivity. That’s the equivalent of two full-time people,” informed Murray Crane, Crane Brothers Auckland. At the same time, Jake Hardy, Number Six, London, said, “Being firstly from the tech side of fashion, I have used a lot of different point of sale software packages, but Vend is without a doubt the best on the market right now.”
FOCUS POS solution
It is a GST-ready solution that comes with numerous capabilities like easy to use interface, features both touchscreen and keypad-controlled, making it easier for use as per the customer preference. It accepts payments from different options and can support multiple currencies. It has an integrate inventory software to automate and manage stock transfers and reconciliation, identify reordering needs, etc. The system is capable of generating powerful reports through the in-built advanced report designer. The report is synchronised information of the sales and products across different sales channels, thus, maintaining a centralised database which can be used to manage information across different channels.
Moreover, it has 9 comprehensive modules to manage sales, pre-orders, reservations, home deliveries, purchase orders, inventory transfers, customer tracking, discounts schemes, promos and loyalty programmes, data synchronisation, security, and all other aspects of a retail business.
The cloud-based POS system can be customised as per the need of the customers including the dashboard to have the important KPIs attached.
The software also helps managing customer profiles through configurable member module, and recording the customer data to offer those tailored discounts and recommendations. The solution can also be easily integrated with the ERP solution, allowing efficient tracking of customer buying preferences, accommodating retailers to build various dynamic customer loyalty programmes that can improve customer experience and encourage them to visit the store again. By enabling businesses to build a better customer engagement, these solutions give them the right tools to raise the customer transaction to a great extent, thereby speeding up sales.
The software can be operated through both touchscreen and keyboard while customisable dashboards make them extremely user-friendly, and at the same time, ensure complete control over all the operations functioning within the establishment.
