A point of sale system can make data entry errors a thing of the past.

Your business is equipped with many assets: amazing products, stellar staff, and a compelling website, just to name a few. However, there is an additional asset that you may not have considered, and that is your point of sale (POS) system. When you truly grasp that it encompasses exponentially more than simply accepting payment transactions, you will see how using it to its full potential can benefit your business.

What is a POS system?

Although we are not going to present you with an ultimate POS guide in this post, an understanding of the basics is vital. In its simplest form, your POS system is what you use to complete customers’ cash and credit card payments. It can consist of several software and hardware components that usually include most or all of the following.

• POS terminal. The “brains” of the operation, this is where software is run and customer and business-related data is stored.
• Card readers. These can be connected or can operate wirelessly, allowing you to accept payments from anywhere while still having access to the full suite of POS capabilities that exist on your system.
• Barcode scanners. These peripheral devices are used to catalog inventory.
• Receipt printers.
• Cash drawers.
• Software that coordinates the acceptance of payments and interfaces with your payment processing company.

Although contemporary POS systems may appear unimposing, they are packed with tools that combine to form nothing short of a business operations powerhouse. Take just a few minutes to ponder the main advantages the right POS solution can provide.

Accurate sales and inventory tracking.

Remember that barcode scanner we referred to in our list of POS components? This is where it comes into play. Each time a piece of merchandise arrives from your supplier, use the scanner to record it, and add it to your inventory. When that product is sold, placed on layaway, or returned, today’s smart POS systems can automatically keep track of the details, making it a breeze for you to predict when you need to re-order and to gauge how well each particular item is selling.

Launch and keep track of discounts.

Who doesn’t love a bargain? With the right POS system in place, you can easily program discounts that reward buyers for their patronage. Best of all, you don’t need to rely on your or your staff’s memory to ensure that everyone gets the sale prices you are advertising.

Keeping track of coupons and other promotions.

Offering flash sales and a changing array of discounts can encourage customers to keep checking back, thus remaining engaged in an ongoing positive rapport with your business. However, these strategies may lead to a great many data entry errors if you go about trying to handle the projects by entering every discount and coupon by hand. Instead of disgruntled customers and confused accounting staff, you can let your POS system take over the job. Because of its automated capabilities, your cashier need only scan the coupon for the discount to be applied. Furthermore, your point of sale solution enables you to track how effective your promotional campaigns prove to be.

Creating actionable inventory and sales reports.

Because the data entered into your POS system will be correct, the information it can collate and combine will also precisely reflect your business operations. With just a few clicks, you can generate reports that clearly show daily, weekly, and monthly sales volumes, profit margins, inventory levels, and employee performance figures. The spreadsheets you print out can be shown to prospective investors, used for training, harnessed to create targeted future marketing campaigns, and so much more.

If you had not already realized the many benefits that a contemporary POS solution can bring to your business, we hope that this list of advantages will inspire you to integrate one into your operations. Perhaps the single most compelling gift that your POS will give is that of accuracy. Precision in the automated entry of data creates a flow of efficiency that radiates through every facet of your business. Thanks to your upgraded POS system, inventory management, customer relationships, sales, bookkeeping, and reporting will all become streamlined and on point. The bottom line: Leave manual entry behind once and for all, replacing it with a modern POS solution. It’s a decision you’ll never regret.