Will your retail business exist in the next five years?

Photo provided by Morguefile user kconnors

Photo provided by Morguefile user kconnors

The short answer is no if you don’t embrace technology.

For you to survive and grow you’ll need to educate yourself and your staff about technology. Point of Sale (POS) systems are now very affordable and customizable. A POS system can streamline the operation of your business with reports that help you prepare for and manage growth.

With POS technology you can streamline the operation of your business with reports that help manage:

1. Inventory

  • What sells
  • What doesn’t sell
  • How long does any particular item sit on the shelf
  • An accurate count of remaining inventory to help decide if you need to order more

2. Labor

  • How many hours of paid labor against daily sales
  • Who is clocked in/out and when
  • Which employee makes the most sales or highest dollar volume of sales

3. Sales

  • What day of the week has the highest sales
  • What time of day has the highest sales

Still using an electronic cash register? Well that’s about as irrelevant in a retail setting as an abacus.

The electronic cash register has two basic functions

  • Track sales made by the hour and by day
  • Track flow of cash in and out of your business for any given day

With these two pieces of information you must either do manual calculations or enter these numbers into accounting software to get reports and forecasts for your business. The story these two sets of numbers tell about the business is limited. Manual calculations have to be made to account for sold, remaining and projected inventory.

The choice is clear…

With a properly installed POS system, all inventory, labor and sales information records in one database. You can access one or all of the reports for multiple views of your business. The technology also puts information in your hands quickly, allowing you to spot trends and take advantage of opportunities. Without a POS system all of this information needs to be gathered and calculated manually.

When you’re ready, take it to the next level!

The next layer of efficiency can be reached by integrating your in-store POS system with the ecommerce package on your store’s website. When shoppers go to your website they should be able to check inventory, make a purchase online and choose to have it shipped or available for pick up. More consumers are making buying decisions at company websites, even if they have a local store in their area. In store shopping is now secondary to online shopping.

You MUST upgrade your technology in order to stay in business and remain competitive.

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