Among other things, a POS system can help boost your business’s productivity as well as streamline everyday activities for maximum efficiency. From inventory management to preset keys and analytics, a POS system is a powerful tool for any business owner and an essential component to the efficiency of modern businesses. Here’s how to use your POS system to boost productivity.
Efficient Inventory Management
When you spend too much time trying to count inventory, you’re not being very productive. Someone (who’s on the clock) will have to manually count your inventory, which can take up to a few hours depending on how much inventory you’re working with. A POS system can help eliminate the need for a manual count by automatically tracking your inventory in real-time.
With real-time counts, you’ll be able to ensure the accuracy of your inventory at any time of the day. Real-time inventory is always more accurate than counts performed at the end of the day. The POS system will also account for any returns that were made during the day to ensure the inventory numbers are 100% accurate at all times.
You’ll still have to manually enter inventory counts for new product, unless your POS system can integrate with ordering programs. If it can, your inventory will be almost completely automated, and therefore much less likely to incur errors during counts and purchases.
Fewer Errors in Transactions
Transaction errors can not only cause a decrease in productivity and efficiency, but they can also decrease your overall customer satisfaction. When a customer purchases and item or product from your business, they expect the checkout process to not only be quick, but also to be accurate.
Since POS terminals are so easy to use, it will be easier to spot mistakes during the transaction on both the customer and business end of things. If someone rings something up improperly, doesn’t apply the proper coupon code, or gives the wrong change, a POS system can help customers and employees spot the issue much quicker than with older systems.
This reduction in errors is vital to creating the most effective checkout process possible. Nothing holds up a line more effectively than a customer who is not happy about receiving the wrong change or discount on their purchase. Use your point of sale software to ensure accuracy across all areas of your business, but most of all during the checkout process.
Efficient Labor Scheduling
The more accurate you’re scheduling labor, the more efficient your team will be. If you’re scheduling people at the wrong times, you’re costing yourself money; and alternatively, not scheduling enough staff during high-traffic times can cost sales and customer satisfaction. Your POS will allow you to access precious data on sales throughout the day, week, month, and year.
Once you know when your busiest times of day are, you can properly staff your store and make productivity higher than ever. The more accurate you are with your staffing, the more productive employees will be. There’s nothing that is more detrimental to a business than employees who have nothing to do!
During busy times of the day, you only want to staff enough people to keep lines moving and customers taken care of. While staffing more than enough employees is the usual practice for this kind of service, if you can minimize how many people you have working at any given time, you’ll save a lot of money in the long run.
Provide Valuable Analytics for Review
Analytics can provide you with valuable information about which products are the best-selling items, what times of the day/month/year you’re busiest, as well as how your sales are doing compared to last year, last month, or any other timeframe you choose. Don’t underestimate the power of reflection; you may be able to identify habits or processes that are costing you a lot of money.
With business analytics at your side, you can make better decisions about staffing, how to spend marketing funds, and more. You can also use your sales numbers to set financial goals like paying down debt or expanding operations. This is a truly priceless tool that POS systems can offer, and should be used to its fullest potential!
Presets
Setting up preset buttons on a POS system can make ringing out customers much more efficient. With presets, you’ll be able to simply click an item without having to search through the inventory system for it. Customers certainly don’t want to wait in line while you find items in the system; set them up for the quickest turnaround times possible, and you’ll have happier customers overall.
Conclusion
POS systems have plenty of uses in a business of any size, and increasing efficiency and productivity are just a few. With access to analytics, better scheduling practices, and better inventory management, you can streamline your business for maximum efficiency and create a labor schedule that won’t suffer from downtime. Try a POS system today and transform your business into a well-oiled machine!
