It may seem odd that something like a POS system could be negatively impacting your business – if it can make sales, then it isn’t hurting anything, right? Unfortunately this notion is wrong. Just because your POS system is capable of making sales does not mean that it is helping your business, and it may actually be doing the opposite.
If your POS system isn’t mobile, then you are missing out on sales. Every person who enters your store creates an opportunity for a sale (you already did the hard part and got them in there!). Now, here are a few things that can happen with an all-stationary POS setup: Your line gets too long, and discourages customers. Many of us have busy schedules, and are turned off by long lines especially if what we are buying is small, can be picked up another day, or is not 100% necessary in the first place. A mobile POS can be taken out from behind the register, and can ring up customers while they are in line or even eliminate the need for them to join a line in the first place.
Another common situation is a customer who is browsing, but is unsure of what she wants or may not really need anything. Often times these customers are overlooked. Employees think “Oh she’s just browsing, she’s not buying anything.” With a mobile POS, employees can approach customers on the floor equipped with product images, special offers, and even each customer’s online wish list. They can show browsing customers the top 10 products selling that week, as well as look up catalogs on the spot for customers looking for a specific category of items.
Additionally, a fully on-premise setup can be limiting your access to important business information. Not only is it limiting your physical access by being tied to PC’s instead of having mobile capabilities, but also limits access to the system itself. What happens if your credit card processing goes down on a busy Saturday, and your tech support only works Monday-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm? Then you cannot process credit card transactions through your system until Monday. What if your database crashes? Then you cannot access your customer data until it fixed, and hopefully your information has been backed up recently!
Lastly, your POS may be slowing down your employees. If the system is outdated or needs an update, then it can start to run slowly. This increases the time it takes for employees to tender each transaction, leading to incomplete customer information, long lines, and general frustration for your employees. Less than happy employees interacting with customers is not a recipe for success, especially when that interaction is the last thing that will stick with the customer as he or she walks out the door. Another thing that can slow your employees down is no integration between your POS and other softwares. Your POS being integrated with your accounting software and other programs you use daily to run your business such as Microsoft Office is key to productivity.
If you would like to learn more about switching to a mobile, cloud-hosted, integrated POS system, please email us or give us a call at 860-781-7136.