5 Mistakes To Avoid While Choosing A Retail POS System

Point of Sale (POS) Systems makes the business of selling much easier. However, when choosing a retail POS system, you need to avoid making these common mistakes.

The 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Before you buy a retail POS system, you have to do some research to identify your own requirements, analyze the POS systems you have shortlisted, and learn more about the companies providing the solutions. If you decide to skip these steps to cut time, you will regret it later on. Avoid making the five mistakes discussed here.

Think Before You Commit

#1. Buying Without Getting Product References

If you are in a hurry to implement a retail POS system, you may feel tempted to just purchase a POS system without spending the time to verify the utility of the product and its performance. Before you commit to a purchase, search for references. Those who are using the product will be able to help you make a better decision.

Make a list of a few current users of the product. They should preferably be using the version that you intend to purchase. Visit their site, see how the product works. Ask them how useful it is, how well it works, how smooth the implementation was, and how well it works with your other business processes. Don’t forget to ask them about the degree of support you get from the POS System vendor.

#2. Not Analyzing Your Particular Needs

Analyze your business processes to understand how you can streamline them for better performance. Take into account possible future needs. Then consult the vendor and get their team to help you understand how their POS software could help you fine tune your processes. The provider should have good industry knowledge so that their team can customize the software to suit your needs.

The POS Vendor’s team should demonstrate how the product will track and record each process including purchases, receivings, and transfers. All processes and business operations should be interlinked for cohesiveness. The team should also be able to guide you through the automation of various processes to ensure that the POS System actually boosts efficiency

#3. Not Researching The POS System Provider

The POS Solution provider should be in the retail software sector and should have a very good understanding of the retail industry. Having a few years of experience providing retail POS solutions always helps. There are many reputed companies in the market like Shopify, that provide reliable and efficient POS solutions.

The POS System vendor should be financially strong enough to stay in business and provide product support for life. Verify if they have a large enough workforce to be able to provide good and ample aftersales support.

#4. Selecting A Retail POS System Based On Price

Often price can be a vital factor in the product selection process, especially when it comes to small business firms. You do not want to pay for an overpriced solution that does not offer value for money. Still, basing your decision mainly on price could eventually lead to additional costs as a result of the inefficiency of the POS system. The POS system may not have required features like good inventory management and tracking, the ability to track employee data, record and track all customer data to enable you to provide an overall great customer experience.

Price should just be one of the factors. Look at the features and strengths of the software. Even if you just choose the basic features, for now, it should have an extensive feature set to enable you to add various other components and modules as and when you need. It should also be easily scalable as your business grows. The POS System vendor should provide excellent support.

#5. Not Knowing How Reliable The Company’s Support Will Be

The utility and life of a product will depend on the support services provided by the vendor. This depends on how well-established the company is in the industry, how strong it is financially. Before buying, check these aspects of the vendor. Find if they offer excellent support to their customers.

If you buy a product and the company is not strong enough it may soon go out of business, leaving you stranded with the product. Even if the company is well-established and strong, if their customer service and technical support are poor, you will not be able to resolve issues quickly.

If your POS is starting to malfunction, upgrading your POS System will save yourself from headaches. POS Systems need to run continuously without any hiccups. If you encounter problems, the vendor should provide real-time technical support. A technical team member should pick up your call and try and assist you in resolving the issue over the phone. If this is not possible, the company should immediately send a technician to your premises to resolve the issue. The longer your retail POS system is down, the more you lose in terms of time and money.

A good retail POS system should automate all your sales related processes, improve efficiency, enable better integration of business operations like purchase, sales, inventory, customer tracking, and employee management. If you do your homework before you commit to a particular Point-of-Sale system, you will get a solution that will be highly effective and efficient, scales easily, and ensure it serves your retail business for a long time, with quick and effective support from the vendor.

 

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