Three Unexpected Benefits of Using Retail EPOS Systems

When a company opts to invest in a retail epos system, there is usually an expectation that management life will be made a lot easier. This is true, with a range of solutions that remove the need for much of the bookkeeping associated with business. Though that vital information is stored and always to hand, there is more to do with it than simply use it as a measure of profit or loss.

The fact that multi channel retail systems can produce a vast range of information, from total sales and best sellers to stock reports and even provide a detailed sales order system, means that management has much to play with. They can, for example, use facts to develop future expansion plans, decide on what product lines to drop and even discover which direction consumer trends are going in. Below are three of the more unexpected ways in which the information can be used.

Inspiring Employees

An epos system has definite advantages for employees. In a retail shop, for example, items in the system can be displayed in icon form making it easier to enter purchases, and reducing the risk of errors greatly. It can also make easier the task of finding out stock availability and reporting, while the ability to input prices in advance means that remembering prices, or even searching for the price tag, is no longer necessary.

However, the system can play an inspiring role too, with the ability to calculate the daily, weekly and monthly sales made by specific staff members. This means that an incentive can be offered to the highest sales by a staff member over a certain period of time, perhaps a bonus payment, or something more fun, like tickets to a rock concert, a movie or even an extra paid day leave. The options are infinite really, but the effect is the same with staff motivated to sell more.

Identifying Potential Promotions

Because modern epos systems can compute sales figures in detail, the breakdown will reveal the best sellers and the worst sellers. This can be valuable information, not only because it indicates customer preferences and identifies what items of stock should probably be dropped, but because it also feeds ideas for promotions. For example, if a telecommunications store notes that a particular mobile phone is particularly popular, it can then select one as a prize in a promotional competition. The fact that such as popular item is the prize is likely to generate more interest.

Alternatively, poor sellers can be used as prizes simply to get them out of stock. Or, they could be placed on special offer, below cost price perhaps, also in an effort to move them.

Identifying Sales Trends

Comparing the performance of items over an extended period of time can reveal which items are likely to be successful in the future. When it comes to a music store, for example, the performance of sales in classical music may be overlooked as it is normally a small section.

However, when figures are compared, it could show that, proportionally, stocks are sold out three times faster than rock or pop music. That indicates a large interest in that genre of music, and may convince management to increase the size of the classical section. Country music, meanwhile, may prove to be the least popular section, and can then be reduced.

There are many other ways that retail epos systems can help to develop a business, serving to identify growth areas and increase the potential for higher sales. But there is always a need to balance such information with real factors such as those that the business owner is familiar with. For example, customers can be fickle, and a sudden increase in sales in one area could always prove to be just a spike. That may be the gut feeling of the proprietor.

The knowledge that management have of their own market is always highly valuable. However, when it comes to multi channel retail systems, where preferences are spread over a number of sales channels, an integrated system can provide an instantaneous overall view, as well as detailed break downs.

Epos systems are not just about offering a flawless sales order system or registering the total figures, it can also reveal a lot more.

Kathryn Dawson writes articles about Sparkstone, where you can find some of the most functional retail epos systems available today. The fully featured Sparkstone multi channel retail systems let you manage customers, products and orders in a single interface, whether you have a single store or fifty outlets. Contact Sparkstone today to see how their sales order system can help your business to thrive, leading to fast customer service and high accuracy.