If you’re using an ePOS system for your business, there’s quite a bit of information these handy tools can provide to you and your team. Between analytics, customer purchasing habits, and more, ePOS systems grant you valuable insight into the everyday operation of your business and the necessary tools to make changes where needed. Here’s some information on exactly what you can learn from your ePOS system.
Which Products Sell the Best
What is an ePOS? An electronic point of sale tool. ePOS systems track sales an inventory, allowing you to take a closer look at which products are moving and which are not. This can help you make better decisions when it comes to stocking and marketing, as well as identify which times of the year your business experiences the most foot traffic (or web traffic for online stores).
With better insights into your products’ success, you can designate resources to their growth, instead of a blanket effort to cover everything your store sells. Focusing on your bestseller ensures customers keep returning for their favorite items, keeping traffic and profits high.
How Effective Your Marketing Efforts Are
To create better marketing efforts, you first need to identify what isn’t working with your current system. If your customers aren’t reading promotional material or following up on the call to action, your efforts are being wasted.
With greater insight into bestselling products and a sales system that allows you to view individual customers’ information, you can create more customized (and therefore effective) marketing campaigns via email, signs, or other avenues.
Using your ePOS system to learn about your marketing techniques makes the software that much more vital to the success of your business. Be sure you’re building those customer profiles, asking for names, email addresses, and other information to ensure they’re receiving marketing materials.
Where Your Labor is Being Spent
The largest expense for any business is going to be labor, so if you can find ways to minimize the need for it or better schedule employee to meet labor needs, why wouldn’t you? With an ePOS system, you can have employees clock in at a single terminal, allowing you to monitor time cards, tasks, and more.
With a central terminal, you don’t need to chase down logins or have a separate time clock. Each employee’s time clock will be tracked directly within the ePOS software, allowing you to enforce punctuality and learn which employees are adhering to the company’s policies.
Some ePOS systems also allow you to assign tasks within the software, so you can monitor things like employees sales goals. This takes away some of the pressure of having to walk around the store checking up on everyone; you can simply login into the terminal and see where your employees are in terms of daily goals and tasks.
What Your Financial Standing Is
It’s important to know when you’re running a business whether you’re making a profit or losing money. With ePOS systems, you can track sales numbers and compare them to the previous month or even the previous year, to see if the business has experienced any growth or decline during that time.
ePOS systems will track every sale, log every dollar made, and give you accurate numbers on your profits. Some even integrate well with bookkeeping software, so you can take an in-depth look at your profit margin and expenses pre and post-tax.
With so much financial information being collected, you’ll have a much better idea of where your business stands, and what changes you may need to make in order to create a more profitable future. Remember that insight is the single greatest tool at your disposal, and the more you understand your business, the better you will be able to run it.
Where Your Inventory System Needs Improving
Inventory tracking is one of the most important aspects of maintaining a healthy business. If your inventory counts are always wrong and you’re constantly ordering too much stock, you’re costing the business money by creating unnecessary expenses.
Tracking inventory can be tricky without the right tools to assist you. Manual accounts performed by employees (or by you) are prone to error since they’re being completed by humans. An ePOS system will track inventory in real-time, giving you accurate numbers on demand.
Additionally, many systems have notification features that let you know when stock is running low. Alongside the sales tracking features of your POS system, this tool will help you order the correct amount of stock and avoid overstocking your inventory.
Don’t take chances on managing inventory, especially if you’re having problems with overstocking. The more product that sits on your shelves unsold, the more money you lose. Manage your inventory efficiently with an ePOS system for more accurate numbers and fewer errors.
How Well You Know Your Customers
Besides purchase history, how well do you know your customers? On a first-name basis? Do you know what kinds of products they prefer? Do they have seasonal preferences? Those all-important customer profiles can grant you insight into much more than just what items your customers purchase.
Getting to know customers by name creates a warm environment for them to shop in; making them feel “at home” in your store. You probably have stores you feel this way with when you visit. The employees know you by name and know exactly what you’re looking for.
Use your ePOS system to get to know your customers better. Always keep their information up to date and ask if there have been any changes to names (such as marriage) or addresses since their last visit.
