Many gift stores have SKUs numbering in the hundreds, even thousands, and actual counts exceeding those numbers. This makes inventory management a must and the primary reason for gift shops to implement an all-in-one point of sale system. But, there are more reasons, because point of sale systems do so much more. These systems become employees, performing the work of several employees at the same time.
A complete point of sale system can directly increase productivity, avoid gaps in stock, and improve the check-out experience. Indirectly, this increases customer engagement, because more time is spent interacting with the customer. Below are 5 reasons why gift shops benefit greatly from a complete point of sale system.
1. Optimized Inventory
An all-in-one inventory system can give alerts on particular SKUs, regarding shelf-life and provide reports for products that are selling and the ones that are not. Understanding stock levels and rotating products (that do or don’t sell) improves product freshness. And, let’s not forget the dead stock report. These are the items that will not sell. Finding a market for them has not worked, so it’s time to replace them with something profitable and not collecting dust.
A major benefit with inventory management is understanding your market and their need. This allows a gift store to focus on items that sell, concentrating more on inventory that moves, and direct marketing and advertising.
2. A Better Customer Experience
Checkout time dramatically impacts customer perceptions of service and influences customer buying decisions. Studies have shown that 88% of consumers want a quicker checkout experience. For example, if the checkout process is too long, customers will leave the store before selecting items from the shelves, also called “shopping cart abandonment.” Consumers also had negative experiences if they felt that clerks and employees were too busy handling transactions to answer questions or help with purchasing decisions.
The first impressions you make with your customer need to be positive and memorable experiences. This comes from an employee behind the counter, who is able to process sales and interact with customers in a friendly and inviting way. Train your employees for great customer service, because the sale is more than a transaction, it’s an experience.
Your employees will have the ability to answer questions and be more proactive then reactive at their jobs. Time spent providing a more positive customer experience equals greater sales.
Powerful tools for your gift shop.
3. Cloud-based Automation with Less Worry
Using a single system for inventory management, sales reporting, and accounting reduces mistakes made during capture and transfer of valuable data. This eliminates human error, too. Keeping the point of sale under one system allows gift shops to schedule important sales reports and inventory alerts. The loss of information during weekly or monthly transfers can cause many different financial problems that may impact your inventory.
Having a cloud based system means your information is secure, available, and backed up on redundant servers. You can be at your home, on the road, or on vacation and view your company’s sales and activity. Having the latest and best security in place is one of the major priorities for software providers, not so much for a small business. Trust them to provide industry leading security.
4. Invaluable Sales Reports
A complete point of sale can report on your employees’ sales and monitor their activity. More than just hitting sales goals, this means digging deeper into the data and sharing your evaluation of the numbers. Management of their productivity is important, so remember to be positive and include recognition of best practices and total sales. Your employees like to hear what it is they are doing right and why they are doing well. While you recognize their success, offer a suggestion about how to improve in weak areas. People tend to listen better if they have been praised. Any negative criticism can close the link of communication between you and your team.
5. Flexibility
If you want to expand business, either through increasing inventory, opening a new store front, or attending a tradeshow, you’ll need to invest in a system that is flexible. Some systems have limitations on the amounts of SKUs you can have, which becomes a major problem when trends change and your inventory needs to change with them.
A flexible system, like a cloud-based system, creates a realtime network with another store, showing current inventory and sales. This system also goes on the road with you to trade shows. All of your inventory is easily accessible inside a tablet. It’s an all-in-one system that grows with you.
Choice
We understand that there are a lot of choices in the market. Find a point of sale company that will work with you, a company that listens to your unique needs and creates solutions for your business. If expanding your business is important to you, then entrust it with a flexible system that is secure, and gives realtime inventory and reporting.