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A Buyer's Guide to Retail Solutions
Point of Sale/Retail Buyer’s Guide
Point of Sale (POS); a very familiar term to many business owners most especially of restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and shopping centers. While still a lot of companies are using the proven-effective and efficient cash register, POS software products on the other hand has been the trend in the software market for years. POS software solution is the modern cash register. It records retail transaction between customers and sellers when it happens.
POS software solutions encompass many features of traditional checkout machines. Today, POS solution packages often come with integrated accounting modules, including general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, purchasing, and inventory control systems. That is, a POS system is an all-in-one solution that keeps track of your business's cash flow. Investment wise, this is an eye-opener to business owners out there whose goal is to increase sales and maximize inventories. On this Buyer’s Guide, we at ITQlick.com would like you to take another closer look on the importance of POS; what can it really bring to your business and why thousands of POS software solutions have been sold in the last ten years.
Types
First of all, POS software solutions can provide these awesome benefits.
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In-depth analysis of sales data
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Protection of business data
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Increase business overall productivity
Keeping these things in mind will help you better weigh the advantages and disadvantages, one over another, of the different types of POS software solutions available. On this section, we are going to present three categories of POS solutions. Your task as a future buyer and user is to benchmark their capabilities while taking into consideration your overall business requirements.
Base on Application
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Merchandise Management
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Warehouse Management
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Transportation Management
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Business Intelligence
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Inventory Control
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Retail Accounting
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Retail CRM
Base on Technology
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Software as a Service (Cloud-based)
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Proprietary (On-premise)
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Industry-specific (best-of-breed)
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Open Source
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Mobile/Wireless POS
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DOS-, Windows-, Mac-, Linux- based (Operating System)
Base on Configuration Model
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Stand-alone Terminal
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Network System (multiple terminals)
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Controller-based System
Features
A POS solution buyer must be fully aware that most POS solution packages are often offered as a bundle of software and hardware peripherals. But to clarify, purchasing either the software or hardware alone, or the combination of both, is always an option. Retailers usually utilize scanners, weighing scale, electronic cash registers, touch screens, and many other peripherals that support sales execution. So if you will be selecting a POS solution, always consider the features of both the hardware and software. Here are the features to check for both.
Software
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Internet data boards
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Multi-management function
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Frequent diner program support
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Additional features
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Software Integration
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Ease of Use
Hardware
Always check the hardware and software compatibility and evaluate the right hardware and their functionality against the requirement of your system. Hardware peripherals often offered as part of the solution package are:
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Touch Screens
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Keyboards
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Scanners
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Handheld Devices
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Printers
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Cash Drawers
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Customer Displays
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Check Readers
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Fingerprint ID Readers
In addition, get to know also the POS system support and warranty options. Consider inquiring if below modes/types of support are available:
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Phone support
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Remote Internet support
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Loaner equipment
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In-person support
Solutions per Business Size, per Vendor
In the retailing industry, POS system solutions market basically has two primary types of customers:
retail operations and
hospitality businesses. By way of identifying what types of customers you are servicing, you will be able to narrow down your search for the right POS solution. Before we provide a list of POS solution providers that you may want to assess and evaluate, let us give some emphasis first on these buying techniques and strategies.
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The right POS system solution is one that allows you to assess your inventory easily and thoroughly. Look for a solution that gives you Re-ordering Point (ROP) alerts and then automatically generates Purchase Order (PO) base on it.
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Weigh the ease-of-use against functionality. Look for a system that will give balance to speed, time, and features.
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Look for a system base on your business size, current needs, and available time of implementing it. A solution that can be customized as you grow and expand is a smart investment strategy.
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As cited earlier, always check the POS hardware and software.
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Always prefer a solution that is simple, modifiable, and user-friendly. These attributes of a POS user interface would always be a great purchase deal.
Now, here are some of the POS solutions where you can make use of the above techniques and strategies.
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Actinic
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EPOS Retail
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Microsoft Dynamics
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SalesStream
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SAP
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Volanté
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Wasp Barcode Technologies
For more information about POS solution selection tips and ideas, ask our experts at ITQlick.com
Pricing Considerations
So far, we’ve gone through all the important considerations when buying a POS software solution. This time, let’s go over with pricing considerations. How much is a POS system? Basically, with all the possible software-hardware combinations, and miscellaneous costs to consider, there is no one off-the-shelf system that could have a fixed price on top of it. Here are some of the best ways to look into POS solutions when pricing is in question.
POS solution can provide significant returns if a retail or hospitality business have annual revenues of around $5M to $1M. As a general guide, as the POS functional breadth and depth increases, the price per terminal also increases. Starting from a small retailer climbing up to a mid-size and then large retailer level, it’s almost a linear increase of cost. To clearly understand this, here’s how POS are basically priced.
Cloud-based POS software solution is typically priced on a per-terminal/user, per-month basis, with some vendors offering discounts if you pay annually instead of monthly. On-premise software solution, on the other hand, is usually priced by the number of perpetual licenses required for each terminal, with fees typically paid upfront for the right to use the software in perpetuity (rather than paying based on subscription). On the average, a stand-alone or on-premise system with a single software license has a typical cost of $1,500 per terminal/user.
According to a market research, by using an affordable, integrated POS system, an independent retailer with revenue of $300,000 can cut costs by close to 10%. So come to think of it: cloud-basedor on-premise?
Market Trends
What is Bitcoin’s relevance to POS? Well, Bitcoin is a digital currency and as of this writing, some POS systems are already accepting it as a payment option. POS industry is generally in a linear progression of growth. Mobile POS, or the wireless capability of POS, is just becoming common to every city of any country. From iPad, to Mac, to PC, to Android, POS software applications have truly gone beyond the traditional cash register. Retail CRM and Merchandise Management applications are both intelligent features of POS that are bringing this industry into the limelight.
And as ITQlick.com’s final words of encouragement, here’s another good reason to proceed with your POS solution investment plan. According to the National Retail Federation, annually, U.S. retailers lose $224 billion due to excess inventory and $45 billion from not having inventory in stock. This calls for a reliable and dependable POS system and the right time to launch that investment is now.
Finding the right Retail software for your business
Proper Retail software selections are the precursor to successful deployment and business growth. Finding the right Retail solutions doesnít have to be complicated, and it doesnít have to take days or weeks of your time.
After researching over 5,000 systems, we can identify the best solution for companies of all shapes and sizes. ITQlick.com is 100% free for software buyers.