Ecommerce and Retail
4 Reasons to Switch to a Modern Point of Sale Platform—Is Yours Out of Date?
15 Jun 2017 • 4 min read
It doesn’t matter how large or small your store is, or how many of them you’ve got—if you’ve got a point of sale (POS), you’ll see big benefits in switching from a simple cash register to a full-featured, cloud-based POS platform.
A modern POS platform will offer a suite of features to save you time by simplifying and streamlining your store’s administration and management. And that leaves you with more time to focus on delighting your customers and growing your business. Here are four key features of modern POS platforms that will revolutionise the way you sell:
A modern POS platform doesn’t just blur the line between online and in-store shopping—it obliterates them, creating new pathways for customers to place orders, and new ways for you to fulfil them.
Your traditional retail store is no longer just a place customers visit to buy and take home their products. It’s also a showroom, where customers can view products and seek advice before getting their order shipped. It’s a warehouse from which you can ship orders to your online customers. Your ecommerce customers can “click and collect” their orders, buying online and picking up their goods in store.
You can’t do that with an old-school cash register!
As you’ve just seen in the previous point, your modern POS platform doesn’t exist in isolation. That’s why it needs to be deeply integrated with your other sales channels, such as your online store, web marketplaces (like eBay), and social media platforms. This integration delivers a consistent customer experience across channels, while being simple for you to manage, so it’s a win for both you and your customers.
Your most loyal ecommerce customers may rarely shop in-store, so a traditional POS system wouldn’t recognise their high value. But a fully integrated, modern POS platform enables you to search for them during an in-store transaction and view their unified sales history across all channels, so you’ll be able to recognise their VIP status.
And on the rare occasion an online shopper is unhappy with their purchase, you’ll have all the information you need to handle their return in-store, with the added benefit of the personal touch. This is more than just a good way to restore their confidence; it’s also a reassuring message to other online shoppers that their purchase is satisfaction guaranteed.
With a modern POS platform, your staff won’t need to spend valuable work hours calling other stores to figure out which one has a particular item in stock. Every POS terminal lets them view real-time stock levels across all locations, including your warehouses. And online shoppers will always have the same up-to-date information, so they won’t miss out on popular items, and they’ll know which store to visit if they want to try before they buy.
The full inventory management capability of a modern POS platform also helps you optimise your inventory and sales cycles. With automated replenishment and streamlined stock transfers, you’ll never disappoint your customers by being out of stock. And cloud access means that, wherever you are, you can log in to find all the information you need to minimise ordering and warehousing costs, and maximise your cash flow and profits.
As your retail business grows, your POS needs can change quickly. Only a modern POS platform can keep up with the pace, enabling you to add a new POS terminal to your store in just a few clicks, using off-the-shelf tablets or computers. If you’re expanding to new outlets, it’s easy to create a whole new location and add user accounts for your new staff.
And you won’t need need to limit yourself to traditional shops. With a modern POS platform, you can open a pop-up shop when the opportunity arises, and instantly remove the new outlet when it’s time to close down.
We've covered off some of the benefits of modern POS platforms, but have you considered other channels like ecommerce, online marketplace and even mobile apps? Download our comprehensive Sell Everywhere Guide to find out how to expand your retail empire.
The benefits of switching from a classic cash register to a modern POS platform are hard to ignore. Neto is a leading omni-channel retail platform designed to help growing retailers sell anything, anywhere—from web, mobile, eBay and social media, through to traditional bricks-and-mortar stores. With a wide range of add-on integrations and powerful back-office capabilities, Neto takes care of the details so you can concentrate on your core business: customers. Start your Neto POS free trial today.
