Choosing the right point-of-sale software for your retail, restaurant, and salon can
sometimes be difficult. A multitude of POS systems are available on the market,
which is why it is important to carry out thorough research. Here are some tips
for choosing the right point-of-sale system for your business.
What are some tips for choosing the right point-of-sale software?
Setting up a point-of-sale system requires a lot of research,
here are six tips to follow to opt for a good choice of point of sale:
- Be Sure to Choose a POS in Your Industry
- Define Your Specific Business Needs
- Look for Transparent Pricing Plans
- Find an Onboarding Process Adapted to Your Needs
- Learn About Customer Support and Ongoing Development
Retailers are moving away from traditional cash registers for sales and payment processing.
Now, businesses are seeking the help of point-of-sale systems to calculate the total amount of purchases,
present invoices, and allow customers to choose a payment method. The most current point-of-sale solutions
are also cloud-based, meaning your financial and transactional information is safe from unauthorized access.
Because of these benefits, a report by Mordor Intelligence indicates that by 2025, the market value of point-of-sale
systems may reach $29.09 billion (source). But with hundreds of programs available on the market, choosing the
right software may seem difficult. This article will teach you how to choose a POS system that suits your business needs.
1. Be Sure to Choose a POS in Your Industry
Above all, be sure to choose a POS that is made for your industry-specific needs. There are a few industries that
may need a point-of-sale system to manage their business operations, and this includes hotels, services, retail,
grocery stores, restaurants, and salons. As you can imagine, each of these industries has very different needs.
A retail store will need strong inventory management, whereas a restaurant will need to manage tables, hotels
will need to manage reservations and salons will need to manage appointments and service. It is hard to be the
best at everything, and that’s why choosing a POS that is adapted to your industry is important.
It is therefore crucial for a business to choose the right point-of-sale software for its specific industry, otherwise,
its needs are unlikely to be met properly. In this article, we discuss retail business, so it is advisable to ascertain
your business nature now so that the rest of our recommendations are relevant to your situation.
2. Define Your Specific Business Needs
Before reviewing the options available for point-of-sale systems, you should define the features, functions,
and services that you need to manage.
First, you should define the status of your business. Various situations are possible:
- Starting from scratch for a new venture
- Upgrading from an old cash register
- Switching to a different POS system completely
Then, classify your most significant pain points, such as long queues caused by slow transaction processing,
difficulty managing inventory, or inaccurate reporting. From there, you can conclude what tasks a POS system
can simplify with the features you need.
If you own a store network, or numerous stores and warehouses, a system that offers multi-store POS solutions
will be advantageous for your business model. On the other hand, if you only have one store, it may be best to
use a single-store point-of-sale platform. Multiple stores such as franchises, buying groups, or corporate chains
will, for example, require on-point inventory management, efficient promotion management, standardized
pricing, or even centralized network management. One-stop shops may be looking for more data mobility
and centralization or even cross-selling features to drive sales.
3. Look for Transparent Pricing Plans
It is also advisable to carry out thorough market research because there are many points of sale companies
available on the market. So you need to make sure you select the pricing that works best for you. But it is also
important to find a point-of-sale system that openly demonstrates the costs associated with its implementation
within your store.
On the market, many options are available. Make sure you understand the differences between each of them:
- Purchasing a software license
- Local installation requires major investment in hardware
- Paying an annual service fee
- Signing a multiyear contract
Also, software updates and customer support are sometimes not included in the package. When selecting a
POS system, you have to be aware of possible extra costs.
In contrast, most newer cloud-based point-of-sale solutions offer their services for a monthly or yearly subscription.
Most offer tiered pricing to suit different business sizes: more affordable plans for the basic needs of startups and
SMBs, with reasonable costs or custom pricing plans for larger businesses with more complex requirements.
Discounted prices may also be available if you opt to pay annually.
Each company has its way of informing its customers of its pricing. Pricing information is often posted online so
you can check how much the services cost and which features are included in each tier. But sometimes you
have to do further research to get answers. Save time and obtain quick answers by speaking directly with the
POS companies you are interested in. Not only will this give you a sense of their company culture, but also
help you better understand how they approach their leads. Get in touch with one of our Ezi-pos experts to
learn more about your options with this cloud-based software.
4. Find an Onboarding Process Adapted to Your Needs
Most businesses overlook the important onboarding process when asking what to consider when purchasing
point-of-sale software. Onboarding correctly is crucial to getting off on the right foot. Select point of sale software
that offers migration tools and training sessions.
Taking Ezi POS, we take careful measures to ensure a safe data migration process to your point-of-sale software.
We know that data migration is a big deal for merchants, so we do it for you! Users have a specialized deployment
strategy based on a preliminary analysis of their needs to minimize costs and optimize operations.
Users will also receive personalized training to consolidate the system’s implementation into their processes.
Managers and employees have access to training ranging from one to two weeks based on the availability
and needs of the business. Also, to ensure your company’s onboarding success, point-of-sale software
like Ezi-pos offers you:
- Customer support 7 days a week
- Continuous development allows customized updates if there is a need for specific development
- Continuous autonomous training thanks to our online support center
These features are available to guide and support you in the growth of your business.
5. Learn About Customer Support and Ongoing Development
Although you may take precautions to ensure your new software training and integration are done as
carefully as possible, it is possible, like in any software, to face any questions or problems later on
down the road.
This is why you should look for a POS solution that offers ongoing customer support that you can
rely on if a problem occurs.
Ideally, your supplier should allow you to get answers in many different ways:
- Phone
- Ticket System
- Knowledge Base
Ongoing point-of-sale software development is necessary to always be up to date in terms
of security and speed. Make sure to check with your supplier if the updates will be automatic,
regular, and provided by your point of sale. Up-to-date software is crucial to provide better
defense against external threats.
Also make sure you are dealing with software that uses a secure site through SSL protection,
one of the most popular security protocols that creates a secure channel, usually when a
browser has to connect to a Web server. This protection is used in an internal network or
when two machines communicate with each other on the Internet (source). This can
help promote data protection for customer information and online transactions.