Maximizing sales can significantly impact profitability, especially if it’s done in such a way that your overheads remain practically the same. How can that be achieved? Easily. All it takes is a website. By creating a website to sell your products, alongside your brick-and-mortar store, you are gaining access to a massive pool of customers you may not have otherwise been able to reach. In fact, if your products can be shipped globally, there is absolutely no reason for you not to sell your goods all over the world.
Point Four Touch Point of Sale Till (Photo credit: Cyberslayer) |
But many retailers shy away from putting up a website because they fear it would be like a second business they need to run, with all that entails from inventory control to other retail administration tasks. Well, this isn’t an issue with quality POS software because it features an integrated website management system, allowing you to synchronize everything so that the website basically runs itself, with stocks updating in real-time. In other words, your business will consist of online and offline stores that can be managed using the same system, giving you more free time to find other ways to improve profitability.
Another way you can maximize sales and improve profitability is by increasing your customer retention rate. We all know that repeat customers are more cost-effective than new customers and loyalty is a powerful thing when it comes to people parting with their money. But how can POS software help to increase the number of repeat customers? Simple. A good retail software system will provide you with all the tools to better understand your customers so you can make them irresistible offers.
Using a variety of methods, including branded loyalty cards, you will be able to capture the information of your customers as well as their purchasing habits. Using this data, a POS software system will be able to analyze customer behavior, allowing you to create irresistible offers and incentives that can be used to draw them back to the store.
POS Software to Reduce Costs
Increasing profitability is not just a matter of maximizing sales. Decreasing costs is also an important aspect and one of the biggest problem areas for many retailers is inventory management. It is rare for a retailer to be able to optimize their inventory and they often find they’ve spent too much money on excess inventory. Considering that inventory is the largest cost for a retail operation, it makes sense that the ability to manage it properly and ensure stocks are always at optimal levels will lead to lower costs and bigger profits.
Any good POS software will be able to help you with inventory management, as stocks are updated in real time and intelligent stock ordering systems analyze past data and make recommendations. Thus, you will constantly have optimal stock levels and save a lot of money because you will never have excess stock again.
In a highly competitive market, retailers need every edge they can get and POS software is one of the biggest advantages you can have over your competition as it allows you to streamline your operation. Higher efficiency implies lower costs, which in turn increases profitability and allows you more time with your customers, increasing customer loyalty.