A must have in POS systems for liquor stores is the ability to automatically print shelf tags. This will save you around $5000 in annual labor costs as well as around $2000 in miss-rings due to incorrect prices on the shelf tags.
Showing posts with label buying tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buying tip. Show all posts
Monday, October 7, 2024
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Searching for Retail POS? 9 Questions to Help You Get Started
By popular request from multiple retailers over the last few weeks, a list of nine questions that you should be asking yourself as you start searching for a retail point of sale system. With 200+ POS systems currently available, your answers to these 9 questions will help you quickly narrow down which POS systems will be of interest to you.
If you have questions or would like me to review your answers, please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632. Note that this information is only designed for retailers in the United States (it might also be slightly helpful to retailers in the UK and North America as well).
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Point of Sale Buying Tip: Using a Weighted Point Sheet to Determine which POS is Best for You
By popular request - a video showing how to create and use a simple weighted point spreadsheet to decide which point of sale system is best for your business or organization. This works out great in the decision making process as it uses what is most important to you when selecting a POS system for your business or organization and this decision making method can be utilized by anyone who is searching for a point of sale system.
Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.
Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Point of Sale Buying Tip: Avoid "Vapor Features/Functions"
A quick buying tip specific to what I like to call vapor features or vapor functions. Over the years I have come across companies that advertise functions or features within their point of sale programs that don't yet exist (thus the term "vapor").
The warning here is that your demo of a point of sale system should include real world testing of any specific features or functions that you require of the system. If the vendor tells you that something is "in development" then that means that a particular feature or function could be months away from being released.
A good example would be gift cards. While you can write out paper gift certificates, life is much easier if your point of sale system tracks the gift cards for you. If the point of sale company tells you that the gift card feature is not yet available for the point of sale program but is "in development" then you may still be writing out paper gift certificates for awhile (and yet have paid for a new point of sale system that was supposed to reduce manual processes and make your life easier).
The point being is that if you need the point of sale program to include a specific feature or perform a specific function, make sure that the program can do this now. Otherwise you may be waiting some time for an update to be released.
As a side note, I question the ethics of any company that advertises a feature or function that is not yet available.
The warning here is that your demo of a point of sale system should include real world testing of any specific features or functions that you require of the system. If the vendor tells you that something is "in development" then that means that a particular feature or function could be months away from being released.
A good example would be gift cards. While you can write out paper gift certificates, life is much easier if your point of sale system tracks the gift cards for you. If the point of sale company tells you that the gift card feature is not yet available for the point of sale program but is "in development" then you may still be writing out paper gift certificates for awhile (and yet have paid for a new point of sale system that was supposed to reduce manual processes and make your life easier).
The point being is that if you need the point of sale program to include a specific feature or perform a specific function, make sure that the program can do this now. Otherwise you may be waiting some time for an update to be released.
As a side note, I question the ethics of any company that advertises a feature or function that is not yet available.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Point of Sale Buying Tip: What Type of System Can You Afford?
There are actually some fairly definitive guidelines related to your gross annual sales and which type of point of sale system is best for your business (free, mobile or computer based systems). In this brief video, I cover what type of point of sale systems you should be focusing on as well as some common exceptions to the rule.
Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Point of Sale Buying Video Buying Tip - What to Choose Mobile or Computer?
Some information related to the key differences between point of sale solutions designed to run on mobile devices versus point of sale solutions designed to run on computers. Included in the video are some key reasons why you should just focus on mobile point of sale solutions and reasons to focus only on computer based point of sale solutions.
I also share how to not only obtain some free help choosing the best point of sale solution for your business but also how to contact me related to various discounts and promotions that are being offered by trusted point of sale companies that I am familiar with.
You can also reach me via the contact form to the right, via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com, or on my cell at 208.340.5632.
Please note that the information in the video is best suited for non-food service related businesses located in the United States.
I also share how to not only obtain some free help choosing the best point of sale solution for your business but also how to contact me related to various discounts and promotions that are being offered by trusted point of sale companies that I am familiar with.
You can also reach me via the contact form to the right, via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com, or on my cell at 208.340.5632.
Please note that the information in the video is best suited for non-food service related businesses located in the United States.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
My Point of Sale Company or Provider has Been Sold, Bought Out, Acquired - What Do I Do?
One of the things that I have come across from working in the point of sale industry over the last 14 years is that companies do merge, go out of business, or are acquired by other companies. The biggest events that I can remember is when Sales Management Systems (QuickSell 2000, QuickSell HQ, and QuickSell Commerce) was acquired by Microsoft, Clover being acquired by First Data Corp, and DirectPOS selling off their customer list to other companies.
While this can't always be prevented or predicted, here are some things to ask or plan for in case this happens to you. Note that this information applies to both the company that you purchased your point of sale solutions from as well as the company that actually developed the point of sale software or app that you are using.
While this can't always be prevented or predicted, here are some things to ask or plan for in case this happens to you. Note that this information applies to both the company that you purchased your point of sale solutions from as well as the company that actually developed the point of sale software or app that you are using.
- Always make sure that you always have full access to your customer, inventory, and vendor information in case you need to switch point of sale programs
- Ask what will be happening related to support and related services
- Have a contingency plan in case you need to switch point of sale programs
- Find out the timeline for when things will be changing
- (if you are being switched to a new company/partner/dealer) Look at references and reviews for the new company
- Be aggressive in obtaining any information that you can find (don't wait and see what will happen)
- Keep running your business!
- Talk to the manufacture, if possible, to see what all your options might be
- Don't let yourself be talked into having to purchase additional services or products
- Talk to other customers in the same situation - you may be able to band together to look at all possible options
- Don't follow blindly - again, check all your options
This is not a complete list so please do comment or email me (kevinantosh@gmail.com) your own personal experiences and suggestions.
I know that I would have told customers to avoid One Step Retail Solutions (when DirectPOS sold their customer base to One Step Retail Solutions back in September of 2013) if I had known how poorly the customers would be treated by One Step Retail Solutions. In many cases, you can choose who supports your point of sale system and can not be forced into choosing one company over another.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Point of Sale Buying Tip: Get a Real Demo
Sharing some more information from my retail point of sale workshop presentations:
When it comes to comparing possible retail point of sale solutions for your business, be sure to get a customized demo of each point of sale program that you are considering. I'm amazed how many point of sale companies only offer recorded demo's or 'canned' demos via a webinar. I've worked with just under 4000 businesses over the years and always took the time to create a custom software demo using the actual point of sale software (whether in person or online via a webinar).
The reason for a custom demo is that each business has specific things that they want to do with the software. It makes more sense to show the business leadership how the software does various functions rather than just show a canned demo that may or may not show the software functions that the business is searching for.
Also, canned demos can make a software appear to run quicker and/or easier than a customized live demo. Some of the things that I included in my demos that you may want to request (keep in mind that even a customized demo of point of sale software can still be normally accomplished in around 20 minutes):
As a reminder, I am not currently affiliated with any point of sale companies or manufactures but have 14 years of experience working with retail, restaurant, and museum point of sale solutions. You can reach me at 208-340-5632 (business hours - mountain time) or kevinantosh@gmail.com for free point of sale help and advice.
When it comes to comparing possible retail point of sale solutions for your business, be sure to get a customized demo of each point of sale program that you are considering. I'm amazed how many point of sale companies only offer recorded demo's or 'canned' demos via a webinar. I've worked with just under 4000 businesses over the years and always took the time to create a custom software demo using the actual point of sale software (whether in person or online via a webinar).
The reason for a custom demo is that each business has specific things that they want to do with the software. It makes more sense to show the business leadership how the software does various functions rather than just show a canned demo that may or may not show the software functions that the business is searching for.
Also, canned demos can make a software appear to run quicker and/or easier than a customized live demo. Some of the things that I included in my demos that you may want to request (keep in mind that even a customized demo of point of sale software can still be normally accomplished in around 20 minutes):
- How to add/change your business information
- How to add/change customer information
- How to add/change inventory information
- How to run various reports
- How to put items on sales
- How to setup special items (sizes, "mix and match", bulk)
- How to transfer items between store locations
- How to handle purchasing and recieving
- How to set up security levels
- How to add/change employees
- Time clock function and related reports
- Accounting interface
- How to print barcode labels
- Touchscreen interface
- How to customize fields or attributes in the software
- How to add/change vendor/supplier information
As a reminder, I am not currently affiliated with any point of sale companies or manufactures but have 14 years of experience working with retail, restaurant, and museum point of sale solutions. You can reach me at 208-340-5632 (business hours - mountain time) or kevinantosh@gmail.com for free point of sale help and advice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)