Point of Sale

Point of Sale is where the process of a retail transaction ends. It is when the consumer makes payment for a particular product or service. Retailers initially used to maintain electric and manual cash registers to record data of sales. But with the advent of software systems this process is simplified.

Point of Sale (POS) systems or electronic POS are positioned wherever a transaction occurs. It is the terminal that is used for checkouts in clothing and apparel store. The POS systems use software that offer much more than just recording the sales data and printing a receipt, it integrates with customer relationship management, tracks inventory, provides sales history, and does account reporting too.

A lot of high end retail brands use extremely expensive and advanced POS software, some of which are customized according to their needs. It improves the productivity and efficiency of retail stores. The following are the features most POS software possesses:

1.    Inventory control: Sales executives can record and update information related to stock outs and discrepancies, track serial numbers, track supply movement, get data on best and worst selling articles, details related to product costs and profit margins. Moreover, this feature includes automatically updating the stock replacements or refills required, and directing store deliveries.

2.    Customer Relationship Management: This feature helps tracking every detail of a customer. It comprises of data like the name, address, measurements, birthdays, anniversaries, buying habits, and details of family members of a customer. It also allows the sales executives to enter notes to provide better customer service and build better relationships. Having data beyond sales, and taking care of customers by knowing specific details keeps them coming back.

3.    Multi-store communication: Apparel retail brands have a number of outlets. This attribute helps to make communication among them regarding stocks, inventory, and inter store transfers.

4.    E-commerce: Through this feature, retailers can coerce their e-commerce platform. It allows uploading data related to inventory, customers, and prices to online stores and at the same time download customer orders, for further processing.

5.    Merchandising Reports: This helps generate daily and weekly sales reports to determine the strengths and weaknesses of individuals working in a store. Analyze items, sales history, and keep a track of what is on high demand and what is not.