Get More Out of Your Retail Point-of-Sale Solution with Value-Added Business Apps

• Modern point-of-sale devices are powerful tools and can do more than simply process payments
• Many POS systems can be upgraded with apps to perform a wide variety of critical business tasks
• Investing in an app-enabled POS solution can provide significant benefits for your business

Businesses should always be looking for opportunities to get more value out of the tools and technology that they use, and this includes point-of-sale systems. While processing payments is their primary function, many types of POS systems can do more to benefit the business. Add-on POS system apps can expand the capability of your point-of-sale technology to include other critical business tasks, increasing productivity and boosting ROI.

Every day, retailers must manage a diverse array of business processes in order to keep operations moving smoothly, deliver a positive customer experience, and drive higher revenue. These types of tasks are coordinated using a variety of tools and technology, many of which function independently and are only used for very specific purposes. For example, in addition to a retail point-of-sale system to handle payment processing, a business may also have a separate computer in the back to manage inventory, staff schedules may be coordinated from the manager’s laptop, and customer loyalty plans may be done entirely online through the website. This fragmentation creates inefficiencies and increases operating costs as each system requires its own level of management.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way. Modern retail POS systems are immensely powerful business solutions, and in the right configuration, they are able to consolidate many of these individual functions into a single easy-to-use interface. Add-on apps can turn your POS into an all-in-one business management system to handle payment processing along with other important tasks such as inventory control, scheduling, marketing, and more. As you may have surmised, this type of consolidation offers many benefits to retailers who are looking to improve productivity, boost customer satisfaction, and increase profitability.

Although there are POS apps available that can perform almost any business task you can think of, from a retailer’s perspective the most beneficial of these apps tend to focus on a few key areas. These areas cover critical aspects for retail businesses such as inventory control, coordination of scheduling, managing customer loyalty programs, and obtaining insights through sales analytics & reporting. Let’s take a closer look at each of these POS system app categories.

The Power of Inventory Control Apps for Point-of-Sale Systems

Managing inventory in a retail environment is a continuous challenge, especially during peak sales periods when situations can change rapidly. In some cases, businesses may find themselves carrying an excess of slow-moving inventory, which can create inefficiencies, clog shelves, and clutter storage rooms. On the other hand, some retail locations may have the problem of stock shortages of the most high-demand items, which may result in customers leaving to shop at other retailers in order to obtain their desired items. Neither of these scenarios is good for your business, so any advantage you can obtain that improves inventory management and control can result in significant gains in profitability.

Using inventory apps for POS systems, your business will be able to see real-time stock levels across different locations, as well as the status of orders from online channels. This information allows you to make smarter decisions when replenishing products, reducing the likelihood of overstocking, and supplying high-demand products to those retail locations that need them the most. Just-in-time inventory control, enabled by POS inventory apps, helps keep products flowing smoothly and efficiently from the supplier, to the retailer, and finally on to the customer.

Schedule Staff, Deliveries, and Special Events with POS Add-On Apps

Coordinating the schedules of employees across multiple store locations, factoring in important criteria such as holiday periods, promotional events, and stock deliveries, is a daunting task for any retail business. All too often, managers find themselves in situations where certain locations are overstaffed or understaffed, simply due to preventable conflicts stemming from misalignments and lack of transparency in scheduling tools. By consolidating the schedules of various operational elements all under one platform, scheduling apps for POS systems can help identify potential conflicts well in advance, and give managers enough notice to react and make adjustments.

In addition to preventing costly conflicts due to scheduling errors, POS scheduling apps can also help improve employee productivity by making it easier to ensure adequate staffing levels, particularly for retailers who manage multiple locations in the same geographic area. Knowing in advance if one store location will be understaffed gives the time necessary to coordinate support for that location by contacting other available employees to fill the gaps. This benefits retailers by working to keep productivity up, maintain employee morale, and deliver a more consistent customer experience at each location.

Boost Customer Loyalty with Integrated Rewards Program POS Apps

Rewards programs are an effective way to strengthen customer loyalty, but not all of them feature the simplicity and ease-of-use that make managing them an easy task. In many cases, there is a disconnect between the rewards program and the point-of-sale experience, such as customers being unable to check their points balance or redeem points for rewards directly at the POS during the time of purchase. Integrated loyalty program apps for POS systems make rewards much more accessible inside retail locations. This can help add appeal to your rewards program and encourage more customers to sign-up for the program. It can also work to increase average order values as shoppers are eager to earn more points.

In turn, increasing the usage rate of your rewards program will work to strengthen the affinity customers will have for your business. The more points customers earn significantly increases the likelihood that they will continue to shop with you, as the desire to redeem their hard-earned rewards keeps them coming back. With a simple tap on the digital screen of your POS, loyalty program apps can allow employees and customers to check available points, select values to redeem for rewards, and perform other functions related to the management of customer loyalty accounts.

Gain Insight with Valuable Business Reports from POS Analytics Apps

Making smart strategic decisions for your business depends on having the right types of data available to inform those decisions. Sales performance statistics are absolutely essential to developing an effective and impactful growth strategy, but without the right tools built into your points-of-sale system, this information can be challenging to obtain. Fortunately, this process can be made much more efficient through the use of sales reporting apps for POS systems.

Using an intuitive interface, analytics apps for POS systems are able to pull together detailed reports on a wide range of business trends. Sales insights can be obtained on the performance of specific products, brands, or categories, as well as analysis of the results of various retail locations, the impact of marketing promotions, and much more. With accurate data in-hand on these types of trends, retailers can benefit from being able to plan more effective promotions, adjust stock levels for greater efficiency, and optimize operations to deliver a better overall customer experience. All these benefits add up to a better bottom line, and higher profitability from each retail location.

Capitalize on these Advantages with a Powerful App-Enabled POS Solution from MONEXgroup

The retail business climate is continually evolving due to combinations of technological advancement and changing consumer behaviours. To stay competitive, retailers need to take action and leverage all the power that a modern app-enabled POS solution can bring to their business. In order to do this successfully, you need to be supported by a merchant services partner that has the technology and expertise to implement a complete retail POS system with all the value-added apps you need.

With MONEXgroup as your payment processing partner, your business can be equipped with a robust and powerful retail point-of-sale solution, along with a full suite of essential business apps. You’ll be supported by dedicated client success representatives who will work closely with you to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from your point-of-sale investment. Plus, all MONEXgroup clients are backed up by top-tier technical service and support, with round-the-clock 24/7/365 accessibility. No matter what, and no matter when, you can be confident that MONEXgroup is committed to the success of your business.

Contact us to find out how app-enabled retail POS solutions from MONEXgroup can help your business succeed!