All retailers with physical locations need a POS system to accept payments and keep accurate sales records. However, a furniture store with 50 locations will have different needs from a small jewelry business running its first pop-up shop.
When you’re deciding on the bestPOS system你的小生意,认为是很重要的bout which features match your current needs and future goals.
This post is designed to help you find out what features a POS system for small business should have, and how to choose the right POS system for your business.
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What is the best POS system for small business?
As your small business grows, so will your need for a POS system that can handle increasingly complex retail operations and systems.
Here are three different types of POS systems for small businesses:
Retail POS system
Retail POS systemslet you accept payments in-person, monitor inventory, track sales, and manage team members. They’re usually anchored to a checkout counter and are designed for merchants who sell from physical locations likepop-up shops, events, festivals, and permanent brick-and-mortar stores.
They do the hard work for you, including maintaining accurate sales and inventory data. Whenever you buy, sell, return, or exchange a product, your sales data and inventory levels are updated in real time.
Omnichannel POS system
Thirty-two percent of brands we surveyedsaid they’d be establishing or expanding their use of pop-up and in-person experiences in the next year, while 31% said they planned on establishing or expanding their physical retail footprint.
Omnichannel POS systems can help unify your online and offline sales.
I prefer an omnichannel POS system because we are able to use our website to sell online, as well as drive traffic to our brick-and-mortar store. I like the various options that omnichannel POS systems provide.
专家提示:Only Shopify POS unifies your online and retail store data into one back office–customer data, inventory, sales, and more. Vieweasy to understand reportsto spot trends faster, capitalize on opportunities, and jumpstart your brand’s growth.
Mobile POS system
Amobile POS systemis a handy hardware and software system that processes payments. It’s similar to a traditional retail POS system but it doesn’t need to be attached to one checkout counter.
Using a mobile POS system, you can downloadPOS softwareonto your mobile device and process payments wherever your customers are. That means your physical location doesn’t need to have one fixed checkout counter, which is helpful if you’re selling at festivals and events.
Justyna Sylwia, the owner ofIsle Wilde, says, “When there are jewelry festivals or events, it’s great to be armed with a tool where I can acceptmobile paymentsin person.”
Having a system that turns your phone into a POS system is a godsend. Shoppers feel more secure purchasing products via professional tools. It gives customers more confidence in who they’re buying from.
Why does a small business need a POS system?
中小企业想要接受支付person, track sales, and manage inventory need a point-of-sale (POS) system.
Although you could accept only cash payments and manually track your sales on a spreadsheet, it would be hard to satisfy customer payment preferences and challenging to accurately manage your inventory. Let’s review all the benefits of investing in a POS system for small business:
Accept payments
With a POS system for small business, you can accept multiplepayment methodsin-store. Depending on the POS software and hardware you choose, you may be able to take and record payment from mobile or tablet devices, as well as traditional checkout counters.
Track sales and manage inventory
The best POS systems for small business automatically track all sales. They also store key product information like:
- Wholesale price
- Retail price
- Gross profit
- Net profit
Your POS system automatically updates inventory and sales data any time you buy, sell, return, or exchange a product, in-store or online.
Manage inventory from one back office
Shopify POS comes with tools to help you manage warehouse and store inventory in one place. Forecast demand, set low stock alerts, create purchase orders, know which items are selling or sitting on shelves, count inventory, and more.
What features should a POS for small business have?
- Accept multiple types of payments
- Inventory tracking
- Customer profiles
- Sales reports
- Staff management
A solid POS system for small business lets you process payments securely and comes with software to help you handle administrative tasks more easily.
The kind of business you manage and the types of sales you make will help you determine which features your POS system needs to have. For example, a small business POS system that works well for a brick-and-mortar florist may not work so well for an online beauty retailer running their first physical pop-up shop.
Here are the top five POS system features you should look out for:
Accept multiple types of payments
A McKinsey study found that only28%的transactions in the US were using cash in 2020, andStatistaprojects that by 2024 digital and mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay will surpass card and cash payments — taking nearly 35% of the payments market share.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing payment options like mobile wallets, customers want the convenience of choosing from multiple payment types.
Your POS system should make accepting in-person and online payments simple. Most modern POS systems let you accept popular payment types like:
- Contactless payments.These can includemobile walletpayments using Apple Pay or Google Pay andchip cards.
- Cash.Which you deposit into yourcash register.
- Chip cards.Credit or debit cards with anear-field communication (NFC)chip to allowtap to pay.
- Magstripe cards.Which let customers swipe their card in your card reader.
- Card not present transactions.When a shopper pays with their card without the card being physically present. These payments usually take place when a customer makes a purchase over the phone.
- Gift cards.Digital or physical cards that can be redeemed for online or in-person purchases.
- Amazon and Facebook pay options.This allows customers to pay using their Amazon or Facebook accounts.
GET STARTED:Shopify Paymentsis the fastest way to start accepting payments in-person, online, and on-the-go. It’s included in all Shopify POS plans, so you can skip lengthy third-party activations and go from setup to selling faster.
Inventory tracking
许多小企业帮助跟踪和POS系统manage in-store inventory, but the majority don’t let retailers track inventory across multiple channels like their online store, physical locations, and storage units.
US retailers are sitting on an average of$1.50 in inventoryfor every dollar of sales they make. Successfully tracking and managing inventory can help lower these costs and ensure you’re not tying too much capital in inventory.
Using POS systems that track your inventory across multiple channels will help you order enough stock to meet customer demand, while preventing frustratingstockouts, expensiveoverstocks, and inventory shortages.
专家提示:Want to take the guesswork out of restocking? Setreorder pointsin Shopify admin to get low stock notifications and ensure you have enough lead time to replenish inventory of a product before quantities reach zero.
According to Maggie Owens, a Shopify merchant and owner of party supply and gifts shop,Presley Paige, using a POS system that seamlessly communicates between her online store and physical location helps her know exactly how much stock she has, so she can help customers find the product they’re looking for in-store.
"Offering store pickup for online purchases and managing them through our POS has been extremely helpful. Being able to track inventory in-store and send saved carts to customers who call in and want to put something on hold is useful too. This allows our in-store team to send customers items they didn’t purchase in-store, but mentioned wanting to purchase at a later date,” says Owens.
专家提示:Encourage store staff tosend the carts they saveby email at the end of their shift. This is an accessible way to recover abandoned store sales and attribute more revenue to your store–even if the transaction happened online.
Justyna Sylwia, the owner of Isle Wilde, adds that a POS system that takes care of inventory tracking is one less thing to worry about and lets her focus on other priorities.
When selling numerous small items, it’s difficult to keep track of what’s available and how much of it. Having a system that does inventory for you allows you to focus on the more creative parts of running a business.
Customer profiles
According to Exploding Topics 2023 personalization statistics,60% of consumerssay they will become repeat buyers after a personalized shopping experience with a retailer. By personalizing your offering to customers, you can improve brand loyalty and revenue.
A POS system that’s connected to your online store will help you gather, track, and manage customer data more easily.
For example, with Shopify POS you can create customer profiles and view their entire purchase history, including details like:
- Everything they’ve bought at your store or online
- How much they’ve spent to date
- The number of times they’ve ordered
- How long they’ve been a customer
All of thiscustomer dataupdates in real time and is in one place. This helps customers, since your staff has more context and can serve them better. You can also use data to segment customer profiles and build email lists to keep customers engaged and increase repeat purchases.
Sales reports
Look for a POS system for small business that compiles sales reports from data collected at both your physical locations and online. That way, you get a complete picture of how your business is performing.
“Having sales reports is extremely helpful and makes tax season a literal breeze,” says Sylwia. You can download reports in just a few seconds. Also, it’s a great tool to understand how your business is doing and when you need to pump up the marketing.”
专家提示:With Shopify, it’s straightforward to track sales by channel, store location, or product over time. To get started, viewSales reportsin Shopify admin.
Staff management
Your POS system should help you manage your team members as you grow and scale your business.
寻找像权限和管理功能staff roles to make it easier to manage your staff. Using these features you can set boundaries for what actions team members can do without supervisor permission, for example, refunding a customer or applying a discount to a product.
It’s also helpful to have visibility on staff’s performance like their average transaction values, median units per transaction, and daily sales.
专家提示:With Shopify POS, you can assign differentroles and permissionsand set boundaries on what store staff can do in your POS system without manager approval—like changing a product’s price or applying a custom discount to a sale.
How to choose a POS system for your small business
When you’rechoosing the right POS system for your small business, it’s important to consider the features you need to effectively manage your business, now and in the future.
Compare POS systems
Review cost
For any business, thecost of a POS systemwill be a determining factor. The POS system you choose needs to match your budget.
When reviewing the cost of POS systems for small business, there are three factors to consider:
- POS software fees.There are usually monthly or annual fees, with different plan tiers and corresponding prices. Higher-tier plans usually come with more advanced features, like advanced reporting and analytics.
- Hardware costs.These depend on the payment types you want to accept, the number of stores and staff you have, and the overall functionality you need.
- Payment processing fees.Every time you process a sale, your payment processor charges a fee. This fee is usually charged per transaction and taken as a percentage of the overall transaction amount. Sometimes the amount you pay per transaction depends on the credit card the customer uses.
Account for inventory management
Effectiveinventory managementusually starts with a POS system that automatically updates your inventory levels as you sell, return, or exchange products in both physical and online retail settings.
When you manage inventory from one platform, you can ensure accurateinventory reportingand simplify your overall management system. That way, you’ll spend less time manually counting andreconciling inventory, as well as reduce the likelihood of human error.
专家提示:When you use different platforms to run your online and retail stores, inventory discrepancies are more likely to happen. This can lead to more frequentinventory countsto reconcile differences and ensurestock levelsare accurate.
Consider online and in-person selling
Close to50% of brandssay that unifying online and in-store operations and data is their biggest challenge.
But the best POS systems unify online and in-person selling; they don’t just connect to your online store via an API, but collaborate with it and have built-inomnichannel selling features.
Even if you sell exclusively in online or physical settings today, you may want to give customers the option of both shopping channels in the future. Ensure the POS system you choose can support your business as it evolves.
Get started with a POS system for small business
A small businessPOSsystem helps you accept more payment methods, accurately manage inventory, run sales reports, and more. Consider your unique needs as a growing small business. What might suit some retailers might not be right for you. So think about which POS system features are most important to have, your budget, and your future business goals.
Sell the way your customers shop
Only Shopify POS unifies online and in-store sales and makes checkout seamless. Get all the tools you need to break free from the counter and sell wherever your customers are without worrying about your tech stack, integrations, or fragmented sales reports.
POS systems for small business FAQ
What should be included in a POS system?
- Point of Sale (POS) terminal: This is the main computer that connects to the payment processor and maintains the inventory and sales records.
- Barcode scanner: This is used to read barcodes on items and quickly enter them into the system.
- Credit card reader: This is used to process credit and debit card payments.
- Receipt printer: This prints customers' receipts.
- Cash drawer: This is used to store and secure cash payments.
- Inventory management software: This is used to manage the inventory and keep track of sales.
- Customer display: This is used to show customers the items they are purchasing and their total cost.
- Security measures: These may include cameras, motion detectors, and other measures to protect against theft.
