Choosing point of sale software for your business

Choosing the right POS software can sometimes be difficult. There are many POS systems available on the market, which is why it is important to conduct thorough research. Here are some tips for choosing the right POS system for your business.

What are some tips for choosing the right point of sale software?

Creating a POS system requires a lot of research, and here are six tips to follow to make a good POS choice:

Make sure you choose a selling point in your industry
Determine your business needs
Look for transparent pricing plans
Find an onboarding process that adapts to your needs
Determine basic integrals
Learn about customer support and ongoing development

1. Make sure you choose a selling point in your field

Above all, be sure to choose a POS tailored to your industry needs. There are a few industries that may need a POS system to manage their business operations, and this includes hotels, services, retail, grocery stores, restaurants, and bars. As you can imagine, each of these industries has very different needs. A retail store will need strong inventory management, while a restaurant will need to manage tables, and hotels will need to manage reservations. It's hard to be the best at everything, which is why it's important to choose a point of sale that aligns with your industry.

It is crucial that a business chooses the right POS software for its specific industry, otherwise its needs are unlikely to be properly met. In this article, we are discussing retail business, so it is advisable to confirm the nature of your business now so that the rest of our recommendations are relevant to your situation.

2. Determine your business needs

Before reviewing the options available for POS systems, you should determine what features, functions, and services you need to manage your retail store.

First, you must determine your business status. Different situations are possible:

Starting from scratch for a new project
Upgrading from an old cash register
Switching to a POS system is completely different

Next, categorize your top weaknesses, such as long queues resulting from slow transaction processing, difficulty managing inventory, or inaccurate reporting. From there, you can deduce which tasks a POS system can simplify with the features you need.

If you own a store network, or multiple stores and warehouses, a system that provides multi-store POS solutions will be beneficial to your business model. On the other hand, if you only have one store, it may be better to use a single store point-of-sale platform. Multiple stores such as franchises, buying groups, or corporate chains, for example, will require immediate inventory management, efficient merchandising management, standardized pricing, or even centralized network management. Department stores may look for more data portability, centralization, or even cross-selling features to increase sales.

3. Look for transparent pricing plans

It is also advisable to conduct thorough market research as there are many POS companies available in the market. So you need to make sure you select the price that suits you. But it's also important to find a POS system that openly communicates the costs associated with implementing it within your store.

In the market, many options are available. Make sure you understand the differences between each:

Purchase a software license
Local installation requires significant investments in hardware
Pay the annual service fee
Signing a multi-year contract

Also, sometimes software updates and customer support are not included in the package. When choosing a POS system, you should be aware of the potential additional costs.

In contrast, most cloud-based POS solutions offer their services for a monthly or annual subscription. Most offer tiered pricing to suit different business sizes: more affordable plans for the basic needs of startups and SMBs, with more affordable or customized pricing plans for larger businesses with more complex requirements. Discounted rates may also be available if you choose to pay annually.

4. Find an onboarding process that adapts to your needs

Most businesses ignore the important setup process when asking what to consider when purchasing POS software. Proper setup is essential. Select a POS software that provides migration tools and training sessions.

5. Define basic integrations

A POS system helps you run and manage your daily operations, so making sure it has all the features and integrations needed to run your store smoothly is crucial.

A POS system can do a lot of things, but it can't do everything or be the best at everything. Therefore, the ability to connect to other services is very important. See whether it is possible to integrate external services (thanks to the open API) or not. If you know that integrating other software is key for your business to improve operations, make sure the POS you choose offers integrations or has an open API.

6. Learn about customer support and continuous development

Although you may take precautions to ensure that new training and integration on your software is implemented as accurately as possible, it is possible, as with any software, to encounter any questions or problems later down the road.

This is why you should look for a POS solution that provides ongoing customer support that you can rely on if a problem occurs. Ideally, your resource should allow you to get answers in several different ways:

phone
Ticket system
e-mail

Knowledge base

Continuous development of POS software is essential so that you are always up to date in terms of security and speed. Be sure to check with your supplier if updates will be automatic, regular and provided by your point of sale. Updated software is essential to provide better defense against external threats.

Also make sure that you are dealing with software that uses a secure site with SSL protection, which is