(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
Increase Your Profits with a Point of Sale (POS) System
Whether you operate a chain of restaurants, a mom-and-pop convenience store, or a medium-sized retail shop, you are in business to make money. And, one of the most critical aspects to your profit and loss is your ability to track information? you need to know which products are making you money, what items need to be re-ordered, who your customers are, and so on. This is where today's point of sale (POS) systems play such a valuable role. In the not too distant past, retailers used mechanical cash registers to record sales onto a paper tape which then had to be manually transcribed into the company's accounting ledger. Later, electronic versions of cash registers were introduced which allowed business owners to track more of the data pertaining to each transaction (for example, management was able to track all sales and refunds by each cashier). Today, cash registers have evolved into modern computer-based point of sale systems, which let you track more information than previously imaginable. Some of the ways that a point of sale system can help you increase your profits include analyzing your product margin, tracking sales, increasing the accuracy of your pricing, and maintaining customer contact. As a business owner, you know how important it is to keep a close watch on the margin of each product since you want to focus on selling the things that make you the greatest profit. A point of sale system can help you quickly identify your greatest money-makers and make decisions about how much of each item you want to stock. (If you have a limited storage area, it doesn't make sense to fill it up with low-profit items). A point of sale system also allows you to know, practically at the push of a button, how much cash you have in the till (and how much of it is profit!), the type and amount of each product sold that day, and how many items are still on the shelf. You can even set it up to automatically notify you when reaching the re-order point on any item. With the advent of barcodes and barcode scanners, retailers now enjoy greater accuracy in the pricing of their products that ever before. If you need to increase the price of a "widget", you simply make the change in your point of sale system and all widgets immediately reflect the new price. Plus, your cashier or sales clerk doesn't have to guess what any product costs (which might cause you to lose money)? they just scan it and the correct price is automatically applied. Marketing 101 tells us that an existing customer is worth a lot of money to a business owner because they are likely to buy from you again and again in the future (this is known as the "residual value"). Because of this, you should make selling to your existing customer base part of your marketing plan. A point of sale system lets you keep track of customer names, addresses, and purchase history? just imagine how you could use that information to generate more sales! Hopefully by now it is clear that a point of sale system can help you track the information that is critical to your business success. This includes analyzing your margin, tracking each day's sales, increasing the accuracy of your pricing, and maintaining contact with your customers. Armed with this information, you can make informed decisions and take actions that are sure to increase your profits. Brian Cook is a freelance writer whose articles on point of sale (POS) systems have appeared on many websites. You can find more of these at http://www.pos-free-software.com
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News Poll: 25% of small-biz owners worry about survival - Bizjournals.com US Celcos Urged To Create New Small-Biz Programs - Telecomweb Wage Increase Will Hit Some Small Biz Hard - NBC4i.com Online, Direct to Grow as 26% of Small Biz Ups Ad Spending - Media Buyer Planner Smallbiz Brain Presents America’s Best Companies - PressReleasePoint (press release) |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Leveraging Business Relationships for more Profits When should you leverage the relationship?Leveraging sometimes brings a negative connotation to the mix. It does not have to be that way. S Corporation - What Is It? For many small businesses, the "S" corporation is the business entity of choice. The "S" in S corporation refers to a tax designation. Using Holidays to Put Some Extra Cheer in Your Cash Box No matter your age or station in life, we all look forward to holidays. They give us a reason to decorate, celebrate, and most of all, spend. Too Many Lawyers in Franchising Today Attorneys and Lawyers are ruining the franchise industry. It is too bad too, because franchising represents over 400,000 businesses in our country and accounts for just over one-third of every consumer dollar spent in this country. Employee Email and Internet Use - A Small Business Guide IntroductionIt is widely recognised that Email and the Internet is here to stay! Both mediums have become a vital part of business and personal communication in a world that increasingly relies on technology. We understand its benefits and sometimes berate its downsides; too much email, lack of personal communication, spam, the risk of employees accessing inappropriate material and using employer resources for personal gain. Venus Transit - and Small Business? On June 8, 2004, the world witnessed what no one living today had ever seen.. Employee Induction - Are you Inducting your People - A Practical How To In today's fast paced marketplace it is easy to neglect the small important things!Recently we assisted an organisation prove they had complied with their obligations in inducting their employee. The employee tried to bring a claim for severe stress against the business. The Wrap on Ag Plastic While driving through Pennsylvania farmland, you have probably noticed an increased amount of white plastic bundles stacked in lines or piles along farm buildings or edges of farm fields. Sometimes referred to as "marshmallows" or "long white tubes", etc. Habits will determine your success Habit: A consistent behavior you perform so frequently that it is automatic. For example, if you learned to drive a car with a standard transmission, the first few lessons were pretty jerky while you learned to synchronize the clutch with the accelerator pedal. How to Become Successful in the Field of Financial Consultants Financial Consultants are one of the fastest growing industries today. More and more people are requiring the services of a finance consultant to get out of debt, and/or prepare for educational and retirement expenses. Looking for a Business to Run in the New Revitalized Downtown Area? Looking for a place to add a Quick Lube away from your Super Wal-Mart Competitor? Down Town Revitalization, Why You Should Be Part of Such a Committee.A study showed that within the next five years 20% of LOF- Lube, Oil and Filter Independent Owners said they had plans on adding one or more facilities. Bringing Home the Bacon In general, all of us know how to accomplish the task and get the work done. The problem is in how to actually 'get paid' for what we do. The Business Autopsy: A Fact Of Life Last week we discussed the importance of performing an autopsy on a dead business. No, I haven't been watching too many of those wonderfully graphic, TV forensic investigation shows. Financial Fundamentals - What Every Small Business Owner Should Know! Business owners rarely go into business to deal with the financial aspects of running a business. It's easy to understand why! You are passionate about the products or services you provide and want to focus your time there. Small Business CRM Is Here To Stay If you ask most small business owners what priority CRM has in their short-term business plans, chances are you'll get more than one blank stare. The fact is that most small business owners don't even know what CRM is not to mention how significantly it can benefit their growing company. Starting A Concrete Cleaning Pressure Washer Business Concrete cleaning can be a lucrative business to start. Here are some tips which will help you do it right. How the Crab Effect Obstructs Growth and How to Conquer It Some of the greatest words of wisdom for any man or woman seeking change or growth are, "Surround yourself with people who will support and believe in you."Creating any kind of significant change requires determination, focus, energy, a game plan, and more than anything else, desire and a positive attitude. Aircraft Washing Business Tip - Interior Private Jet Cleaning Aircraft Interiors of personal and corporate jets have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested. We have had an opportunity to speak at length in Tucson, AZ recently about the special custom interiors the weight they cost in performance and the needs in cleaning. Small Business Marketing, According to Seinfeld What could Seinfeld possibly have to do with marketing a small business? As it turns out, all small business owners could take a few lessons from the show that brought us such popular phrases as "Man Hands" and "master of your domain".The Coffee Shop - Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine spent countless hours in the coffee shop, talking about "nothing. Franchisor Prospect Checklist Sample Form Due to the over regulation in the Franchising Industry and the litigation it is important to keep impeccable records. From the first phone call, email to the signing of the franchise agreement everything should be documented.
|
| home | site map | articles |
| © 2006 |