PoS Choice for e-Commerce

August 20, 2018 Editor Ecommerce 0

You have your own traditional shop from which you run your business. You have it listed in Google My Business, possibly you have your own website, however you do not sell online …. What decisions concerning your physical shop might affect moving online later on? Your Point of Sale (PoS) system is among them.A Point

of Sale system usually includes a computer system connected to special purpose hardware such as a barcode reader, cash drawer, receipt printer, and so forth. (In this modern day there are likewise of course cloud based services.) Different vendors carry out different performance, however functions such as tracking stock levels are typical. So exactly what PoS functions should you consider to simplify going online later?Payments Integration When you goonline, you will have to

be able to take online payments. It deserves thinking through what requirements an online payments solution may add.Does the payment processor you are utilizing in your store likewise support online

  • deals? If not, you may have to establish a brand-new relationship later when you go on the internet, or a minimum of have separate merchant accounts.( This is not unusual.) Do you wish to support online purchases with in shop returns or exchanges? Another factor for constant payments throughout both channels.Do you wish to support online wallets, such as Google Pay? These streamline the online checkout flow by
  • remembering payment details(such as credit card numbers), which is especially beneficial when buying from mobile devices with unpleasant keyboards. Is Google Pay supported on your PoS, allowing you better cross-channel presence into your clients? Can you email invoices? This likewise suggests you can collect trusted email addresses for clients making email projects simpler, as
  • well as connecting online and offline purchase experiences for much better understanding of your customers.Do you plan to have a commitment program with discount rates that impact your rates online or in shop? Does your PoS support integration with loyalty program platforms?Inventory Management
  • Your shop might be your storage facility, with your Point of Sale system acting as your stock management system. How then do you keep your online and physical shop stock levels in sync?Can the PoS support buy onlineand pickup in store?Can your in-store

    personnel reserve products quickly, putting them aside when an order comes in?Does your PoS permit quickly integration with external systems to upgrade them as stock levels change?Can you get messages by means of the PoS system so in-store personnel understand to put items offered online aside for later shipping.(They might be toobusy to pack the items immediately, but leaving stock on the store floor might lead to it being sold twice.)Can you easily update stock levels to show damaged (or taken )stock?Ship from Shop If your store is your storage facility, then you will most likely be loading and shipping from your store.Can your PoS system assistance label printing? Shipping addresses will show up with orders from your online store– can you print them?Does your PoS support courier integrations to streamlining buying of carriers for pickups and returns?Technology As functions

  • , there are technical aspects to consider.Does your store have good web access?

Will you have full, restricted, or no abilities if your internet connection goes down?Can you link extra gadgets later (such as a printer for

  • shipping labels), or does your vendor just allow their own hardware devices to be attached?Does your PoS have a built in backup method
  • ? If your device breaks, how can you recuperate? The length of time will it take?Multiple Stores The above discussion focussed on single store businesses

    • . As soon as business grows beyond a single store, lots of brand-new problems turn up that may also be worth

    • thinking about. For example, an order management system(consisting of stock level tracking across multiple places )may address some of the points raised above
    • instead of being provided by the PoS system.Should you have a warehouse for saving excess stock beyond the stores?Will you ship online sales from the warehouse, from stores, or both?How will you sync stock levelsacross shops and warehouses?Should you offer endless aisle(“save the sale”)experiences– permit store partners to sell products presently found in

    another shop(rather

    than losing a sale due to being out of stock)? Conclusions One of the challenges in picking a Point of Sale systems is there are many options on the market. The function of this blog site is not to make item recommendations( there are other sites that do that), however rather help you analyze what features to take a look at. A lot of the significant e-commerce platforms have suggestions onPoint of Sale systems with existing integrations that can be worth reviewing.The above list of concerns is

  • not exhaustive, however is a great beginning point. For small companies that want
  • to later relocation online, picking the best Point of Sale system up front can conserve effort(and cash)down the track. With the increasingly omnichannel world that we reside in, it is worth planning for an e-commerce existence even if your short term vision is just for a physical store.Oh, and if you had actually not noticed, Google has a local feeds partnership program streamlining uploading information from a POS system to Google Merchant Center, which can be helpful in combination with Google local stock ads. I resisted temptation to list support as the first requirement! Tags:

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