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Once you get past the minimum functionality, then depending on the needs of your business, there are other features that you"ll want to look for. These features include the ability for customers to use two types of payment, for example, or to allow for returns, special pricing (for sales or special customers), gift cards, and surge pricing.

 

Another fast-growing standard is the near-field communications (NFC) transaction, which is an electronic payment system being popularized by mobile giants such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Making sure your POS system candidate can handle these new emerging systems is only half of the equation. The other half includes whether or not that implementation will annoy or please your customers as well as whether or not it will help or hinder your Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)-compliance efforts.

 

Another critical area may not be a POS Software uk trend but it"s still something you"ll need to be very careful attention to: product support. If the system crashes at the start of your busy period, then how easy is to get someone on the phone? That"s a question that can often be solved by paying for the appropriate support plan. But just because you have someone on the phone doesn"t mean your system is back online; you"re still losing revenue every time an impatient customer walks out of the store. A backup solution is essential here and that"s especially true in the case of cloud-based POS systems. These systems can suffer not only from software problems but also from internet connectivity issues. Ensuring that your vendor has your back in these situations is key, but knowing exactly how and where that support will come from is critical, too. A little more on this later.

 

Hardware Considerations

 

And while the software half of the POS system equation is probably most important, especially in a cloud-based solution, many retail businesses will still require a hardware half. In that vein, one of the most popular trends in today"s POS systems is mobility. This refers to the ability to move POS functionality out from behind the cash register station and into the hands of roving employees for faster, more customer-centric business transactions. This trend adds new areas of importance to even the usual POS system setup, including an added focus on wireless connectivity, security, and support for tablet or even smartphone endpoints. Most modern POS systems run on generally available tablets such as an Apple iPad or a Microsoft Surface Pro. Many also offer dedicated hardware systems and add-ons, such as card swipers, receipt printers, cash drawers, and barcode scanners.

 

The advantage of tablet-based systems is in their mobility. You can process payments on your store"s floor (especially useful for cutting down lines at the register during busy seasons), at an expo, or at an outdoor pop-up shop. Systems such as Square Point of Sale are known for offering small dongles that connect to a tablet and let you swipe credit cards on the go. While you may not immediately need this type of mobility, it is good to know that it"s available.

 

Another advantage is the amount of information that you can supply customers. A desktop POS device can sometimes be flipped so that the customer can sign on the screen or enter contact information. In addition, some states (such as California) now require some kind of customer-facing screen be available so customers can view sales information as a sale is rung up.

Back-Office Functionality

 

Today"s robust POS systems are more than just about taking payments. They can effectively track your inventory, customers, and employees. A good POS system needs to be able to track what has been sold and how many items remain. When the items are sold out, a POS system can notify you ahead of time so you can restock. Businesses can expect their POS system to be able to subgroup items; for example, it should tell you if you"re out of blue birdcages but still have three red birdcages. You should be able to print out barcodes for any items that don"t already have Universal Product Codes (UPCs) so that you can scan them during a sale.

 

The ability to provide analytics is another key feature some POS systems offer. Analytics enables businesses to see what products sell when and to whom. If it is possible to predict that twice as many red coffee cups are sold in November than in April, then you"ll know how many to order. If your sales of low-cost candy goes radically up every weekday when the local kids get out of school, then you might want to hire an extra salesperson in the afternoons to help handle things

 

Employee tracking is also useful. Your POS system should be able to clock your employees in and out, and offer different levels of security depending on a employees" status. This way, a cashier, for example, won"t have access to the same back-office functions that a manager has.

 

Finally, it is useful for a POS system to collect customer information that can be utilized for loyalty programs and other promotional strategies. Some systems offer functionality which is close to that offered by CMS packages; for example, sending emails to customers to thank them for sales, advertise bargains or offer coupons, and offer other loyalty perks.