POS Software Blog

Farm and Feed stores are relied upon heavily in the communities they serve.  While some serve primarily as supply houses for farmers, others provide a broader range of products and services for the community in which they operate.  This is typically driven by location and the proximity of the feed store to other types of retailers that serve each community.

Setting Prices

One of the greatest challenges for independent merchants is inventory control.  In most cases, inventory is the largest investment for the independent merchant.  So, controlling costs in this area is critical to the success of the small business.  Automating the ordering process, the checking in of shipments, physical counts and controlling shrinkage can be time-consuming and painstaking tasks for smaller retailers.

With Hurricane Sandy wreaking havoc on the entire East Coast and a large portion of the Mid-Atlantic, I am reminded of the importance of backing up POS data.  Independent merchants often lose sight of the importance of this concept.  Often times, it is a simple case of “out of sight – out of mind.”  Other times, merchants assume that their POS provider is taking care of these tasks for them.  Although this may be the case in some instances, it is critical that independent merchants understand the importance of backing up the POS data as well as how it works, where the backup resides, etc.

Grocery stores are convenient.  Grocery stores typically have most of what the average household needs to survive.  Grocery stores are often open 24/hours/day.  However, nothing compares to the quality of the fresh goods you can purchase at a local farm market.  Most of the available items were never transported eliminating the need for preservatives and additives that take away from the quality or the health benefits of the food.

Most merchants go through a detailed process to select the right POS (point-of-sale) solution for their business.  There are several factors to consider which we discuss in our POS Solution Selection Checklist and our POS Selection Guide.  These factors vary in level of importance from one market segment to another.  Once that decision process comes to a close and the POS selection has been made, the merchant is faced with the POS implementation process.  Most of the challenges and issues involved with the implementation process are consistent among the different market segments.  The POS implementation process is critical to the success of the POS deployment.