5 Pillars of Success and POS Solutions
At the Purina Mills Retail Solutions Expo in Nashville last week, the theme of the conference was "5 Pillars of Success." Although this conference is focused specifically on farm and feed retailers, the theme of this particular seasonal event pertains to all small-to-medium merchants in most every vertical market. The conference focused on the following 5 keys to success for the retailers in attendance:
- Have solid industry knowledge and insight
- Have a plan and vision for your store
- Focus on serving the customer
- Consistently tell your story
- Be unique/Be real
In this fast-paced and ever-changing competitive environment, focusing on these 5 "pillars" can be a difference maker for many retailers. One might ask how this pertains to POS (point-of-sale) solutions. Some successful merchants would argue that it has quite a bit to do with POS solutions based on their stories and experience.
In today's retail environment, the technology solutions deployed are at the core of the success of the organization. One key component of these technology solutions is the POS system - particularly if the POS system integrates with or internally provides additional technology components like e-commerce, loyalty programs, email marketing and customer communication tools, etc. These related technology tools allow the merchant to be unique among their competition and remain constantly focused on catering to the customer in a variety of ways.
Below are 5 key factors pertaining to POS solutions that allow merchants to focus on the 5 Pillars of Success listed above:
- POS systems save merchants time. Even the simplest of POS systems will provide time savings by reducing the number of manual tasks required to run the business. A robust POS system that is a good fit for a given market will save the business owner, managers and staff tremendous amounts of time. The time saved can be spent focusing on activities that reinforce the 5 pillars of success listed above.
- POS systems provide faster service. The third pillar of success listed above demands quick service to the customer. Today's customer demands speed of service in every environment. Nothing frustrates the customer more than a cumbersome checkout experience. The right POS system eliminates that potential point of failure and provides 1-3 second transaction times even with credit card payments.
- The right POS system will provide support for customer loyalty and personalized customer communication. A robust CRM (customer relationship manager) fully integrated with the POS system allows smaller merchants to focus on customers through automation using the POS data just like the big box stores attempt to do. Loyalty programs are another great differentiator for small-medium-sized merchants. Some consider them a "must have" to compete with the big box stores. Sound POS solutions will provide all of these items as part of the standard package for small businesses.
- POS solutions provide the controls a business owner needs to maximize the bottom line. This frees up capital that can be used for other initiatives built around the 5 pillars of success. Although time is money, so is profit. In addition to saving time, the POS solution must also provide sophisticated controls that increase the bottom line every day.
- The POS solution must provide the tools necessary to plan the future of the operation. Intelligent analysis of data provides forecasting, purchasing power, cash controls and proper staffing levels all based on a history built in the POS system. The POS solution should provide a crystal ball so the merchant can predict the future of the business.
Business owners invest in all kinds of technology every day. Often times, selecting a POS system significantly impacts the overall success of a merchant in more ways than one. We have barely scratched the surface in the examples above. If you would like to learn more about POS system selection, download our free guide of 10 other items to consider.