6 Must-Have Retail PoS Features

June 25, 2024
Digital Transformation
Retail Operations

Your brand is not what you sell; it's the experience you deliver.

Tony Hsieh, Former CEO of Zappos

When it comes to running a retail business successfully, a feature-rich point-of-sale (PoS) system is one of the most valuable tools. The software can fill several business needs, including inventory tracking, offering unique insights into business operations, processing payments, and more.

Today, PoS software is widely used by retail businesses to make it easier to process payments and boost profits. Knowing which retail PoS features will enable your business to manage customers efficiently, add additional products or services, track inventory, run campaigns, and deploy loyalty programs will be handy in your retail software selection and implementation.

This post explores more about which retail PoS features matter the most and their benefits.

What is a Point of Sale (PoS)?

The point of sale system, or PoS, is one of several touch points where customers pay money to sellers in return for goods or services. This transaction is typically recorded as an invoice. 

Modern retail PoS allows retail businesses to conduct and manage their sales transactions efficiently. The software often works with various hardware devices, such as receipt printers, barcode scanners, and card readers, to accurately capture and finalize sales.

What is the Role of PoS Software in Retail?

PoS software can completely transform the way retailers manage their business. It consolidates everything in one place, from recording transactions to inventory management. 

An omnichannel, high-quality retail PoS software can be deployed on a desktop, laptop, mobile, or tablet to any POS terminal. Big and small retailers use PoS to maximize diverse operations. The other benefits of the software include:

No Human Errors

Entering the product details and prices manually leaves substantial room for errors, especially if you have to process a large number of transactions every hour.

PoS eliminates human errors. You can be rest assured that you have entered the correct product SKU, accurate prices across your system, and exact order amount. Since all the details are recorded in your PoS system, you can review them whenever necessary. 

Besides, the software can automatically calculate the total amount, discounts, and taxes for each transaction, leaving no room for any errors, unlike calculations and cash handling.

Easy Returns and Exchange 

PoS software automates return transactions and updates inventory levels accordingly. This provides customers with a hassle-free returns experience, saves time, and improves customer satisfaction. 

Inventory Management 

PoS helps automate inventory management by closely tracking sales transactions and refilling the stock immediately. This is because it offers real-time insights into stock levels, thus eliminating the hassles that come with tracking inventory manually.

CRM 

Most PoS software integrates some CRM features that let retail businesses store everything from customer information and purchase history to individual preferences. This allows them to deploy personalized interactions, loyalty programs, and targeted campaigns.

6 Key Retail PoS Features

Here are some of the key features to look for in your retail PoS software:

1. Recording Sales Transactions

One of the key functions of a PoS system is to record all the transactions that your retail store makes. Recording these sales quickly in the system is important, especially during peak hours and periods.

This makes it important to choose a PoS software system that allows for efficient scanning and selling of products. Make sure to pick a retail PoS software capable of recording a range of transactions, including sales, special orders, repairs, inventory transfers, and more.

2. Accurate Inventory Tracking

Retail PoS software must be useful for helping retail stores keep accurate records of inventory.

Apart from assisting you with tracking what's available in store, the tool should be able to calculate things automatically. Look for features to manage RFID, track both slow-selling and fast-selling stocks, and prevent inventory theft to help you save both time and money.

3. Omnichannel Integration

A retail PoS software should offer all essential omnichannel integration features to efficiently accept orders and payments and manage seamless customer engagement from all channels. Among these integrations include:

  • Payment integration: The retail store PoS system should offer the maximum possible payment gateway integrations to accept payments 24/7. Ensure it enables online ordering, in-store prices, payment credit/debit cards, QR codes, UPI, and more.
  • Accounting software integration: A retail PoS system for retail should offer integrations with accounting software to efficiently manage tax, compliance, and AP/AR calculations for retail and e-commerce stores.
  • Omnichannel add-ons: Find out whether your retail PoS system offers readily integrated add-ons for omnichannel selling. Features like a free online store, selling on social media channels, automatic inventory sync, and other omnichannel tools such as in-store pickup and local delivery are incredibly useful for many retail businesses.

4. Billing Counters and Locations 

PoS systems in multi-unit retail operations must support multiple stores with one single software at each store and all billing counters. A good, centralized PoS system helps enterprises manage multiple stores while keeping the data and reporting in one place. 

These systems can be deployed by retail stores with multiple billing counters or in different geographical locations. For multi-unit operations, look for PoS features such as multi-store inventory control, cross-store stock management, and more. 

5. Multi-Device Operability 

The retail PoS system you pick should work on various devices, including desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, terminals, and kiosks, while also maintaining synchronized workflow and consistent data across all devices.

This ensures that users can easily navigate and manage retail operations regardless of their device. Likewise, any changes made on one device must be instantly shown on all other devices connected to the same POS system.

6. Offers and Discount Management

Integration of various promotional activities, such as offers and discounts in your PoS software system, can enhance billing operations. It allows counter salespeople to scan discounts or offer coupons at checkout instantly. This ensures that the counter management is geared toward maximizing revenue generation.

Parting Thoughts

If you are on the hunt for a good retail POS system, ensure you know which features you need and their weightage in your preference criteria. It is likely that most retail PoS software will not have all these features, or you may be priced out of them. In such cases, hunt for software that offer easy external integrations to retail PoS features from other vendors.

Hubler's retail operations software suite can help you manage your retail operations efficiently by optimizing workflows, improving collaboration, and making better, data-driven decisions that will drive long-term business growth.

Procure to Pay
A solution that simplifies your complex workflows.
Lease management
Your one-stop shop for everything lease management.
Asset management
Asset Management Solution that adapts to your business.
Expense management
Manage your expenses your way
Hubler-get-a-demo

Get a demo!

Please submit your details and our Product Consultant will connect with you to understand your needs.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
hubler-close-btn