Point of Sale (POS) plays a critical role in the businesses of retailers, restauranteurs, bar owners and entertainment venues – it is how you take your revenue after all, so any minor issues and inefficiencies could have a direct impact on your bottom line. How do you avoid common POS issues?
Would it surprise you to know that research shows underperforming and slow POS could lead to a 3% deficit in revenue each year¹. Whereas conversely, optimally configured POS systems can add as much as 6% to your income through their efficiency gains alone. ²
This is why we strive to inform our customers about the importance of their POS’s performance. If something isn’t working as well as you might like, then it is worth investing some time in as it could be costing you money. Here are some things you can look out for with the performance of your POS system.
Is it the right system for the job?
This might sound like a silly question, but we have had enough customers over the years that have inherited systems or been given poor advice as to what system may suit them best.
Firstly, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Different needs have to be catered for by different systems. For example, the needs of a retail shop are far different to the needs of a restaurant. In order for your POS system to perform to its best, you need to start with the right system to begin with.
One of the most common issues seen is larger business trying to run huge networked POS systems which are running some heavy-hitting software, on inadequate low-cost terminals. They just don’t have the processing power required, and unsurprisingly perform terribly. One of the big issues for smaller businesses is buying technology that’s not really needed. This can have a huge impact on cashflow and ROI. You also get those businesses that want the latest ‘shiny new thing’. But really, they are paying a lot of money for something that’s going to offer them little practical use.
Has it been correctly installed?
Getting the installation right in the first place could save you from having massive headaches in the future. Modern POS systems are quite complex, so if you have any glitches with your system such as sluggish screen loading times, slower payment processing etc. it could be down to any number of things.
Similarly, to choosing the right POS system in the first place, it also pays to partner with an installer that has excellent knowledge of the system they are installing. That way POS performance should hopefully be maximised as the installer will have thought about potential issues like faulty or poorly installed wires and cabling, hardware compatibility issues and configuration and testing. It is always best to look for POS partners that offer comprehensive aftercare and maintenance packages. As we know all too well, sometimes things can and do go wrong. However, you need to know that if it does, you have the right team behind you that are going to step in and sort your issues quickly and professionally. Rather than having to pay well-over the odds for ‘quick-fix’ engineers.
How’s your connectivity?
Although we said that glitches and bugs can be caused by all manner of things, the most common culprit is your connectivity.
Wireless technologies such as WiFi is the most preferred method of connecting a modern POS system, most notably because of the fact that you don’t have to have wires all over the place (or hidden away where possible). In the most part this is fine, as long as you have the requisite equipment in place to deal with the heavy traffic that modern cloud-based POS applications require – a standard workaday WiFi router just isn’t going to cut it.
And, not only do your wireless networks need to be robust, but you must also ensure that they are kept as secure as possible. As you’ll probably be aware, the number of different cyber threats is constantly increasing. So, you need to protect yourself from malicious attacks and potentially costly data breaches.
Looking for some further advice? We’d be happy to help! Please call us on 01299 488031 or email us via info@tills-direct.com.
With thanks to Aures for their help with this article.
¹ Stat taken from https://www.infovista.com/blog/how-to-troubleshoot-pos-systems ² Stat taken from https://aures.com/uk/point-of-sale-equipment-solutions-systems/
