Here are 10 retail technologies that I believe will give retailers the
biggest benefit and boost for success. If you're not utilizing any of
these technologies then you might want to check them out because you
could be missing out on some big time saving and money making tools...
Here they are in order of importance (in my humble opinion, of course):
1) Point of Sale (POS) and Inventory Control Software
A good POS / Retail Management System can be a huge time saver and money maker for you. That's partly why it's number one...
In its simplest form, a good POS system will track all your sales so
you can easily see how your business is doing (at any time). In other
words, it replaces your cash register.
It's difficult to decide where to even start talking about POS software
because it can do SO many things for you. I could literally write a
book about ALL the reasons why a POS system will help you -- so I'll
quickly summarize in 5 key areas. A good POS system can...
* Dramatically improve your customer service.
* Simplify and improve inventory management.
* Improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
* Easily show where you're making and losing money so you can make adjustments and increase profits.
* Save huge amounts of time by automating bookkeeping and countless other retail tasks for you.
Now keep in mind... not only will a POS system give you a huge benefit,
but it can also be the MOST difficult technology to choose. There are
many things to consider and you certainly don't want to miss out on
anything important because it's very expensive to change POS systems.
So take your time and do your research when you choose a POS system.
2) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
One of the unwavering keys to building a successful retail business is
to build relationships with your customers. Because of that, CRM
software is a critical tool for the retail business. And not only will
CRM help you improve your customer loyalty it will help you market to
potential prospects and generate new business.
In a nutshell, CRM software allows you to track your customers,
identify market segments and then easily communicate with them via
email, telephone, direct mail and more.
Some POS systems actually include CRM capabilities and that's what I
recommend. This allows you to track all this information in one place
and reduce time consuming double entry. In any case, CRM software can
be purchased as a stand alone product or considered its own module in
your POS software. So it deserves its own category.
3) Bar Code Scanning and UPC Codes
Simply put, bar code scanning allows you to check products at the point
of sale much faster and more accurately than can be done on the
keyboard. Not only will this save you time, but you should also
consider the effect of your inventory...
Just think about the consequences of entering the wrong product number
and throwing off your inventory. Your inventory is the lifeblood of
your business and accuracy is vital. These errors can cause you to lose
sales, increase inventory costs, and waste hours of time.
I should also point out that if your merchandise has UPC codes, you can
easily scan those tags without the need to print your own bar codes.
This can be a huge time saver.
4) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
EDI technology allows you to send purchase orders (created in your POS
software) to your supplier electronically via phone line or internet.
Not only does this save a huge amount of time, but it can also reduce
errors -- so you don't have to apologize to your customer because you
special ordered the wrong item.
Just imagine, using your POS software to automatically generate
purchase orders (based on order levels and sales history) and then
sending your order to your supplier electronically. You can process
your entire order without entering a single product number! How much
time would that save you?
5) Retail Accounting Software
More and more retailers are doing their accounting in-house because
they can quickly produce up-to-date financial statements and see how
their business is doing at almost any time. This has become easier for
the small business owner because of a variety of user friendly
accounting applications.
Accounting software can be purchased stand alone or can be integrated
with your POS software. Now it's important for you to consider each
different module within an accounting system. I suggest that your
Accounts Receivable module (what people owe you) should almost always
be integrated with your POS software. It's also a good idea to get your
Accounts Payable module integrated with your POS too (because you'll
reduce double entry). Your General Ledger module can be stand alone or
integrated. There are pros and cons for each method. If you'd like to
learn more about integrating POS and accounting software, here's a good
article to check out:
http://www.possoftwareguide.com/articles/pos-accounting-integration.html
6) Store Traffic Counters
These valuable devices will help you
improve sales conversion ratios, increase store traffic, and improve
advertising. If you're serious about increasing sales conversions then
you need an accurate measure of your store traffic so you can determine
your closing ratio. Automated traffic counters are accurate and
objective. They provide surprisingly detailed data that takes the
guesswork out of measuring closing ratios and even how ads pull.
Store traffic counters also help better schedule your sales staff
because they identify actual foot traffic in your store during certain
time periods. You can also determine if traffic goes up or down during
marketing promotions so you can figure out what works the best. And
this is just the tip of the iceberg! There are MANY benefits to this
technology.
7) Graphics Design Software
Most small retail business owners tend to wear many hats... and taking
care of marketing promotions can be one of them. With computers and
graphics programs today, you can save thousands of dollars by creating
simple flyers, brochures, and ads with your own graphics design
software. Popular programs include Adobe InDesign, Adobe PageMaker,
Corel Draw and Microsoft Publisher.
8) Websites & Shopping Carts
Whether you sell products on your website or not... websites can be
powerful tools to promote your retail business. For example, you could
link to your website from business cards, newspaper ads, and more. This
gives you an opportunity to tell your story, give people an idea of
what you sell, and convince them to stop by your store. Since it would
be very expensive to tell your entire sales story in a newspaper ad...
you can finish the job by sending people to your website and save money.
Then if you're really serious, you can utilize a website shopping cart
so customers can place orders and pay you right from the website.
9) Payroll Software
Payroll software can allow you to do payroll in-house and save a bunch
of time. The software calculates the deductions that come out of each
payroll, like FIT, SIT, FICA, 401K, HSA, flex, etc. It also calculates
the totals for W-2's (and prints them) at the end of the year. And of
course, it also prints nice looking checks with all the deductions per
payroll as well as year-to-date totals.
10) Portable Data Terminals (PDT) and Hand Held Computers
Portable data terminals are great tools that allow you to quickly count
your inventory and easily update your POS system. You can simply carry
around this portable terminal, scan your merchandise, and then enter
your on-hand quantities. This allows you to more easily and accurately
count your inventory.
In addition, hand held computers are becoming more popular. They allow
you to create orders and complete various tasks on a computer that fits
in the palm of your hand. You could place orders from a truck or
anywhere inside or outside of your store.
Now I obviously listed only 10 retail technologies because it's a nice
round number, but there are many other great technologies that can help
you out. For example, a few honorable mentions include... signature
capture devices, smart cards, customer loyalty cards, wireless
technology, and email auto-responders.
I'm sure there are a few more that I'm missing, but depending on your
type of business, this is a pretty good list to start with.
I suggest that you take a close look at each one of these technologies.
Make sure you understand what's involved and why they are SO important.
Then consider utilizing this type of technology in your business (if
you haven't already).
Learn more about retail technology including how to choose, utilize, and maximize profits with retail technology:
http://www.possoftwareguide.com/newsletter.asp
