Inventory tracking is a crucial component of a successful business and can make or break your entire operation. With incorrect inventory tracking, you’ll lose time and money to recounts and deadstock, and customers and employees alike will become frustrated with the lack of accuracy in your inventory system.
A POS system can help manage your inventory in real-time, keeping numbers accurate and tracking your inventory across all channels. Keep reading to learn more about choosing POS software that tracks your inventory.
Table of Contents
Know Your Price
Obviously, one of your first considerations should be your business’s budget. Can you afford a monthly premium for POS software, or will you need a per-transaction fee system? Perhaps you’d like to purchase an entire terminal, software and all? This will incur a higher startup-cost than your typical POS option. Whatever you choose, it’s important to consider the business budget beforehand. Be sure you can manage the extra cost associated with purchasing POS software.
Be sure you’re not paying extra for features you may never even use. Many POS options are feature-rich, but sometimes, you don’t need half of the features that are offered, and you end up paying for things you’ll never need. Do your research and figure out which brands offer what features with their POS systems. That way, you’ll save time and money and the hassle of returning your POS system because it’s too expensive.
Features to Look For
When you’re considering a POS system for inventory tracking and management, you’ll want to look for certain features. From real-time inventory tracking that saves you time and effort to consistent accuracy so you don’t have to fix numerous errors, these features should be considered “standard” for POS inventory tracking.
Real-Time Tracking
Tracking inventory in real-time makes the entire process that much simpler. Counts will be more accurate since they’re conducted instantaneously, and you’ll never have to worry about software taking hours to update your numbers. Real-time inventory counts also allow you to better serve the customers by providing accurate information on how much product you have available.
You won’t need to waste time going into the stock room to perform manual counts, either. With real-time inventory management, all of the information you need about your stock is in the palm of your hands. You can check specific items or your entire stock at once, and since your POS software is constantly updating, you’ll know when stock is running low. Some POS software will even send a notification if a certain item is running low.
Top-Sellers
You’ll want to be able to see what your top-selling items are in order to keep them stocked. If you don’t know which items perform the best, you can’t better focus your efforts on marketing those items. Your inventory system should be able to tell you which items perform the best, and how many of those items have been sold over the course of the week, month, or year.
You’ll be able to view detailed sales charts with the press of a button, offering precious insights that you wouldn’t find with a typical cash register system.
Lost Sales
Just as you want to know which items sell the best, you also need to know which ones aren’t selling at all. Losing sales to sub-quality or undesirable items can be impactful on your business, so you’ll want to know which items may need to be discontinued. You’ll save money and time by accessing this info right from your POS interface.
Consistent Accuracy
Consistent accuracy is what makes a POS system great. You’ll be able to count on your software to provide you with accurate inventory and sales reports, so you can make better-informed decisions about your business as a whole.
Do Your Research!
Research is essential to not only finding the right software but also when choosing the right brand. Remember that a product is nothing without a good brand to stand behind it, so customer service should always be a consideration when choosing a product. Don’t take customer reviews for granted, and tech reviews can offer quite a bit of insight into how the POS system works.
You can find such reviews on sites like PCmag.com or on YouTube. Be sure to pay close attention to the details of the review, and make your decision based on what you’ve found. When a brand has overwhelmingly good reviews, it’s usually for a good reason.
Conclusion
Tracking inventory effectively is crucial to success in business, and what better way to do so than with a tool that does so much more? You’ll find that your POS system not only tracks your inventory but helps to streamline many other aspects of your business; making it one of the best tools you can have at your disposal.
Featured image source: Freepik
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