Point of Sale Software Explained: frequently asked point of sale software
Does point of sale software always work?
No. I have a smart, smart friend who started his working life as a CPA and a technology guru. At about the midpoint of his career, however, he switched gears and became a very successful retailer. He actually built his own point of sale software which he uses to manage a $20,000,000 independent retail business. He comments that point of sale software will do all the things that the point of sale vendors promise--but only if you work the system. In other words, you need to be using the point of sale software in the way it's designed to be used. And you need to be using the information the point of sale software produces.
How much does point of sale software cost?
Prices vary widely for point of sale software. You can buy inexpensive point of sale software for less than $1,000. Add in hardware, and you're talking probably about two grand per point of sale workstation.
Industry-tailored point of sale software that a consultant comes in and helps you with can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. It's very easy for a specialty independent retailer spend $25,000 a store, for example. A point of sale system that relies on Microsoft's RMS, or Retail Management System, for example, often runs around this price.
Before you freak out at these prices, let me say that I think good point of sale software can be an excellent investment. As a practical matter, you often can't compete against the big box retailers and internet retailers unless you use point of sale software.
Should every retailer use point of sale software?
I don't know that I'd go as far as saying that every retailer should use point of sale software. I see successful retailers who don't use point of sale software. One comment that I've heard from successful retailers is that as long as you have a small enough operation that you know what is selling and when, you're okay to operate without point of sale software. To be more specific, I would guess that retailers selling $500,000 a year or less, especially if managed on a day to day basis by the owner, probably don't get as much value from a point of sale system. A retail operation of this size can be managed, well, sort of on the fly. When a retailing operation gets bigger than this, however, point of sale software in my opinion becomes indispensablel to managing the business.
How do go about picking point of sale software?
Typically in picking point of sale software you want to look at two big issues: First, you want to know that the point of sale software works for retailers in your category. (Ideally, you want to be able to talk with somebody who's already using the point of sale software to do what you're going to do.) A second thing you should consider is the maximum number of inventory items that will fit into the point of sale software's inventory master file. Some of the inexpensive point of sale software systems don't work for small independent retailers because they stock too many items.
Where can I get more information about point of sale software?