3 Points to Consider When Comparing Retail Bakery Software

In today’s modern world, there is an answer for everything, including how to digitize daily business needs. From tracking inventory to managing online orders to offering quality customer service, the right retail bakery software can save you time, money, and hassle. Here is what to consider when comparing retail bakery software.

Deciding on New Software: Short and Sweet Suggestions

When deciding what the right point of sale system for your bakery is, it is important to ask yourself the following: 

How will it help me manage my inventory?How will it help me during service?How will it help me grow my business?

Ideally, you will find a single POS system that can accommodate all of your bakery, customer service, and branding needs.

1. How Will It Help Me Manage My Inventory?

Bakery inventory is a puzzle. Few businesses have to make a profit from such a mix of raw ingredients, readymade perishable products, bulk-bought supplies, and single-use tools.

A digital POS brings calm to that inventory chaos by consolidating every incoming, outgoing, and waste product into a single location. You can barcode and divide your bags of coffee into individual units, allow for wasted flour sticking to the bowl in the baking process, and automate purchase orders to make sure everything you need is always stocked or on its way.

Digital inventory monitoring can keep track of modifications, discounts, bulk orders, dietary considerations, and good-old-fashioned spills that define a day in the life of a bakery.

To deal with that reality, make sure your retail bakery software has the following features:

Customizable barcodes for creating product bundlesReal-time sales and product information for rapid stocktakeUnit tracking and conversionAutomated inventory alertsVariable and weight-based pricingIntegrated accounting, taxation, and stocktake functions

While your POS system should include software capable of tracking and valuing each dollar spent in your bakery, it should also have engaging features to offer your customers a quality experience.

 2. How Will It Help Me During Service?

Bakery software must be functional and practical. Catering to customer demands today means delivering an experience that is convenient, highly responsive, and personalized.

The best POS systems combine the behind-the-scenes software with customer-facing displays and tools that add as much to the ambiance as the ordering. By converting your register to a mobile iPad terminal, you free up valuable service space and give customers a bright, easy-to-read point of contact. It will also allow customers to feel secure by paying any way they prefer, from card to digital wallet.

Your solution should make it easy to take and pass along orders and seamlessly integrate catering orders as well. Finding that digital balance is easy when you combine all of your processes into one hub.

To ensure a smooth service, your POS system should feature:

A vibrant customer-facing displayTable managementStaff managementInstant, multi-point digital messaging between staff terminalsCapacity for online, phone, and in-store ordersBranded customer loyalty programs and gift cards

A successful business is a growing business, so your retail bakery software must be housed within a POS solution that will generate insights into how your business turns a profit and how it could grow more.

 3. How Will It Help Me Grow My Business?

Data analysis is as essential to modern-day bakeries as quality, locally sourced butter. Once you convert all the ingredients and baked goods into digital items, you can track their transformation from cost to profit through your entire setup. 

The right POS platform will let you remotely track live sales on your phone while comparing the best-selling muffin flavors across weeks, months, and seasons. You can also follow sales trends across staff shifts to gauge the impact a good team member can have on moving goods.

Sales information can be invaluable in planning your future. It allows you to identify what sells and what doesn’t more objectively, thus looking beyond your biases and initial plans.

To make sure you can compete with other bakeries and food outlets in your area, your retail bakery software needs to include:

Real-time reportingInstant inventory log reportsMulti-location and terminal reportingSales metrics applied across shifts, seasons, and marketing effortsEstimated wage reportingCredit card and declared tip reporting

The right POS solution that positively services all three of these essential areas and is shaped to your specific bakery needs is a valuable asset for your future growth.

Retail Bakery Software Is an Affordable Essential

The rise of digital tools such as advanced POS solutions has seen an increase in providers offering affordable retail software offerings. The right solution can help lower some operating costs by pushing the burden of your tech costs back into the cloud where Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses take responsibility for the maintenance, support, and upgrades of your software and hardware.

The digital POS solutions created by talech can be completely customized as your retail bakery software to suit your needs. From the finer details of the inventory features to the branding on the customer loyalty cards, everything can be made to promote success.