Shop ePOS Systems for Features and Benefits, Not Just Cost

When you buy a new electronic point of sale (ePOS) system, there’s a lot more at stake financially than just the sticker price. The true impact on your bottom line is felt over years and comes from the ongoing savings and efficiencies delivered by the system’s features, or the lost opportunities that result from a poor choice.

An automated purchase order feature, for example, that reduces duplication waste and increases sales opportunities by keeping the shelves well-stocked, could potentially have a far more profound impact on your future business success than even a 10% difference in initial system cost.

The same is true across a range of ePOS features that can ultimately become key components of your business success, including:

Digital inventory management
Comprehensive mobile payment options
Cloud accessibility
Customer tracking
Online ordering
Real-time sales analytics 

These features will come to define how effectively you can manage your business. When you shop ePOS systems, worry less about the initial cost of today’s transaction and focus more about the benefit of years of future sales.

How an ePOS System Works

An ePOS system is an upgrade to your register that becomes the hub of your entire business. Most modern systems center around mobile, iPad-based terminals that combine the hardware and functionality you need for great customer service—such as card readers, printers, scanners, and barcode makers—with the advanced business software required to deal with suppliers, track sales, and maximize customer information.

When you transform your register to a digital POS system, you gain greater control over every aspect of your business. All your business tools are available from a common platform you can access from any internet-connected device, be it the terminal at work or your own phone, and everything is integrated so you can account for how every dollar you put into our business generates profit.

Like any major business investment, however, the true financial value of an ePOS upgrade doesn’t rest with the investment but with the long-term return.

Understand Your Initial ePOS Cost

The digital revolution means you shouldn’t be paying big upfront fees to upgrade your POS solution in the first place. The rise of Software-as-Service models means companies of every size can afford the best in business tools through fully customizable, leave-anytime subscriptions that disperse the impact of infrastructure over years.

Such arrangements reduce risk and allow you to expand and streamline your business software over time as your company grows. When you shop ePOS systems, this monthly rate is the price you’re considering—you can immediately eliminate from consideration any system that demands a major initial investment.

Having narrowed your choice to a few subscription solutions, the ultimate decision should depend on the presence of the following key features. These must-haves will ultimately determine the return you make on any investment.

1. Digital Inventory Management

The heart of any ePOS solution is its ability to organize every product, payment, and purchase order that passes through your business. Digital systems can track every event as an individual asset and monitor them so you always know exactly what you have, what you’ve sold, and what you need.

The savings that result from running an efficient inventory program can be reaped again and again over years.

2. Comprehensive Mobile Payment Options

Customers have never been presented with so many different ways to make a purchase, and a big part of the shopping experience now rests on their ability to use the one they find most convenient and safe. Your POS solution must be flexible enough to accommodate all manner of cardless, tap ‘n’ go, and digital wallet options, or you run the risk of losing repeat business.

3. Cloud Accessibility

Being able to work efficiently will have a much bigger impact on your bottom line than the variations in ePOS fees. The best digital solutions allow you to access all your business apps, complete all your managerial responsibilities, and monitor live sales from the convenience of your own personal devices via online cloud computing.

You should be able to work where and when it best suits both yourself and your business.

4. Customer Tracking

Your customers are your most valuable asset and anything you can learn about them and their spending habits can be vital to retaining their business. Your POS solution should allow you to collect and analyze information through customizable loyalty programs and comprehensive databases, so you can create a unique connection.

5. Online Ordering

Every modern business needs an online presence, and a worthwhile POS solution will always include support to realize your company’s full internet potential. Whether you want to pursue an additional revenue source through eCommerce, introduce yourself to new customers, or just create smoother links with your suppliers, an online portal is a make-or-break feature when you shop ePOS systems.

6. Real-Time Sales Analytics

When you go digital, you turn every aspect of your business into a piece of information that can be analyzed to reveal crucial information about how your enterprise makes money. Sales analytics have become commonplace in businesses of every size in the 2020s and if you can’t quickly run a report on things like the fastest-selling items, the influence of staff on sales, and the demographics of your customers then you are at a competitive disadvantage.

As much as any of the key features outlined above, real-time reports will make a more direct and practical benefit to your bottom line over time than any likely difference in POS system sticker price. Years of more efficient product spend and customer targeting could ultimately even prove the difference between success and failure.

Such are the true stakes of investing in a new POS solution.

Selecting the ePOS System that Fits You Best

When you are ready to take advantage of digital POS, talech has the technology to create something unique to your business. Our solutions are customized to your needs so you enjoy years of efficient, informative, and streamlined business processes that boost your bottom line.