7 things to consider before buying a Retail Management System

2. 7 things to consider before buying a Retail Management System The retail industry is leapfrogging each year to new heights. People who are opening stores or have been in the business for decades are facing challenges with their retail operations. Choosing the right Retail Management Software is an absolute necessity. Pick a wrong one and you will be playing with fire. Mae West said, “An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises”. It rings the truth even today. Many businesses do not take off or achieve desired results even after giving the best of what is available. Sometimes, established businesses run aground despite all their efforts. The problem is not that they are not managing the stores properly, the issue is that the behavior of a customer has changed, and businesses have not been keeping up with it.

3. 1. Comprehensive Inventory Management A ‘Fait Accompli’ is that every POS Software comes equipped with an Inventory Management module. But often, it is far off from what businesses require .A retail business has multiple vendors and suppliers for various items. If a business has multiple stores that sells different categories of items, then stock management is bound to go for a toss. Your Retail Point of Sale System should have an inbuilt: Supply Chain Management that stores and directs shipping and return of products • Automated stock count options from warehouse to POS machines Procurement of items via manual and automated channels Ability to define stock prices, discounts and characteristics when purchasing Centralized control with a dashboard that keeps you up-to-date about products Access control for all the operations and users working within the system

4. 2. Smooth Purchase and Sale Cycle Procurement and Sales are the most essential activities businesses perform to run their daily operations. An RMS can aid the business with regular stock updates and tight control over stocks issued to stores from the warehouse. Issue Note by Staffers for Purchase Requests Stock Procurement via Purchase Notes Stock Approval and Transfers with Permissions Item Labeling and Barcoding Sale of Items via Sales Orders and Sales Requests Stock Count and Inventory Updates

5. 3. Deeper Insights & Real-time Analysis Retail businesses need a rolling stock to continue business operations. An RMS provides detailed insights about the running stocks, present stocks, availability of items and their purchase price and sales price. Moreover, various filters that allow near real-time reports with concluding data for quick and strategic decisions to be made by managers is a compelling reason why retailers should implement an RMS. With this, store managers can measure the profitability of items and ensure that they are stacked properly for faster movements.

6. 4. Workforce Management Employees are an integral part of every business and with retail, they work in shifts and often on the same Point-of-Sale machines their colleagues had worked. A modern RMS has an in-built POS software that enables tracking of every staffer. It has record management for sales, timekeeping, extra hours of work and if integrated with a payroll system, it can even manage salaries. • Time and Shift Management User and Access Control Attendance Management

7. 5. Money and Account Management Managing accounts and money is the utmost priority for retail businesses. From paying taxes to taking payments via POS, an RMS should be able to do it easily. Also, it should be able to support your Goods Return policies. Moreover, it should support traditional transactions like Cash and Cheques and digital payments like Credit Card, Gift Cards and Loyalty Cards on POS machines to boost sales. • Multiple Account Management for vendors and suppliers Automated tax calculations for multiple jurisdictions Multi-currency support Cash and credit card support for payments Mobile and wallet payments

8. 6. Access Control Controlling inventories, purchases, sales, and several other actions are vital to business success. In addition to that, which user will be able to perform which task, how many users will be able to operate sensitive tills and who will manage the overall administration of the Retail Software is important. With a retail software, a user can: Allot time and money for each POS users Create POS Groups to perform various tasks Define Business Partners and create their individual Sales/ Purchase Lists Define User Access Roles and User Groups for tight access to the system

9. 7. Great Customer Experience “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all,” says, Michael LeBoeuf, the foremost business author and writer of modern times. All fancy functionalities and features of retail management software are undone if your customer is not amused by it. The success of every business is dependent on the customers that it serves and compels them to return to the store through an ultimate customer experience. Your retail management software should possess.

10. 7. Great Customer Experience Gift Card module to enable customers to offer them to other people Loyalty Program Support to make a customer a loyal customer Promotion program module to enable a retail store to promote items/ products

11. 7. Great Customer Experience Discount and Offer support for staffers and customers One step check-in and Online check-out options for customers Multi-store and Multi-currency support for global customers

12. A Retail Management System is built to boost sales and efficiency of a retail business. Apart from all these points, it should also contain features like faster checkout, auto update inventory, stock count with warehouse, open and close tills with currency counts, and various other functions should become easier to perform with a retail software. You should consider buying a retail management system that saves costs and time with the automation of various processes. Take a No Obligation Free 30 Days Trial of our Ari Retail Management System to boost your business.

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