With ecommerce bigger than ever, you no longer need to run a retail store to sell products. For those who run their business out of the living room and not a show floor, you still need to track inventory from the point of order to the point of sale.
Below, we are going to share with you the top 4 problems that business owners have shared with us when it comes to their inventory. And then we’ll share the solution to handle these inventory problems, straight from your computer.
1. Security
According to Business Insider, the years 2018 and 2019 were hit with major security breaches. Big retailers like Macy’s, Princess Cruises, T-Mobile and Capital One are just a few of the companies that fell victim to hackers. These are very large companies and they have very sophisticated systems.
When a large company experiences a security breach, consumers will usually stop buying from them at least for a while. But, when the company is not a major corporation, the costs to the company can be permanent. Small businesses must have a quality program, such as a POS system, that protect their customers.
What to look for in a POS system for small businesses:
- A fully integrated system
- Built-in Active global fraud prevention
- End-to-end encryption
- Constant monitoring
2. Training employees and team members
It is wonderful having an all-in-one system. However, if it is difficult to train your employees or co-workers because the system is not user-friendly, then it becomes a major problem. How can all employees and co-workers be trained in a fast and easy manner so my business will not suffer?
Creative POS system training allows unlimited training
Your POS system should be designed around the end-user. At the minimum, it should include the following:
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One-on-one onboarding session
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Webinars, demonstrations, and videos
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Unlimited 24/7 support
3. Inaccurate Reporting
You may have a reporting system you are using, but if the information you are being given is inaccurate, it is an expensive waste of time. It is worth the money to get the system that gives you up-to-the-minute information.
Immediate access through the cloud:
If your POS system had a current, cloud-based back-up. You have to-the-minute data. You know exactly what you have and what you need. You can check everything at any given moment. Your customers have an easy experience without delays and frustrations. This is a major plus when you are watching the turnaround time of a new item or promo items.
4. Tracking
There is nothing worse than taking an order for an item, collecting the payment, then not being able to find the item to ship. There was a mistake somewhere in the system. You show an item that has been sold, or someone sold an item that was not entered in the system. Your customer will be angry, and you will have the added work of deleting their order from the system.
Control
From the time an item is ordered until it is sold and removed from inventory, you should know the status. You get tracking for the sales of that item, how many you have in inventory if the item seems to be trending, and even the numbers for when you have an item in a promotional group. It is like having a single employee follow the item until it leaves you. You do not have to run a report and examine the numbers before you can speak about an item. With this kind of data, deciding when and if to order a particular item is easily made.
Just by the nature of the job, sellers must keep a lot of things going at once. They cannot afford a program that will slow them down. They need a program that works as hard as they do. They need to trust the information they are pulling from that data.
With ecommerce, customers have high expectations because your competition includes some of the biggest tech companies on Earth. You must always be at the top of your game and that is what your goal is. Use a program that allows you to be at the top of your game. If the POS system you are using does not offer the above-mentioned features, you should look further. You are only as effective as the tools you use.
