For small business, a point of sale system can be the vital heartbeat of your daily workflow and long-term growth. It can be a challenge narrowing down the features and functionality you’re going to need, but don’t worry. As you shop around for your next system, keep in mind the following five considerations to get the best value for your business:
- Ease of Use. Training can waste a lot of valuable time and money. It’s important to have a system that people can use right away. Beyond everyday navigation, adding new items and editing existing ones should be intuitive and straightforward. You really need to put a system through it’s paces before going all in.
- Free Trials. To check for ease of use, make sure you try before you buy. With free trials or demo offers, you can take your top picks for a spin to see how they look and feel before making your choice. Finding the right one is just a matter of identifying your needs and picking the one that fits best.
- Analytics. Data is a powerful tool for running your business more efficiently. That is why tracking data is more than a feature: it’s essential. When choosing an app, look for what types of data it records. How about tax rates, payment type, and top sellers? To give you the most options, look for a point of sale that lets you export data daily, weekly, or monthly. Also, things happen, so make sure your information is secure and backed up to the cloud.
- Flexibility. In a perfect world, customers would order something just as it is, but we don’t live in a perfect world. You may need to modify or add notes, accept other forms of payment like gift cards or Dwolla, and send email receipts to customers. What about your internet? If it’s unreliable, consider choosing a system that can work without a network connection. Flexibility is the name of the game, so look for a point of sale that can be customized for the way your business works.
- Support. Remember how we just said we don’t live in a perfect world? Well, it’s something to consider when you need help. Who you gonna call and will they be there when you need them? Whether it’s during a lunch rush or a late-night data export, it’s nice to know help is there when you need it. Look for a range of support media, like a help page on their website, instructional videos, and real-live-person phone and email access
