Table of Contents
Overview
Whether you are setting up a retail business, a coffee shop, a fashion clothing store, a beauty salon, etc., having a cloud-based POS system is an indispensable factor for the success of your business. Please take a closer look at what POS is to better understand why it plays such an important role.
Furthermore, we would like to reiterate and affirm that the POS system is a powerful assistant that can assist you with the majority of operations and daily tasks in your business. A great POS system can offer a few outstanding benefits, such as business reporting, inventory management, integration with online stores, and a lot more. With support from a POS system, you can make some significant business decisions.
However, with so many POS system vendors to choose from on the market, choosing the right POS system for your business can become even more difficult.
If you want to know how to choose a good POS system for your business, we would like you to read the blog. It will provide you with important criteria to consider before making a final decision to purchase specific point-of-sale software.
Criteria to look at when choosing a good POS system
When it comes to making a decision, we think you need to examine all aspects both inside and outside of the firm.
2.1 Internal Elements
To figure out where you need to start at the beginning, you need to identify and note down your business’s requirements.
The business’s state
First of all, you need to ask yourself: Under the current business situation, does it make sense to invest in a POS system? If your firm does need a POS system, then which type of POS system is suitable? Will it be an improved system for a traditional system or a completely new cloud-based system? By investigating your company’s current status, you will be able to determine the type of POS system you should choose without having to do the installation ineffectively. Here are some scenarios with which you might be confronted.
- If you are about to open a new store or start a new business, you will need a system that is simple, easy, and also highly effective to adopt. What you can do is search for reputable suppliers in the market here.
- If you are looking to upgrade your traditional POS system, weigh the pros and cons of the upgrade process that your business can be faced. To have a better understanding of this process, please conduct the comparison of legacy pos vs cloud-based pos
- If you need to switch between cloud-based POS systems. Consider the vulnerabilities of the current system and look for possible solutions to those problems at other vendors.
The type of your business
Which type of POS system to choose mainly depends on the nature of your business industry. This is very important, it helps you not to choose the wrong product with excess features, or lack of functions.
For example, a traditional coffee shop operates differently from a mobile food cart. With a mobile food cart, you will not need to use the employee management function, kitchen display function, etc. Instead, what you need is a mobile POS stand for customers to order food items, and a terminal for customers to allow customers to pay with many different methods besides cash.
On the other hand, if you are running a clothing store, you may need to install a fixed POS system right at the store. It will help you with billing, storing order and customer data, and generating complicated business reports.
There are many ways to select and install a good POS system that serves specific industries such as Entertainment and hospitality, restaurants, retail, Services, and On-the-go merchants. Thus, when you choose a POS system, you need to clearly describe your business status and its industry to the supplier so that they can add or remove the necessary functions.
The budget your business allows
Money is always decisive in making decisions. You need to refer to the prices of the software on the provider’s websites and compare them with your financial capability.
If you choose to use a cloud-based POS system, the price is usually required to be paid monthly, depending on the level package that you choose, and the cost depends on the number of stores, customers, and products. products, terminals, and features.
On the contrary, if you choose a legacy POS system (The old POS), you need to pay the entire amount requested by the suppliers before implementation. However, at the present time, it is very rare that new users choose the Legacy system since its features are very limited and it is incompatible with modern devices.
Prestige and quality of the provider
When you buy a product, you certainly also need to consider the reputation of the company supplying the product. You can ask questions and check if the company is trustworthy.
- Is POS the company’s main business product? A company that focuses primarily on POS tends to have more expertise and commitment to its products.
- Does the company have experience in serving your industry or a business of your size? If the company specializes in helping businesses with the same industry or business size as you, it proves that they are completely capable and capable to support and satisfy you.
- Is it an official supplier or a reseller, what commitment does that supplier have after purchasing the product? We believe that when you contact and buy directly from a supplier, you will get better and faster support because they have a dedicated team that can provide timely support.
- Has the company received many positive reviews? If customer reviews are more negative than positive, then you should consider choosing a provider that offers a higher level of customer satisfaction.
2.2 External Elements
Ease of Use
“Time is money”, indeed, if the process of installing and getting used to a POS system is too cumbersome, your business will inevitably be delayed and as a result, revenue may decrease. So when choosing a POS system, make sure that the installation process is quick and the usage is not too complicated.
Besides avoiding the situation of wasting time. You need to make sure that the POS software interface you choose is user-friendly so that you don’t get in trouble when using it, so you don’t have to refer to the manual frequently or call support. technical all the time. In addition, you will not have difficulty in guiding and training employees. Especially for those who own a large business model, with many stores and employees, the process of adopting the new system needs to be simpler and more optimized to not waste resources.
You may come across vendors that advertise a lot about the products they offer. But to test whether their product is actually user-friendly, we recommend you create an account for trying out the software. Many POS software vendors will allow their customers to have a trial tour with basic features for 7 days or 14 days. If they don’t, you could watch demo videos to check up on the software interface and experience how friendly the software is.
Features of a POS system
There are basic features that any POS software offers, for they are the core of a POS system that applies to every business industry. In other words, when searching for a POS system, you can not skip evaluating these features.
- Inventory management
Stock control can be a complicated and time-consuming process, especially if your business invests in large amounts of inventory. Most POS systems can make your inventory management much simpler.
However, a good POS machine will do more than count inventory. Currently, you are also able to have inventory management features upgraded to fulfill orders, transfer goods between warehouses, check delivery progress, etc.
- Integration
Usually, a comprehensive POS system will provide you with a full range of useful features. However, the ability to integrate with third-party software will also be a strong point, which allows you to expand your system’s features and manage them all in one system.
Third-party integrations can greatly simplify day-to-day business processes, so when you choose a POS system, be sure to check whether the chosen vendor supports the integration function; if it will, then the number of software applications that can be integrated is diverse or limited.
At Beehexa, we know how important integration is to our customers. However, POS system vendors cannot support the connection well. We are therefore here to help you with integration-related issues. Feel free to contact us whenever you need integration support.
- Report
For your business to be successful, you need to understand it as much as possible. A POS system will aggregate, store, and automatically calculate to provide you with visual reports.
The more fields of information your POS system can report, the deeper you can drill down to get the specific information you need to have a full vision of your business. Distinguished POS systems often give you full and advanced reporting.
In addition to the above functions, there are additional POS features that are designed to match particular industries and customers’ unique requirements. As a result, to fully meet your needs, you need to talk directly with the seller to be introduced to the right product package with customized features.
Also, to make it easier for you to visualize, the table below gives information about indispensable features of specific industries.
| Industry | Features |
| Foods and Beverage | Online ordering delivery apps Check splitting/tip features Kitchen display Back- and front-house Communication tools Table layout features Loyalty programs Advanced inventory Pay-at-table services |
| Retails | eCommerce integration Advanced inventory Loyalty programs Gift cards Customizable SKUs Shipping features |
| Services | Advanced scheduling Calendar Online reservations Customer-facing booking tools eCommerce integration Loyalty programs Gift cards |
Pricing
When owning a POS system, what costs do we need to pay? Specifically, when installing a cloud-based POS system, you need to prepare the money to pay fees related to the following factors:
- Software fee
You’ll find software pricing on most vendors’ websites. You will usually be asked to pay a license fee along with a monthly maintenance fee (upgrades and support). Software costs are often clear and transparent, and so it often leads to the myth that this is all you need to pay for your POS system. In fact, you also need to pay other costs if any are incurred during use.
- Hardware fee
In addition to the cost of registering to use the software, you need to pay for hardware such as devices for logging into the POS system, payment devices, receipt printers, folding bars, cash drawers, etc. may be a barcode scanner for inventory, and perhaps some digital menu boards.
If you already have these devices, there is no need to purchase them from the POS software vendor. On the contrary, if you do not have these hardware devices, you are required to buy more. Furthermore, the amount of equipment required will vary depending on the size of your business. The more devices you have, the more you will need to pay.
However, one part you need to keep in mind is that the hardware and software must be compatible with each other. Therefore, when choosing to buy software from a certain POS provider, you should also buy and pay for its hardware equipment.
- Integration fee
Although many vendors are trying to provide the ultimate software with as many functions as possible, the integration market is still quite large and POS software vendors currently cannot connect to all. third parties. There will be some third-party programs and software that sync for free, but most will charge a fee and you have to pay extra to do the integration and a monthly maintenance fee. The same can be said for the integrations themselves. You should also be aware of this fee, as vendors will only advertise the possibilities they can offer and not talk about integration services openly.
- Support fee
Most cloud-based POS systems won’t charge 24/7 support as it’s included in the monthly subscription cost. However, sometimes you may have to pay a fee to receive advanced support such as on-site software training.
Customer service
When you choose a POS system, you don’t care about software and product quality, what you need is customer service after the purchase.
For a cloud-based POS system to work well in the long run, support from the provider is a factor that cannot be ignored. Because even if your POS system is easy to set up and deploy and simple to operate, there will still be times when you need the support and advice of a maintenance or upgrade specialist. Software errors can always appear in your system, and it is the supplier’s responsibility to accept the problem and help you fix it in the meantime.
Some advice before buying a POS system
Sign up for a trial or study demos of the POS system
Most POS providers will offer free demos or trials, you just need to sign up for an account to experience it for free. This way, you can preview and test the software’s features, as well as explore the benefits and see how the overall system performs.
Then, note down what you like or dislike about the POS system to compare it with other vendors. Or use those criteria to talk to the software vendor of your choice so they can adjust to your preferences.
Get references from other companies
Once you’ve listed a few vendors that you are interested in, start to find out what other businesses using similar platforms say about the solution those vendors offer. You can go through their reviews or interview the people who have used the product.
Optimize your POS system
When you decide to buy a POS system, think about which product package you need to choose. Do you need a simple POS system with basic functions, or do you need a complex POS system with fully advanced functions?
If your business needs additional functionality, such as add-ons and apps, make sure to discuss this with your supplier so they can advise you on the right price. well suited. In addition, you also need to prepare an additional fee to optimize your POS system.
Final Words
To find a suitable POS system for your business, it is necessary to read and evaluate all the information related to the topic, as well as discuss it with the people who have already used it. You should go through this process as thoroughly as possible; the more thorough you are, the better your decision will be.
The sellers may make many attractive proposals, but they will not point out the defects of their system. You need to carefully consider the criteria mentioned above in this article and consult with trustworthy people to make a prudent choice.
