It is clear that we are at an inflection point with point of sale (POS) technology for the C-store industry. Significant innovations from longtime technology vendors as well as newcomers to the space are leading many chains to reevaluate their current store tech stack in the search for what will be the best solution for the coming decade or more.
Selecting the right POS system is crucial for ensuring smooth operations, high levels of customer service, and maximizing profitability. Not only is it a tool for processing transactions; it also plays a central role in inventory management, sales tracking, reporting, and customer loyalty.
Below are some of the key considerations and best practices to focus on when embarking on this journey to select the ideal POS system:
1. Assess Your Specific Needs
Before diving into the many available offerings, assess your specific needs and requirements. Factors such as the goods you sell, the size of your operation, store locations and customer base can all impact this, not to mention the needs of various internal stakeholders.
The first thing needing consideration is your current 5-to-10-year business plan. Where you plan to grow geographically as well as product mix can impact your selection. For example, if you plan to grow your prepared food service program, you will weigh a POS’s capabilities for managing food service orders more heavily. Likewise, if your chain plans to move from branded to unbranded, or vice versa, that will have an impact on which POS vendors are an option.
Questions to ask during this initial phase include:
- What types of products do we sell, and how complex is our inventory?
- What kinds of centralized management requirements do we have?
- What are our customer loyalty priorities and requirements?
- Do we need integrated payment processing (e.g., credit card, mobile payments)?
- Are we looking for a cloud-based solution, or would we prefer an on-premises system?
2. Prioritize User-Friendliness
Your POS solution must be user-friendly for your cashiers and your customers as well as your support team. Knowing the C-store industry has a relatively high attrition rate (around 60% annually), the POS system should be intuitive, easy to navigate, and have a short learning curve. Including store personnel representation during the evaluation phase will be important as you assess just how intuitive each POS system is. A well-designed POS system will help streamline day-to-day operations and reduce cashier and support staff frustration.
3. Evaluate Integration Capabilities
Modern POS systems should integrate seamlessly with other business operations, such as inventory management, accounting, loyalty, and marketing tools. The more integration options available, the less time you will need for manual entry or reconciling discrepancies between systems. A good POS system should provide robust APIs to provide real-time reporting and analytic data that give you valuable insights into sales trends, inventory turnover, customer behavior, and financial performance as well as exception-based alerts on system warnings and failures.
For multi-site operators, a POS system that can synchronize data across all sites is essential. Integration with your inventory management system will allow real-time tracking of stock levels, reducing the risk of running out of popular items or overstocking slow-moving products. Additionally, integration with your accounting software can streamline financial reporting, improving overall efficiency and allowing for more timely financial decision making.
4. Ensure Scalability and Flexibility
As your chain grows, so will your needs. The POS system you select should be scalable to accommodate new locations, additional product lines that vary across the network, and easily integrate with new technology such as autonomous self-checkout solutions or new methods of payment. Additionally, flexibility is important for adapting to changing business requirements, such as seasonal promotions or changes in local regulations.
Increasingly important to all retailers looking to modernize their tech stack in a flexible and scalable way is the ability for the POS system to run in a virtualized environment. This provides the capability to run with a smaller hardware footprint, simplifying future upgrades and lowering the cost of supporting the overall solution.
It is also important to consider the ability to add or remove features as your business evolves. For example, you might initially need only basic sales tracking, but as your business grows, you may require advanced analytics, inventory forecasting, or multi-location management tools. Knowing if a POS system can easily add these features with simple configuration or if they will require new development from the vendor needs to be part of your decision matrix.
5. Discuss Advantages and Disadvantages with Peers.
There is no lack of offerings for POS solutions. Even after evaluating the factors covered in this article, it can still be difficult to reach a final decision. Reaching out to colleagues and user groups can be a great additional way to gain valuable understanding of the solutions you’re evaluating. Take advantage of the relationships you’ve built in Study Groups and consider other industry groups such as Conexxus where you can meet additional peers focused on C-store technology.
As always, we offer a free one-hour evaluation where we can discuss your specific challenges when it comes to your retail technology landscape and the steps we can take to find and implement the right fit for your business.
