The holiday season begins. 

To all our readers and supporters here, thank you for your continued support this year, and we hope you will continue to enjoy and engage with other progressive-minded retailers in debates on issues here next year.

The holiday season is upon us once again! At POS Solutions, we want to wish all of our valued retail partners a very happy and prosperous festive period.

We Appreciate You

We know this is your busiest time of year. As you welcome swarms of cheerful customers doing holiday shopping, we want you to know we appreciate everything you do. Thank you for choosing us as your point-of-sale partner and allowing us to support your success.

Celebrating 40 Years of Helping Retailers

This year marks a special milestone for us - our 40th anniversary of providing POS solutions to nationwide retailers. It's been so rewarding to see many of you grow over the decades with the help of our technology. We look forward to many more years ahead!

New EFTPOS System

In 2023, we launched an improved EFTPOS system to make transactions more seamless for you and your customers. This new system offers:

• Faster processing speeds
• Enhanced security features
• Detailed sales reporting
• Easy integration with other software

We hope this updated system makes running your store smoother this holiday season.

We're Here for You

Even during the holidays, our dedicated support team is here for you. If any issues arise with your POS system, help is just a phone call or email away. We want to ensure minimal disruptions so you can keep serving customers.

Thank you again for your partnership. I wish you a wonderful festive season and a prosperous 2024 ahead!

Regards,

Bernard

(editor)

The holiday season is a busy time for retailers, with many customers doing last-minute shopping for gifts and holiday preparations. However, opening hours can be irregular during this period. As a business owner, you must communicate your holiday hours so customers know when you are open. Please do not assume that they think it will know magically. For a list of public holidays, click here.

Why Communication is Key

Without proper communication, customers may come, and at times, you are closed and have a poor experience. This can hurt your reputation and sales. It hurts more if they do not come because they do not think you are open.

Boost Loyalty & Sales

Informing customers shows you value them. People appreciate being updated on hours. This builds goodwill and loyalty.

Set Proper Expectations

Telling customers in advance about adjusted hours prevents frustration. They’ll know when to visit instead of finding you temporarily closed.

Promote Offerings

Communicating holiday offerings like gift items, sales, and curbside pickup promotes more business. People can’t buy if they don’t know what’s available!

Ways to Notify Customers

Use multiple channels to inform customers about holiday hours:

In-Store Signage

• Place visible signage at the entrance at least a week before, stating your opening times.

POS Software receipts

• Put your hours for this period on your receipts.

Social Media Pages

• Post adjusted hours on business Facebook pages and other social accounts.

Email/Text Alerts

• If you run a VIP loyalty marketing program, consider sending out your holiday hours announcements to your members via email.

Website/Online Listings

• Update hours are shown on your website, Google My Business, etc.

Consistent, advanced communication across channels helps customers know what to expect this season. They’ll appreciate you taking steps to avoid surprises.

If you need help managing holiday hours and communications with our point-of-sale software, POS Solutions can assist. Reach out for help.

I doubt we can get more high-tech Point-of-Sale units with the Black Friday sale prices from our supplier much longer. They have proven extremely popular because they are so fast, elegant, and easy for staff to operate, and they create a streamlined point-of-sale solution.

This has become our customers' favourite All-in-One system, as it conveniently bundles everything you need into one clutter-free touchscreen terminal.

What is an All-in-One POS System?

An all-in-one POS unit combines your hardware and software in one integrated machine. You see them today in most modern shops and restaurants. 

I took some pictures of the unit. Once you see them, I am sure you will be impressed with the small footprint on the counter.

Benefits For Your Business

You will love the real benefits they get from this all-in-one system:

1. Convenience

One of our clients told me "With just one machine instead of a mess of wires and gadgets, managing my sales counter is so much smoother."

2. Space-Saving

These units have a small footprint to free up valuable counter space for merchandising.

3. Ease Of Use

The intuitive touchscreen interface means minimal staff training.

4. Customer Experience

Another of our clients told me that this "new POS is lightning fast so I don't keep customers waiting. This seems to make them happier." 

5. Cost

As I said, all-in-one units are very competitively priced, still on special, making them a wise investment. I doubt with our inflation, these will be at this price for much longer.

Perfect For Your Shop

This integrated POS conveniently bundles everything into one good-looking unit for faster transactions and happy customers.

Learn more! Contact us for a your perfect all-in-one system.

Check this image out. At the green arrow, the package said this sweet is 25 gm. Look at the red arrow for what it is: 17 gms. Selling such a sweet could be a fraud. Something similar happened to our of our customers. They ended up sending a few boxes back to their supplier. I wonder if the supplier forwarded it to another newsagent or fixed it. 

This is a problem we do not need.

Shrinkflation helps manufacturers quietly cut prices, but it sometimes creates headaches for retailers as products get sneakily downsized without transparency.

Shrinkflation Equals Retailer Frustration

Shrinkflation refers to products shrinking in size or quantity while prices remain stagnant. Instead of buying ten in a package, the package now has eight. Companies hide the quality reduction with tricky packaging tactics to mask these changes from consumers.

Numerous studies show consumers are far more likely to be negatively impacted by price increases than the reduction in size of a product. The strategy might even bolster certain sectors, like consumer staples, because these companies can sustain their margins by implementing shrinkflation tactics.

However, obscuring shrinkflation can seriously impact retailers once discovered. Suddenly, for example, your computer records contain incorrectly labelled products that no longer match what is programmed into your point-of-sale system. More importantly your shelf labels are now wrong.

This causes many problems no retailer wants to deal with. 

• Angry, confused customers
• Labor-intensive inventory adjustments
• Point-of-sale system inaccuracies
• Reputational damage and eroded consumer trust

Protect Your Business With Proactive Steps

Retailers can take proactive measures to catch this shrinkflation before major damages occur. 

Carefully Screen Inventory

When new products arrive, if they are different, there should be a separate item in your POS System with a unique barcode. 

Conduct Random Audits

I like this idea: if the computer scale is in the shop, it is easy to check the weights. If not, bring your kitchen scale to work and test many items in the shop.  Verify your figures match what’s on the supplier's packaging, if different, check what is in your POS system.

If you find an error, contact your suppliers to reconcile the differences and move forward. Most likely, you do not have their current catalogue file to import.

Shrinkflation Stings Customer Trust

Vigilance against shrinkflation directly translates to trust-building with customers. When shoppers find your inventory transparently reflects accurate weights and measures, they feel confident you offer reliable products.

Conversely, shrinkflation erodes consumer faith when its obscuring tactics are revealed down the line. Shoppers may wonder:

• What else is wrong with this retailer’s inventory controls?
• Are they overcharging me for other items, too?
• Can I trust product information here?

Once customer suspicion sets in, it becomes challenging to regain their loyalty. It is far better to prevent the problem through proactive measures.

Why not help the Last-Minute Shopper Grab Great Gifts? Here is a detailed analysis of the state of this market now.

Today, in the middle of this holiday season, many shoppers have left buying gifts to the last minute. As a brick-and-mortar shop, you can capture sales from these busy procrastinators with innovative merchandising strategies. This post covers ideas for enticing last-minute shoppers into your store and sending them away happy with gift purchases.

Create a Festive Storefront Display

You only have seconds to grab the attention of rushed shoppers passing by. It would help if you created an eye-catching display showcasing your goods. It does not have to be much, but it needs to be noticeable.

• Bright, festive colours and lights
• Best-selling gift items
• Sale signs and promotions

You need clear Signage 

These last-minute shoppers are not planners, they are desperate, they want instant solutions. So place eye-catching signs advertising your Gifts. Include calls to action like “Easy Gifts Inside!”

Set Up a Gift Solution Center

Clear prime floor space near the entrance to set up a small “Gift Solution Center.” This designated area should display the following:

Top-Selling Gifts

Showcase 8-12 of your absolute best-selling and universally gifted items. This removes the stress of choosing for frazzled shoppers. Some ideas:

• Candles
• Gift baskets
• Sets of something.

If you want to know how to get the top ten selling items in the shop at this period well, its easy in our point-of-sale system to do it.

Go to Register reports.

Now select "Top N Stock Sales for a Given Period."

You will want about 100 items with the last three months of sales on our listing, which will look like this because not all the items will be suitable. Like always you need to use some intelligence.  

Start at the top and build your stand.

Offer Gift Add-Ons

Do not stop there often. You can get a bit more to get full value for the impulse spending with these time-pressed shoppers. Make it easy for them to grab useful add-ons by displaying these items together near registers:

• Gift bags
• Tissue paper
• Gift tags
• Ribbons and bows
• Gift wrap

Small treats like chocolates or gift soaps also invite impulse buys.

Be Their Gift Hero

This holiday season, take advantage of busy, time-crunched gift shoppers by making your store the easiest place to grab quality presents fast.  

Implement eye-catching displays showcasing your top-selling, universally gifted items. Designate a unique gift solution centre right up front. Stack impulse add-ons like gift bags and wraps near registers.  

With convenient offerings and locations, your shop can become your community's go-to last-minute gift destination. Reduce holiday stress while ringing in sales! Become the gift hero for harried shoppers this Christmas.

Give it a shot and see how you go. 

The holiday season is nearly here, and for retail shops, that means busier than usual trading days. As you gear up for the summer sales rush, it's essential to be aware of potential delays in settlement dates over the public holidays. 

What are Settlement Dates?

Whenever a customer pays with a credit or debit card, the funds from those transactions don't land in your bank account immediately. Usually, we see a 1-3 day delay, the settlement period, which is the period it takes for the banks to finalise the transactions before releasing your funds.

The time it takes to hit your bank depends on how many steps the funds take to flow. Today, with the least call routing in place, it is likely that two almost identical payments going through at the same time will hit your bank at different times.

What is happening due to public holidays is that your funds are delayed because one step is delayed. This happened recently to people who accepted an American Credit card, and in this settlement period, the thanksgiving day appeared, and their funds were delayed on the USA side.

Why You Should Pay Attention to Settlement Around the Holidays

Due to various public holidays occurring in late December and early January, including Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day, settlement of your daily takings can be delayed by up to 5 days. This is extreme, but it does happen.

For businesses already operating on tight margins, these longer-than-normal settlement times can cause havoc with managing cash flow. Plus, as these delays are often unknown, it makes it hard to accurately forecast cash flow, which is essential for keeping a business afloat.

Tips to Manage Settlement Delays This Holiday Season

Here are some handy hints for retail shops to minimize business disruptions from settlement delays over the holidays:

• Plan - Contact your provider to get a feel of what will happen. Do not count too much on them, knowing they are only one step in the chain. 

• Budget carefully - to cover unexpected delays in accessing your daily takings. Do not count on monies on the way.

By understanding settlement dates and planning appropriately this holiday season, small retail businesses can avoid being caught short and keep their sales momentum strong.

Streamline Success This Holiday Season

Managing the intricacies of settlement dates, cash flow delays, and inventory needs during the hectic holiday rush is hard enough for small retailers. Don't let outdated point-of-sale limitations make it more challenging.

The right POS solution, tailored for small retail businesses, can seamlessly handle all your transactions, payments, supply orders, and accounting in one integrated system. This means more efficiency, less wasted time, and complete control - even when settlement schedules are disrupted.

At POS Solutions, we understand the modern retailer because we’ve been in your shoes. That’s why thousands of businesses trust our POS platform and EFTPOS and Credit integrations. Our retail experts will help you.

Drawing in customers is the key for any small retail business. Doing this often costs money, which will drain your marketing budget. In our marketplace, two different methods are popular.

Discount vouchers and loyalty programs.

Now, let us quickly review how these work.

Broadly, a discount voucher, often after the purchase but not always, offers a discount on their next visit.  A loyalty program provides your customer with some points that, over time, can be redeemed on a future purchase.

Let's contrast these two different types of promotions.

Discounts: A Direct Way to Boost Sales

Marking down prices piques buyer interest quickly. It is a no-fuss tactic to move stock. Benefits of discounts include:

• Universal Appeal: Price cuts attract deal-seekers and even casual shoppers.

• Great with one-off customers: Many people, like in shopping centres, have heaps of customers they will never see again. If they do not make a pitch for them now, they will never sell to them again.

The main problems?

> You gain only discount-driven customers who buy on price.

> No data

> Easy to run

> No long-term relationship is made with the client. They are in it for the discount and will only remain if it continues.

> Discount vouchers are expensive. I once determined that a discount voucher system costs the retailer over three times as much as a points-based system. See here. There are good reasons why major retailers in Australia run point systems.

Loyalty Points: Investing in Repeat Customers

While discounts provide instant sales, loyalty programs focused on points accrual emphasize long-term retention. For small retailers, benefits include:

• Builds Customer Loyalty: Earning points for purchases incentivizes choosing your store.

• Valuable Data on Buying Habits: Informs decisions around stock and promotions.

• More flexibility: Allow better redemption on high-margin items.

• Tiered Rewards System: Personalize program levels and benefits based on spending.

• Australians like points: We are big users of VIP points

The main risk?

> The main obstacle is the amount of work and maintenance required over time to keep the program running.

> Although the cost is less, it is still there. As a rule, a loyalty program is only sustainable in retail at 1% of turnover without the supplier's help. So for example, say your shop does $500,000 a year turnover. The maximum a loyalty program should cost you is 1% or $5,000 by the book, which is based on a 30% margin. 

Something to chew on

If a customer spends $100 with a retailer and that retailer rewards them with 1 per cent of the total spend, then the member will receive $1 of value back, which may not sound very rewarding to the member. But if it is part of a loyalty program, the member can earn one hundred points (at 1c per point, which is equal to $1). By applying the representativeness heuristic, ‘one hundred’ points may be perceived as significantly bigger than ‘one’ dollar, making the member feel that the reward they have received is bigger than in reality.

Call to action

Let us know if you want to learn more about the loyalty program options available in our POS software. If there's enough interest, I'll write a follow-up article comparing the systems.

Finding Needles in Haystacks: Searching Reports in Your POS System

Shifting through lengthy reports searching for one piece of information can be a frustrating time-waster. But your POS system has a powerful tool to help you instantly find the exact data you need among thousands of lines. Let’s explore how to save heaps of time hunting for the critical information in the report.

Our POS Software includes robust search functions that index all text and data in the report. Rather than flipping through the pages, you can type a product name, date, or keyword into the search box.

It will display the matching instance highlighted for you within less than a second. As you can see here, marked with a red arrow, this report they printed was 13,533 pages long. Finding one item can be tricky as there are so many pages. You do not have to search; you get our software search engine to search for you. So I press the search marked with a brown arrow.

Up pops a box shown with a blue arrow. You would typically put in here "Red rose on the heart", but for the sake of showing you the power of this search box, I pressed "heart" and pressed a few times "Find next" till I found the one I was seeking.

Of course, if you know the exact title, this will make searching faster and hide results that are not relevant to you now.

Tailor The Query To Your Needs

Entering more specific search terms will help surface the most relevant entries. In our example, typing "Red rose on the heart" would directly take you to the singular product without dozens of unrelated results about red products or rose items.

You can also filter by various attributes like:

• Date
• Product
• Price
• Sale Amount

Uncovering Hidden Insights In Seconds

Besides eliminating frustration, advanced report search empowers you to unlock hidden insights about your business. Rather than being limited by static reports, you can instantly investigate any detail that crosses your mind.

• What were my top-selling items last Valentine's Day?
• How many gift cards were purchased in December 2021?
• What was the average transaction value for a specific brand last month?

Your answers are waiting at your fingertips!

The key is taking the time to familiarize yourself with the search functions available in your system. A few minutes of experimentation can save you hours over the long run.

Let Your POS System Shoulder The Reporting Burden

Leveraging the built-in tools in your POS solution will help you confidently base decisions on facts rather than gut instinct.

As a brick-and-mortar retailer, managing the cash in your registers is vital to your business operations. An efficient and secure cash management system helps you stay organised and minimize loss due to mishandling or theft. This is great in the shop, but now and then, you need to use a cash box to store money outside the shop. But with so many options on the market, how do you pick the best one?

From my experience, when evaluating a cash box for your retail business, keep these features in mind:

Secure Yet Accessible Storage

It would be best to have a box that keeps money locked up, deters theft, and allows you to access the money easily for making change. Ensure you have a cash box with separate compartments for bills and coins and good-quality spring-loaded cash clips to keep currency neatly stacked.

Locks

It is a pain to use a key to open and close them. We suggest having a latch and a lock.  Many, in my experience, have weak locks. Get a decent lock.

Sized for Your Needs

Consider the volume of cash you need to handle. The compartments should be roomy enough to accommodate multiple stacks of bills and rolls of coins without overflowing. 

Make sure that the cash box can handle Australian notes. Chinese and US cash boxes often cannot. Here is a dead giveaway: look at the image above. It has US notes. I bet there will be a problem.

Make sure you have enough room in the cash box to handle change.

Portability and Protection

Since you'll move the box around for collecting cash deposits, find one lightweight yet sturdy. I would suggest looking at fireproof and waterproof options, which offer extra security to shield your money.

Can it be secured to a table? One client drilled a hole into the cash box and used a bike lock to secure it to the stand.

Sturdy

The reality is that most of these cash bo9xes will not last five minutes against a determined person, but still try not to make it too easy for them.

I prefer metal cash boxes. Unfortunately, it sometimes makes the cash box too heavy, so be aware.

Integrate Seamlessly With Your POS

Our POS Systems can, with a laptop or computer, use a cash box, so no worries there.

Retail theft is rampant in Australia, particularly since COVID-19.

In April 2023 "Griffith Criminology Institute Professor Michael Townsley said retailers lose thousands of dollars per year because of retail crime, .... On average, an individual external theft incident costs a retailer around $415 compared to an internal theft incident costing an average value of $1200."

In some industries like newsagencies, I can see figures quoted between 3% and 5% of total sales.

That is a considerable amount as many retailers today are operating on slim margins. These losses can be devastating. The most troubling part? Most retail theft is internal, committed by trusted employees. We have heard tearful stories from retailers who discovered longtime employees and even family members stealing from them.

There are some protective steps you can take. We believe the best approach is implementing proper procedures and monitoring everything with the right tools, like a POS system with advanced reporting. Ignorance is not bliss here.

Use Your POS System to Uncover Internal Theft

Our POS software includes a unique security system that monitors key indicators for suspicious activity from each operator using your system.

Here is a start in your system: our unique security system monitors what people operating your point of sale are using. We call it the Retail Protective Key Performance Indicators. 

These indicators give you a detailed breakdown for each operator, statistics on such things as their usage of no sale, voids, count, totals, refunds, negative items and discounts they are doing. Pay particular attention to any huge numbers in specific voids.

To run it, go to cash register reports. (see orange arrow)

Then select Staff and click on "Sales security indicators" (see blue arrow)

Please select the required period you wish; I recommend doing it monthly.

What you are looking for is that most thieves have a method that works for them; they become a creature of habit, and as such, with these people, one indicator is generally up.

So you are looking for someone with one very high item. So, run this report monthly to analyze trends over time. Focus on operators with unusually high numbers for:

• Voids
• No sales
• Refunds
• Discounts
• Negative items

For example, no sales and voids often go hand-in-hand for legitimate reasons. But if one is sky-high and the other normal, that warrants a closer look.

Complement POS Monitoring with Other Fraud Prevention

POS indicator reports are precious for identifying potential theft. However, they should not be your only defence.

Some additional fraud prevention tips:

• Conduct regular inventory audits
• Install video surveillance
• Perform surprise cash drawer counts
• One cash draw one person
• Enforce strict POS access controls

Protect your livelihood by leveraging tools like security indicators. Failure to actively prevent retail theft leaves the door open for disaster. We are here to help - let us know if you have any other questions!

A few people who wanted to attend our upcoming webinar on social media marketing tips have said they are currently too busy ramping up for the holiday sales season, so we've decided to postpone the webinar until early next year when things settle down. We know this time of year can be hectic for retailers now!

New Webinar Date

We have rescheduled the webinar for mid-February 2024. We'll send out reminders as it gets closer.

Why Social Media Matters for Your Store

Social media marketing can be a huge boost for local shops, and it's probably the most effective advertising today.

Here is what we cover:

Choosing the Right Platforms

We'll provide tips on prioritizing platforms like:

• Facebook - By far the most prominent platform, essential for retailers
• Instagram - Great for visually showcasing products & store culture
• Google My Business - Vital for local search visibility

Setting Up Your Facebook Page

A good Facebook presence is invaluable, so we'll walk through crucial elements like:

• Ensuring your business info/hours are accurate
• Writing an engaging About section

Posting Content That Connects

We'll explore free content ideas centred around:

• Seasonal offers and sales events
• Using photos that quickly communicate what you offer
• Local community happenings
• User-generated content from customers

Monitoring Performance

You will never get very far in social media if you do not measure, so I will run you through a free social media analytics tool that integrates into our POS Software to help track your KPIs:

I will then run you through the most popular social media marketing KPIs.

Engagement rate is the percentage of your followers interacting with your social media posts.

Reach is the number of unique people who see your social media advertisements.

Impressions are the number of times your social media posts are seen, which shows both positives and negatives.

Understanding performance data lets you refine your strategy over time.

Conclusion

Please let us know if you have any other questions before mid-Feb 2024

An innovative way to lift sales is by making hampers—these present excellent marketing opportunities for retail businesses. Attractively bundled products help showcase your offerings while providing customers with ready-made gifts and highly personalised shopping experiences.  

Clear Out Old Stock with Hampers

This is the primary use of hampers as they provide clever opportunities to sell unsellable stock that is too old. 

For example, say your shop has a few stray photography magazines that can no longer be returned to publishers. On their own, you’d likely have to discount to move. However, bundling them in a photography-themed hamper with two of the latest photographic magazine issues creates newfound value in the bundle.  Pairing these with sought-after new editions lets you build a hamper whose price exceeds the three current magazines’ worth. This allows you to sell unsellable items subtly.

The hamper assortment disguises old stock as a bonus while emphasizing the valued contemporary items shoppers are keen on. This makes hampers a strategic means of stock clearance. With creative pairings, you can craftily liquidate old inventory.

Hampers drive bulk sales for more Revenue.

Fundamentally, each hamper represents a bulk purchase, with bundled products averaging higher transaction totals than individual purchases. This presents a significant revenue upside, especially given the perceived extra value from creatively presented assortments. Taking time to make hampers together allows you to get more sales. This works particularly well as you are letting shoppers quickly grab premade hampers. Look at these items,

People will look at the basket and probably pick and choose a few. 

Now, what if this basket was wrapped in plastic? Many people will buy all the items. This is what you want.

Of course if they want individual items, you can always sell them separately.

Types of hampers

Here is a listing I put together showing the most popular types of hampers used in retail today. I think it's worth running through the list with the names.

Craft Irresistible In-Store Hamper Displays

Well-styled hamper displays at checkout areas, store entrances, and high-traffic aisles will capture attention. Consider these display ideas:

• Colourful signage calling out seasonal themes, prices, savings
• Decorations and props matching the hamper theme
• Frequent rotation of hamper varieties
• Do not have too many at any time. You just confuse people

Spotlight Hamper 

There is no point in making these hampers if your customers do not know about them. They need to be displayed where people can see them.

Offer Customization for Personalized Appeal

Today’s consumers prioritize personalization and customisability. These hamper add-ons can boost perceived value:

• Gift card inserts with custom messages
• Consider a few with different price ranges
• Consider offering an upgrade from a cheaper hamper to a dearer hamper. You will find some and decide they want to upgrade.
• Festive gift wrapping in diverse themes

Analyse Performance Metrics

By tracking hamper sales in your POS platform, you gain insight to calibrate your offerings. Assess demand by:

• Reviewing best-selling themes and price points
• Monitoring purchases around key gifting dates
• Identifying highest-margin hamper variants

Data fuels intelligent decisions to meet customer needs, fine-tune inventory, and maximize profits!

Standing out in an increasingly competitive retail landscape means getting creative with value-added products. With the right marketing strategies, hampers can become a signature part of your brand experience and revenue arsenal.

Running out of stock on key products can be devastating for a retail business. For example, a pharmacist told me recently when I came to pick up medicine, "I asked a customer to come back because I didn't have the medication in stock. They came back. Later he came back with a different script and I didn't have that either, so he left and I never saw him again." Clearly, keeping enough stock of core products is critical.

However, this logic does not always apply to non-essential, temporary, or promotional items.

The Risks of Overordering

A while ago I remember Frozen II merchandise was taking off. While it was selling rapidly at first, soon demand dropped significantly. If a retailer had over-orders, they would risk being stuck with surplus stock that would have to be heavily discounted.

"There is a genuine danger that a retailer who over-orders will be left with product that needs to be heavily discounted to get rid of."

When Under-Ordering Makes Sense

In cases like Frozen II goods above, under-ordering may actually be the wiser move. Here are some benefits:

• Avoids surplus stock needing to be sold at a loss
• Creates product scarcity, increasing perceived value
• Gives a chance to explain high demand and offer to order more
• Costs less, so saving you money

Leveraging Point of Sale Software

Whatever your ordering strategy, having the right point of sale and inventory management software is essential. It provides visibility into current stock levels so informed choices can be made on replenishment orders. This helps minimize waste while preserving customer satisfaction.

Streamline your inventory management with a point-of-sale system that seamlessly automates reordering. Our solution empowers you to replenish stock frequently without overburdening your staff. Let us simplify your inventory management process.

Let us show you how our POS software can help you master retail stock management. 

Unbelievable as it sounds, we are getting close to the new year, the years gone so fast, and this often inspires people to get organised and plan ahead. Diaries can be a great product to help your customers achieve their goals in 2024.

Your point of sale (POS) software is the perfect tool to help maximise diary sales in your shop.

Use Your POS Software to Understand Diary Sales Trends

Your POS software has reporting features that can provide valuable insights into your diary sales from previous years. Specifically, your software can show you:

• Which diary designs, sizes, and types sold well at different times of the year
• Tell you last year's sales, which will indicate what this year's sales will be. Make sure you have sufficient stock on hand to meet customer demand.
• Related products that customers tend to purchase alongside diaries (e.g. cards, nice pens) use your companion reports.

Prominently Display Diaries In-Store

It would help to ensure customers can easily spot your diary selection in-store. Here are some display tips:

• Dedicate prime real estate, like a front counter display, to diaries
• Arrange diaries attractively
• Highlight top sellers; people are drawn to such products
• Put signage and posters to indicate that you sell diaries.
• Do not count on people knowing you have diaries. When serving them, tell them you have them.

Getting diaries front-and-centre maximises the chance of catch-up sales from customers coming in to shop for other items.

Related Products Like Planners

In addition to standard diaries, consider that you can boost sales by also promoting related products such as:

Travel Planners

Help customers plan their dream trips and holidays with travel diaries and journals.

Health and Fitness Planners

Tap into New Year's resolutions with diet, exercise, and wellness journals. 

Work Planners

Appeal to professionals getting on top of their workflow with work-specific planners. Display alongside nice pens, highlighters, and notepads.

Get Organised

You can organise a successful diary sales campaign this year by utilising your POS software to understand diary sales trends, effectively displaying and promoting diaries in-store, and talking to customers. 

Accountancy Software for Retail Businesses

Running an efficient retail business requires keeping careful track of your finances. With the right accountancy software, you can organise expenses, track inventory, simplify payroll, gain insights into your profit margins, and prepare for tax time. Here, we explore the most popular accounting platforms Australian retailers use today and key factors to consider when choosing a solution.

Our Annual POS Software Survey Reveals Downward Trend

At our company, we survey clients annually to gauge satisfaction with our point-of-sale (POS) system and understand their broader technology needs. Over the years, the survey has evolved into a broader barometer of retail technology adoption.

A few years ago, we introduced a new question asking retailers about their accountancy software usage. The results revealed a worrying trend - many retailers do not use an accounting package, and the number that do is decreasing. This trend has continued over the past few years.

Now if you have not yet filled out our annual Support and Customer Perception Survey and are our client, please do so - we appreciate your feedback.

Why Accounting Software Matters for Retailers

Tracking financials using spreadsheets or paper receipts alone is cumbersome. When records exist across disconnected systems, it is easy to lose track of transactions, miss recording expenses or payments, and encounter hassles at tax time.

Accounting software centralises all your financial data into one accessible system. Features like mobile invoicing, automated bank imports, and reporting dashboards save retailers significant time. Most importantly, these platforms provide real-time visibility into the fiscal health of your business.

From cash flow analysis to profitability insights to streamlined tax preparation, accountancy software delivers immense value for retailers of all sizes. Continue reading to learn about the most widely used programs in Australia.

MYOB Still Most Popular Despite Dropping in Adoption

MYOB has long been the dominant player in Australian small business accounting. However, its popularity has waned amongst retailers in recent years.

I suspect MYOB's decline is tied to transitioning from standalone desktop software to a cloud-based subscription model. For some retailers, shifting to paying a monthly platform fee per user is a turnoff.

 Many retailers appreciate its highly structured, ledger-like interface. 

MYOB remains the top choice.

Xero Soaring in Popularity

Cloud accounting specialist Xero has rapidly risen in Australia's online accounting landscape. More retailers are using it as shown by our survey.

As a fully cloud-native solution, Xero simplifies real-time collaboration across locations and external accountants. 

Xero does come with a higher monthly cost, depending on your needs. 

QuickBooks/Reckon - Popular But More Complex

QuickBooks and Reckon One have long competed neck-and-neck for the second spot behind MYOB in Australian retail accounting but no longer, but its popularity in our survey is down. I think this is due to its complexity, meaning it demands a steeper learning curve than the others. It does, however, I feel give much more in terms of advanced reporting and everything in between. In the hands of an experienced operator, few can match its capabilities.

Cashflow Manager Surprisingly Overlooked

Cashflow Manager has simplified accounting and cashflow management for Australian small businesses for many years. I have regularly recommended it to retailers because of its approachability and neatly designed interface.

Yet surprisingly, Cashflow Manager did not tally a single mention amongst retailers in our survey.

I am not sure why.

Key Factors When Choosing Accounting Software

With so many options on the market, selecting the right accounting platform can feel overwhelming for retailers. Keep these factors in mind while evaluating solutions:

Cost

Pricing varies widely based on the size of your business, number of users, complexity of needs, and add-ons required. Be sure to understand the total recurring costs plus any upfront license fees.

Ease of Use

Look for simple dashboard designs that allow managers an accessible financial snapshot and detailed tracking for accountants. Prioritise solutions so you can learn them quickly.

Integration 

Our POS Software can integrate into many accounting systems, and so can your bank. Using these integrations will save you a lot of time.

Mobility

The big question here is do you need cloud? Cloud means it can be used anywhere in the world. As a rule, the cloud is dearer.

I hope this all is of help.

You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure

The Christmas holiday shopping season has just officially begun. This is one of the year's busiest and most critical sales periods for retailers.  Many of our clients will do half their trade this year in the next two months. But you can't manage what you don't measure. Going into your biggest sales event blind is a recipe for disaster. It would be to examine the key metrics (KPIs) to understand the impact on your bottom line.

Here, we'll explore two essential key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure this Black Friday to show you how they are used going forward:

Foot Traffic

Understanding how many potential customers walk through your doors is crucial. Converting that foot traffic into actual sales is the name of the game.

You have a few options to monitor your store's foot traffic:

People Counters

If you have followed this blog, you will know that a simple people counter is an inexpensive way to determine how many shoppers entered your store. It should be positioned near the entrance and recorded at the start of each day. A basic, manual counter for a shop is cheap nowadays. 

Centre Foot Traffic (If Applicable)

If you are in a shopping complex, you will find that many of these do monitor the foot traffic numbers. You can use this, but remember, in our experience, these centre traffic numbers are rarely reliable. Use them as directional guidance only.

Daily Sales & Profit

While foot traffic shows customer interest, your sales and profit figures reveal actual spending and earnings.

Your point-of-sale (POS) reporting will tell you the net daily sales and profit. 

Focus on two key profit metrics and compare them to last year's Black Friday. That will give you an idea of how you are travelling.

Number of Transactions

How many sales transactions did you ring in for Black Friday? 

Total Daily Profit

Gross daily profit is ultimately what pays your bills.

Use KPIs to Assess Performance

Armed with foot traffic and profit data, you can now calculate store performance metrics to measure Black Friday's impact.

KPI-Foot Traffic Conversion Rate

Divide your number of transactions by the total foot traffic. 

Rate = (Number of Sales) / Traffic 

This conversion rate reveals how well you translated store visits into actual sales.

Professional marketers commonly do this sort of analysis.

Benchmark to last year's Black Friday. If conversion drops with higher foot traffic, you may need help with sales, e.g., understaffed or poor shop windows.

KPI-Average Transaction Profit

Here, divide your total daily profit by the number of transactions. The result helps you determine the average profit margin per sale. Now, is Black Friday pulling down your averages due to heavy discounting?

Average transaction profit = Profit / Number of sales

Doing Sales Performance Analysis

Now you have POS Software, so you can do most of this and more automatically. I find analyzing sales data by department, product category, and customer segment can help retailers identify areas for improvement and make strategic adjustments.

You will find it here:

Main Menu > Cash Register > Register Reports > Under the Select Report tab, expand the Stock folder > select the report “Dissection Family Class Period Sales Comparison”.

Then you will see this screen.

 Now, put in the dates to compare.  Now, it will pop out a wide range of KPIs, including quantity, cost, sales, profit, and GP%, with a breakdown by amount and percentage. I think besides the two KPIs above, you will find many others useful. Note that these are your actual figures, not what your suppliers tell you.

I would also suggest that you look at your 

Retail department optimization

Consider tracking your sales performance across different departments to identify the most profitable channels and allocate resources accordingly.

Summing up

Implementing key performance indicators is critical for effectively managing your business during the hectic holiday shopping season. At a minimum, start by tracking the metrics of Foot Traffic and gross profit.

Compare these KPIs to prior years.

Don't fly blind - measure performance daily. Spot shortfalls early so the course can be corrected quickly. There's no better tool for managing through the wild ride of this holiday sales season than your POS System.

One of our competitors has announced the release of what they call a "first" for Australian retailers: self-checkout point-of-sale (POS) software. Now, that is a bit of a tall claim. Our company and several others have already developed and provided Self-checkout POS software for local businesses years ago. Click here, and you will find a few. They are also commonly used in restaurants, and I would suggest all restaurants look into it. So their announcement may help bring this technology to the forefront of our market.

Now would be a good time to objectively review the pros and cons of self-checkout systems in most retail stores. While the technology functions as intended, like any such solution, some strengths and limitations exist. I hope here to give you a balanced look at these systems' opportunities and challenges from someone who has had experience with it, to help you make informed decisions about the realities of this Retail technology.

Now self-checkout kiosks are staples in major supermarket chains with mixed reactions. To many of us now, scanning our own groceries has become routine with such systems in supermarkets. These retail giants tout the efficiencies gained from their lower staffing needs as they have replaced rows of cashiers with a handful of overseers profiting from payroll savings. This formula works for such high-volume big-box players. But does it translate to other stores? Well, clearly not. Many large shops that could afford them do not use them. Like everything, it has its pluses and minuses.

Supermarkets Consider the Self-Checkout Scene

Let's review the standard supermarket setup:

• Goods being sold are simple to process.
• Stations are typically placed with 6-20 kiosks and 1-2 attendants overseeing the usage
• Shoppers scan and bag their own items, then pay via machine interfaces
• An attendant assists with errors, problem items and customer confusion
• 1-2 manned checkout lanes are still staffed for shoppers wanting personal service

So, we are looking at a typical setup of 2 manned checkouts and eight kiosks. In a large supermarket, with one employee monitoring eight self-checkout machines. I have seen figures showing the savings of three traditional cash register operators. So, we are looking at five manned checkouts or this setup with a labour cost of three people. So they saved two salaries, instead of five people they can get by with three.

Challenges for retailers

1. Transaction Volume Variations

For a self-checkout setup to be successful, a high volume of transactions is typically required. The business model of supermarket self-checkout terminals works because they are processing many sales each day due to the scale of their operations. Implementing a similar system for stores with lower transaction volumes may make achieving a good return on investment difficult. You would likely need significant customer traffic to properly justify the costs of installing and maintaining multiple self-checkout lanes. Smaller-scale operations may find it challenging to reach the level of sales needed over time to offset the initial investment required for this automated checkout solution.

2. Staff Role 

Self-service kiosks present some challenges and require a technically proficient person to maintain them properly. Issues are likely to occasionally arise with these automated systems, necessitating someone with strong technical skills to identify problems and resolve any issues. Without proper ongoing support and maintenance from a knowledgeable staff member, self-checkout kiosks risk developing technical problems, which would impact your customer experience if not promptly addressed.

Often, you need the services of an IT professional on call.

3. Physical Store Size Constraints

Although each of these kiosks uses less space than a manned checkout, the station with many kiosks and a person monitoring them does need a lot of space. 

4. Cost

The upfront cost of each self-checkout kiosk is higher than a traditional manned checkout station. Many automated checkout systems also require costly ongoing maintenance and after-sales support plans.

5. Shop Theft

Experience has shown self-checkout kiosks have higher shoplifting rates than manned checkout lanes. Without a staff member directly monitoring each transaction, customers can easily underreport items or bypass scanning certain products. Cameras help, but only a little.

6. Products

You need to market products that are easy to handle, scan, and bag. We found in newsagents that large cardboard was a pain. Many products need to be extremely detailed and properly programmed into your POS Software to function with these machines; for example, the item's weight often needs to be in it.

7. Customer Confusion

Some customers hate them. You are not going to get out of a human cashier somewhere. Plus, when the kiosks work, they are great, but it can be a real pain to get it right when they play up. It takes time for your customers to get used to it.

8. They break down 

When you are in a supermarket with a station of eight kiosks, if one plays up, it's okay. You have seven more working. If you only have one, well, it's a problem.

9. Foreign language support

Our kiosks had a great selling point: they could report in a foreign language, which works great in theory for a customer who knows that language. For the people monitoring the kiosk, it proved a problem when they tried to help. A kiosk with Thai letters and instructions is almost impossible for a non-Thai speaker to use. 

Conclusion

While self-checkout kiosks have become commonplace in large supermarkets, their feasibility for other retailers, as shown by their slow adoption, shows they are not yet for most retailers.

Now, before I sound so negative, if you have an interest in such technology, please let us know; one shop that works well now in small business with them is restaurants. 

​

Our Black Friday Sale is Here to Save You Money!

The holiday shopping season is upon us, and here at POS Solutions, we are excited to help our customers save money with our Black Friday deals.

Why We're Having This Big Sale

Now is a good time for us to offer you good prices, as many of our partners have excess stock they know they cannot clear out for months. They are keen to move, so we offer to pass some good savings on to you to help you and them. We tell them what we want is "Our Black Friday Sale is here, with limited-time offers and doorbuster deals!"

That's why we worked with our suppliers to bring you some incredible deals for Black Friday.

Huge Savings on Computer Equipment

If you've been holding off on upgrading your computers and tech gear, now is a great time to take the plunge! We have deep discounts. See our newsletter for details.

Shop Now Before Prices Go Up Again

This is the last chance to get such great prices on computer equipment. With inflation and a weak Aussie dollar, prices are sure to go up next year.

Let us know if you have any questions. We're always happy to help you find the perfect gear within your budget.

Make the Most of Black Friday with a Flash Sale tomorrow.

This post is for those people who have done nothing for Black Friday tomorrow.

Here are some photos I took at my local shopping area on Black Friday. What I noticed is that almost every shop was participating. The last one I thought was pretty clever as they did not have to do any price changes or preparation. 

On the Facebook page of one local business, which I know is very professionally run, I saw the following written

Don't miss out on these amazing Black Friday deals! Shop early to get the best selection. We also have a great gift guide to help you find the perfect presents for everyone on your list. And don't forget to take advantage of our price match guarantee!

Make your own sign. I suggest including some of these words as, based on what I have seen, they seem to work.

Black Friday

Cyber Monday

Doorbuster 

Gift Guide

Holiday deals

Price match, 

Save money

Shop small

Maximize profits during the biggest shopping weekend of the year at the last minute.

With some strategic planning and the right tools, you can drive new sales and attract new customers to your store tomorrow.

> Choose the right sale items.

> Systems like your POS Software make flash sales a breeze by automatically applying discounts at checkout.

> Here are some instructions 

> Do not forget products that you are overstocked or slow-selling. Here you are dealing with bargain hunters, who want stuff like this now.