subject: A Solution for the Disorganized Businessman [print this page] A Solution for the Disorganized Businessman
We have all heard stories about the absent minded professor and his inability to truly be successful. The story usually goes that the professor has a wildly brilliant mind, but because he is so unorganized, things just do not turn out right. Perhaps you own a retail chain with anywhere from 3 to 25 locations. If you are disorganized, you will not be any more successful than this absent-minded professor. However, with point of sale software, being unorganized is no longer a problem or even an excuse.
So what is point of sale software? It is a PC-based inventory management system that integrates all of your important business figures into one easy to use system. For example, at the time of a sale, several important things must happen. Obviously, the customer must be treated courteously and quickly and then there are the behind the scenes operations. It's with these operations that point of sale software can help. The most amazing feature of point of sale software is the way it integrates your sales figures with your inventory stock numbers. When a product is sold, the system not only calculates the prices, tax, and everything else important to the customer, but it also logs the sale, and then updates your inventory numbers to reflect the recent sale. Organization and inventory management are improved greatly with the software.
Another way that this hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) helps is with the pricing of your products. As you check your real-time reports, you will be able to see if you have merchandise that is over- or under-priced based on how well it is selling. You can keep track of many aspects of your merchandise, which allows you to make better business decisions. When using hosted point of sale software, you can allow the hosting company to handle all of the data, so that you don't have to worry about an expensive server on-site. You also have secure Internet-based access to the system through your Windows, UNIX, or Java applications using any connection.
Point of sale software can also help the retail chain that has become successful in a short period of time and as a result has seen a large increase in the number and variety of product sold. Almost all of these programs are made with the capacity to incorporate a bar code scanner. This makes life so much easier both for you and your employees. A bar code scanner is a device that reads the SKU or stock-keeping unit that is often found on the price tag of merchandise. This greatly increases the speed of the transaction for the customer because the employee does not need to know the price of all of the many products. Sales, or periods of time when products are offered at a discount, are made a lot easier too. With a simple update of the point of sale software system, the item will immediately come up with the discounted price and you can track your sales figures to see if the sale was effective. The bar code scanner makes the point of sale software work harmoniously with every aspect of your retail chain business.
