What is an Integrated POS System?

October 19th, 2020 by Loyalty Sense Inc.

To begin with we must understand what a Point of Sale system, or POS is. POS in simple words is the place where a customer makes a payment for products or services they purchase at your store. Every time they make a purchase, they are completing a point of sale transaction. The entire system that deals with calculating the amount, ensuring you get paid for your service is what a POS is. This POS has become a central part and the core of operations where sales inventory and customer management merges.

So, what is an Integrated POS System?

An integrated POS system allows businesses to automate their processes and improve customer experience by reducing delivery costs, inventory costs and increasing operational efficiencies through speed, accuracy, and reliability. While being in the comfort of your own home, business owners are now able to view everything that goes on in their company (transactions, inventory, employee clock-ins, etc.) all online on the cloud. With an Integrated POS system, running a business has never been easier!

An integrated POS system will do more than just record the transaction. It will manage inventory and sales transaction both at the same time and all the pertaining information about customer and stock is stored in a central database. This data can be managed and updated accordingly by the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. The benefits are numerous because now instead of manually handling inventory and financial information, an integrated POS combines all the benefits brought by a sophisticated cash register and integrates real time information to optimize operational performance.

Main Benefits of an Integrated POS System

Inventory Management

Great deal of automation works in when barcode scanners are used along with compatible touchscreen monitors. Barcode scanners just capture product codes and prices are side by side adjusted in the inventory system. Businesses essentially are at loss when they have products out of stock and have customers at the POS terminal.
Additionally, through the Integrated POS system, purchase orders for additional stock can be generated after the system alerts inventory falling under the optimum level. It can also lets managers assess which products are selling more and which are not and hence effecting future business decisions. Control over inventory helps in avoiding any shortages and lost sales.

Marketing Tools

An integrated POS system will integrate customer information into the customer database. This allows special discounts to be given to specific customers and allowing loyalty programs to be implemented. Linking customers into the POS system enables information to be extracted about the business’s customers such as who is buying what products etc. Knowing more about your customers enables a business to target advertising more effectively as well as building better customer relationships, ensuring customer satisfaction and repeat business. Additionally, through the Integrated POS system, purchase orders for additional stock can be generated after the system alerts inventory falling under the optimum level. It can also lets managers assess which products are selling more and which are not and hence effecting future business decisions. Control over inventory helps in avoiding any shortages and lost sales.

Speed & Efficiency

Not only will the process of checking out increase in speed, having everything integrated through the POS system increases the accuracy in information as it reduces human error. Any mistakes can be easily rectified using POS poles and ensures greater transparency.

Customer Experience

Having integrated payment processing at POS helps in getting paid and allowing customers various options in the way they want to pay. It is a great way to control cash and security and can help in identifying discrepancies against sales captured and money at hand. Item scanning, use of touch screen and integrated payments can help bringing a holistic experience to the customer and generate greater revenues.

Busting POS Myths

Myth: "We don't have a huge operation to need a POS."

Truth: It is a myth that only large business needs an integrated POS system. It does not matter if you are running a local mom n pop store or a food truck business. Today’s POS systems are designed to scale with you. And that is a good thing, because a solid POS system is an integral part to spurring growth. It helps with lower costs to a significant level and that means you do not have to think of other ways to risk your business in expansion strategies.

Myth: "It is not user friendly."

Truth: It is actually very user friendly once you get used to it. Managers need to understand how and what kind of POS integration will work specifically for their business. Technology is complex but it does wonders to your business and will automate most of the basic operations of your business. This will reduce time taken at various customer touchpoints and increase the speed of business process.

Myth: "We don't need it. We always have done it this way."

Truth: It is always difficult to accept change but when you do it does wonders to your business. The ones not adopting definitely are left behind sooner or later. Everything from computer, email, airdrop, the laser printer, and Uber. We adopted and moved on and cannot imagine living without these things. The same goes for your POS. At times, in any business, we become so used to the systems we have in place. So ingrained, in fact, that the thought of learning something new immediately overwhelms us and despite the promise of ease, the pain of learning might seem like an unfavorable alternative to the ‘good for now’ that we begin to almost fear this change. There might be a bit of hurdles in the beginning, but the benefits are immense. We cannot grow within our comfort and the same goes with businesses. Business don’t grow when we fail to innovate to incorporate changing consumer needs.

Myth: "It's expensive. It's not worth it."

Truth: At one time this may be true but not anymore. It’s cheaper and much more flexible than you thought. While these are some most obvious benefits of using an integrated system there are also hidden cost savings. When used to their full potential, POS systems can reduce lost efforts and because they can be used table-side, and the chance of order errors is virtually eliminated. Now you might think it still isn’t worth it, but if you see the bigger picture, a seamless service is a big contributor to a guest leaving happy and, of course, returning.

The Future

The future of POS terminal is expanding and in today’s world, it has almost become a necessity. Contactless payments, kiosks, thermal printers, touch screen printers and much more. It is essential to understand that the word “integration” has different meanings in different industries. A POS system can integrate with other third-party applications and can vary for industries such as eCommerce as some integration pertains to inventory while others sync both employee and customer data. The deeper the integration, the simpler the end process becomes.

To sum it up, an Integrated POS system allows flexibility in getting paid, faster checkouts, reduced inventory cost, you name it. For businesses in competitive industries always looking for ways to stand out and streamline their everyday operations, an integrated POS system is just the right answer!