If you’ve found yourself thinking about your supermarket POS system a lot lately, that might not be such a good sign. As a grocer, you have a lot on your plate, whether you’re worrying about late deliveries or if the latest batch of salmon will meet the “sell by” date. So if your grocery POS is constantly on your mind, it might be time to question if the system you have is meeting your needs or ripe for replacement.
Understanding When It’s Time to Upgrade Your Grocery and Supermarket POS System
Look for classic red flags that signal it could be time to start shopping around for a new and improved supermarket POS. If you are guessing at your stores buying trends, struggle with chronic overstock or stockouts, struggle to maintain a working cash flow, experience frequent technical glitches, and spend countless hours ordering stock or waiting for technical support, you are not getting the most out of the current technology and services in your POS system.
Your Current Supermarket POS System Isn’t User Friendly
Even if a supermarket POS system is a sophisticated piece of software engineering when you peek under the hood, the user experience should be anything but complex and confusing. Employees rely on grocery POS to perform critical functions of their job so every misstep that slows them down only drags on your business and keeps impatient customers waiting in line even longer. An intuitive, simple-to-use interface is an absolute must-have in any supermarket POS that’s built for the modern-day grocer.
Ease-of-use should extend to the process of training workers on your grocery POS. Can new employees figure out the system with very little assistance? Does the interface employ large, colorful graphics with recognizable icons simple for most people to identify, no matter their primary language? Does the platform come with large, easy-tap buttons that click through to pre-set categories that your staff turns to most frequently?
Just say no to any grocery POS that doesn’t have a touchpad for quick searching and clear images making produce identification a snap. Solutions like QuickFlip take the guesswork out of selling scale-based items with PLU, or price lookup, codes that make navigating through thousands of bulk items a breeze. This not only saves time but minimizes errors as well.
Your Grocery POS System Doesn’t Accept Flexible Payments
If your supermarket POS doesn’t work with a wide range of payments, you might be missing out on the shoppers who started using modern options during the pandemic, when contactless and tap-to-pay methods gained mass adoption seemingly overnight. The mobile wallet is no longer a quirky add-on but a quintessential feature for young, digitally savvy shoppers looking to their smartphones to meet most of their on-the-go needs.
But your grocery POS should serve consumers across the spectrum by accepting cash, debit and credit cards in addition to EBT, food stamps and eWIC. A POS platform that electronically integrates with WIC means consumers get the perk of having a seamless debit-card-like experience while you can avoid installing separate hardware to process these government benefits. It’s a win-win all around.
Your Supermarket POS System Isn’t Adaptive
Another sign that your grocery POS might be ready to pack its bags is how easily (or not) it keeps up with what you need today, tomorrow and beyond. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that change is constant, especially when it comes to consumers. No one needs to remind you how curbside pickup became table stakes virtually overnight. In that same vein, ask yourself if your POS is walking when your business is running. Do you find yourself wishing your POS could do X, Y and Z? Are you struggling to integrate tools like e-commerce, accounting and payments into your grocery POS platform? With the right system, you don’t need to wrestle with a ton of workarounds to make everything sing. Asking for mobile, traditional and self-checkout to work seamlessly through a single POS shouldn’t be a tall order.
Your Grocery POS System Won’t Enable Your Growth
How’s your POS system’s growth game? If expansion is in your future, you’ll need a supermarket POS that can scale to new registers and store locations while enabling you to manage the entire operation from a single centralized location. When you’re running multiple stores, your grocery POS should allow you to move stock from one shop to the next without a lot of fuss. And don’t overlook the importance of staying on top of the latest data with real-time, web-based reports. With business changing on a dime, you need current intel at your fingertips.
Is It Time To Update Your Grocery POS System?
Look for the warning signs of inefficiency and outdated technology like; having multiple service providers for POS, back office, loyalty, mobility, and more. Modern Supermarket POS solutions will be fully integrated from POS to Back Office to Head Office and beyond to enable a truly omnichannel solution for your customers and a seamless experience for your staff. If your supermarket POS is slower than molasses, you might be ready to upgrade to a platform that isn’t past its prime. To find a system that can deliver on your business needs and growth goals, contact the seasoned professionals at AutoStar today to learn about grocery POS that can set you up for the future.
