There are a variety of ways in which inventory control and point of sale systems can greatly help retailers to overcome industry challenges.

The five biggest challenges facing retailers today are inventory management issues, employee problems, shrinkage, the growth of the multi-channel shopper, and targeting and keeping customers. Having an inventory control and point of sale system can help retailers address all of these challenges and effectively overcome them.

Inventory management issues are prevalent in most businesses that do not use a computerized inventory control system. A retail store can waste valuable time manually counting inventory and keeping records of what they need to purchase. Additionally, retailers can overestimate and underestimate the quantities of inventory to be ordered due to poor planning and lack of statistical data.

With a POS System, retailers can more effectively gauge how much inventory they need to order and when to order it. Statistical reports can be printed with just a few clicks of the mouse that will give retailers in depth information as to what products are selling and how much inventory should be ordered to minimize inventory holding costs. If a retailer can effectively evaluate what they have on hand and what consumer purchasing trends are, they can keep the necessary products on hand, while filtering out the products that do not sell.

Having computer software that can measure all of this greatly reduces the time required to count inventory and re-order merchandise, thus enabling retailers to more effectively spend their time on marketing and customer service.

Employee problems are another challenge facing retailers. Good help is hard to find, and many retail employees lack the basic math and communication skills to effectively do their jobs. Having a POS system greatly reduces user errors. Since inventory can be directly scanned into the computer for sales, problems associated with employees that lack math skills and common sense virtually disappear. It also ensures employees charge customers the correct prices and give correct change, which dramatically reduces lost profits for a retail store.

Employee training time can also be greatly reduced. If less time is spent on training employees on how to ring up sales, more time can be spent on training employees on the importance of great customer service, which increases the amount of new and repeat business that a retail store can obtain. Word of mouth has always been the best and least expensive form of advertising, and good customer service goes a long way in the marketing effort.

Shrinkage is another problem that retailers face. A POS product like Retail Pro automatically updates how much inventory is supposed to be in the store, and a quick physical count can verify that the correct amount of inventory is actually in the store. There are also security features integrated in the software that can help reduce theft which is the largest contributor to shrinkage. Poor inventory management is another contributor to shrinkage, and having inventory control software greatly reduces inventory control errors.

The growth of the multi-channel shopper is a great challenge facing retailers. More and more people are now shopping online because they do not want to deal with the hassles of shopping in a retail environment. Long lines, unskilled employees, and poor customer service all contribute to the increase of ecommerce. Retail Pro can help physical stores run more smoothly in all aspects thus enhancing the shopping experience for the customer. Although internet sales are on the rise, many consumers want to be able to physically see merchandise before purchasing it, and if a retail store can provide a friendly and relatively hassle free shopping experience, customers will continue to do business with retailers. Additionally, it has e-commerce solutions that allow retailers to integrate their web stores with Retail Pro.

Lastly, targeting and keeping customers is a problem facing retailers as well. If you don't know who you are selling to, you cannot gauge what types of inventory to buy. Retail Pro tracks what types of items customers are buying, which provides insight into the demographic makeup of the customers that are buying these products. If a retailer knows what products are moving, they also know what types of customers are buying those products and can more effectively strategize their marketing campaigns.

A POS system such as Retail Pro allows retailers to efficiently tackle many of the day-to-day challenges that they face. As technological advances continue to increase at an exponential rate, retailers should take full advantage of using technology to more effectively manage their businesses. If retailers can obtain statistical information related to inventory control, target marketing, and record keeping, they can save a lot of time and increase their economies of scale and productivity dramatically. Retail Pro provides for a work environment that reduces inventory management issues, employee problems, and shrinkage. It also helps to combat the growth of the multi-channel shopper and it assists in targeting and keeping customers.

For more information, visit www.onestepretail.com www.onestepretail.com

About the Author

David Laster is a contributing writer with One Step Retail Solutions www.onestepretail.com www.onestepretail.com