All small business owners know that how they interact with their customers is extremely important. You want to ensure that your customers have a consistent, positive experience whenever they come across your brand.
However, the more channels available for customers to interact with your business, the more uncertainty is introduced—and the harder it is to control that customer experience.
Let’s use an example to illustrate: a clothing store is having a busier day than usual. In fact, it looks like one of their bestselling shirts is about to sell out.
Luckily, there’s a QR code at the cash register directing customers to the website, where the shirt is in stock. Or is it? One customer returns to the store, saying that they tried buying from the website, but the shirt wasn’t available there, either.
In this situation, the customer’s interaction with the clothing store was frustrating. They just want to buy a shirt, and the store doesn’t have the means to get them one. This is just one example of how frustrating it can be to not have a unified POS system. It’s difficult to manage inventory, grow sales, and reach customers in new ways.
The good news? It’s easy to adopt a unified POS system, and once you have one, both you and your customers will be much better off. In this article, we’ll explore the top five benefits of migrating to a unified POS system.
Before we dig into the benefits of a unified POS system, let’s take a quick moment to define what it is. Simply put, a unified POS system is a solution that allows customers to shop your products easily and seamlessly via any channel they want (online, in-person, or on their mobile device). It integrates data and inventory into one platform so that, no matter the channel, customers have a consistent and continuous experience with your brand and product offering.
A unified POS system makes effortless, multi-channel selling possible. This is a huge plus for your customers. No matter how they’re interacting with your brand and products, all your sales, inventory, and analytics will be in sync.
This removes friction and frustration, providing a truly seamless shopping experience. Features like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and ordering out-of-stock items for home delivery can make your customers feel like their favourite items are within reach, no matter what.
A unified POS system also allows you to surface the same promotions, discounts, and services on your products across each channel, so that customers always see consistent messaging. This makes it easier to close sales and gain loyalty.
Having a unified POS system allows you to accept any form of payment: credit, debit, digital wallets, and invoices. Obviously, this is good news for you. The more flexible you can be with accepting payments, the easier it is to drive revenue.
This is also an asset for your customers. No one likes getting most of the way through checkout, only to realize their preferred method of payment won’t be accepted. Another win/win: customers are more likely to buy when they can easily switch between channels—for example, browsing and favouriting an item on your website, then purchasing it on the mobile version. When payments are easily executed, you can close sales much more easily .
Overall, your checkout experience should be secure, reliable, and completely customizable, so you can choose an experience that’s convenient and secure for everyone involved.
Nothing is more frustrating than having disparate systems that don’t speak to one another. It’s tough to actually leverage your data to make better business decisions.
With the right unified POS system, you can aggregate data from all sales channels to gain real-time insights into customer behaviour and sales. Customized reports can help you manage inventory, optimize operations, and drive profitability with confidence.
When you have better insights, you can provide a better customer experience. Having a birds-eye, multi-channel view of your customer data allows you to offer personalized experiences based on preferences and purchase history that are truly meaningful.
Being able to make decisions with your entire business in mind is a game-changer, and will allow you to attract, retain, and engage more customers.
Having one system for every sales channel doesn’t just impact sales and customer experience. It also strengthens security.
With the right unified POS, you can layer the same level of PCI-compliant security over every single touchpoint. This means that no matter which channel your customers are buying through, you can rest assured that they’re doing it safely, protecting both parties’ data.
Choosing a unified POS partner that prioritizes encryption, tokenization, and fraud protection allows you to serve your customers as best as you can, and it also allows you to protect your reputation as your business grows.
A funny thing happens when your entire system is in sync: you suddenly find yourself with more time to work on the business, rather than in the business.
Once you’re able to offer your customers a seamless shopping and branding experience, you’ll find the little problems that used to take up hours of your day are much fewer and farther between. For many small business owners, this is a substantial shift. And with all your data in one place, you can focus on making real, strategic improvements.
Moneris Total Commerce makes it easy to grow your business. You’ll have access to free POS training, round the clock support, and free website and payment setup . In other words, you’ll have a true partner that allows you to get out of the weeds.
Ready to find out how a unified POS system can help you level up your business? Learn more and speak to a member of our sales team here. Plus, for a limited time, you can claim a $600 rebate on your order! Learn more here.
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