Ingenuity, perseverance, and a great team all make up a successful business. While a business could be thriving, there’s one thing many owners neglect: their point-of-sale (POS) systems. Whether it’s a small business, restaurant, or grocery store, an up-to-date POS system is essential. Many issues can arise from out of date software or hardware systems, resulting in poor functionality and customer dissatisfaction. We explore just some of the reasons why you should update your POS system before your business suffers.
Software is Slow
Efficient software is the driving factor behind your operation. Software functionality is crucial. Freezing, buggy/lagging movements, lost and corrupted data, and credit card reader malfunctions, and incorrect or missing sales data all exemplify faulty software. This slows down sales time and leads to customer distrust. As a business owner, you want as many customers as possible no matter if it’s for the restaurant, retail, or hotel industry.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Can I access my cash drawer?
- Can employees easily clock in or out?
- Can I track transactions, inventory, or payment types?
Not being able to perform these features is a clear indication your POS software is outdated.
Missing Software Features
Your POS vendor should be constantly updating their software to add functionality, respond to industry trends, and fix bugs and errors. If you haven’t updated in a while you are probably missing some great functionality. Whether it’s just minor tweak, like adding better search functionality to look up open tabs in a bar, or major features, like hosted online ordering or reporting or EMV pay at the table, your software could be doing a lot more for you.
Constant Hardware Malfunctions
Did you know that the speed of computer processors doubles about every 18 months? That means a new computer could be as much as 16 times faster than a 6-year-old point of sale computer. Hardware malfunctions may also mean you need to replace your hardware. Your terminals or computer may crash or glitch, which would slow down operational speed. Using an outdated computer with updated software may make the operation run smoother, but both need to be updated for fast, simple transactions. Our POS software runs great on the newest computer hardware for a smooth, efficient transaction.
Customer Experience is Poor
People are observant. Your customers will notice lagging machines and poor functionality, and they eventually will stop using your business. Similarly, customers want convenience just as much as you want to build a larger client base. For example, customers do not want to wait 30 minutes to pay for their meal, or wait after driving a long time for a room, because your POS system is too buggy to operate. With our systems, credit card transactions take less than five seconds, and our processes simplify purchases. Our POS systems also support a variety of gift and loyalty programs designed to retain customer satisfaction.
Weak Security
Security should always be top-notch to protect your profits. Unfortunately, security breaches are common problems today. Hackers and data miners target small businesses with weak security systems. Even employees can access important information and cash drawers. With an updated POS system, security is tailored to protecting against internal and external threats. These include using a password-based check-in/check-out system for employees, industry standard encryption of sensitive data, video security connectivity, and trackable payments.
If you find your POS system experiences these issues or lacks modern functionality, check us out at Business Software Solutions, Inc. We have the best POS software for small businesses on the market for the restaurant, retail, and hotel industries.