If you’ve been thinking about opening an online pet shop, now might be the right time. The pet industry is a booming business that continues to grow year after year. There are many online pet stores, but only the ones that thrive have found the right balance between customers and their inventory. A quality point of sale (POS) system can help your online pet store reach peak profitability. Here’s how.
Stay Organized
With a good pet store point of sale system, you can keep your organization in check. The right POS software can track every product you have in stock, its current price, and the date you purchased it. Your system should also be able to track the total cost of each item, the price you need to sell it at, and the profit you’ll receive from each sale. With the right infrastructure, your employees will be less likely to accidentally sell an item at a loss: They’ll always know the current value of each inventory item.
Manage Your Inventory
Many modern POS systems offer inventory management features. This way, you don’t have to keep track of everything in a tedious spreadsheet. You can see which dog collars are selling the most, which terrariums you need to restock, and which kibble brand you need to find a different vendor for. At the same time, you can see which items you don’t need anymore and can easily remove them from your inventory. You can also keep up on vendor recalls and returns so that you can prepare ahead of time.
Overcome Customer Frustration
Many online stores end up losing money and customers because of a bad POS system. This happens when customers try to enter their credit card information on a website that doesn’t have a good checkout system. If your website doesn’t have the right software to accept payments, some customers may have to go to a different website and reenter their payment information, which can be very frustrating. This is why you should look for a POS system that makes checkout easier for everyone involved.
Make Your Website Better
Your website is one of the most important parts of your business. It’s where most customers will decide whether or not to purchase from you. You can use your POS system to add online ordering functionality to your website. Pet owners often have specific needs, so you can use your POS system to let customers know more about the items you’re selling. This will save them the frustration of visiting your site and finding out that they can’t purchase what they want.
Help Your Staff Focus On Other Things
By reducing the time it takes to manually enter product information into the computer, your employees can spend more time doing other things that help your business succeed. For example, your employees can focus on restocking items and sourcing new products. A POS system can help transform your pet store because it frees up your employees’ time.
Create a Better Customer Experience
The better experience you provide your customers, the more likely they are to visit you again. You can foster a more loyal customer base by using your POS system to provide better service. You can give immediate assistance to customers who place orders on your website. You can inform them if a product is out of stock and let them know when it will be available again. You can also let customers know when you ship their orders and how long the delivery should take.
There’s no doubt that a POS system can help your online pet store in a lot of ways. Whether you’re just starting your business or trying to take it to the next level, a POS system can help you get there. However, not all POS systems are created equal. Before you make the decision to purchase one, you need to make sure that it fits your needs.
