The POS system “must haves” for small business retailers
Samir Kamnani
·January 2, 2025
For brands that sell products and process returns both online and offline, choosing the right point of sale solution is crucial for streamlining your business operations.
A robust point of sale solution can be used to process in-store payments, track order status, collect customer data, process returns, and even track employee hours. You’ll need an integrated omnichannel point of sale system that can help you bring all of your data together in one centralised location for seamless inventory management.
In this article, we’ll showcase some of the key features you’ll need in your point of sale solution.
A streamlined interface
First and foremost, your POS solution should be simple for your team to use, eliminating the need for long training periods and reducing the risk of manual errors. Look for a cloud-based POS that can be accessed from mobile devices via a point of sale app. Your team members should be able to use the app to look up inventory, scan merchandise in or out, process customers’ payments or refunds, and access data insights. Your staff should also be able to log in via desktop computer to tap into data analytics and put reports together, such as store-level performance, sales trends by month, or sales across categories.
Integration capabilities
Your POS solution shouldn’t exist in a vacuum—it should seamlessly integrate with all the other tools you’re already using, both for your ecommerce and offline business channels. Look for a solution that includes built-in integrations for your ecommerce platform, your CRM, your ERP, your customer support solution, and the other apps you use to power your business. By ensuring that your POS has real-time access to all your data, you’ll be in better shape to make informed business decisions about stocking, pricing, and staffing.
Unified customer data and loyalty programme integration
With a POS that links to your shoppers’ accounts via their phone number or credit card, you’ll be able to maintain a comprehensive history of their purchases and returns. That enables you to build and manage a powerful loyalty programme that will reward shoppers for their repeat purchases and incentivise them to visit your store again. Target loyal customers with personalised offers and coupons that they can redeem either online or in-store. By using your customer data to provide targeted recommendations and offers, you can generate additional revenue via upsells, cross-sells, and exchanges.
Omnichannel fulfilment and return options
Shoppers enjoy the convenience of switching between different retail channels for purchases and returns, taking advantage of options such as Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPUS), Buy Online Return In Store (BORIS), and ship-from-store. Choose a POS that enables your staff to track and manage inventory across different purchasing and returns channels. The POS should provide inventory management data across all of your locations, so that employees can source products elsewhere if they are out-of-stock in one store, or restock returned items to different locations based on varying inventory levels. With Loop’s point of sale app, you can easily process in-store returns on items purchased online, with options to either refund the order or provide an exchange for a new item.
Flexible payment options
Make it easy for shoppers to process payment in the way they’re most comfortable, whether in-store or online. With a mobile POS, you can enable customers to pay with a debit or credit card, Apple Pay, Android Pay, a gift card, or use digital options like Venmo—checking them out instantly from anywhere in your store. Online, they can make use of all the same payment options from their own phone or computer. And, when it comes to returns, you can process their refund directly to their original form of payment, or offer them store credit towards a product exchange.
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Employee management and sales data
If you run retail stores, consider getting a POS that integrates employee management tools. Employees can log their time directly through the POS interface, and you’ll be able to track how many sales they’ve made each shift. Your sales data can help you track individual employees’ productivity levels, and showcase which items are most popular at each location. You’ll have the insights to recommend employees for retraining or promotions, and to determine which items to restock at each shopfront.
Inventory management functionality
Your POS’ integration capabilities should make it easy for you to track logistics from supplier to warehouse to the end customer—and back again, in the case of returns. Integrated inventory management features will make it easy for you to set up automatic replenishment when stock levels are low, or identify overstock items that you should put on sale. You’ll be able to identify where products are in your supply chain— whether they’re on backorder, in your warehouse, being shipped to a customer, or in the process of a return. With transparent inventory management, you’ll be able to make smart purchasing and sales decisions to ensure you have the right amount of inventory at any given time.
Choosing the right POS for returns management
For Shopify businesses, Shopify offers a robust omnichannel point of sale solution that helps you streamline both in-store and online sales, integrating all of your sales data across all your sales channels into one streamlined interface. Loop’s POS app integrates seamlessly into the Shopify ecosystem to help you manage in-store returns for online purchases, ensuring that your associates can consistently enforce your brand’s return policy and saving time on customer support issues. By encouraging in-store returns, you’ll be able to drive foot traffic to your locations and increase the likelihood of exchanges and upsells, while eliminating the expense of return shipping. You can also prevent returns fraud and abuse with the opportunity to conduct manual inspections on returns before processing a refund.
By pairing a returns management solution like Loop with our in-store POS solution, you’ll have the best of both worlds, with streamlined options for both online and offline returns and exchanges. Impress your shoppers with a versatile range of options for purchasing, returning, and exchanging products, and you’re sure to keep them coming back time and again.
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With Loop, your brand can offer everything from refunds to direct exchanges to shopper incentives and more. Even better? These exchanges build your business.