As pool and spa businesses pivot to maximize opportunities in today’s marketplace, having the right point-of-sale (POS) software can save retailers an enormous amount of time and money in day-to-day business operations. Choosing an integrated POS software system designed specifically for the pool industry enables businesses to integrate with vendors, water testing software, and mobile apps to save countless hours of redundant tasks. Additionally, the right POS software will provide better reporting leading to enhanced customer service, increased profits, and the opportunity to capitalize on new business opportunities.

What Is POS Software?

POS stands for “point-of-sale,” a term that refers to the point where a customer makes a purchase, whether in person at the cash register or online through your website. POS software integrates with POS hardware (like card readers) to enable your business to process transactions. These systems can often do much more than just accept payment and provide receipts. Full-service software, like RB’s, allows you to monitor inventory and buying trends, track pricing, collect customer data for targeted marketing campaigns, generate reports, and more.

How Does POS Software Work?

POS software is most commonly used to accept payment and track sales. Modern point-of-sale systems are digitized, connecting to multiple points beyond the cash register. With the right POS software, you can check customers out anywhere in the store using an internet-enabled mobile device.

Here’s how it works:

1. A customer visiting your store in person or online is ready to purchase, so they click the checkout link or ask an associate to ring them up.
2. The POS software calculates the price of the items, including sales tax, and updates the inventory count to reflect the sale.
3. To finish their purchase, the customer pays using a credit card, cash, or maybe even loyalty points or a gift card.
4. The POS system finalizes the transaction and creates a digital or printed receipt.

Eliminating redundant tasks saves not only time and money but also relieves stress and frustration among staff. For example, if your cash register doesn’t integrate with your water-testing lab, employees are forced to enter the same customer data twice in two different systems. This can lead to additional stress when staff must interrupt your lab technician taking care of another customer to look up past water test results. Consider implementing a software system that connects your cash register to your water testing software, so your staff has the tools necessary to do their jobs well. Look for technology solutions to help manage your employees’ job demands to save them time so they can perform more profitable tasks such as providing superior service to customers in the store.

It’s a waste of time for retailers to do double entry, and it’s frustrating for customers who have to wait while staff members enter the information into the database for a second time. By integrating these databases, both systems are updated automatically. In fact, today’s software integrations give staff the ability to import a customer’s water test results directly into their unique profile in the database.

Integrating the two systems gives your team more time to share their knowledge of water chemistry and learn more about each customer’s unique backyard needs so they can focus their attention on selling additional products and services to fulfill them.

With stiff competition from online retailers, brick-and-mortar stores need to improve customer service and the overall shopping experience. However, delivering exceptional service can be challenging. Insufficient checkout resources at peak times often lead to long lines, frustrated customers, and lost sales.

A mobile app can help resolve these issues and elevate the customer experience. For example, a water testing database integrated into POS software can prevent staff from interrupting a lab technician to view test results, especially if they are assisting another customer. A live mobile application allows employees to use mobile tablets and smartphones to access the same data anywhere on the retail floor. Being able to help a customer with readily accessible information at any terminal or any screen in-store improves service and builds an incredible amount of customer loyalty.

Retailers can also provide better and faster service to customers with RB’s Line Buster feature, which allows clients to avoid waiting in a queue. Staff can use a tablet, integrated magnetic strip reader, or pocket barcode scanner to complete sales transactions, process credit cards, and email receipts. Further, staff can work the floor, perform inventory searches, and instantly access customer history or profiles. Another popular trend many consumers have grown to expect is mobile shopping, where customers can purchase products on their phones and checkout in-store.

Database integration allows business owners to view customer or employee reports, informing them of any earned or lost profits from their water test printout sales. These figures can help businesses take immediate action to remedy the situation and target areas where sales staff need assistance to increase their numbers. Companies will no longer need to struggle with multiple reports from different systems to see what is happening in the business.

Being able to react quickly during the busy summer months is critical, especially to ensure you can keep operations headed in the right direction. For example, specialty retailers can place recent water testing customers in a POS queue using an integrated software system. This saves time in the lab and at the cash register. Additionally, management reports can keep owners connected to their business via smartphone or tablet – anywhere, any time. The software also allows access to charts and figures of booked and delivered sales, deposit totals, and employee work shifts. For these reasons, many managers keep their reports screen open for instant access to daily snapshots of business operations.

For business owners who know they are leaving money on the table, integrating their software systems is an excellent way to stop this by upgrading any redundant systems currently being used. For instance, a company that is not using technology and automation to its fullest potential – along with separate manual systems – can be missing out on a lot of up-to-the-minute customer data.

In today’s competitive marketplace, retaining customers is an invaluable asset that allows a specialty retailer to thrive. Assessing the true costs of one’s current business software is the best way to determine if it is time to merge the water testing system with the business database.

The right pool and spa POS software solution can manage all business processes – from sales to purchasing. Therefore, one must look for an option that collects their business data on one system, which can be accessed at any given time. It’s important to remember that when looking for new POS software to purchase, don’t be intimidated by the price, especially in terms of revealing missed revenue opportunities in multiple areas. One must think of ways to increase profits. For example, could an employee free up 20 hours a week to follow up on sales leads, make additional service calls, or attend to customers in-store during peak season by implementing this technology.

Specialty retailers can unlock multiple sales and service opportunities by using this software, creating a powerful customer database that allows pool and spa retailers to implement profitable marketing strategies. Having the right POS software can save pool and spa retailers enormous time and money in day-to-day business operations. Choosing an integrated POS software system designed specifically for the pool industry will ensure businesses can integrate with vendors, water testing software, and mobile apps to save pool and spa businesses countless hours of redundant tasks.

Particularly during the busiest season for the hearth and chimney industry, it is vital that companies meet customer needs. Sometimes this means anticipating these needs before they do. RB Retail & Service Solutions is here to help. With our hearth industry software, you and your staff will be ready.