Think investing point of sale software will only benefit your business at the checkout line? It’s time to rethink that all-too-common misconception.

Smart businesses like Lockwood Style know that today’s POS software does way more than just process sales. By helping you better track inventory, customer relationship information and sales data, your POS software can provide you with the hidden gems necessary to make better decisions and ultimately increase your profits.

The right point of sale software simplifies data-driven decision making by allowing you to:

1. Market Smarter

Email marketing is an inexpensive way to promote your products and services and when integrated at the point of sale you can easily boost business by identifying key trends in customer purchase history. Use the CRM data from your point of sale software to target specific groups of customers, gain insight into the most effective way to reach them and capitalize on their buying habits.

2. Keep a Close Eye on Gross Margins

Don’t wait until the end of the month or the quarter to analyze your performance. Set a daily gross profit margin goal and then check to see if you achieved it at the close of business. If not, analyze why and look for opportunities to increase your average sale.

3. Rethink Your Sales Floor

Are you featuring your most profitable items prominently enough in your store? Cloud-based point of sale software allows you to easily identify the products and departments that make you the most money, so that you know exactly what to order and can find opportunities to encourage customers to buy them.

4. Purchase with Insight

Excess inventory is a major drain on your profits, especially when slow-turning items are taking up valuable real estate that you could be using for faster-selling, more profitable items. By analyzing the sales reporting and inventory information provided by your point of sale software, you can make smarter decisions about how much you’re buying of each product that you carry and which products you should phase out completely.

5. Arm Your Team with Data

Increasing the average dollar amount of your sales leads to increased profitability. CRM data from your point of sale software can not only show you who your best-selling employees are but it can help you arm sales associates with the information they need to up-sell and cross-sell your products. Train your staff on how to spot opportunities in the data, and continue to make seizing those opportunities a focus of coaching.

How are you using data to drive sales in your growing business?

Yamarie Grullon

Yamarie Grullon has years of experience creating helpful & engaging content for small business owners. As Director of Content Strategy at ShopKeep, a leading iPad Point of Sale System, Yamarie provides merchants with practical advice on all things related to business or point of sale.