By Rhonda Campbell
Millions of customers stop by department stores to purchase their favorite products each month. However, when you combine that with the numbers of people who go grocery shopping, buy automotive, beauty and other products throughout the week, the challenge of tracking retail purchases becomes evident. Years ago, store owners relied on people like bookkeepers, accountants and cashiers to record and track their store purchases. Today that approach would cost store owners too much time and money. That’s a reason retailers look to point of sale programs like the iPad POS.
iPad POS Tracking Traditional and Virtual Customer Purchases
In August 2012 alone, retailers across all industries reported 502,407 million in total adjusted sales and inventory. These numbers were reported during a month that didn’t experience the lift gained during peak shopping seasons. It also came during an economic downturn. Clearly, consumers are continuing to purchase products and help strengthen economic conditions. However, retailers who do not manage their inventories effectively could miss out on chances to take advantage of these and other customer relationship opportunities.
Advanced cash registers that equip retailers with mobile purchasing power could help retailers improve their customer purchase and inventory tracking processes. For example, cash registers that easily work with iPad POS or iPad point of sale can scan credit, debit and charge cards. Designed with touch screens, they could also reduce the number of errors cashiers and other workers make while processing customer purchases. Additionally, iPad POS systems are handheld devices that can easily be transported and used anywhere in the world that has WiFi access.
This means that retailers who travel out of town to events like cultural festivals, book festivals, community fairs and concerts, can use their iPad point of sale system to check customers out without having to install additional software or set up heavy equipment. Customer loyalty and marketing campaigns, including those used with emails, could expand retailers’ marketing tools. Over time, these additional marketing tools, particularly those used with social media, could increase a store’s customer base.
iPad POS Integrated Retail Marketing Tools
In addition, to having built-in marketing tools, an iPad POS can be used with an iPad phone or an iPod touch device. The system tracks sales and can be used to market new and existing products to customers. Furthermore, inventory and sales tracking features included with the iPad point of sale systems can be configured to send you alerts when certain products reach low inventory levels. Because iPad POS systems track purchases, you can also run reports when it’s time to file local and national tax and sales records.
However, the mobility of these systems may be one of their key benefits. The convenient size of the systems could also reduce the amount of money you spend on customer purchase equipment. If you’re a new business owner, using an iPad POS might equip you with the tools to market to customers, particularly customers who spend a good deal of time on the Internet, and track sales from anywhere in the world without having to spend lots of money to maintain large cash register equipment.
