5 Ways To Use POS Data To Drive Retail Growth

An electronic point of sale (EPOS) system is a combination of hardware and software, designed to streamline the management of your business. This powerful marriage of hardware and software is designed to integrate all business operations into a single solution — from stock systems to accounts.

Over the years, EPOS systems have undergone a number of developments. No longer are they used simply for the recording of in-store sales. They are an advanced business solution - the centre of all retail business activities. EPOS systems are now used to integrate stock systems, accounting systems, and purchasing behaviour software. It shows no sign of slowing down either.

Business owners should be harnessing the power of retail data analysis to make informed business decisions, whether that be stock ordering or marketing budget allocation.

What is Retail Data Analysis?

Retail data analysis refers to the study of all data to do with your business, including inventory levels, consumer demand, customer behaviour and more. Retail analysis gives business owners detailed customer insights, along with insights into the business and processes of the organisation itself with scope and need improvement.

This data is crucial when taking marketing and/or procurement decisions.

How You Can Use Your POS Data to Drive Retail Growth

1. Get both customer and product insights

Reviewing historic sales data can help your business set pricing strategies for upcoming promotions. POS data can provide accurate information on individual customer behaviour and the popularity of certain products. This data can help retailers decide what items to promote and when, which products to increase their stock of and which products to let go.

Additionally, POS data can provide you with plenty of product-specific insights:

• Product affinity – Product affinity refers to products that are frequently bought together, complementary goods. This information can be used when bundling products together and recommending related products at the checkout.

• Order History – Learn what specific customers like, then implement retargeting campaigns and promotional material to push future purchases. 83% of shoppers are willing to provide their information in exchange for personalised messaging, Accenture found.

• Sales by product – Identify trending products and/or product categories to find out the why.

• Refunds, returns and exchanges – Find out which items are being returned, why the product is being returned and what customers are buying instead. This data will highlight inferior and superior products, which should determine stock, pricing, and marketing.

2. Up-Sell and Cross-Sell

In order to get a complete view of a customers’ purchasing journey, retailers will need to track online and offline information and blend it together. POS data can be used to match products that are selling fast with similar products that complement each other. POS analytics can reveal what products an individual customer frequently buys. Using this data, you can suggest related products to purchase at the point-of-sale, or even position a premium version of the product instead. For instance, a customer purchasing a TV could be interested in a surround sound system, if seen to be discounted.

3. Inventory Control

Stock management, also called inventory management, involves a number of different processes, such as purchasing, order fulfilment, and inventory control. Stock management is the process of tracking the success of products in-store and controlling the purchase of products from your suppliers. Successful stock management comes down to balance – ensuring you have the right stock, at the right quantity, in the right place at the right time.

Stock management is important as it allows your business to proactively review and manage everything it buys and sells. It allows you to make smart product buying decisions, informed by previous product sales performance, ensuring under-performing products are removed and popular products receive more promotional investment – enhancing your bottom line.

As your retail business grows, inherently so does your stock complexity. Your POS system should track store stock and even inventory stock levels, allowing you to make forecasts. Smart systems, such as ours, will even integrate with your vendors, notifying you when stock levels are low.

4. Effective Marketing and Sales

Customers appreciate a personalised shopping experience, as long as they perceive the service as relevant and beneficial. That’s why according to a survey conducted by Accenture, a global management consultancy, 83% of shoppers are willing to provide their information in exchange for a more personalised service.

Using customer data more efficiently and effectively over all areas of the business allows for the successful segmentation of marketing promotions, based on consumers’ historic interests and buying behaviours. Additionally, you’ll be able to identify best-performing products, with integration of your stock control system. This will aid in determining the focus for future marketing budgets, as well as restocking efficiency.

With customer data extracted from your POS, you can tailor seasonal promotions, early bird and multi-buy discounts and preview events to pull new customers in-store and upsell existing customers.

Smart POS solutions can even enable your retail business to offer membership discounts, gift cards and vouchers, providing loyalty opportunities for your customers, improving customer retention.

5. Help make strategic decisions

POS analytics provides detailed insights into almost anything in correlation to your operation and assists in improving their efficiency. These systems aren’t just for customers benefit but also aids retailers to solve behind the scenes with removing inefficiencies and identifying potential opportunities to help boost your retail growth.

POS systems are no longer just serving customers, they create opportunities for your business. With its capability to collect data, it’s a must-have tool to help retailers maximise the amount of information they have to create the best experience for a customer. 

Get More Out of Your POS

There’s no doubt that having a state-of-the art EPoS system will set your business apart from your competition and allow you to process more transactions on a day to day basis.

As the technology keeps on advancing, retail POS systems are getting more effective, secure and affordable for all retailers to improve their business tasks.

If you want to learn more about how Reposs' EPoS systems can transform your business, call 01732 762200 or email info@reposs.com. Alternatively, fill out our contact form.