Wondering if now is the right time to invest in a new POS system? One of the most compelling arguments for upgrading your point-of-sale assets is the positive impact it can have on customer satisfaction.
In case you’re wondering what that has to do with the price of apples – or your bottom line – consider the following statistic. 89% of customers now say they have switched from one business to a direct competitor as a direct result of a poor experience.
Negative customer experiences can be caused by many things, sure. But as a key point of interaction with the customer, POS is right in the firing line. Long queues, having to wait for too long for the bill in a restaurant, being charged the wrong amount, a frustrating returns process – these are all things that might drive a customer to try somewhere else.
They’re also all pain points that a high-performance POS can iron out.
We can go on. 64% of consumers say that the quality of the experience they get now matters more to them than price. Businesses that offer the best customer experience report profits anywhere between 4% and 8% higher than the market average. Keeping hold of customers has a big impact here – a 5% uplift in customer retention leads to a 25% increase in profits.
And as everyone in business knows, you only retain customers if they are satisfied.
Convinced giving your customers a better POS experience will benefit your business? Here’s what an upgrade can do.
Faster Checkout
People have less tolerance for being held up in queues than ever before. Blame the internet and the instant gratification digital culture we live in, but that’s the reality of it. Anything you can do to speed up and smooth transactions in person will help keep customers happy.
Cutting edge POS systems are not just fast. They are easy to use, with intuitive touchscreen interfaces that help staff complete tasks efficiently and quickly. Integrated software systems mean all the information they need is right there at their fingertips – product details and availability, pricing, menu items, loyalty scheme membership.
Plus, modern POS technology can be deployed in different forms that help to reduce waiting times – self-service kiosks, mobile POS tablets that allow staff to take POS to the customer.
Increase Choice
The latest POS can be plugged straight into your inventory management system. If a customer asks if you have a particular product in stock, instead of having to go rooting around the storeroom, you can look it up on the POS screen.
Not only does this speed up service, it also provides more options for making sure every customer gets what they want. If an item isn’t in stock, you don’t have to send a customer away disappointed. You can order it there and then for collection another day, or for delivery straight to their home, or see if it is in stock at another branch.
Boost knowledge of your customers
Finally, digital POS systems are the perfect data collection tool. Every transaction goes through them, recording swathes of information that add up to an in-depth record of performance. This can be mined to provide invaluable insights on how to improve – what your best-sellers are, who buys what, when, details like how merchandising and promotions affect sales etc.
Coupled with a CRM and things like customer loyalty schemes, you can use the data generated by your POS to give you the most valuable insights of all in-depth understanding of your customers. The better you know them, the better equipped you are to keep them satisfied.