There are many challenges associated with the billing process in retail stores. Ineffective billing management results in long queues of frustrated customers. It spells bad news for the prospects of retail businesses.
The convention tool that retail stores use to manage the billing process is spreadsheet software. This tool has many limitations and is unsuited for the day-to-day requirements of modern retail businesses. It does not have automation capabilities, it cannot integrate with devices like barcode scanners and it is highly prone to cause a myriad of errors.
Because of such caveats, retail managers have turned to an alternate and far more superior solution. That is POS systems. They are digital applications that allow managers to take complete control of all retail functions. Most importantly, it effectively governs the billing process. In this article, we discuss how POS systems help overcome some of the most common billing challenges. Let’s get started.
Incorrect product information
In retail stores, numerous products pass through billing counters and get sold every day. To facilitate this, employees at the counters view and add product details manually. They include the name of the product, quantity, and its price. As simple as it sounds, there is a chance for employees to enter the wrong product information.
Point of Sale software solutions eliminates the possibility of product information-related errors. The software applications are compatible with 2D and 3D barcode scanners. Using these devices, your employees can simply scan product barcode tags instead of manually entering them in. While this boosts billing accuracy, it also enhances the pace of billing.
Errors in GST calculation
The Goods and Services Tax is an integral component of purchase invoices. There are different tax rates for different goods. Whether you run a grocery store, electronics store, sports store, or any other, you must ensure that your customers’ bills have the correct GST values. Errors in the calculation of GST will attract trouble.
Retail billing software solutions are GST compliant. They give you numerous GST invoice template options to choose from. By configuring your store’s GST details into the software, you can start printing out accurate tax invoices for your customers. The software solutions instantly calculate the tax that is to levied against the products your customers want to purchase.
Payment mode limitations
Advancements in technology have paved the way for paperless payment modes. With digital payment modes becoming increasingly easy to acquire and access, people are preferring to pay using those mediums instead of cash. If your store only accepts cash and not any other payment, then you may witness a decline in customer footfalls.
POS systems support multiple payment gateways and can integrate with cutting-edge payment terminals. They allow you to accept and process payment modes besides cash. Other supported payment modes include debit cards, credit cards, and mobile wallet payments. Some systems offer offline billing, which means you can continue to accept digital transactions during network outages.
Retrieving customer information
Loyal customers are known to contribute the most to a retail store’s revenue. And most often, they receive a special discount. Going through a long list of customers to locate a particular customer’s details during billing can be daunting. It is also immensely time-consuming. This challenge occurs when you store customer information in spreadsheet software or paper-based tools.
Point of Sale software solutions helps efficiently collect, store and retrieve customer details. Using them, you can easily look up customer details and provide corresponding discounts. As soon as you click on the customer, the discount will be calculated and added along with the deduction of loyalty points if applicable.
Conclusion
It is crucial to ensure that your customers have a great shopping experience. It will make them want to purchase goods from your store more often. There are many challenges that can get in the way of this. Poor billing management is one of them. So it is important to suppress and mitigate billing-related problems. The best way to do it is to use a Point of Sale software solution.
SmartPOS is a fantastic GST-ready, cloud-based POS system from SmartPoint. It is loaded with the latest features and can integrate with a host of powerful and versatile devices. If you’re looking to transform your retail operations, then SmartPOS will be worth your investment. Contact them to book a live demo today.
