Jeremy Veal in front of the POS he uses at Evil Izzy's Haunted Emporium
By Ed Avis
When Jeremy and Cynthia Veal were preparing to open Evil Izzy’s Haunted Emporium, their new costume shop in Phoenix, an important early task was researching POS systems.
“We needed a POS that would integrate with inventory; we wanted something that was easy to use; and we looked at price,” Cynthia says, adding that other issues they considered ranged from the level of tech support to the types of reports the system can generate.
In short, the Veals did what all the experts say: Make a list of criteria that are important for your business and research POS systems deeply.
“The first piece of advice I would give another costume shop owner is do extensive research,” Jeremy says. “I know it’s time consuming. I know it’s not the most fun thing in the world. But it’s important.”
Here are 7 key questions to ask when you are choosing your POS system.
1. Can it handle inventory? A good POS includes a system that allows you to easily upload your inventory as you receive it – such as with Excel spreadsheets provided by your vendors – and deducts inventory in real time when you sell something, whether it’s sold in your store, a street fair, or online.
“When I place an order with Rubies, I upload it to our system,” explains Cynthia, who uses a system from POS Nation. “Let’s say I ordered five witch costumes and 10 Frankenstein costumes. When it comes in, the system pulls up the order, we accept it, as long as we got everything, and it uploads and updates our quantities and immediately it's ready for sale. So if a customer walks in and they want to buy three witch costumes, they can buy them immediately. And once I sell those to them, it deducts those from my inventory.”
Bernie Garrido, owner of Bernie’s House of Fun in Brownsville, Texas, uses a POS system from Clover and appreciates that it easily tracks the inventory in both of his locations separately.
“I set up the system so it tracks my inventory on location A and the inventory on location B,” he explains. “That way I can say, ‘What is a Store A doing for me?’ or ‘What’s Store B doing for me?’ and I can see that.”
Garrido will soon begin selling online, and his POS will seamlessly manage the online inventory as well, as if the website were simply another store location.
Neither the Veals or Garrido rent costumes. If rentals are part of your business, make sure you ask about how the POS would help you manage rental inventory.
2. What equipment do you get? The heart of a modern POS system is the software, but you’ll still need some hardware to run your store. Common pieces of equipment include a handheld scanner; a tablet that allows you accept credit cards and other forms of payment in your store; and a cash drawer. If you sell off-site, you may also want a system that allows you to use your laptop or smartphone as a cash register.
You don’t always need to buy the version sold by the provider. For example, the Veals purchased an inexpensive handheld scanner instead of buying one from POS Nation. In other cases, you may find it smart to rent the equipment. Garrido rents his equipment because he knows if anything breaks, Clover will immediately replace it.
3. Is it easy to use? Some of the factors to consider regarding ease of use include how much training is provided, how intuitive the system is, and how forgiving it is if you make an error. Some ease-of-use features to consider are the ability to make a quote for a prospective customer; the ability to include discounts simply; and the ability to conveniently cancel a sale.
Jeremy says he likes the fact that he can use their POS system even though he did not go through the training (Cynthia did). “The stuff that comes up day-to-day that we’ve never done before is extremely easy to figure out,” he says. “That’s one thing I really like about it.”
When there are things they don’t understand, they can call their customer representative and he walks them through it, Cynthia says. Garrido reports the same thing with Clover; if he’s unsure about something, his customer service person will jump onto a Zoom and show him how to do it.
4. What tech support do you get? Tech support is obviously an essential part of a POS, since it’s such an integral part of your business. So when you research the POS, see if the tech support is phone based or online, how quickly issues are addressed, and what specific elements of the POS are included.
The Veals report that POS Nation’s tech support is so fast that if a problem arises while a customer is standing there, they can call and typically get a support person within a couple of minutes. Garrido is equally impressed with Clover’s support. For example, if a piece of hardware fails, they ship a replacement within 24 hours.
5. Does it integrate with my accounting system? Because so much of your business occurs through your POS system, life is easier if you can seamlessly transfer that data into your QuickBooks or other accounting system. All POS systems allow this in some fashion, but when you’re evaluating systems, get the specifics of how this is done – Is it automatic or manual? If it’s automatic, does it happen continuously, daily, or only when you initiate a data transfer? Do you need to adjust the data in any way to get it to integrate properly? Etc.
6. How much does it cost? The costs of a POS system basically come in four buckets: The initial set-up and training costs; the equipment cost; the monthly fee; and the credit card fees (assuming you use the POS provider’s own credit card processing). Most of these costs vary depending on your situation – how many locations you have, how many check-out counters at each location, what features you want, etc. – so make sure you get the full cost picture before choosing a system.
The credit card fees are particularly important to investigate because they add up over the long run. Garrido says Clover requires him to use them as the processor, but the Veals say POS Nation allows them to use other processors. However, the rate POS Nation charges is less than what the Veals were quoted from their bank, so they use the POS Nation processor.
7. What reports does it provide? A good POS system should provide you with reports that show sales broken down by location, product and salesperson; sales trends and margins; other financial analysis; and current inventory.
“After the season, it’s really helpful because you can pull an inventory report say, ‘OK, what do I need to buy for next year?’” Garrido says.
Do the Demo
The seven points above can serve as a guide to your search for a POS system, but they are just the beginning. When you narrow your search down to two or three good systems, take time to get demos of all of them and run every imaginable scenario.
“One thing we learned the hard way was that you can’t assume that a POS system does something,” Jeremy says, explaining that their system does not allow them to easily include a discount in a proposal, which seemed like an obvious feature. “Sometimes even the sales rep will make an assumption about what a system can do, so have them demo all those things. That way you’ll get the real idea about how a system works.”