Retail software is an important purchase for any small business running a retail store. Selecting the right retail software can make your business more efficient, increase sales, and improve customer satisfaction. Whilst picking the wrong software can have just the opposite effect. Slowing processes down, limiting the number of sales you can make, and causing your customers (and your staff) to become frustrated. So what factors are important to consider when selecting your retail software?
On-premise or in the cloud?
You can choose to either host the software yourself on your premises or access your software via an Internet browser (in the cloud). The advantage of having it on the site is that if something goes wrong with the software, you can have immediate access to it to fix it yourself. This, however, requires that you have a certain amount of technological know-how as you will need to be able to perform any repairs yourself or hire someone to do it for you. When you buy software that is on the premise, you normally pay an upfront fee with the option to pay for ongoing support if you so choose. Additionally, you will have to buy hardware, such as a server, for the software to run on and a system for backing up your data in case of hardware failure. The onus will be on you to both secure and maintain your entire system and pay for and perform any upgrades of the required software.
Choosing web-based software means signing up to a SaaS (software as a service) model. This requires you to pay every month rather than the large upfront costs associated with on-premise software. Cloud software eliminates the need for you to purchase hardware, secure your systems, run backups, or perform upgrades. The software company will do this for you. You are, however, reliant on a good Internet connection to be able to access your systems, so if you opt for this solution, you must budget for a high-quality Internet package.
How do you operate a computer software program?
Once the software is set up at the pc difficult pressure, this system can be used anytime by locating this system on the computer. On a Windows pc, a software icon is delivered to the Start Menu or Start Screen, depending on your Windows model.
How to hold software program
After the software is set up on your pc, it can need to be up to date to repair any located errors. Updating a program can be carried out by the use of software patches. Once updates are mounted, any troubles that can have been skilled within the program will no longer arise.
How is a software program created, and the way does it paintings?
A computer programmer (or several laptop programmers) writes the commands using a programming language that tells the software program the way to feature and what to do. Once this system has been finished, it is compiled into a language that the laptop can understand.
Inventory, accounts, and CRM.
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When selecting your retail software is essential that you work out how the different areas of your business will share data. The key systems you will need to receive data about the products you are selling are your inventory (what products have been sold, and how many you have left to sell), your accounts (how much did you sell your products for, and how much profit have you made) and your CRM (who did you sell the products too, and can you encourage them to buy from you again). If all these systems work in harmony, your business will be much more efficient, and you will start making more sales.
Ideally, you want these three systems to work together; integrating separate packages can be costly, so buying a pre-integrated or all-in-one solution makes sense. Integrated retail software removes the need for you to transfer data between multiple software systems that may not necessarily be programmed in the same format. This will save you a lot of time and will also mean that all your systems are updated in real-time rather than waiting for you to do a data synchronization for them to be able to update. So you, or your staff, won’t have to stay late anymore doing stock takes or updating accounts. It’s all done for you as it happens.
Staff
Your staff is the people who will need to use them to make sales. Make sure that you bear them in mind when you are making the selection. Think about what will make their job easier. If your staff are happy, they will provide better service, and this will make your customers happy, which should ultimately result in more sales and higher customer satisfaction.
Would it suit them better to have portable tablets so they can make sales around the store? Would it be easier if there were multiple bills to serve from so they aren’t constantly waiting for others to finish serving? Would giving them access to the stock levels in the warehouse make their lives easier? Speak to your staff members and work out what would really benefit them to choose the software that best fits their needs.
Although you remember what suits your business, make sure that you can limit the amount of access your staff has to your back-end systems. You may want to let them see stock levels, but it’s unlikely you would want them nosing around your accounts. Select retail software that works for you both.
What hardware will you need to accompany it?
You’ll no doubt need to buy some hardware to go with your retail software. If you opt for an on-premise solution, you will need to buy a server, a firewall, and a backup facility, as well as a secure cabinet to keep your equipment in. For web-based software, you will not need this equipment, just a secure and fast Internet connection, but there will be some additional hardware required for either solution. You will certainly need central cash to keep cash payments and credit receipts in it. This will need to be connected to your retail software so that it is triggered to open when a sale is made.
All your products will also need to be scanned by a barcode scanner to be picked up by the retail software. You will need to invest in a few of these so staff will be able to make multiple sales simultaneously. Once a sale has been made, you will then need to provide a receipt; make sure you have a facility in your retail software to hook up to the thermal printer so that these receipts can be printed automatically.
Your company, your decision
All in all, make sure that the decision you make is the best one for your business. No two companies are the same, so it is important that you really understand what it is you’re looking for and don’t just settle for the first solution to come your way. Take the time to identify your needs and research the market to find the best retail software solution for your business. Many software products have the option to try before you buy, so take the time to test some out before making your final decision.
Brightpearl is business management retail software for small businesses that integrates inventory, accounts, CRM, e-commerce, the point of sale, and much more. Aiming to help small retail businesses to grow by providing them with great quality retail software.
