Data plays a critical role in informing business decisions. In the past, the only way to keep up with customers’ wants and needs was to track what they bought by hand. Now, you can harness the power of analytics to track customer buying habits and maximize your profits. Using True POS can help you unlock these key insights. But first, let’s talk through how you can use point-of-sale analytics to optimize and elevate your business.
What are POS Analytics?
In the same vein as business analytics, POS analytics help you track the products and services your customers enjoy the most so that you can make decisions to improve your bottom line. These business intelligence tools provide real-time analytics that track everything from consumer behavior to sales trends to keep your business performing at its peak.
Data-Driven Decisions
Data collection is only half the battle. It’s what you do with the numbers that make a difference. Whether you’re planning an expansion, a new marketing campaign, or price alterations, proper POS system integration can provide the information you need to make the best decisions for your business. Most POS systems will offer several analytics tools to track your business performance via a user-friendly analytics dashboard. The organized dashboard makes it easy to visualize the critical information you need to make educated decisions.
For example, say you’re running a candle shop and preparing for a new product launch. You have an idea of what you want your new candle to be, but the final scent isn’t fully developed. You refer to your analytics dashboard and find the lavender candle is your best-selling candle. As a result, you decide to create a new fragrance with lavender as the base. After finalizing the new candle, you want to run an email marketing campaign to get the word out. So, you compile a list of emails your POS has labeled as repeated, loyal customers and send them an opportunity to pre-order the new candle at a slightly discounted price. Using data compiled by your POS system, you’ve successfully created an informed product launch from its original concept to its marketing strategy. You can then track the success of your product launch for future reference and tweak ideas that didn’t quite work.
Unique Customer Insights
Did you know you can use True POS to collect several customer data points that tell the story of your consumer base? This data includes visitors’ email addresses, phone numbers, names, and past purchases, which you can use to send targeted communications to keep customers engaged with your latest products or offerings. These insights can also keep track of when visitors like to purchase products, and with which payment methods, so you can find solutions for when you need more staff in your shop or how much cash you should keep stocked in the register.
Customer behavior analysis is also a part of these insights, allowing you to view how often customers return to your store a second or third time after an initial purchase. Sometimes, it’s more profitable to keep customers returning than to acquire new visitors. You can utilize POS data to track certain behaviors and see who your most loyal customers are so that you can reward them with discounts or other benefits.
Furthermore, POS systems can implement loyalty initiatives such as the True POS Smart Loyalty program to easily provide your returning customers with incentives, discounts, and deals. Loyalty programs can be easy to set up and show your customers that you notice their support. Learn more about loyalty programs and how they can keep your consumer base coming back for more.
Informative Sales Tracking
The business performance metrics that make up the sales analytics are retail trends. With innovative sales tracking, you can trace your retail history across all points of sale and view your business performance across any time period. By tracking which products your customers value most, you can streamline your operations and save money in the long run. These retail insights allow you to focus on high-selling products and halt the production of items that don’t sell as well. Soon enough, you’ll have enough sales data to see what works best for your business. Furthermore, you can use sales metrics to track the success of product launches, seasonal offerings, or special promotions and determine if they are profitable enough to repeat.
Strategic Inventory Analytics
After utilizing the retail analytics from your POS report, you’ve optimized your offerings, and only the hottest products are in the showroom. But now, you’re faced with a new problem: how do you know when to restock?
The worst thing you can tell a customer is, “Sorry, we’re out of stock.” Not only is this a lost sale, but it can affect the reputation of your business. Ensuring you can provide your customers with the products they’re looking for is crucial for the successful operation of your business, but at the same time, it can be tedious. Now, with inventory analytics, it’s never been easier to meet your customers’ demands. Your system can update your inventory list whenever a sale goes through so that you can stay on top of what you need to restock. POS systems can also go the extra mile and report real-time insights like sales forecasts, so you know the best time to order or produce more items. Don’t eyeball it or track your stockroom with a pen or paper; let your POS do the work and make “out of stock” a phrase of the past.
Track Employee Success
While using a POS system, you can also keep tabs on how successful your staff is at selling your products or services, enabling you to efficiently follow your employees’ performances throughout the week, month, or year. Find out who needs more training and who should be rewarded, all through your POS dashboard. Moreover, if you run a business that offers commission, your POS makes it easier to calculate how much you owe your employees on payday.
Start Your Analytics Journey With True POS
Ready to make your life easier and take your business to the next level with business analytics? Get started with True POS and receive a tailored breakdown of services that can improve the operations and success of your business. Beyond broadening your decision-making abilities, True POS offers services such as gift cards and ATM installation to refine your customers’ experience. Contact True POS today for a free quote and start making data-driven decisions.
