Made with XME: POS for Convenience Stores National Chain
Following MarketsAndMarkets, the US Point of Sale software market will grow up to USD 3.7 mln by 2023. This means a lot of companies still struggling in re-engineering the existing POS software they were using for years.
How to Use a POS System. What is Point of Sale Software
The Point of Sale system (POS) is a set of software and hardware that can conduct financial transactions and share information about them with state fiscal authorities. The idea of POS is often narrow, measured by the above functions and the formation of a cashier workplace. Anyway, it has a variety of tasks, depending on the field of usage. For instance, in a restaurant, POS stops to be just a point of sale and becomes a point of management because of the performing hall, staff, order management functions, etc. Thus, the Point of Sale system is a complicated instrument that can organize and optimize processes in the case of proper usage.
How Does a POS System Work in Convenience and Grocery Stores?
To understand how the Point of Sale operates, it’s enough to remember everyday purchase procedures in brick-and-mortar food stores. A client comes to a cashbox to pay for goods. He puts them on a moving belt and waits for the cashier to scan them. The last one has some special equipment to accept payments, among them:
the system block,
cashier screen, and keyboard,
barcode scanner,
client screen,
payment terminal for cards,
fiscal recorder,
and in-built electronic weights in some cases.
The cashier has to provide services speedily to leave the customer satisfied. So, the employee scans all the products when the customer sees the data about them (like name, price, weight) on a client screen. At the end of the transaction, the buyer gets a check or invoice. Meanwhile, the POS system provides a tax authority with these data and changes financial report information. Moreover, it's usually well-integrated with other equipment at the store hall, for instance with the above moving belt, fridges with Coke and so on. But it is not the limit. The Point of Sale can perform more actions and increase the UX level for employees at times. How? Let’s consider it by the example of POS solution designing on XME. fast code platform.
Fast Code POS System Development for Convenience Stores National Chanin
XME.digital got a request from a large chain of convenience stores to create a robust POS solution for over 1000 units of equipment in 400 shops located in local communities throughout the country. The company has analyzed all vendor products in the market, but no one could meet its needs in case of permanent software changes. The customer desired to implement new features periodically for a long time (over ten years). No SaaS can allow it in full measure and for a reasonable price. So, the company decided to involve the XME R&D team to develop a custom product that will satisfy it and fix all the weaknesses. Among them:
Staff mistakes. They significantly influenced the customer's lifetime value (LTV) and lead to financial losses.
Service speed. POS solution would have to increase it and act following the principle: the larger the range of the offered services, the higher the customer service agility and satisfaction.
New staff training. Staff turnover is always an issue, so it's crucial to make onboarding as simple as possible.
Marketing purposes. The company needed a POS system that seamlessly integrates with existing software to provide maximum insights from the client's experience and behavior, as well as offers and bundles level increasing.
It was a digital transformation optimization project that opened up new opportunities for the company. The client wanted to replace a legacy monolith Point of Sale software for a modern analog on a microservices basis that can support modern technologies.
The Point-of-Sale system developed on the fast code platform decided the above issues because of its clean code, clear work logic, and support of modern technologies. It also has the following characteristics:
Modern, user-friendly touch screen interface for operators
Self-service operations management (contactless)
Ability to run a full point of sale management cycle (staff/shift/ transactions management, fiscal reports formation, etc.)
Opportunity to empower the loyalty system due to the provision of detailed information about customers and indications of the ways for its efficient usage.
Thus, due to new POS software, shops can operate autonomously, minimizing employee involvement. Besides, the system can significantly speed up service processes and reduce the number of human mistakes. All of these benefits achieved through the fast code platform capabilities. The result makes the customer's interaction with the convenience store even more convenient and enjoyable. The EX (Employee Experience) is improved, and the LTV has increased accordingly.
Thus, fast code technology enables the development of the most flexible and customizable solutions that will remain relevant over a long operational period. The POS system is one of the products that can provide a business with more benefits than meets the eye due to the right approach.