Till systems are no longer just a cash drawer and a calculator – they have become a cornerstone of modern day retail and hospitality businesses. A till can store data, help manage staff, keep track of stock levels and feed information straight to your accountant.
How much do you want to spend?
Before you get a till you will need to decide how much you are willing to spend, tells co-founder of The Good Till Co., Oliver Rowbory. You can buy a till off the shelf with a one off payment, which will normally set you back a couple of thousand pounds in a lump sum. What a lot of SMEs are doing instead is opting for an electronic point of sale system which can be run of a smaller device like an iPad. By getting a subscription to a software-as-a-service plan you only have to pay a monthly subscription fee, with a lot of companies offering free trials to begin with.
What do your customers expect?
When customers go into a shop they want the payment process to be as easy as possible. Convenience is the new loyalty, so if they come to pay with a mobile or contactless and you can’t accommodate, you might find that even regular customers quickly move to a competitor that makes their life easier.
Do the features match your business needs?
A restaurant will inevitably have different requirements to a clothes store. You need to make sure that whatever till you choose has the features to match your business. Will it let you keep track of individual table orders? Does it have the ability to measure your stock levels with each sale? Think about what features your company needs today and in the longer term, and then match this with your till system.
Do you just need one till?
The new wave of electronic point of sales systems are cloud-based. This means that data about all aspects of your business, from cash flow to your best selling items, can be pulled in from multiple points, ready for you to analyse from wherever you are in the world. Similarly, as your business grows, more and more devices can be added seamlessly, so be sure to pick a system that is future-proofed provides the technical support you need.
Your choice has given you freedom
The amount of choice you face in till systems can seem daunting, but the truth is that these systems give SMEs access to technology that for many years gave large corporations a valuable competitive advantage, so it is something you should embrace. The key is taking the time to think through what you and your business need today and in the future, and choose the perfect till to help get your business to where you want it to be.
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