Your retail Point-of-Sale (POS) system isn’t just a computerized cash register – it performs a variety of functions with regards to sales, inventory, marketing, and more. You use it to run sales reports, to manage your inventory, and to identify the items, days, and times that result in the most profit.

You can get even more from your POS system by utilizing the following features:

Customer Data

Your POS system tracks customer data in a variety of ways. Your system’s customer database collects not only customer names and addresses, but purchasing data, purchasing frequency, and lifelong customer value. You can put this information to good use by:

  • Using it to identify your target demographic, and build your marketing campaigns around that group’s preferences.
  • Identifying your most valuable customers and enabling you to take proactive measures to keep them satisfied and coming back to your business.

Loyalty Programs

In tough economic times, a business that institutes a customer loyalty program is more likely to retain customers and generate higher-value customer relationships; your returning customers will spend, on average, 67% more than first-time customers. Not to mention, acquiring new customers can cost 5 to 10 times more than selling to those who have already purchased from you.

According to Inc., in order to keep those high-value customers coming back, 65% of marketers have implemented a loyalty program.  Using your POS system to implement a customer loyalty program can encourage customers to return repeatedly.

Financial and Data Security

Whenever you accept credit-card payments, your business must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). According to PointOfSale.com, “This standard, launched in 2006, was put into place as the credit card industry began evolving at a rapid pace.”

The hope was to lay out best practices for accepting and processing customer credit card payments while mitigating information theft and credit card fraud. Your business’s POS can be the weakest link in the chain – or the strongest.

  • Keeping your POS software updated with the most recent security upgrades can help protect your customers’ information – which, in turn, protects your business from harsh penalties.
  • The latest security technology utilizes fingerprint scanners that can drastically cut down on fraudulent terminal use and employee theft.

Cloud

Tired of using the POS system you bought 10 years ago? The latest technology to reach the retail market is cloud-based POS software. When you host your POS system in the cloud – instead of on your computers or terminals – you gain access to the latest upgrades, better system performance, and customer support.

By storing your data off-site, you can better protect your customer information from fraud. The “rental fee” for the cloud service precludes your business from having to purchase an entirely new system up-front – making it easier for you to make necessary upgrades to your system.

Mobile

You can now load a mobile POS terminal onto your business’s smartphone or tablet. No longer constrained to the register and check-out counter, you can make sales anywhere – and still have them instantly registered in your POS system.

  • A mobile POS system can be advantageous for any business that would like to make sales outside of the storefront, at trade shows, special events, or fairs, or while travelling to meet customers and clients.
  • When restaurants use a mobile POS terminal, patrons can cash out right at their table, without waiting.

Your POS system can fulfill a wide variety of functions. You already know how to use it to track sales and inventory data to make better business decisions. When you explore the additional features of your system, you can increase customer loyalty, improve data security, and take advantage of the latest technical innovations.

Megan Webb-Morgan is a web content writer for B2B lead generation resource, ResourceNation. She writes about small business, focusing on topics such as business sales. For more information about POS systems, visit the site’s quote comparison page, or compare price quotes from credit-card processing companies. Follow Resource Nation on Facebook and Google+, too!