Improve customer experience to grow your top and bottom line.

Your POS system can improve your customers’ experience. And grow your sales.

Collecting and leveraging data about your customer base is a vital tool for growth and success. Your own customer data can provide valuable insights, help your business stay ahead of consumer trends, tailor the customer experience and enhance your offer. Give your customers what they want by using your own data, wisely.

Successful, sophisticated companies are using point-of-sale (POS) systems effectively, gaining a huge market advantage. A POS system gathers data on your sales, inventory, and customers. Modern systems provide a wealth of benefits including transactional efficiency for staff and customers alike. Many systems are also tailored for the select industries they serve with important customizations for those industries. And most systems offer options to look far beyond the transaction allowing business leaders access to extremely valuable information collected — their own.

POS strategy, executed well, can help you expertly leverage your first-party data in order to identify highly valuable insights. These insights can lead to building a customer experience advantage and in the process, increase your sales.

How can you best leverage your POS system? Here are a few steps to incorporate into your action plan —

Data accuracy and normalization.

Start by being sure your POS is set up properly and that your data is correct and importantly, comprehensive. Spend the upfront time needed to ensure accuracy and data integrity. The old saying ‘garbage in, garbage out’ applies here. Be sure to use all the features and functions of your POS that will best support your goals to improve customer experience and, as a result, grow sales.

Begin with a high level dashboard.

Leverage your POS system’s reporting capabilities. Consider building a dashboard to review high level metrics which can help showcase customer trends and buying patterns, allow you to analyze sales information and review inventory management and stay abreast of marketing engagement. Staying on top of the most important high level metrics allows you to spot trends and make data driven decisions to support your business goals.

Segment your customer data.

Today’s customers expect high-quality, tailored shopping experiences. When you deliver on those expectations, you help build loyalty and trust for your brand. Review and analyze your data properly. Segment your customer base and understand the unique needs, desires and expectations of each group. Choose a POS system that will support the customer profile data that is most important for your business, offer and service.

Personalize communications.

Once you understand the various customer profiles and audiences, you can get personal with your marketing messaging and communications. Leverage your first party customer information to deliver customized, thoughtful communications that will resonate with each audience or segment.

Your marketing strategy should include a robust communications plan for your existing customers. Email marketing is cost effective, helps support customer retention and boost both sales and profits, via repeat purchases by past customers.

Take inventory.

For retailers, a high quality POS system is vital for inventory management, helping them determine top selling items and underperforming products as well as aid with accurate inventory forecasts, determining inventory levels necessary to meet customer demand.

Dive deeper.

It’s time to get detailed. Leverage your POS reporting capabilities to get to the deeper details for more insights. Look for patterns on first time customers — what do they purchase? Look at the duration of time from first purchase to next purchase. Look for product or service trends — what items are frequently purchased together? Are there seasonal trends you can identify? Use this information to formulate insights and more importantly, take action. With a deeper understanding of your customers you can not only deliver on their needs and expectations, creating an improved customer experience, and increasing your top line as well.

The takeaway.

Companies are using sophisticated POS systems to do far more than process transactions. They’re using their first-party data to identify effective ways to truly understand their customer — turning insights into a solid customer experience advantage, promoting loyalty and in turn, top and bottom line growth.