5 Ways to Boost Customer Experience Using Retail POS System
Your retail POS system isn’t just about having billing software! It can do a lot more than that. Out of the many benefits it comes with, enhancing customer experience is surely the one to look out for. Apart from providing complete retail solutions, a POS system can also improve customers’ shopping journey, making it worth their stay.
Ensuring a healthier customer experience is a direct pathway for you towards greater sales and better customer retention ratios. A PwC report on customer experience trends shows its proven experience. Around 80% of shoppers in the USA consider convenience, friendly assistance, and speedy services as the most important aspects. 73% of the customers believe a positive experience can impact their decisions to make purchases. So much so that 43% of them would end up paying more if their shopping experience is a convenient one.
Why Does Customer Experience Matter?
DID YOU KNOW? You’d need 12 good customer experiences to compensate for the loss caused by just 1 negative customer experience! In furtherance of the positive impact of customer experience on your retail business, let’s throw some light on other trends…
Impressing your customers can leave them by the utmost surprise! Accenture’s study on customer behavior reports that 47% of customers would pay more if their expectations are duly met.
Moreover, a Deloitte survey shows how much more would such customers be willing to spend after a positive experience. The magic number is 140% more than what they usually spend!
From the numerous ways to induce better customer experiences, leveraging retail POS software is surely an effective one. A POS system is not only for retailers but for the customers too. Wondering how? Read on to find out!
How to Improve Customer Experience with your Retail POS System?
Becoming a retailer with complete POS solutions is the key to achieve favorable customer responses.
Here are 5 ways to elevate your customers’ experiences and fill them with delight using your POS system:
1. Maintain Product Availability at All Times
A fully integrated retail POS system can enable you to utilize multiple Inventory management features. From tracking the sales of specific products to maintaining item availability in your stock – everything is easily possible.
But how does better product accessibility affect customer experience?
Imagine customers rushing to your store to buy their favorite item, only to realize it’s out of stock! 30% of customers take it as a bad experience if retailers don’t have what they want. The moment you’re unable to fulfill their demand, they’d visit another store instead. 21% of customers switch to another store to buy the same products which were unavailable.
Stockouts can happen due to inaccurate inventory data resulting from shipment variances, misplaced products, etc. This is where the POS system plays a pivotal role. It makes sure that your inventory never runs out of the best sellers and in-demand goods. It helps you keep an account of the specific goods ordered, sold, and the total quantities remaining in your inventory. Choosing the best POS system for retail can help you efficiently deal with your store’s inventory management operations.
2. Eliminate the Long Waiting Times for Your Customers
Automate your billing procedures to shorten the checkout times for your customers. Long queues and waiting times repel customers away! 74% of customers would visit a competitor’s store if they feel they won’t have to wait in a queue there for as much time.
As per a survey on customer approach regarding waiting periods:
- 25% of customers would wait only for 2 minutes!
- 59% of customers would refrain from waiting for over 4 minutes!
- 73% of customers would leave without buying if they’ve got to wait for over 5 minutes!
Retail customers take queue management very seriously. You can simply utilize your POS system features to the fullest to manage customer waiting times. For example, POS hardware like barcode scanners, speedy receipt printers, etc. can largely reduce the waiting times. Moreover, you can introduce RFID technology with your POS software to simultaneously conduct your billing process for all the products at once.
The faster you close your customers’ purchases, the shorter will be their waiting times. A UK-based survey of shoppers depicts their expectations from retail stores:
- 83% of them prioritize fast-moving queues with shorter waiting times.
- 76% of them expect retailers to act upon the longer waiting periods.
- 56% of them believe swift payment processes positively influence their approach towards the stores.
3. Remember Your Customers and their Choices
Does your retail POS system store customer information? Can your staff recognize them by name when they arrive for shopping? Well, Accenture’s study has found that 56% of customers would surely make a purchase from your store if they’re recognized.
POS software can be capable of accumulating all kinds of customer information. If you extract and store details including customers’ purchase history, basic personal information, and their common buying preferences – it’ll suffice. However, it’s imperative to note that 67% of customers willingly provide personal information in return for something valuable. You can provide your customers with facilities such as profile creation to make them feel special. Use your POS software to make this possible.
Also, having the needful customer details can help you provide live suggestions to your customers while they’re shopping. Introduce innovative ideas to enhance the shopping experience of your customers. For example, provide a tab to your customers or fit one on the shopping carts to guide them during their store adventure! The possibilities are endless but the source is just one – your retail POS system. Such devices can easily be integrated with your point-of-sale software to endow your customers with live shopping suggestions. This is just one of the many ways to improve customer experience.
4. Train Your Staff to Leverage POS Software Features
Some of the point-of-sale system features allow your store staff to assist the customers in a better way. As per Forbes research, a fruitful interaction with the staff while shopping can increase customer satisfaction by 33%.
You can introduce item locators which can help your customers and staff both in locating the desired products. Also, in the case of goods with constantly changing prices, you can install live price indicators and sync them with your POS software.
Ultimately, the aim is to streamline the buying process and shopping experience for your customers. These methods, if implemented, can make your store stand out from the rest. As a matter of benefits, who wouldn’t like to shop at a store with such tech-savvy facilities?
5. Introduce Value-Added Product Combos and Bundles
Mix ‘n’ match features are quite common and useful when it comes to POS systems. However, taking product groupings to another level is what it takes to accomplish customer loyalty.
Using a highly featured POS system, you can offer discounted packages, attractive combos, and a variety of value-added product bundles. Retail POS loyalty integrations not only embellish customer experiences but also improve customer loyalties. For instance, 52% of businesses in the USA provide gift cards to loyal customers.
Customers really look forward to loyalty programs as it gives them strong reasons to choose their shopping destination. Presently, 74% of customers are registered in free loyalty programs whereas 58% of them are enrolled in paid ones.
Retail POS Software and Hardware Solutions
The best retail POS software and hardware solutions can help you implement the above-mentioned ways efficiently. At PtechPOS, all your customer experience strategies are taken care of while you proceed with your POS system setup.
Let us know what kind of POS system would you like to have in your store!