In the last few years, a new breed of convenience store point of sale (POS) systems has emerged. These new POS systems offer advanced features and functions designed to serve the unique needs of your business and industry. Additionally, these convenience store POS systems deliver an improved customer experience.
The question is – what features will benefit your unique convenience store the most?
9 Features of a Great Convenience Store POS System
As an industry-leading POS system provider, we've helped thousands of convenience store business owners on the path to success. Additionally, we've helped these organizations identify high-value point of sale features.
A modern POS system is essential for convenience store owners. When you’re operating a convenience store, you need a POS system that can intelligently help with ordering, inventory, employee management, and more.
Some of the benefits you can experience when you upgrade your POS system include:
- Increased Accuracy: Things move pretty fast in a quick-service store. This speed can make it easier for staff to make mistakes during the inventory or checkout processes. A modern POS system includes features to improve your staff’s accuracy, reducing small mistakes that add up over time.
- Improved Efficiency: A modern POS system with robust inventory and reporting features helps you better understand which items are selling and which are just taking up space. You’ll also save time and effort by investing in a system that can automate tedious tasks like data analysis, ordering, and more.
- Better Customer Experience: The reason customers come to a convenience store is right in the name — convenience. Your ideal POS system will help you offer customers a quick and incredible experience.
If you're searching for a new POS system or replacing a legacy system, here is a list of the most valuable convenience store POS features. Use this list to identify the very best POS vendor for your convenience store.
1. Hotkey Shortcuts
Speed of service is essential for convenience stores. Streamline repetitive tasks and produce fewer errors with POS system hotkeys. The use of hotkeys allows users to look up produce and other non-barcoded items. Additionally, these products can be easily arranged and sorted to prevent user error.
Ultimately, hotkeys reduce checkout time by eliminating sorting through the PLU, helping your employees deliver improved and expedited customer experiences.
Related: Upgrading From a Cash Register to a POS System Can Elevate Business
2. EBT and Debit Capabilities
The best convenience store POS systems allow customers to pay with EBT, debit, and other forms of payment. By accepting major forms of payment, business owners can rapidly expand their customer base and increase profits.
Moreover, most convenience store POS systems allow business owners to control the items that can be paid for using EBT. Additionally, users should be able to check the balance of the EBT card post-sale.
3. Employee Management and Payroll
Remove the administrative burden of manually calculating hours and let the POS system do the work for you. Utilize an employee time clock, set individual pay rates, and manage payroll with single-click reporting. It should be noted that some high-end POS systems integrate with paycheck companies, allowing business owners and managers to cut checks right inside the system.
4. Theft and Inventory Loss Prevention
For many business owners, employee theft and inventory loss is an unfortunate reality. In some instances, employee theft accounts for major financial loss.
According to The Balance Small Business contributor Marianne Bonner, "Many small businesses are victims of thefts perpetrated by employees. When choosing an asset to steal, employees often opt for cash. Cash is king from the standpoint of an employee thief. It is easy to steal from a safe or cash register and is highly liquid."
For this reason, POS Nation comes equipped with security to deter shrinkage. In this scenario, you might consider enforcing strict controls over the register's "no sale" button. This limits employee access to the cash register when there isn't a transaction taking place.
Related: 3 Ways Your POS Helps Identify Employee Theft
5. Identification and Age Verification
Checking identification and age is something many convenience stores have to contend with. Age verification is a major requirement for tobacco and alcohol sales. POS Nation takes the guesswork out of age verification by allowing users to simply scan all major forms of identification. This feature protects your store, employees, and helps you avoid major fines and penalties for infractions.
Related: The Best Convenience Store POS System
6. Sales Reporting
To efficiently run your small business and grow, store owners and managers need to easily review performance and inventory metrics. Robust sales reports give you the insights you need to make decisions about ordering, promotions, and more. POS Nation makes this simple with more than 50 of our most common reports pre-built and ready to go, along with the ability to create custom reports.
7. Carton and Case Break Inventory
Convenience stores frequently sell liquor, tobacco, and other products that can be sold in packs, cases, or cartons in addition to being available as individual products. If you’ve tried to manage this manually, you know what a nightmare these products can be during inventory processes.
A POS system with case break inventory capabilities makes it easy to track items regardless of how they are packaged. POS Nation’s solution allows you to automatically record the status of cartons, packs, and cases when individual units sell.
8. Scan Data Reporting
Does your convenience store sell tobacco products? You’ll want to explore a POS system with Scan Data Reporting features. You can take advantage of the incentive program offered by major tobacco companies by gathering transaction-level data on all your tobacco products with ease.
9. Lottery Ticket Sales
Lottery ticket sales contribute to the bottom line for many convenience stores. Instead of switching between multiple machines and systems to sell lottery tickets in your store, use a POS system that enables you to handle regular transactions and lottery sales on one device.
POS Nation’s solution lets you sell lottery tickets from your POS system and gives you the ability to distinguish between lottery sales vs. payouts in a single report.
POS Nation Powers Convenience Stores Nationwide
Modern POS systems give convenience stores the ability to deliver powerful customer experiences and improved checkout processes. It's one of the reasons why more convenience store business owners and managers partner with POS Nation.
In fact, Quick Service Mart, a neighborhood convenience store, invested in POS Nation to support product pricing and inventory counts.
To date, we've helped more than 10,000 merchants. To guide your own purchase, we've created a simple resource: The POS System Buyers' Guide. Use this helpful guide to streamline your POS system decision-making. If you have any additional questions or concerns, POS Nation is here to help.
