There are all sorts of reasons to use a POS system. They offer real-time inventory management so that you can see which items are low on stock and which products are selling at the fastest rate. These systems also offer employee management features, mobile device support, and detailed reports and metrics.
One thing that most people don’t associate POS systems with is marketing. But, if used properly, a POS system can be quite helpful in ensuring your marketing campaigns and strategies are as effective as possible.
Keep reading to learn about 5 different ways that a POS system can be beneficial to your marketing strategies.
1. Design a Loyalty Program
All businesses have a goal of attracting new leads and customers on a monthly basis. But, what’s even more critical to the success of your company is customer retention. Regular customers are truly the backbone of your business.
In fact, one study found that repeat customers spend 67% more money than first-time customers. The same study also found that over their lifetime, return customers are worth 10 times as much as their original purchase.
With a loyalty program, you can show repeat customers that you value and appreciate their service. When customers feel valued, they’re more likely to continue to do business with your brand. With a loyalty program, you could offer a wide range of perks including:
- Early access to new products
- Discounts and deals
- Seasonal promotions
Using a POS system makes designing and managing a loyalty program as you can determine which customers qualify. Once customers sign up for the program, you can use POS software to track their spending behavior to see if the program is having an impact or not.
2. Increase Impulse Purchases
As a business, it’s your goal to increase the average amount of money that a consumer spends at your store. One of the best ways to do this is to place small inexpensive items near the counter. Because of the low cost and grab-and-go convenience, customers are more likely to be interested in items that are located near checkout registers.
Impulse purchases can make you plenty of extra income each year. Think about the low-cost accessories that retail stores have surrounding the checkout line area. Or look at how grocery stores put magazines, gum, candy, and soft drinks near the sales registers.
There’s no wrong or right way to encourage impulse purchases. You can have a bin of $1 or $2 items. You can also use themes or seasonal items.
Another way to increase impulse purchases is to use a mobile POS system. With a mobile system, sales associates can walk around the store and allow customers to checkout using the store iPad or other mobile devices. This allows customers to make purchases on the fly, which can greatly increase impulse and quick buys.
3. Use Personalized Marketing
POS systems are a great centralized way to collect customer data. Not only can you gather a customer’s name, but you can also ask them to provide their email address, date of birth, and other information. Using the data collected by the POS system, you can design personalized marketing campaigns that target small subsets of your customers. For example, you can run campaigns based on:
- Birthday month
- Geographic location
- Age & gender
Personalized marketing is an effective way of getting customers to shop more often and to spend more money.
4. Advertise Store Gift Cards
A great way to find new customers is to offer store gift cards. Modern POS systems support the purchasing and use of gift cards with ease. Gift cards are a great marketing vehicle as it allows current customers to purchase gift cards for friends and family members. This extends the reach of your business and opens the door to an endless number of new leads.
You can also use gift cards to upsell. Run a promotion every other month where customers spend a certain amount of money and then receive a $10 or $15 gift card. To meet the threshold, customers are more likely to purchase a few extra items to receive the gift card.
5. Run Promotions on Certain Products
With the inventory management feature found in most POS systems, you can easily identify which items are selling well and which ones aren’t. Using this data, you can run different marketing campaigns in order to encourage customers to purchase these items.
For example, for an item that isn’t selling well, you can discount it and put it on display in a high-traffic area of the store. You could also pair a low-selling item with a popular item to increase visibility and interest.
Thanks to the data provided by the POS system, you can better manage your inventory and run effective special promotions in store and online.
Conclusion
Thanks to advanced business features, POS systems offer much more than just support for sales and transactions. With a modern POS system, you can greatly improve your marketing strategies. Keep these 5 options in mind to encourage higher sales and increased revenue.
