Using POS Data to scale up the business

In the present day, many retail organizations have started collecting data from numerous sources - surveys, customer feedback, analytics software, and the like. But, is collecting data enough to grow the business? As Todd Park has rightly said - ‘Data by itself is useless. Data is only useful if you apply it.’ Collecting data is just the tip of an iceberg - retailers must leverage the data and act on it in order to grow their business. Acting on the data help retailers bridge all gaps in their business and scale up.

Data collected from a Point of Sale provides great insights into business performance. The POS data helps retailers take well-informed strategic decisions. In this article, I would like to share three important bits of POS data that retail organizations must act on and the ways in which it would help them improve the business.

1. Optimize inventory management

POS data can help retailers in tracking items, monitoring stock levels at their stores, managing returns, and the like. With this data, retail businesses are able to make informed decision for purchasing, restocking, and even marketing, thus, optimizing the inventory management for the organization.

2. Gain Product insights

Data collected at the POS also includes highest selling products, products that are frequently bought together, trends that become popular or are disliked by the customers, and the like. With this data, retailers can enhance merchandising, understand sales trends, and boost their profits accordingly.

3. Improve customer loyalty

POS data provides insights into products that are most liked by the customers. This data helps retailers understand which items must be always in stock, so that no customer would have to wait to get their favourite products.

Also, at the POS counter, users record various customer details such as their birthdate, anniversaries, and the like. With this data, retailers can provide discounts, special offers, and free gifts to enhance the customer experience. As we all know, better customer experience leads to improved customer loyalty. This way, the retailers can scale up their business.

‘Data will talk to you if you are willing to listen to it.’ ~ Jim Bergeson