Today’s point of sale systems and software have evolved significantly since the days of where the cash register was really the only possible piece of hardware to use.
Regardless of whether you’re running an online business or a retail store or a restaurant or anything else, it is very critical for you to have a good point of sale system in order to more successfully manage your business.
That being said, if your knowledge on point of sale systems is admittedly rather limited, then it’s perfectly understandable if you make some crucial mistakes. The good news is that any mistakes you can make with a POS system are largely avoidable.
Here are the most common POS systems mistakes and how to avoid them:
Choosing The Wrong Kind of Point of Sale Software
The first mistake that you can make with a point of sale system is using the wrong kind of software to begin with. It doesn’t really matter so much with your hardware, such as the credit card swiper or the cash register.
Rather, the real issue is with the service and technical support providers, whom you will have to rely upon to actually use your point of sale software.
For instance, if you go with an inexpensive system, you could tie yourself to a merchant account that is not connected to a very reputable bank. The result will be facing account freezes, early termination fees, and other similar hassles.
Strong customer support and reputable service will be what you need, and you can find software that offers both of those things by consulting with experts, working with reputable vendors, reading reviews online, and other research methods.
Not Installing Your Point of Sale System Properly
This is another major mistake that is too often made: not installing the POS system properly.
Especially if you are using a simple tablet-based system, then installing point of sale software may sound to be incredibly easy. But in reality, you would be much wiser to have everything professionally installed instead, especially by a hardware vendor or even better yet, a POS provider.
You can easily run into issues if you don’t know what you’re doing, such as improperly working with network cables or not dealing with the software settings very well.
Plain and simple, you’re more likely to run into glitches with your system if you don’t have it professionally installed and do it yourself.
Failing To Secure Your Point of Sale System
In a nutshell, not securing your point of sale system means that it is going to fall victim to fraud. This is actually a significant problem with businesses today.
It’s your responsibility to ensure that your POS system is in compliance with PCI-DSS Compliance Standards. This means doing things like keeping your antivirus software fully updated, and ensuring that each person with computer access has a unique ID.
Additional security methods that you will want to take include encrypting your WiFi network, changing your passwords on a weekly basis, and not allowing customers to access your Wi-Fi network.
Of course, don’t forget to train your employees on how to properly and securely do credit card or debit card payments as well.
Also take note that getting enough fraudulent charges from an unsecured POS will result in your POS provider suspending your account.
Having No Backup Plan
Never forget to have a backup plan, even if you don’t make any of the above mistakes.
This will be even more important if you are using a primarily online based system that cannot handle any payments without having access to WiFi. Several POS systems that are web based will have an offline mode to do credit card transactions when the WiFi is down, but you can’t rely on that.
Instead, have a backup WiFi connection that you can fall back to if necessary, and give strong consideration to having an entire backup point of sale system, such as a mobile payment app when your primary software is malfunctioning.
Avoiding Point of Sale Mistakes
All in all, these are the top pitfalls and mistakes that you will want to be careful to avoid when setting up a point of sale software system at your business. But again, each of these mistakes are very simple and easy to avoid, so they shouldn’t be an issue for you.
