Point-Of-Sale (POS)
POSIM's point-of-sale was designed to be very simple to use so that you and your staff can focus on the critical issues--selling and customer service.
This ease-of-use makes POS training easy too. POSIM makes it fast and easy to ring sales. Scanning barcodes, keyboard shortcuts, and high-speed credit card processing add speed and accuracy to your POS transactions, and improve your customer's experience. It also automatically updates your customer purchase history; calculates your profit margins; handles layaways and special orders; and seamlessly shares information with the Inventory module for all reporting and inventory tracking.
Password Privileges allow you to control which functions are accessible to each member of your staff.
Layaways, Special Orders, and Backorders
POS Screens
Making a sale is as simple as identifying the items being sold (A)--scanning barcodes makes this fast and accurate.
Once you have finished scanning all the items that the customer wants to purchase, you are ready to accept payment.
Then you identify the payment type (or types), as shown here.
Once posted, the sales transaction is complete, and you are ready to ring up the next customer.
NOTE: For information on the integrated credit card processing as well as gift cards, see the sections below.
Customer Records
You can choose to identify the Customer on each sale.
Identifying the customer allows the system to maintain a customer purchase history. This will allow you to service your customers better, market to your existing customers more effectively, as well as review all the details of every individual sales receipt issued to each customer.
You can build intelligence into your Customer ID's, and 'classify' your customers by groups...here we know that this customer started shopping with us in 2006 (A), that they are part of our Gold Level group who have special privileges like preview sale status (B), and their birthday is May 23 (C).
You can get a summary of any customer's purchase history, or review a report of all your best customers (this report is frequently used to generate marketing campaigns). We also highly recommend gathering your customers' email addresses, as marketing via email is a very cost-effective method.
Processed Sales Screen
Every sales receipt that you process is stored in the database, so you can easily view or print out the detail of every processed sale.
In the following example, we can see that Sally Jones (A) purchased a scarf, a tunic top, tank top, a sunhat, and two watches (B) from us on 2/6/06 (C), paid us $335.58 (D), and split that payment among a check and cash (E).
As you can see above, other information can also be included on each sales receipt: Salesperson; Customer PO# and Department. The personalized settings allow you to require that key fields be entered before each sale is completed.
Credit Card Processing
POSIM's exclusive NowCharge link allows you to integrate credit card processing with the other point-of-sale functions within your computer. This high-speed processing option requires DSL or Cable Modem.
By using the integrated high-speed credit card processing with PCCP (POSIM Credit Card Processing), you gain three advantages: (1) it's faster... typically 2-4 seconds; (2) it's more accurate...since the system knows the dollar amount, no mistakes hand-keying in the dollar amount or the expiration date; and (3) it drops the authorization code and the encoded credit card number directly into the Processed Sales Receipt so that you can easily look up that information or print out a copy if a customer ever challenges a charge on their card.
Your daily credit card file auto-batches out at night, so that you don't have to do it manually. And the funds are automatically routed to your bank account. For a detailed look at the credit card processing cycle, click here.
And, since the processing is web-based through the authorize.net portal, you have access to your account and all your credit card reports even when you're not in the store...from anywhere where you have internet access. It is, of course, password protected.
Cash Till Reconciliation
The Ending Tills function allows you to maintain strict cash control at each POS station. While the Ending TIlls Report can be run throughout the day to see sales-to-the-minute, it's primary purpose is to 'Z-out' at the end of the day, and to verify that the cash in the Till that you count out at night matches the amount that the system calculates should be there.
Ending Tills tracks the cash that you keep in the Till when you start the day, the sales (and returns) that you ring up through the day, and the cash that you leave in the Till at the end of the day. It tracks all payment types, but it's key function is to account for the cash and checks that are taken out of the Till and deposited into your bank.
The three key screens for this Ending Tills function are shown here: the Ending Tills recap (A), the Tills detail screen (B), and the Events screen (C) which allows you to note down abnormal events that affect your daily sales (these notes are stored in the database so that you can reference them in the future...like when comparing the daily sales the following year).
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are provided for key POS functions so that users can use a keystroke instead of handling the mouse.
For example, rather than clicking the 'Cash' button on the screen, your salespeople can simply hit the F1 key to post the sale to Cash; F2 to post it to check; etc. Keyboard shortcuts are faster than mouseclicks, and are especially popular with people who are not as comfortable with manipulating a mouse. POSIMKeys are pre-printed stickers that can be applied to the appropriate keys on your keyboard as a visual reminder of which keys are designated for each shortcut.
Gift Cards
Gift Cards have become a very popular tool in retail environments, with excellent reason. Retailers as diverse as Saks, Barnes & Noble, Pier 1, and Starbucks have all found that using Gift Cards increases sales and enhances their image. One clear advantage of a Gift Card to the retailer is that you reach two customers--the one who is buying the Gift Card, and the person to whom they give it. It also helps ensure their loyalty to your store...if they have money loaded on the Gift Card, they are more likely to shop at your store. And the dollar float is also an excellent benefit to you.
We support re-loading Gift Cards so that your customer can re-use it again and again. And the Gift Card Report provides an up-to-date status of all Gift Cards with an outstanding balances remaining on each.
You can provide your own Gift Cards, or we can have them printed for you in small runs with the unique Gift Card serial number included on each.
As shown here, you can very effectively use either a full-color graphic (left) or a one-color motif in simple black (right) depending on your store's logo.
Layaways, Special Orders and Backorders
POSIM makes it easy for you to do both Layaways and Special Orders for your customers, and to track the status of those orders.
The Layaway function allows you to commit merchandise to a customer, and allows your customer to make multiple payments on merchandise until full payment has been made, and the sale is ready to be finalized.
It also allows you to accept a Deposit of partial or full payment from the customer while waiting for the Special Order merchandise to arrive. This Special Order Deposit feature allows you to set the minimum deposit % that you require for your special orders, and tracks the actual deposit made by the customer (as well as the remaining balance due on that special order).
POSIM's integrated Backorder feature allows POSIM to alert you when the merchandise for a Special Order (or any back-ordered item) is received, and tells you which open Customer Backorders are waiting to be filled with the merchandise that you are currently receiving.
POSIM has four optional add-on modules that integrate with the Point-Of-Sale functions that are crucial for some retail environments. These are:
(1) Accounts Receivable ModulePOSIM allows you to charge sales on-account, and to print Monthly Statements for all customers with a receivables balance. This statement gives you a Message option to (a) print a general statement for all customers; and/or (b) print a targeted statement to customers falling into specific receivables aging buckets.
And--if you select this option--POSIM charges interest on these receivables, and includes this on Monthly Statements. POSIM also offers the option of choosing either the Balance Forward or the Open Invoice receivables option for each customer.
Finally, you can also use POSIM's A/R function to track store credits by customer if you choose not to use Gift Cards to handle them.
(2) Define-A-Report Module
POSIM offers a large range of pre-defined reports. In addition, it's Define-A-Report module gives you access to write your own reports. By accessing all the files and fields, you can build your own reports and save the parameters so that you can run them at any time without having to re-create the report definition.
Want to find all items created in POSIM after 2/20/06? Easy. Identify all discounted sales over a period of time, and the salesperson of record on those sales? Simple. Find all items where you would earn less than a 54% profit margin if it sold at full retail? Again, Define-A-Report makes these very specialized reports easy to create.
(3) Event Manager ModulePOSIM's Events Manager module was created for businesses that hold events for their customers...like cooking classes; fly-fishing classes; factory tours; educational seminars; etc. (it also works for ‘employee events’ like orientation and training meetings), Event Manger allows you to schedule events and track attendance as well as any materials or fees associated with the event. It maintains a Waiting List if any event exceeds the maximum attendance level that you set on the event, and includes event reports.
(4) Time and Attendance ModulePOSIM's Time and Attendance Module allows employees to clock in-and-out (with passwords). It has a status board showing who is ‘on the clock.’ It’s reports include a Pay Period Report and Employee Hours by Department Report to provide valuable information while tracking time.
