POS logistics (point of sale) make it very easy for you to track your inventory – at least in the store front. This technology tracks your stock as it leaves your possession, and makes it easy for you to work out how much money should be in your till and how much stuff you should have left at the end of the day.
There are a number of bonuses to recording your sales and stock movements in this way, especially when you combine it with other barcoding technologies to track your inventory movements. These include accurate stocktake counts, being able to locate all of your items and the detection of errors or even theft at the storefront.
The advantages of POS logistics software are not restricted to these, but they are the main benefits of the technology. It also doesn’t take much to integrate these systems with your existing stock tracking methods to help you get a more detailed view of your supply chain, and identify problems.
Accurate stocktaking
This method of tracking your products will make it a lot easier for you to know exactly what you have left on the shop floor, in displays and in your storage rooms in the back. POS logistics combined with accurate records of when you bring stock out and where you keep it will make sure that you are informed at all times.
This kind of accuracy also makes it a lot easier to know when you need to bring more stuff out from your storage at work and put it on display. You can tell when you have sold a certain amount of an item, and know that it is time to replenish the shopfront.
In hospitality venues you can also see how many orders you’ve had for different food and drinks with POS logistics, and similarly replenish your stocks. Knowing that you are likely to run out of burger patties soon, for example, you can bring more out of the freezer and get them defrosting before you fully run out and have to delay service. The same applies for when you know a beer keg is about to run out – you can be ready to immediately replace it.
If you have your POS logistics integrated with other inventory tracking systems you will also know when it is time to order more stock to be delivered to your location. This will help you to manage your overall catalogue of products and make you less likely to run out of popular items.
Finding your inventory
Tracking your stock through POS logistics software also makes it easy to find where your material is. You need to have an exact idea of how much of each item you have, and where they are, at all times. Tracking products as they are sold helps you keep an accurate count of how many are left on the shop floor.
This avoids the problems that can arise if you try and estimate the number of items on display, which can lead to you over or under stocking items. POS logistics checking also lets you know how many should be in the store, which makes it easy to compare your records to the reality, as well as check cash counts.
If you integrate it with your other tracking software you will also know when your stock is in transit and on its way to you along your supply chain. This also helps you to see when the whole organisation is out of a product, or which warehouses have an over or under supply of any items. Your POS logistics software will also help you track sales of each item over time, which can help you to plan deliveries in advance.
Identifying errors
Your POS logistics system can also help you to find which staff members are more likely to be error prone, or any mispriced items. Finding mistakes that are happening early will save your business money and help you to run a more efficient store.
It is also possible that you are suffering thefts, either from customers or staff. If this is happening it is important to catch it as quickly as possible, and either increase security in the store or get rid of the staff member who you cannot trust.
Discrepancies between the cash or stock numbers your POS logistics system is telling you that you should have and the reality are a sign that something is going wrong somewhere, and you can investigate more closely. For example, if you put out four of an item and the display has run out, but the software system says you have only sold 3, then one has been stolen.
By the same token, if you have sold $500 worth of stock in cash sales according to the POS logistics system but only have $400 in the till, either a big mistake has been made or someone is stealing from you.
