8 fast fixes to make checkouts festive-fit
We’re now on the run up to retail’s busiest time of year. Shoppers are throwing open their purses and digital wallets to make the most of Cyber Monday and Black Friday deals and to push the boat out for seasonal festivities. As the rush begins, is your POS holiday-ready?
For most merchants, the Q4 holiday period is the most important in terms of transaction volume, basket value and revenue. This year, increased operational costs and reduced consumer spending due to the rising cost of living and inflation, mean that sales spikes need to be bigger than ever.
While all eyes are on ramping up holiday marketing, incentives and promotions to make the most of consumers’ desire for a holiday splurge, merchants shouldn’t overlook their checkouts.
At this time of year, slow salespoints can leave customers feeling frazzled. With so much to do and so little time, any friction causes them to abandon baskets.
Many merchants may already have solutions in place to help them tackle this e.g. contactless, mobile POS, self-service, digital services. But some, especially smaller ones, may find themselves a little less prepared.
So, with only a few weeks to go, what can you do to ensure checkouts are ready to ring in more shoppers?
Here are 8 fast fixes you can use to optimise your POS for seasonal sales spikes:
1. Complete security patches and software updates
Make sure security patches and software updates are all complete. If your acceptance estate is connected to the cloud, this can be done over the air with little disruption or downtime.
2. Make sure your portable POS have enough battery
If you’re using a handheld or portable POS, having enough battery life to cope with extending opening hours is crucial. Allow for extra charging points and time, so staff are never caught with a dead device. For those using our Android mPOS, this shouldn’t be a problem as our batteries offer extra long-life performance to get you through the longest day.
3. POS content can increase sales
Take a good look at your POS content. Don’t forget you can increase sales engagement by using your POS multimedia capability to promote seasonal ads and promos at the point of purchase.
4. Identify sales behaviors with Cashub
Does your POS have a reporting platform like Castle’s Cashub? If yes, use transaction reports to identify sales behaviors and trends. If you know which areas of your store are busiest and when you can make sure they are properly resourced when demand peaks. Don’t forget to link POS to your inventory control, so you can stock up fast when you need to.
5. Invest on a mobile POS
If you have a mobile POS, this is the time to use it. Arm staff with the tools they need to be able to take a sale anywhere. If you don’t, it’s a good time to invest. Strategically located in areas where you have high footfall, mPOS can help to prevent queues building up and frustrated customers walking off.
6. Take advantage of our SoftPOS software solution
If you’re a small retailer and worried about the cost of adding new POS or simply need to add additional mobile POS checkout solutions fast, it’s worth considering our SoftPOS software solution. This lets you turn any smart device into a professional financial POS terminal for easy card and contactless acceptance.
7. Have your POS connect seamlessly to your omni-channel platform
With convenience at the top of shoppers’ wish lists, hybrid services like click-and-collect are likely to be in big demand. Having POS connect seamlessly to your omni-channel platform is paramount. If you have any concerns, talk to your provider now about how to ensure the best joined-up experience.
8. Offer the right payment choice at checkout
Are you sure you are offering the right payment choice at checkout? Many users are looking for alternative payment methods (APMs) or buy now pay later (BNPL), to help them manage their spend. With Castle Technology devices, adding new APMs is quick and easy using software toolkits to update the software via the cloud.
Whatever time of year, Castles Technology is here to help
No matter your size or sector, our POS solutions are designed to deliver the smoothest experience for you and your customers – even during the busiest periods. Our latest Android devices are twice as fast as other POS, so you can speed up your checkout throughput.
Able to accept all types of payment from contactless and QR codes to BNPL and digital wallets, they’re also packed full of features that help your staff monitor, manage and maintain operations, inventory and resources more effectively.
In fact, everything you need to keep your checkouts festive-fit!
