Tracking point-of-sale data (known more often as POS data) is crucial for business owners, whether they have a retail store, own a food establishment, or are a service provider like a hair salon. The right POS system can help entrepreneurs collect data that can give them a clear idea of the efficacy of their day-to-day operations.
Keeping an eye on your restaurant or store data is more straightforward with POS software because it automates the process. You can see real-time data at the touch of a button. But what exactly is POS data, and how can tracking it help your food or retail business?
We’re here to answer those questions and more with this comprehensive guide to POS data.
A POS system is no ordinary cash register. It also collects data about your business that can automatically give you a better idea of your sales and customer base.
Your point-of-sale data (known more often as POS data) is a set of real-time business metrics that you can use to measure your level of success. The POS software records every sale to help you track your inventory levels, understand sales trends in your store, and make it easier to forecast your business turnover each month or year.
It’s possible to track this type of data yourself, but it can be time-consuming, and mistakes are easily made. POS data is automatically collected and collated, meaning human error isn’t a factor.
POS software doesn’t just collect data — it also presents it in a way that’s easy for business owners to understand. Rather than giving you a lengthy list of figures or an unapproachable spreadsheet, it produces graphs and tables that visually present the data.
Click into your POS system’s analytics dashboard, and you’ll find charts and graphs showing exactly how well your business is doing.
With precise and easy-to-read POS data at your fingertips, you can easily see what adjustments to make to your sales and marketing plans or your pricing structure. This can help ensure your business is as profitable as possible.
Using POS data effectively lets you keep track of your business operations and gives you up-to-date sales information in just a few taps.
POS systems track various types of data, and the different data sets can help you make various business decisions. There are four main types of data that POS systems collect:
Inventory data
Customer data
Product data
Sales data
You can use each of these data points in different ways.
Inventory control is essential to managing any kind of retail store or restaurant. However, manually tracking stock levels can be an unforgiving task. It takes up a lot of time, and it’s all too easy to make mistakes. The good news is that many POS systems gather metrics about your stock as part of their POS data collection systems.
Every time a customer purchases something or completes the checkout process, your POS data will reflect how your inventory levels change. Inventory data management works for in-store and e-commerce sales, meaning tracking this metric is possible whether you run a brick-and-mortar or online business.
Real-time updates to your inventory levels allow you to instantly see which items are low in stock. You can keep an eye on stock levels to ensure you’re re-ordering anything that’s running out. Some POS software even has automatic re-ordering capability.
Another subsection of POS data collected by your software concerns your customers.
If you operate a loyalty program, you’ll be able to use your POS to gather information about your customers’ purchasing habits, including:
Their average spend per visit
Their average number of visits per month
The products they buy most often
Their order history
You can use this customer data to understand your customer demographics better. You can then use this knowledge to develop a more targeted marketing campaign. You might then be more likely to attract new customers and encourage repeat visits to your store or restaurant.
Setting up a customer loyalty program can also improve the customer experience in your retail business, which could, in turn, increase your foot traffic as word spreads about your business.
Retail POS systems also gather information about the products you sell. This POS data can give you a clear idea of what’s selling well, what might need a boost, and what should be replaced or upgraded to encourage customers to buy it.
POS data can show you what products customers typically buy together. You can use this information to run promotions that encourage more customers to buy complementary items.
Alternatively, the data could reveal how much of each product your customers are buying. Products selling particularly well might be priced too low — try upping the prices a little to see if they’re still as popular.
POS data can also show you when your customers are buying certain products. They might buy certain items at a particular time of day or day of the week. Seasonality can play a significant role in retail and restaurant businesses, so keeping an eye on this data set could let you see what people want to buy and when. You could then consider running lunchtime promotions or end-of-day specials to encourage people to purchase these items outside those typical times.
Arguably one of the most critical pieces of POS data is your sales data. POS systems offer real-time sales reporting to give business owners or managers a clear understanding of their restaurant or retail sales data quickly and easily. This can help you keep an eye on various sales metrics that give you an overall idea of your business performance.
Your POS system can collect sales data whether you use staffed checkouts, self-service kiosks, or a combination of the two.
For example, KioskBuddy can turn a tablet into an easy-to-use self-service kiosk. It has a sales analytics dashboard that lets you quickly see the number of transactions processed in a particular time as well as total sales data and the value of any tips your team members have received. KioskBuddy’s data dashboard also gives you instant updates on your best-selling items, so you can see what’s most popular and ensure you always have it in stock.
POS software can offer further insight into your sales data, letting you compare this week’s sales with those of previous weeks or months.
Ensuring you have a clear view of your sales data means you can easily measure your profit margins and see how effective any changes to your sales strategy have been.
Cloud-based POS software can help you with various aspects of your retail or food business. From inventory management to customer loyalty, the right POS system can use POS data to automate and simplify your in-store processes. You could save time and money in your data collection and better understand your income and expenses.
KioskBuddy works with your POS system to turn a tablet into an easy-to-use self-service device, allowing customers to place and pay for orders themselves with just a few taps. KioskBuddy has an integrated analytics dashboard that lets your staff instantly see up-to-date retail data.
Sign up for KioskBuddy today and enjoy a 30-day free trial.