Dealing with a POS system that is unreliable or has poor to no support can be as fun as going in for a root canal. The term “POS” takes on a whole new meaning when you are unable to ring up customers and dealing with support that is slow to assist, limits you to 30 minutes of support time, or are not familiar with how liquor stores function.
Some key things to look for and ask when considering which POS will work best in your liquor store:
● The POS software is designed for liquor stores. From parent child inventory setup to bridge buying, generic POS systems just do not have the specific features and functions that are needed to operate a successful liquor store. By using a POS system specifically designed for liquor stores, you will also have support from people who understand how liquor stores work.
● 24/7/365 Support. Liquor stores operate extended hours 6 or 7 days a week. Be sure to verify that the POS company has support that matches your opening hours in your local time zone.
● Online help desk. Self help and self learning are preferred by some liquor store owners and managers. Ensure that your POS vendor has a free online help desk and knowledge base. This should also include online resources for creating a support ticket or checking the status of an existing support ticket.
● Free unlimited training and free weekly open office hours. Staffing turnover is common in liquor stores, no sense having to pay for training each time a new cashier is hired. No one remembers everything that they learned during training. Make sure that you are working with a POS vendor that has free weekly open office hours so you can pop in and ask questions or even obtain some best priactices advice on using the POS software.
● Transparent support pricing. Any and all Liquor Store POS vendors should provide you with clear pricing when it comes to obtaining support. Last thing you want is a line of unhappy customers while you dig out a credit card to give to the POS vendor before they will support you. Ideally, support should be covered by a monthly subscription fee or a support package that you pay for in advance.
● Number of support team members. Ask your POS vendor how many customers they have and how many support team members they have. While there is no hard ratio of support team members to number of customers, you can likely infer that you are not going to get timely support if the POS vendor has only 2 employees trying to support 1500 customers. A POS vendor with only 150 customers with 34 support team members should make you question how reliable the POS system is.
Are you ready for a liquor store specific POS system that aligns with the above advice? Take a look at the Cloud Retailer Liquor Store POS software.
