Prepare your POS system for the holiday season
The holiday season never seems to get any less stressful for both shoppers and business owners. Since much of the prep work typically goes into completing holiday rosters and preparing stock levels, your POS system may become a second thought. But making sure your point of sale system is prepared in advance can help make your holidays run smoother.
So, with the hectic holiday season almost upon us, below are some tips to check off to ensure your POS system is prepared.
Promotions
The holiday season is synonymous with promotions. It’s your one annual opportunity to meet a large number of new customers with promotions that could turn them into loyal shoppers. So, if you have Christmas specials organised with suppliers then it is best to get these promotions set in your POS system early. Doing so will minimise the risk of forgetting to add a promotion that has been marketed already. It will also allow you more time to focus on your store during the busiest times.
Get menu changes programmed early
Much like promotions, don’t leave it to the last minute to program your seasonal holiday menu into your POS system. This is a sure-fire way to make mistakes, like overcharging or lost orders that can potentially damage your restaurant's reputation.
Make sure if you are developing a Christmas themed menu, you implement it into your POS System well ahead of time so you can test prices are correct and print groups so that the change is seamless.
Public Holiday Surcharge
Venues that open over the public holidays will most likely be paying their staff higher penalty rates, and as a result, may implement a surcharge to help offset these costs. So if you plan on having a surcharge on the public holidays that fall over the festive season then now is the time to get it prepared. Most POS systems will allow you to pre-setup your surcharge so it either automatically starts on the public holiday or it just has to be enabled that day. Either way it’s best to have this worked out beforehand so you don’t miss out on the additional revenue that helps you compensate for the higher penalty rates.
TIP: Read how to add a Public Holiday Surcharge in Epos Now here.
Add a custom Holiday Receipt Footer
If you are looking for a simple way to provide holiday cheer and advertise a specific message to your customers then customising your receipt footer could just do the trick! Change it to either promote a simple message of seasonal cheer, publicise your upcoming holiday promotions or even list out your holiday opening hours. It’s a simple and effective little addition that you can change and customise all year round.
To alter the Receipt Message in Epos Now, head to Setup in the Back office and select Receipts. Scroll down to Receipt Message and change up the message you have entered. Once done, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.
Keep track of Inventory
During the holiday season, your inventory will be coming in and going out at an exponential rate. A way to stay on top of stock levels so you don’t run out or overstock is to use your POS System. A good point of sale system will allow you to fully manage your stock without using third-party platforms. You want to be able to see stock levels in real-time and get alerts when your stock reaches a critical low point. Once you’ve got that information, you can order your products with a lot more accuracy and use the data to set your store up with bestsellers front and centre.
TIP: Read more on Inventory management here.
Add Seasonal staff into your POS System
To be completely prepared for the holiday season your staff need to be accurately set up in your POS system, and this includes season staff. It is important that on their first day all of their information is entered correctly so they have the ability to clock in and out and process transactions under their own name immediately.
An added security measure is to set up permissions for the seasonal staff so they can only access the areas of the system needed. This can include restricting their ability to void items from a sale without manager approval, no sales or to access petty cash. These measures can protect your business from theft until you get to know the new staff member.
TIP: Edit Staff Roles under the Manage tab in your Epos Now back office. Here you can create a particular staff role, eg “Seasonal Staff” with preset permissions that can be added easily to each new staff member.
Train your Staff /Streamline checkout Process
There is nothing worse than a long checkout line, especially during the holidays. Make sure your staff are trained to use your POS system effectively prior to the start of the holiday shopping season. When the crowd rushes in to get those last-minute Christmas gifts, your employees not only need to be able to solve any issue the customer may have but also do it quickly and efficiently.
To curve the queue you could look to implement a Mobile POS unit. This non-disruptive little player is exactly that, a completely mobile touchpoint that gives your staff the ability to process orders from anywhere within the venue.
TIP: For faster checkout look to invest in an Epos Now Pro+ device. This handy, phone sized device can run a full Epos Now licence and allow you to check out customers on the go. Learn more here.
Stock up on POS Consumables
While you will be busy getting your head around how much stock you need to have on hand for the holiday season, don’t forget to stock up on the consumables your business needs to run. Simple things like making sure you have enough receipt and paper to get you through are things that are sometimes overlooked.
There would be nothing worse than running out of receipt paper, when you rely on them to give your customers receipts on gift purchases or the paper that goes to your kitchen printer with all of your table orders.
By getting everything set up early with your POS system in preparation for the holiday season will give you the best chance of making it a huge success.
Prepare for the holidays with Epos Now
Your point of sale system is crucial to your business, but it can do much more than simply process transactions. With the Epos Now POS system, you can:
- Connect with 100+ apps to help with items like marketing, customer loyalty, and accounting
- Accept credit, debit, gift cards, and contactless payments
- Manage your store from anywhere with 24/7 cloud access
