6 Best POS Features for Pet Stores

Many point-of-sale software products offer basic features that are suitable for a wide range of stores. With the advancement of technology and the changing needs of the industry, it is important to choose a good point of sale for your pet store that will meet your specific needs.

What are the strengths of a point of sale for pet stores? Here are some important features to have in a point of sale to improve the management of your pet store: 

• Detailed customer file
• Cloud solution 
• Simple data migration and reliable service
• Inventory management
• Regular updates included
• Label printer and barcode reader
• Cross-selling
• Promotion management

1. Detailed Customer File 

It is essential for your pet store to be able to draw a portrait of your customers and their pets through personalized customer files. With Alice POS for example, it is possible to add pictures in customer profiles and to write internal notes, which allows you to have a much more complete and detailed customer file. This feature has many advantages. On one hand, personalized customer records allow a better relationship to be established between the employee and the customer. In other words, by having direct access to the client’s file, the employee can consult the service history and update the information if necessary. On the other hand, a customized interface makes it easier to use the software and users can find clients  much faster in the system. Of course, your system should also be able to document additional information, such as phone numbers or addresses. Your software should also be able to indicate if the contact in question is a company.

2. Cloud Solution 

Technology is evolving very quickly, customers are changing and your store should be able to adapt to these changes. That’s why you should ideally have a point-of-sale software that allows you to manage your business and continue your activities wherever you are. Thanks to cloud software, you can access your data outside the store, even from home. Cloud solutions also offer security advantages, while point-of-sale software installed on site presents risks of damage in the event of fire or other force majeure (e. g. floods).

3. Simple Data Migration and Reliable Service 

Complete training and do-it-for-you importation of your old data (contact lists, inventory, etc.) can save you a lot of time and money. Before choosing point-of-sale software for your pet store, find out if a service to train, import and migrate data from your old software is included with the partner you will choose. Indeed, some point-of-sale companies do not offer this service and data migration can be much more complex than expected for the merchant. At Alice POS, we offer our customers a do-it-for you service during onboarding (learn more here). 

Once the software is installed, it is crucial to have a follow-up with your point-of-sale software supplier to ensure the proper continuity of the system implementation and to provide support if necessary. It may be relevant to ask yourself the following questions: 

• Do they offer a 24/7 support service? 
• Do they have an online support system? 
• Do they provide adequate contact information on their website? 
• Are they easily reachable?
• Do they have a complete technical support site?

With Alice POS, the answer to all these questions is yes! We import  your customer list and inventory, as well as provide remote training in our onboarding package. We can also offer on-site training if necessary (contact our team for more information on terms and conditions for on-site training). 

Alice POS is intuitive and a team of experts is there to guide and support you throughout the process of implementing the software in your pet store. Indeed, the support team makes it a point to be present with you either by phone or by support ticket directly from  the Alice POS support site.

4. Inventory Management 

For optimal management of your pet store, accurate inventory tracking is an important feature that saves you money and time. By choosing software with excellent inventory management, you will be able to quickly consult the items in your inventory, make promotions and update prices. 

With a system like Alice POS, you can take advantage of this feature by automatically or manually suggesting optimal quantities to keep in your inventory. Alice POS takes into account your purchase history and is able to manage quantity or serialized products, which allows you to benefit from optimal management and rigorous monitoring of your stocks.

5. Regular Updates Included

If you purchase point-of-sale software for your pet store, make sure that the system provides automatic updates on a regular basis. Indeed, there are some software programs where you have to buy updates in addition to the basic price paid at the beginning. However, software, such as Alice POS, includes updates in your monthly or yearly recurring fees, allowing you to maintain increased security and propel you into the modern technological age.

6. Label Printer and Barcode Reader 

Thanks to a barcode reader in your pet store, you can display your product information more quickly in your software. A quick scan will automatically display the price and product description. This saves you a significant amount of time. Gone are the days when you had to enter product information manually into the software! This technology allows you to automatically enter all product information with a single click. The reader also allows you to reduce the risk of manual input errors.

7. Cross-Selling

With the cross selling feature, you can improve your service by offering similar or complementary products to your customers. Cross-selling is one way to increase your revenue through the items presented. 

Let’s take the following example to illustrate the concept of cross-selling. In your pet store, when a customer buys a shampoo bottle for their pet, the point-of-sale system suggests items that the customer may need as a result of using the shampoo. They  could then be offered a specific or comb adapted to the type of hair the animal has. 

Cross-sales are configurable as you wish. With Alice POS you can make the appearance of the cross-selling window mandatory for new employees to help them in their ongoing  training. Cross-selling helps to provide better service, sell more items and keep your staff diligent and in top shape!

8. Promotion Management 

This is a very important feature. Indeed, managing promotions in point-of-sale software allows you to control and plan the duration of promotions within a specific time frame, even if you have several businesses. 

With Alice POS, offer your pet store many types of promotions such as percentages, cash values, product groups and much more. Quickly create your flyers from the promotions entered in your system and send them to all your stores. You can also plan your promotions and control them from the main store (master account), which can send promotions or discounts created to the various franchises. Among these franchisees, it is also possible to create local promotions, i.e. to introduce a promotion that applies only to a local store, without necessarily applying the same promotion in other stores. If you have several promotions to come, it is also possible to schedule them several months in advance, all with a simple click.

Related Questions

1 What is the best point-of-sale system for pet stores? 

Since there are many types of point of sale software, it depends on the needs you have and the features you want for your pet store. Alice POS is a state-of-the-art point-of-sale system that propels merchants into the modern era. Our software is therefore perfectly suited for small pet stores, as well as for store networks or franchises of pet stores. To learn more about other software suitable for independent stores, you can read our recent article here. 

2. Why is it important to have a point of sale (POS) for my pet store?

There are many advantages to having a POS. On the one hand, point-of-sale software records data accurately, allowing you to have a much more global view of your business and to make projections that can improve your business in the future. On the other hand, a point-of-sale system allows you to create reports for sales and employees, which is very beneficial for growing companies. A point-of-sale system is also essential for managing your inventory. Retail businesses, such as pet stores, save a lot of money and time with POS software. In short, it is important to have a point of sale for your pet store in order to improve and standardize the management of your store(s).