Ski Shops: 8 Strengths of an Excellent Point of Sale

Winter is the ideal time to take out your ski equipment and enjoy the cold weather. With the high season, it is essential to have a point of sale capable of meeting the high demand of customers in your ski shop. 

What are the strengths of an excellent point of sale? Here are the 8 features that a point of sale should have to optimize the management of your ski store: 

1. Rentals 
2. Repair and Maintenance 
3. Consignment 
4. Cross-selling 
5. Used Inventory Management 
6. Serialization of Products 
7. Inventory Management 
8. Safety and Security

Point of sale software is an essential tool when it comes to managing your independent store or multi-stores, such as franchises, purchasing groups or store networks. To learn more about what a point-of-sale system can do for you, continue reading! 

1. Rentals

Renting is an important tool that a point of sale must have when you own one or multiple ski shops. With this feature, you can closely monitor your rentals with your customers and manage prices or late fees. Indeed, when a customer wishes to rent skis, boots, poles or any other related ski equipment, point-of-sale software adapted to these needs is essential to ensure that the necessary rates and procedures are followed and tracked. If you do not have an all-in-one solution, you may need to use two software systems, which may result in additional costs and increased time spent providing this type of service. 

2. Repair and Maintenance

When you own a ski store, it is not uncommon for customers to return items in poor condition for repair. With point-of-sale software, this makes it even easier to manage repairs to items related to ski stores. This facilitates transactions by recording customer history, saving a lot of time. Thanks to a rigorous follow-up of your repairs with personalized statuses, you can improve and optimize the management of your ski shop and, by the same token, offer a quality service. 

3. Consignment

By choosing a point-of-sale software adapted to your needs and the needs of your company, you can choose to improve and facilitate the management of your business. By having a point-of-sale software that offers a consignment function, you can take ski items in consignment and offer your customers credit or cash in store if the products are sold. This feature also allows you to track consigned goods and is an excellent source of new revenue. 

4. Cross-Selling

Cross-selling is a tool that is particularly important when you want to increase your income. Indeed, if you choose a point of sale that offers this function, you can improve your service, and potentially increase your sales, by offering your customers similar or complementary products. For example, if a consumer buys new skis, your store may offer boots or ski poles to complement the purchase.

5. Used Inventory Management

The sale of used items is very common in ski shops. You may be selling used items and if so, you need point-of-sale software that can manage these products efficiently. Indeed, an excellent point-of-sale software, such as Alice POS, takes care of the management of used inventory when you want to sell your second-hand ski items, such as boots, poles or bindings.

6. Serialized Products

With this feature, each piece of inventory sold can be easily identified by a unique serial number that is assigned to each product. This makes it possible to track the item in question every time it passes through your store and make the object in the system easily identifiable.

7. Inventory Management

Inventory control is an important element to consider since effective inventory management can optimize and improve the overall management of your business. Indeed, there are many inventory control systems, such as manual, computerized or robotic tracking, and you must choose a system based on your needs and the needs of your business. If you opt for computerized management, excellent point-of-sale software is required to ensure optimal management of your inventory.

8. Safety and Security

Point of sale security is a feature not to be overlooked. Indeed, it is important to ask retail experts if the system you are going to buy meets your security criteria. In other words, it is essential to have point-of-sale software that can protect and recover all your information if an incident occurs, such as theft, fire or flood.

When buying a new point of sale, you may have several fears or questions about its location in your ski store. However, if the system offers a cloud solution, is up to date or several security processes are in place, such as two-factor identification, there is a good chance that the software is reliable and secure. Do not hesitate to ask the company for information to ensure the security of the system. 

Related Questions

How much does point-of-sale software cost?

Point of sale softwares can vary from $69/month to $500/month or more per year. It is important to look at what the rate includes, and whether the company charges installation, training, or other costs. Feel free to ask the companies for information to compare prices and obtain the best option on the market.

What is the difference between a point of sale and a sales terminal? 

A point of sale is a software system that records sales transactions. The POS software also allows the management of inventory, accounts receivable, customer profiles, gift cards, and promotions, just to name a few. A sales terminal is used to process payments by credit or debit card.