As important and advantageous as capabilities like “bulk pricing,” “transaction suspend” and other sophisticated features mentioned in the first two parts may be, today’s retailers also need point-of-sale systems that can handle the different requirements of the vertical market in which they play.

For clothing, shoe and accessory retailers, being able to track inventory that comes in many sizes and colors is a must. Otherwise, it will be impossible to maintain a true picture of what is selling, rather than a distorted one, and in turn to ensure that the “right” merchandise is in stock, at the “right” time. New software capabilities afford retailers such a “perk” by allowing them to assign individual product SKUs to groups by size and color, then view and manage all items within any given group on a matrix-style screen to clearly ascertain what is in stock for each variation—with no guesswork or added labor. It also adds a measure of convenience, efficiency and accuracy because it lets retailers automatically generate new purchase orders only for inventory that is really is out of stock.

In another vein, with a feature for handling commissions in place, management can take the hassle out of paying employees on a commission basis by using the point of sale software to automatically determine which salesperson gets credit for each item on an invoice. Another advantage of this feature is that commissions may be automatically split, permitting multiple salespeople to receive commission on the same invoice and rendering any unpleasant disputes about who is entitled to payment obsolete. Keeping tabs on commissions also becomes a painless, flexible process via a commission-tracking capability that allows retailers to monitor commissions by a percentage of the gross sale, percentage of the gross profit or a set actual dollar amount.

For more information about these essential point-of-sale system features and how to leverage them using Cash Register Express™, visit pcAmerica.