Like all merchants, liquor store retailers need to have up-to-date inventory information on hand to ensure accurate stock levels and prevent merchandise shrink.

There are several airtight reasons for such a move. At the top of the list is the fact that a point of sale system addresses liquor store owners’ key concerns: rapid customer throughput, inventory control, and preventing the sale of age-sensitive products to minors. It also offers up a host of other benefits that come from achieving these goals.

Faster, more efficient processing ranks at the top of the list of benefits to be reaped from deploying an integrated fuel pump and point of sale system. However, it is far from the only benefit—providing that the solution you select has a top-notch reporting component.

For many independent gas stations, gas station chains, convenience stores and grocery stores, selling both gasoline and merchandise has become a competitive weapon as well as a way to bolster productivity. But while it is not difficult to persuade consumers to fill up the gas tank while simultaneously making a food purchase (or vice versa), managing these different facets of the business can be challenging on many levels.

pcAmerica has the technology that can get you started with social marketing, using solutions from behind the counter.

Additionally, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress in 2010, retailers and restaurant owners can set minimum price levels for the use of credit cards in their establishments. The minimum must be under $10. Why bother? The transaction fees operators pay to process really small purchases—say, below $5—essentially cancel out the profit from the sale.

Using PCI-compliant technology at the physical point of sale constitutes PCI compliance by default. While this may be the case, remember that PCI guidelines also require the implementation of measures to ensure the physical security of networks and payment technology as well as the maintenance of written security policies. Although it is critical that terminals and other point of sale hardware be PCI- compliant, compliance as a whole doesn’t stop there.

A few months back, we explained why it’s important for retailers and restaurant operators to blog just as we at pcAmerica do. We hope you took our advice! Now it’s time to look at a few ways to prevent your blog from becoming stale and, as a result, losing some of its following. Here are three strategies to start with; see our next installment for more ideas.

In the last installment of this blog, we at pcAmerica offered three strategies for keeping customers coming back. Here are three more.

With consumers continuing to watch their budgets and those who are spending more freely again, becoming increasingly selective about where they put their money down, retailers and restaurant operators must double their efforts to keep customers coming back. Here are a few strategies for moving in that direction: