Such offerings as Version 12.5 of Cash Register Express retail point of sale software and Restaurant Pro Express point of sale software, new from pcAmerica, enable retailers and restaurateurs to e-mail receipts to their customers–an entirely welcome ‘green‘ alternative to paper-based documents.

Yet another new, highly desirable point of sale system capability paves the way for easy, effective, simultaneous price-changing on multiple goods. Even better, mass updating of prices can be set to take effect at a certain date and time; lists of items, departments or goods with specific properties can be selected for price change action.

Recent installments of this blog have focused on the addition of different software modules to retail and restaurant point of sale systems to bolster their capabilities. But forward-thinking vendors like pcAmerica aren’t stopping there.

If you’re like most retailers and restaurant operators, labor scheduling ranks among your least favorite tasks. Slotting staff members into shifts can be extremely time-consuming, and confirming just how many employees are slated to work a particular shift and the roles to which they’ve been assigned often necessitates a significant effort as well.

Retailers with fuel pumps have long utilized one point of sale system for pump-related transactions and another for transactions pertaining to other inventory, such as food and grocery items sold in their adjacent convenience stores or similar establishments. However, a much better alternative is now available in the form of solutions that handle fuel sales and other transactions from the same point of sale system.

While standalone meal ordering solutions are readily available in the marketplace, a trend toward applications that integrate the online ordering function with restaurant point of sale applications is quickly emerging.

Chances are, you’ve heard quite a lot in recent months about online ordering solutions. Maybe you’ve even used them yourself to get takeout or a delivery from another restaurant. And now, it’s time to seriously consider implementing such an application for your own operation.

In order for a customer loyalty program to be truly effective, it must be targeted to your best customers. Contrary to what you may assume, these shoppers aren’t necessarily the ones who frequent your store or restaurant most often. For example, in many instances the most regular visitors to retail stores come primarily or almost entirely in search of “bargains”, seldom pay full price and often return their purchases.

Tick tock…is it time to upgrade your retail or restaurant point of sale system? While the answer is not always cut-and-dried, here are a few indicators that this is indeed the case.

As if that weren’t enough, you can utilize historical point of sale information to set minimum and maximum “stock-on-hand” levels. This will prevent overstocks and, in turn, minimize the need to ever tell a customer that you are “out” of a product or menu item.