The numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that roughly 18% of small businesses fail in their first year. While that number may seem ominous to anyone considering going into business for themselves, those numbers also show that over 80% of small businesses make it beyond 12 months and half succeed beyond five years. The key is having a well-formulated business plan and building a solid foundation for a store.

With Artificial Intelligence (AI) infiltrating almost all aspects of life, coming up with a small business success checklist is as easy as asking ChatGPT or Microsoft CoPilot. Depending on how the question is phrased, a checklist will look something like the list below.

Small Retailer Success Checklist

Answering the questions

Even though retail is increasingly becoming a digital process – EDI ordering, e-commerce, mobile applications, and more – nearly 30% of independent stores still lean on 19th century processes to order products, process sales, and balance their books. Modern point-of-sale technology can drastically simplify all those processes and give store owners, managers and employees more time to focus on helping customers.

Let’s see how point-of-sale technology can help answer these questions and help a business grow.

Customer Experience & Loyalty

Do you greet and engage customers personally? Interacting with customers requires time for retailers to be on the sales floor. Point-of-sale technology with electronic data interchange (EDI) simplifies ordering, inventory management, and updating pricing, all of which gives owners and managers more time to spend with customers.

Do you offer loyalty programs or incentives? All major hardware suppliers offer incentive programs, which means when customers make purchases their rewards are easily tallied and applied. Sophisticated POS systems also include that data in their reporting. Some POS providers also offer their own incentive programs that feature all the bells and whistles the major suppliers offer. These programs also collect and store customer information and purchase history which allows stores to offer personalized discounts and rewards.

Inventory & Operations

Are you using tools to forecast inventory needs? Knowing exactly what products customers are going to buy is the goal of every retailer. POS systems give retailers historical sales data on which they can base future sales. Sophisticated systems provide suggested orders based on that information which further simplifies ordering and inventory management. Other systems can analyze supplier pricing and help retailers find the lowest cost products, which improves margins and profits.

Do you track bestsellers and slow movers? Retailers who don’t pay attention to what products are moving off their shelves and those that are collecting dust probably won’t be in business for very long. Modern POS systems with inventory management features can give retailers real-time views of how their ordering and inventory is working and performing. This allows them to reduce dead stock and maintain an active inventory.

Is your inventory lean but responsive to demand? Keeping a tight rein on inventory means stores can invest less in stock that remains on shelves too long and use that investment to stock seasonal and specialty products their customers want. Nobody wants to be selling snow shovels in June and July and pool toys in November and December.

Digital Presence & Omnichannel

Is your website/mobile experience fast and user-friendly? Accessibility is key to any retail operation these days, which means stores need both an online presence and mobile capability to succeed. Point-of-sale systems with e-commerce and mobile applications allow customers to purchase at their leisure whether a store is open or not.

MPOS lets store staff complete transactions just about anywhere – in a store aisle, in a lumberyard or garden center, on deliveries, or at remote events. It also gives them a tool to call up product information to answer shoppers’ questions and give them guidance.

Do you offer online ordering, curbside pickup, or delivery. The pandemic shifted e-commerce, product delivery, and curbside pickup programs into high gear. Nowadays, consumers expect these modern conveniences and services, and they look for retailers who offer them. E-commerce options and mobile capabilities make those conveniences a reality.

Are you active on social media with consistent branding? Consistent branding is key when it comes to establishing a store’s identity and image. Managing advertising, e-commerce and social media postings with customer data collected through a POS system keeps stores in touch with good customers and helps them reach out to occasional shoppers.

Financial Health

Do you have a clear view of your monthly cash flow? Point of sale systems are essential tools for any small business to manage finances effectively. They can automate bookkeeping or integrate with a store’s bookkeeping software. This saves time and eliminates errors caused by manual entry.

Are you managing expenses and vendor payments efficiently? Using a POS system also allows stores to more quickly receive payments from customers and more promptly and accurately pay suppliers, which minimizes cash gaps.

Staffing & Culture

Are your employees trained in customer service and product knowledge? Retail has always faced high turnover. That’s why it’s critical to equip employees with tools that are intuitive and easy to use from day one.

“A point-of-sale (POS) system that’s simple to learn and operate is essential,” says Dan Nesmith, founder and president of Paladin Data Corporation, a leader in digital retail solutions. “A user-friendly interface helps even tech-shy employees become productive quickly, making their jobs easier and more enjoyable.”

POS systems that are simple to use speed employee training, speed customer checkout, and give employees the tools to improve customer service.

Is your team aligned with your brand values and mission? Using point-of-sale technology inherently creates consistent retail processes and helps maintain cohesive brand values across all sales platforms.  It gives them the necessary tools and information to help customers better. And it lets store owners more easily track staff performance.

Choosing a digital partner

There are plenty of reasons retailers who haven’t adopted point-of-sale technology should.

Retailers who are embracing retail technology and all the advantages it brings are setting their businesses up to thrive in the future.

“Over the last 20, 30 years there’s been a real loss of small-town hardware stores, and the lack of modern technology, I think, is one of the reasons. The demand for technology by retailers for a number of reasons, and the need for speed at the point of sale has changed so much over the past few years, I don’t know how stores operate without it,” says Jim Byrum, who owns and operates eight community hardware stores across central Michigan. “Maintaining current retail prices and product costs have been absolutely critical the past few years. The Paladin systems are critical tools to help us accomplish this and maintain our margins and profitability.”

For over 45 years, Paladin Data Corporation has been at the forefront of helping independent retailers thrive with point-of-sale, inventory management, mobile, and e-commerce solutions, along with managed services. Find out how Paladin can help your business run better.