Learning to use POS system customer data means you can tap into a wealth of information about your customers. This can give you an edge in building relationships and brand loyalty. In this regard, the best point of sale (POS) systems. (opens in a new tab) offer companies much more than that Just fantastic payment experience.
Many if not most of the POS (point of sale) systems on the market today have sophisticated analysis of customer purchasing behavior that is often built-in. So how do you make the most of all this amazing POS data?
Monitoring these analytics is the first step in gaining insights into the people who walk through your door or shop with you online. POS customer data is an endless source of information that can help you create a promotional sales calendar, create content about popular products, and offer data-driven marketing to your mailing list – but only if you act on it.
Leveraging POS data to turn new customers into loyal repeat customers is the second and most important step. The way you use POS customer data can drive sales or provide your business with free word-of-mouth marketing.
In this article, we’ll shed light on nine inspiring ways to use POS customer data to gain insights into your retail business.
1. Provide relevant product suggestions
This is one of the low-hanging fruits when it comes to POS data. Knowing what shoppers have bought before makes it easier to suggest products they might be interested in.
If a customer has purchased products from specific brands or categories in the past, you can use this data to sell similar products in the future. Be sure to get their feedback on these suggestions and involve them in the process. Over time, product suggestions become more relevant.
Nordstrom department store does it really well. The retailer records specific purchases of its customers (e.g. cosmetics, designer products, etc.) and sends tailored product recommendations based on the buyer’s purchasing history and preferences.
When marketing to new customers, you can use the purchase histories of buyers with a similar profile to make relevant product recommendations.
Amazon is a master at this, which is why all product pages have a “People Who Viewed This Also Viewed…” section
Consider doing something similar with your small business marketing initiatives. Pay attention to what people buy and use that information to create relevant messages and suggestions.
2. Recommend products on time
You can also use POS data to inform the timing of marketing campaigns or customer promotions. knowing When customer has bought something, you can guess what they will buy next or when they need to restock.
We can see it in action at the Acupuncture Atlanta supplement store. When you buy a product – such as a bottle of vitamins – the store notes when you made your purchase and sends you an email telling you when the vitamins will run out.
If you sell items that need replenishing, pull a page from the Acupuncture Atlanta manual and schedule reminders to encourage customers to buy your products again.
3. Know your most important customer segments
In addition to shedding light on what people buy, your POS data also tells you who your best customers are. This data is extremely valuable, especially if you want to enter your target market.
Knowing what types of buyers buy from you most often can help you tailor your brand message, learn which retail marketing channels to invest in, and decide what types of promotions to offer.
Let’s say you’re a clothing retailer and you discover that your main customers are women between the ages of 28 and 35. Armed with this information, you can come up with campaigns and assets with images and ad text that these women can relate to.
4. Improve store layout and display
Are you running out of ideas to promote your store? Go to POS data. Identify things like:
- Your bestsellers
- Best colors or sizes
- Items often bought together
Having the above data can help you make decisions like what items to display and how to sell your mannequins, windows, and so on.
For example, if you know that customers usually buy a handbag with a particular pair of shoes, you can create a display that shows these items together. Or, if a certain color is disappearing from the shelves, you can place it front and center of the store for customers to see.
Whatever the case, take the time to review sales and customer reports and identify trends that you can use to make in-store merchandising and design decisions.
In the same way that POS data helps sell in-store, the same information can also provide promotional ideas. Insight into the most important categories or products can help you determine which elements to highlight in your promotional materials.
In some cases, you can use sales figures to create a sense of urgency. If a product is selling fast, you can highlight it in your ad to encourage people to buy immediately.
Some retailers choose to highlight popular items in their marketing efforts when items that were previously sold out become available.
Take a look at this example from UNTUCKit that highlights the fact that the brand’s best-selling polo shirt is back in stock.
6. Specify what types of bundles or bundles of products you want to sell
Selling bundles or bundles of items can be an effective inventory move strategy. For example, many retailers combine popular products with slow-moving items to help shed the latter. In some cases, a bundle of high and low margin products enables merchants to maximize their profits.
That said, sets work best when you know which pieces go well together. And this is where POS data comes in.
Identify the items your customers typically buy at the same time, then calculate prices and margins to ensure that combining these items makes financial sense.
7. Think about what to stock up on (and what not to order)
Knowing which products are most popular with shoppers allows you to make smarter inventory decisions.
If you have solid control over what your bestsellers (i Why are so popular), you can store more of these products. Then put yours least popular items on sale to move them quickly and make room for your best-selling items.
You can go a step further by using your POS customer data to anticipate trends and determine which items to add to your catalogue. On the other hand, it is also important to know which products are duds to avoid stocking them again in the store.
8. Decide what to put up for sale
Speaking of duds, you need to keep a close eye on the items they buy are not buy. The sooner you find out which products don’t resonate, the more time you’ll have to improve your course.
For example, if a certain style of clothing or brand isn’t selling, you’ll want to know sooner rather than later so you can put it up for sale. This way you can also make sure that the person responsible for purchasing the stock doesn’t order that particular item again.
9. Improve staff knowledge and customer service
Thanks to the internet and our smartphones, consumers today are better informed than ever. Research conducted by Tulip Retail (opens in a new tab) found that 80% of consumers believe they are more knowledgeable than retailers.
To this end, you can stay competitive by instilling knowledge, skills and confidence in your employees. In this way, you will show customers that your employees are product experts who can help buyers make purchasing decisions.
You can achieve this by giving your team access to POS customer data. When your employees know what items are popular and when they are aware of each buyer’s purchasing history, they will be in a much better position to help and impress your customers.
Putting it all together
POS customer data can improve various parts of your business. From retail marketing and sales to inventory management, having the right information at your fingertips can really be a game changer.
So, in addition to knowing how to use POS systems or how POS systems work (opens in a new tab), it is important to know how to extract relevant data from your platform. This will enable you to make smarter decisions that will help you grow and prosper.