When it comes to deriving all the advantages of a salon business, leveraging technology is essential. On any regular day, a salon is a place buzzing with activities, ranging from booking appointments to serving customers. Cumulatively these administrative tasks end up taking a lot of time and leave the owner or the manager with little time to figure out ways to improve the business. A POS system can help improve the business. Essentially a combination of hardware and software, a Point of Sale (POS) system automates a substantial portion of the administrative work and such that you get time to focus on other important aspects. Here is the list of activities, which you can do with a salon POS
- Online Appointment Scheduling / Re-scheduling
A salon POS will allow your clients to book appointments at their convenience, including outside of your business hours. The POS is designed to accept bookings through multi platforms such as website, app, social media pages etc., and generate the daily / weekly appointment calendar. Neither your clients nor your front desk staff must trade multiple calls, or exchange emails to fill one slot. At the time of booking, the clients will be able to see the available slots and make the booking. Should a customer need to reschedule an existing appointment, the POS will allow them to make the necessary changes.
- Automated Reminders
Appointments do not translate into revenue. They’re merely leads to potential transactions. Transactions occur only after the customer shows up. Almost every salon has suffered the pain of no-show bookings. A POS system minimizes the no show booking by sending automated reminders to the clients and the staff. These reminders can be sent over texts or emails, subject to the customer’s preferred mode of communication.
- Raise Invoices & Process Payments
A basic POS will allow you to raise professional invoices, complete with all the details and accept payments through charge cards and credit cards. The system is equipped to tag the payment method to every invoice generated and allows for easy reconciliation. Since, the POS is equipped to handle multiple payment gateways, the clients can choose the method which works for them. A completely secure payment system allows clients to have peace of mind.
- Track Inventory
An interesting feature in POS is to track inventory, to maintain just the adequate stock levels. By analyzing sales data, the system gives you a fair picture of your fast selling and least selling products. As a result, you can deploy your capital to restock items that sell fast and improve profitability.
- Better Customer Relations
Studies have shown that retaining a client cost much less to the businesses when compared with the cost of acquiring a new client. Therefore, every business while working on acquiring new clients must also work towards retaining the existing clients. Did you know that a POS system can help you improve your customer relations? Since, the POS comes with a centralized database, it stores complete profile of the client, including personal details, preferences, and color choices. By analyzing this data and sharing it with the stylist prior to the arrival of the client, it empowers the stylist to make suggestions that may have better acceptability. Many POS systems also allow you to send fortnightly or monthly (non-sales) newsletters to clients such that you can keep them abreast with the latest trends in the beauty industry. Moreover, the POS also assists you in sending personalized greetings for birthdays and anniversaries and nudge them towards repeat visits. All of it in just a few clicks.
- Improve your marketing
Your POS is your go to ready reckoner for you and your employees to upsell products to clients. Since the POS records each and every transaction, it uses data analytics to understand customer’s preferences and recommends products that fit with the preference. Many POS systems also allow you to send fortnightly or monthly (non-sales) newsletters to clients such that you can keep them abreast with the latest trends in the beauty industry.
- Payroll & Commissions
The POS can substantially reduce the time you deploy in computing payrolls and commissions and eliminate the need to outsource it. Whether you disburse commissions weekly, fortnightly, or monthly manual computation takes time and sometimes has errors. POS will give you error free computations. Some POS such as the one by Zenoti allows your employees to keep a track of their tips and commissions earning in the business facing app and allows them to know their real time performance.
If you’re a reader who’s looking at opening a beauty salon business, then investing in a robust POS is highly recommended. Aside from the above, a POS can assist you in budgeting your start- up costs and analyzing the performance of your business. Zenoti’s POS for salons has a state of art user interface and comes with an easy learning curve, which will allow you to deliver a modern experience to your clients.