Questions to Ask when Choosing a Garden Center POS System
If you run a garden center, plant nursery, or farm supply store you are already familiar with the challenges that come along with the industry, but is your garden center POS system developer? With such a wide range of products, and materials to keep track of, you know you need a robust POS system to help you effectively manage your business. How can you make sure you’re choosing the right system for your business?
Here are a few questions to ask:
Is it flexible and equipped to handle your unique business needs?
Independent, mom and pop garden centers, plant nurseries, and farm supply stores have a very unique set of needs. Seasonal fluctuations and environmental changes mean that garden centers and similar stores require industry-leading garden center POS solutions that are capable of streamlining operations and increasing efficiency.
The system you choose will need to be able to scale up and down with ease to help you manage seasonal traffic during the on and off seasons. Additionally, depending on how exposed the system is to the elements, you’ll want to ensure that you have rugged POS system hardware in place in order to maximize your technology investment.
Does it have an inventory management module to help track materials?
Operating and managing a garden center, one of the biggest and most complex responsibilities you have is the management of your inventory. Living products like potted plants or tree saplings need more care than products with stable shelf lives, but you also need to manage and track materials like gravel and mulch. Additionally, most of your inventory needs will fluctuate widely with the season, so you need to have a reliable way to know how much you have on hand, when you need to make reorders, and what quantity you will need to order to meet the demand.
Will it allow you to run reports on nearly any aspect of your business?
Managing inventory and labor will ensure you can keep your business running well, but in order to increase profitability, stay competitive, and achieve any sort of business growth, you will need a garden center POS that provides accurate, in-depth data on sales, rentals, labor, inventory, and nearly every other area of business. This information will be critical, and you will need it to gain a better insight into your business and make better, more informed business decisions.
