Sports and outdoor retailers can take their store to its limits with an EPoS system.

Here are the features of an EPoS system that make running a sports and outdoor retail store easier :

Store and business management

• Point of sale

Retailers can easily set up staff members on an EPoS system and be confident that they can be left to serve customers without much assistance. A number of useful features support the staff such as detailed technical descriptions and images of products, as well as size and colour matrices for garments.

• Stock management

With an EPoS system, time consuming manual stock management is replaced by real time, automated control. Retailers no longer have to over stock their stores, or spend time chasing other branches or checking the warehouse for additional stock. Instead accurate stock levels across all locations are visible and reported live making stock replenishment incredibly easy.

• Buying

Purchasing decisions are much simpler with the support of an EPoS system that can show past trends, what colours and sizes sell best and what sells best in which store. It may be that each store and channel attracts a different shopper and therefore needs to sell completely different products.

• Reporting

Back office can use the EPoS system as a powerful reporting tool that can be accessed anywhere, anytime for sales analysis. Turnover, VAT reports, profits, trends can all be viewed and used as part of the decision making process. They are particularly useful for businesses with multi stores and sales channels to see how their product range sells across all platforms and highlight any differences.

Marketing tools

• Multi-channel

EPoS systems can works as stand alone solutions or they can be seamlessly integrated to also support the e-commerce and mail order elements of a retailers business. Mail orders can be processed into the system and online orders can be flagged immediately, so that retailers can stay on top of all channels and never miss a sale.

• Customer database

A customer relationship management tool can be found within an EPoS system to work alongside many aspects of the business. It is particularly useful for building marketing campaigns or expanding customer reach by sales channel. For example, customers can be added at the point of sale to receive monthly special offers or a mail order catalogue.

• Loyalty programme

Store cards and customer loyalty schemes that reward your best customers with discounts or vouchers can be integrated into an EPoS system. Working with the CRM tool they are a valuable way to maintain customer base and capture details for additional marketing.

Sports and outdoor retail stores can take advantage of the following benefits :

• Business management tool

EPoS systems help retailers run their store/s and any other sales channels more efficiently. Live insight into the business is provided on a daily basis so retailers can make more informed decisions. What’s more administrative processes are automated allowing management more time to focus on the business strategy rather than working on the sales floor.

• Reduced stock spend

With an EPoS system the ability to reduce stockholding is achievable by setting minimum and maximum stock levels and having live visibility across all stock points. As a result retailers can work collectively and buy less stock, more often, instead of having certain items sitting on the shelves for months at a time.

• Better buying

Through sales analyse and prediction tools retailers can see exactly what products they should to purchase across the year and where to sell them. The results may be surprising at times, but they will always be accurate and lead to more sales.

• Improved customer service

Sales driven tools at the point of sale, like detailed product descriptions, work towards making the sales process as smooth and quick as possible. In return customer service levels are improved and retailers start seeing sales levels go up.

• Virtual control

A lot of sports and outdoor retailers go away to experience their products in action. EPoS systems help them to stay in control of the business while they are away by providing 24/7 access to the system and back office. Even on holiday or a business trip retailers can be kept up to date and proactive.