Guest Post: 5 Strategies for Mastering Customer Experience at the Point of Sale

This week we feature an article by Mathew Cooper, a Content Marketing Head at POS Plaza. He shares tactics to help ensure a point-of-sale system will enhance the customer experience.

In today’s highly competitive and constantly advancing retail industry, there is no place for ordinary customer service. Modern consumers are smart – they have countless shopping options, and thus are too impatient for checkout delays, long queues and incompatible payment options. They demand a seamless shopping experience to convert from a regular shopper to a loyal customer.

Right from the time a customer enters your retail store, you will find several opportunities and areas – from product range to product display and marketing, to prove how and why your business is better than others. POS (point of sale) or POP (point of purchase) – a place where customer orders and payments are processed, makes one of the most significant parts of the customer experience.

Keeping that in mind, this blog highlights the best strategies you can implement to master customer experience at the point of sale. But before we delve into those guidelines, let’s first understand why POS is so crucial for a retail business.

Why Point of Sale Matters So Much?

It’s the most common spot for shoppers to abandon their cart.
Cart abandonment is a nightmare for any retailer – online or offline. Payment processing delays, long queues and confusion related to product or payment at the checkout, can quickly escalate into a lost customer and revenue.

It’s the mainstream interaction hub.
Regardless of whether or not you have dedicated salespeople posted at the point of sale, your customers will certainly involve in some sort of interaction. Even if it’s with some automated software instead of human, customer interaction at the checkout point is an opportunity to improve customer engagement and brand reputation.

It’s the last impression of your store on the customer.
Retailers mostly focus on first impressions as they hold utmost importance but know that last impressions are as imperative. The point of sale of your store is your last chance to make sure the customer takes away a memorable shopping experience from your store which is worth bragging about.

It’s a foundation for repeat purchases.
Most shoppers will have questions and concerns regarding products, purchases, sale, offers etc. and the point of sale is their last medium to get them addressed. Be sure to make your customers feel comfortable enough to raise the queries they have in mind while giving them direct, honest answers. This will create a sense of trust and loyalty, encouraging the customer to visit again.

It’s the last opportunity to distinguish yourself from your competitors.
Though you will certainly have a lot of chances to set yourself apart from the crowd once the customer is inside your store, the point of sale will be the last one and probably the biggest one. Utilize your best resources and strategies to ensure a smooth checkout and maximum customer satisfaction. Give customers a reason why they should keep coming back to you rather than exploring other stores.

What Can You Do to Improve customer experience at POS? 

1. Ensure the right hardware and software in place
First things first – get your POS suite right. With endless choices of retail POS systems in the market, deciding what will work best for your business can be overwhelming. The first step to choosing the most appropriate solution is defining your needs, priorities and in-store challenges you need to address, in advance. Once in the know about your needs, it would be easier to boil down your choices to a platform that is best suited to your business.

2. Train Your Staff
A great POS solution will be of no use if you don’t have the right people to operate it. Proper staff training is crucial to the success of POS integration into a retail business. Use video tutorials and illustrated documentation to help your employees understand the functioning of POS system. Teach them how they can utilize POS data to better handle customer interactions and create personalized experiences. Also make sure that your staff is aware of your store policies related to purchases and transactions so that they can provide quick and seamless service to customers.

3. Integrate Multiple Payment Gateways
As mentioned earlier, customers these days demand a smooth, quick and convenient payment at retail stores. That said, your POS system should be able to accept different forms of payment – cash, credit/debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay etc. – to make sure you don’t lose a customer and revenue at the last stage of a purchase.

4. Utilize Data
A key feature of an advanced POS system is to capture data about customers and their shopping behavior. When equipped with comprehensive insights about your customers and their purchases, you will be able to take informed decisions about your inventory and prevent problems like stockout and excessive stock. POS data also allows you to create personalized marketing campaigns to tap into your customers’ interests and generate more sale.

5. Speed Up Your Tasks
Waiting on the table for the bill to arrive can turn any enjoyable dining experience into a frustrating ordeal. The same goes for an otherwise excited customer waiting in a long queue to get their payment processed. An advanced POS system allows you to optimize the checkout process and eliminate any delays in payment. A faster, more streamlined checkout will also help your business itself by enabling your staff to process more orders in a shorter amount of time and generate more profit.

The Takeaway
The right POS solution can unlock a more satisfying and enjoyable experience for your customers by simplifying the checkout process, enabling staff to be more accurate and efficient and allowing you to run personalized promotions and offers.

The aforementioned strategies, on the other hand, will help you maximize customer engagement and satisfaction at POS while ensuring long-term success for your retail business.

Mathew Cooper is a Content Marketing Head at POS Plaza, a reputed online dealer of POS solutions and supplies in Australia. Mathew is involved in developing highly researched and engaging posts about everything POS.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Fraud Is Eroding The Customer Experience