First, we should look at what a point of sale, or pos system is. A POS system is actually just as it sounds, a point of sale. Nearly any kind of retail business today has some type of computer software or sales system in place. Although you may not have used these systems, you interact with them almost every day of your life. The POS system is in nearly every store checkout today, some are a little more sophisticated then others, but they are there.
There are varieties of pos software on the market today and some are tailored for specific types of sales and businesses. There are simple, basic systems that cover the simple sales environments were a calculator is all that is needed, to very detailed and layered systems that involve every aspect of the business. The larger variations of pos software are not really called point of sale, but more of a business process or sales management system. It’s just a fancy word for big pos software.
In most cases, business owners look for systems that can both handle the retail sales as well the overall management of the business. It is more like a business tool then anything else. Retail point of sale systems today are much more system oriented then just sales tracking, as they once were.
There has not been a business that I have visited in years that still has an old style cash register. Those systems are all but gone now. They have all been replaced with computerized systems, networks and interconnected processes that track everything for you and simply print out a report at the end of the day. No more manual calculations and paperwork to be done. These systems were not only developed for the small business, but used the big business and enterprise models to make the small business owner a more efficient machine.
In a franchise and small business environment, most owners run one or 2 front end sales systems and one primary system. Not all Dry cleaner businesses are the same and you might have only one computer, either way, the system still applies.
For a Dry Cleaner business, you can purchase a basic pos software package such as Intuit’s QuickBooks Point of Sale or Point of Sale Pro, which will run you from $900 to $1200. This is relatively nominal cost in your business start up, but still work the investment. You can also go with more basic, cheaper point of sale systems. I have seen some for free ( not that I would use them ) and as low as $99.
A lot of the basic point of sale systems are just that, basic. They will be network compatible or one or more computers and installs, process sales, manage inventory, track sales, commissions, vendors and staff. You should also be able to track inventory, billing, customer information, invoicing, packing slips, shipping, product listings and more. The down side to the basic packages is that they are not tailored for specific businesses, such as a dry cleaners, shoe repair or laundromat businesses. Each type of business will have unique requirements that these basic systems may or may not have.
When it comes to business specific software, you should consider a fully developed dry cleaner point of sale system, especially if you are new to the business and do not know all the features you need ahead of time. Software such as CleanMax from Arbelsoft is a great, fully functional, out of the box software implementation for a Dry Cleaning Business. This software is already setup with a dry cleaning business in mind, with all the tools built in. CleanMax software is already able to use printers to print dry cleaning tags and tickets for the clothing and customers, no need to customize a basic package to do this, or do it manually. This alone can save you a lot of time and frustration.
Another great product is the WinDryClean dry cleaners point of sale software. This product is another all in one system that can also be setup with a fully integrated touch screen display. That means, no more fumbling around with a mouse, just touch the screen and go. This software is taylored to the dry cleaning business and also has many great features built in, such as hotel delivery and statements, client statistics, production control and tracking, employee tracking and auditing, fast ticketing and is actually very simple too and easy to use.
Not only can Point of Sale software streamline your sales counter it can also help you with other areas of your business. Beyond the customer sale, there is a lot more to running and managing a dry cleaning business, you can use the software systems to do the following and more:
- Barcode printing and scanning for faster processing of tickets
- Employee Payroll
- General Ledger and reports
- Taxes and Financials
- Inventory tracking and automated ordering.
- Vendor management and reporting
- Accounts Payable and Receivable
- Credit card and payment process reporting
- Customer tracking
- and more.
Also, don’t let the lingo confuse you, whether it is a pos, point of sale, cash sales system, retail sales system, business management software or something else. They are all referring to the same thing, point of sale.
Choosing the right point of sale system for your dry cleaning business is important. The right software will help you run the business more efficiently and responsibly. Remember that not all software have the same features, so make sure you have a basic idea of what you want to track. If you are not sure what you want, consider a fully integrated dry cleaning software package that is ready to go out of the box over a simple, cheaper alternative. In the end, the extra money you spend on a proper software product will save you a lot more then the savings on a cheap version.
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