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Words of Wisdom for the "First Time" Retailer
You should begin thinking about your POS system and setup as soon as you get your Business License. It is one of the first things you need to do - not one of the last. The following points should help you set expectations and avoid some common pitfalls of the new retailer:
- Departments and Categories must be decided upon and set up
- Inventory does not magically appear in your system ... items must be setup manually or imported
- A scanner only captures the bar code info (usually an ID number, SKU, UPC) ... no descriptions, no pricing, no vendor info
- Sales pricing must be determined
- Vendors must be set up
- Purchases must be entered and merchandise received into the system
Problem
When you are at the beginning stages of your business, you do not realize just how long it takes to get your store prepped to open. It does not happen overnight.
You delay the POS system decision and consequently, the implementation, until a few weeks before you open your doors. At this point, you have already begun (or finished!) ordering from many different sources and have amassed mountains of paperwork ... Packing Lists - Order Acknowledgements - Order Confirmations - Sales Orders - Invoices and Credit Card receipts.
If you wait until you have 60 pages of Inventory to try to get it all in at once, you will be most unpleasant to be around. Don't laugh ... you WILL have 60 pages of inventory when you get through ordering from every show and wholesale showroom that you visited over the past 6 months. A few weeks prior to opening, you'll gaze out over the store to assess your readiness and , in a fit of nervousness, you'll think "I don't have enough merchandise for my Grand Opening" - and order MORE!
Time runs out on you, leaving you forced to open without some of your merchandise ever making it to the floor or being priced. That is YOUR MONEY POSING AS INVENTORY in the back room ...
You will call your POS solution provider, on a Monday at 5 PM, in a panic saying, "The stock room is full of boxes and we need to unpack them - get the inventory entered - print labels - put labels on the merchandise - and do our displays by Friday morning." This is where we come to your rescue and spend the next several sleepless days/nights frantically trying to get it all into your system, on your behalf.
Solution
Start Early So You Don't Have to Stay Late !
If you enter purchases as you order and set up vendors along the way, things will go much smoother.
You want your inventory to be accurate from the beginning. You are starting fresh and there is no reason your inventory can't be perfect. Allow enough time to learn the system slowly and enter things as you go along. That way, you can avoid the panic, 6 hours before your opening, when you've worked 18 hours a day for the past week to try to make this happen . . .