Best Retail POS Systems to Handle Black Friday

At last, one of the most profitable Fridays of the entire year is upon us – Black Friday! The North American culture where consumers show up in droves to snatch the best possible deals. These days the event were originally the Friday after Thanksgiving - hence the name - but now they've grown to begin on Thanksgiving Thursday and extend through Cyber Monday for some retailers, making Black Friday an even bigger shopping event. And with volume like that, you’ll need the right retail point of sales system in your corner. This article discusses the best retail POS systems on the market.

Today retail POS software needs to support online sales. That’s because Black Friday is no longer just an in-store event. In fact, about half of sales during the event are made online now. Black Friday alone pulled in 6.22 billion in online sales last year, which was up by 23.6 percent compared to previous stats. Many of those customers ordered online but picked up in-store. So imagine how much foot traffic stores must have received. Plus it’s looking like it’s going to be another busy one.

Here are a couple of the best retail POS systems to consider. These POS systems are built to handle massive volumes of activity.

Lightspeed

Lightspeed is one of the most popular retail POS systems and is widely regarded as a top choice for handling Black Friday. This cloud-based software offers a range of features specifically designed to help retailers manage the demands of this busy shopping day.

One of the key benefits of Lightspeed is its ability to handle high volumes of transactions quickly and efficiently. During Black Friday, lines can be long and customers may be in a hurry, so it's important for retailers to have a system that can process payments and update inventory in real-time. Lightspeed's fast and reliable checkout process helps ensure that customers can get in and out of the store quickly, reducing wait times and improving the overall shopping experience.

Another advantage of Lightspeed is its comprehensive inventory management system. Retailers can use this feature to track stock levels, set reorder alerts, and even access real-time sales data to help make informed decisions about what products to stock up on before Black Friday. This level of visibility and control helps ensure that retailers have the right products in stock to meet customer demand, avoiding stockouts and lost sales.

Lightspeed's cloud-based nature also makes it a great option for Black Friday. Retailers can access their data from anywhere, at any time, which is particularly useful for businesses with multiple locations or for managers who need to keep an eye on sales from home or on the go. This gives retailers the flexibility to manage their business from anywhere, making it easier to respond to changes in demand and adjust their strategy as needed.

Finally, Lightspeed is also known for its user-friendly interface, which makes it easy for employees to use, even during the busiest shopping days of the year. This helps ensure that staff can focus on providing great customer service, rather than grappling with complex software.

In conclusion, Lightspeed is a top-performing retail POS system that offers a range of features specifically designed to handle the demands of Black Friday. With fast checkout, comprehensive inventory management, cloud-based accessibility, and a user-friendly interface, Lightspeed is a great choice for retailers looking to maximize sales and provide a seamless shopping experience for their customers during this busy shopping day.

Heartland Retail

Heartland Retail is one of the best retail POS system designed specifically for retailers. The POS was built to address the needs of multi-store and multi-channel (both online and offline) retail companies. Heartland offers greater control over your revenues with its real-time sales management feature. The software makes it easy to serve customers quickly and efficiently using an intuitive UI. That also means it’s easy to train new staff.

There are several other useful features like its real-time inventory management tool. This tracks and manages stock across all stores. Also, it alerts you about items that need attention like the other POS systems on our list. Additionally, you can ship orders right from the POS if applicable. For example, you can ship items that are no longer in stock to customers during Black Friday.

Another great feature is the Heartland TRAC and probably why this software is one of the best retail POS system out there. This is a feature unique to Heartland Retail that electronically tracks in-store foot traffic and calculates your conversion rate. TRAC can be used to improve the profitability of seasonal events in the following ways.

• Compare historical data such as traffic trends or conversion rates so you can strategize accordingly.
• Analyze past traffic stats so you can set more appropriate opening and closing hours.
• Use data to gauge past marketing campaign effectiveness and implement improvements where needed.
• Use past purchase data to understand consumer behavior and stock inventory.

Overall, Heartland Retail significantly simplifies and improves retail operations.

So, Are You Prepared?

Black Friday is only weeks away but there’s still time to prepare. So don’t worry if your POS software isn’t cutting it. Setting up any of the best retail POS systems discussed in this article typically takes no more than a few days. Also, you might be able to get things set up on the same day if appropriate or compatible existing POS hardware is present. Finally, the last thing any retailer wants is to run out of inventory on the biggest shopping event of the year. So be prepared and good luck.