Each business is based on a unique plan, and as a result has different considerations and requirements. Needless to state that the requirements of a small salon won’t be same as that of a large multi outlet salon. Thus, when it comes to selecting a salon/spa POS software, one size fits all approach won’t work. Thankfully, the POS software developers have realized this and have managed to develop different products to enable the customers to evaluate and understand the pro and con of each software prior to its selection. Here is a check list of features that every small business should look for when it indulges in the process of selecting a salon/spa POS software such that the small salon/spa is run professionally without any glitches whatsoever.
- Data Capturing & Management
Perhaps the first and foremost criteria of evaluation. It is important to ascertain how the POS software captures and stores the personal, financial information of each and every client and how secure that data is. A good POS software should not only be able to capture the customer data but also keep it safe from unauthorized access. Irrespective of the location of the data, whether on local server or cloud server, the data must be secured at all times and should be stored in a centralized database. Furthermore, the client should have a choice of updating his or her contact details and payment methods in the client facing app/website of the POS software.
- Multi payment gateway support
How well is billing module of the software designed? Different clients choose different methods of payment. Some clients prefer to pay in cash, some pay in form of credit card, and some prefer charge card. The POS system should give clients a list of choices to select payment method best suited to their preference. Aside from providing the client with a host of choices for payment method, the POS software must be able to capture transactions and payments from all possible gateways and do so without any errors.
- Invoicing & Billing
Transactions are usually of multiple nature. While some are direct business to client transaction, commonly known as business to consumer, the others are business to business transactions. Based on the nature of the transaction, the billing POS software should be equipped to auto generate the invoice for every type of transaction. Mentioning these little details allows customers to check the records for their purposes. If these invoices are digitally sent, they should be easily readable on a computer or a tablet.
- Automated transaction alerts
Alerts for each and every transaction must be automatically sent to both the customer and the business. With the generation of each successful transaction, invoice details should be readily available to the accountant, cashier and the customer. With the successful completion of payment, once again alerts should reach all the parties involved in the transaction. A fully functional POS should have such features in-built in it.
- On demand reports
A business organization constantly needs to evaluate the performance of its business, its marketing strategies. The POS should be able to give on-demand and up to date reports, including the real time assessment on capital deployed and ROI. The POS software should be able to generate reports in a matter of few clicks and if necessary also present the same.
- Employee Management
The POS software being evaluated should have robust employee management system. Be it tracking the performance of an individual employee, or the revenue through sell of product services income being bought by the employee to ascertain tips ad commission. It should be able to roster the weekly off, and run error free payrolls
- Business mobility
Modern day business requirements need people to be constantly on the move. Therefore, the staff and the management should be able to access the POS, and / or receive the necessary reports anywhere and anytime. Monitoring of employee performance, inventory status should all be available by just a few clicks.
Listed above are some of the must have features that small businesses should evaluate when selecting a salon/spa POS software for their businesses. Some of the POS software which are popular are Zenoti, Phorest, Vagaro, MindBody etc. Personally, I prefer Zenoti because its salon/SPA post software is designed to meet the requirement of both small business or big business. It does so because of its construct that makes it easily scaleable.