4 Fresh Features of a Farmers Market POS
Are you searching for a fresh point of sale (POS) system for your farmers market?
If you own or manage a market, you need a solution that caters to your business and its unique needs, so be sure to look for one with industry-specific hardware integrations and inventory management features.
Not sure where to start?
Check out these four features that are a must for your farmers market POS.
Grocery Inventory Management
From russet potatoes to granny smith apples, farmers markets carry a wide variety of products — and you need a POS system that can help you manage that inventory.
When you have high-volume inventory (like produce), it’s important to keep a comprehensive list of all your items, so you can keep track of what’s selling and what’s not. This way, you know what’s worth growing (and not) next season. A solid farmers market POS will also give you filtering options, so you can filter your inventory by everything from date to dollar range.
The ability to efficiently add products is a key feature for any point of sale solution designed for farmers markets. Quickly scan products straight from your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device from anywhere you have access to the internet. You can also add and update descriptions, price, and quantity on hand. A cloud-based system with quick add inventory features are especially great for outdoor markets — you can keep your inventory in order, without being tied down to an indoor WiFi router.
An integrated label printer is another must for a farmers market POS. These allow you to create and sync custom barcodes for local and unique items that don’t typically have barcodes — like a jar of honey from a local beekeeper.
Remember to look for market-specific reporting features, too. Most market products are perishable, and you need the right tools to keep track of your entire inventory. Keep your shelves freshly stocked with reports track of shrinkage — like bruised apples or rotten lettuce — to help you reduce overall profit loss by under or over-ordering.
Scale Integration
Farmers markets sell tons of random-weight goods, including produce, meat, and bulk items like grains and seeds. With the right POS hardware, you can accurately weigh and price these products.
Scanner scales are placed in-counter at the checkout register, and are used to weigh products for pricing. If your customer is stocking up on goods for the week, the efficiency of weighing and pricing right at checkout streamlines all operations. They read barcodes at almost any angle and can be used as a traditional barcode scanner, so they can also be helpful with products that don’t need to be weighed.
Deli scales are typically larger, and are separate from the checkout setup. They have a platter to weigh items, a barcode label printer, and a keypad — perfect for products like meat. You can print labels directly through the deli scale to be scanned by the POS, simplifying checkout when your customer gets to the register.
Customer Loyalty Rewards
Farmers markets play a key role in the community, so it’s important to reward the customers that continually purchase your products. This builds quality relationships, which ultimately boosts your business — in fact, increasing customer retention by as little as five percent can increase profits by up to 95 percent.
Your farmers market point of sale solution should have an integrated customer loyalty program. Points-based programs assign points to every dollar spent, which buyers can redeem for discounts. Consider offering a $10 coupon for every 100 points earned, or a 20% discount for every 2,000 points.
Customers love to save money, and if they’re happy with your products and your service, they’re likely to return to your market — and may recommend your business to others. Positive word-of-mouth reviews can significantly boost your bottom line, and customer rewards are a great way to encourage them.
Online Ordering
Ready to maximize your sales? Find a point of sale system with online ordering capabilities.
With an e-commerce integration, you can easily set up a webstore to sell items online, increasing opportunities to sell your products outside of market hours. If your farmers market is only open on weekends or specific days of the week, for example, an online shop lets you continue to make sales to increase your bottom line.
Online orders can be placed for either delivery or pickup. If you’re located in a smaller community, you might consider hand-delivering orders — this is a great way to build relationships by getting your face in front of the customer, even if they aren’t visiting your market. Or, you can work with third-party integrations for delivery.
But for farmers markets, a Buy-Online-Pickup-In-Store (BOPIS) option might be your best bet. Buyers can place orders online, which you’ll fulfill before they come in to pick them up. Convenience is key, and if you’re saving customers time (and money), they’re sure to become repeat customers. Think about giving customers the option to set up recurring orders online (which can be modified), too — they’ll appreciate the convenience, and you’ll appreciate the recurring revenue.
Get Started With the Perfect Farmers Market POS
There are tons of options to choose from, so finding the perfect POS for your market might seem like a daunting task — but it doesn’t have to be too complicated.
Start with the features you know you need, like shrink reports and scale integrations, and go from there.
Need some help?
To reap the rewards of a quality point of sale solution made for farmers markets, schedule a demo with one of our IT Retail specialists today — or use our Build and Price tool to create your own custom quote!