The end of the year is near and as it grows closer you need to be prepared for the holidays. One of the best ways to be organised is to have a complex POS system that handles all of your business needs with up to date product files. Product files may be seen as just an inventory task but they are actually vital to your sales and marketing. Having an organised integrated POS system makes it so much easier to sell, stock and purchase products during the busiest times of the year.
It’s all about efficiency and with an Acumen system, you have additional features such as auto purchasing which can assist your cash flow and profits if you keep your product file updated.
Here are six reasons why you should keep Product Information up to date
Product Information is more than a marketing tool and is more than an address book for your POS system because you can:
- Meet the demand of an omnichannel business
As business you probably adapted to selling and purchasing on different platforms and in turn have grown your business to be statewide, nationwide or even international. Keeping your product information up to date with the right pricing, specifications and colours allows you to meet new demands and continue to grow your business. - Easily expand or add new products
With a systematic procedure in place where as a business you regularly keep your products up to date you can easily expand into new markets or add new products to your existing inventory and it generally can be completed by the supervising manager of your store. - Update product information including brochure, manuals, supplier details
If you have sales or provide trade customers with brochures you can be assured that all of the prices and specifications are correct when you regularly review and update your product lists. This saves you time and money during your sales periods. - Reduce errors
When products are regularly updated there are fewer customer disputes on pricing and less miscellaneous recorded as employees will be able to search for the item and the correct information within the system. - Know what’s selling
Products sell differently depending on the time year, your stores location and social media. By having updated product files that are regularly reviewed you can forecast when certain products will have a higher demand and order more to meet the demand. - Easily find products
When product files are kept updated, employees can easily search for the product within the POS terminal and bring up all of the current product information.
How to keep Product files updated
Product files are the heart of your POS system by keeping them updated you are keeping your business organised. At Acumen, we recommend to our customers that they update their product files as often as you can to ensure specifications, pricing and SKU codes are correct and we recommend they are reviewed every time you need to purchase something. This way you can be across any small errors and they can be remedied quickly.
Launching New Products
When you launch new products have all of the product information ready in an excel sheet for when you need to upload it into your POS System. If you are being supplied these new products ask the supplier to provide an electronic price list of their products in excel or as a CSV as usually, it will contain all of the required information. By having this spreadsheet ready you will be able to bulk upload new products without interfering with other products.
Group Structures
If you have different departments and segment your products according to their functionality make sure that when you update products they are found under the correct product group. By having an easy to follow group structure that is frequently updated you can be assured that products are sold under the correct file each time.
Unique Products
Sometimes there are additional products and services that your business may offer. However instea dof filing it under miscellaneous, Acumen POS allows you to upload and update unique product types. These products can include:
- Products you make but require additional material for
- Items that are a service or are non-stocked such as freight
- Special Order Items
- Specialised Kits that are a combination of products.
By having these product files in your system you have greater understanding of your inventory and customer behaviours.
An Example
McCanns is a long time client who both supply and makes goods for plumbing and manufacturing purposes. Product files and lists have been extremely beneficial for McCanns as it has assisted in streamlining their sales process and inventory management. To assist with the product lists they have:
- Created a product group tree to categorise all of their products and services
- Kept their product information and pricing update by regularly reviewing new costs and loading electronic price lists from suppliers.
- Added a service fee to automatically load so it is not missed when creating a quote for the customer.
Acumen Computer Systems
Staying organised is easy with our POS system, and when everything is organised, finding information has never been easier. Get in touch with our team at Acumen to find out how we can help you.