The increase in technology often leads to an increase in price which has many small retailers wondering if they should buy or lease their point of sale systems. Our first article this week deals with just that, some tips on whether you should fork out the funds to own your point of sale or find a reliable company to lease from. Our next feature of the week has to do with the announcement of Coupons.com iPhone app which looks like it will be an upcoming retail trend in the mobile coupon market. The third and fourth featured articles this week are inspiring stories from small brick and mortar retailers from around the country that have become successful in their shop local campaigns. Both contain some great ideas on how small business owners can take a step forward in promoting local shopping in their communities. Last we jump into a last minute tip to increase your holiday sales. After reading an a survey this morning stating that 44% of consumers still have the majority of their shopping to do, this ones important.
1. Should Businesses Buy or Lease a POS System? – Good information about the pros and cons of buying or leasing a point of sale system for your business. Many retailers are currently trying to make the decision of whether to upgrade or not with new more secure regulations being put into place. An informative read if you’re trying to make that decision.
2. Coupons.com’s iPhone app now available – This free application lets the iPhone user save coupons to their grocery store loyalty card, print the coupon or redeem the coupon at the POS by showing them on their cell phone. I have to say the last one in that list will have consumers jumping for joy…no need to connect the mobile device and use the printer.
3. Shop local movement picks up steam in Merrimack Valley – An amazing story about a group of small retailers forming a merchants accusation to bring awareness to the community about how important it is to shop in their hometown brick and motor stores.
4. Shopping locally yields new perks – Local small businesses could learn a lot from a town named Pullman. They have implemented a program called Pullman Bucks which essentially gives the residents rewards for shopping at their local merchant stores. Consumers that spend $100 at participating local businesses will receive $10 Pullman Bucks that can be used as a check at any Pullman business.
5. Increase Christmas Sales by Gifting Your Customers – It’s not to late to increase those holiday sales figures. This article featured on About.com provides five ways to reward customers for shopping at your store such as free gift wrapping, special customer discounts, charitable donations and more.
In the wake of the recent focus on point of sale security our first article featured in this weeks round up deals with the POS problem. This extensive two page article will help you use the best point of sale practices to protect you and your customers. The next article may come as a shock as it deals with the fact the discounts can actually hurt small retailers. You’ll be very intrigued when you read the interesting way your customers may look at a discounted product and it’s may have you thinking twice the next time you place an item on sale in your store. Our third featured article is a short but sweet holiday sales tip from the retail specialty expert that’s sure to bring spontaneous holiday cheer. Then we go into an article about retaining customers through social media with some great advice posted on Mashable. The last article in this weeks round up will affect the majority of small retail establishments. It’s some great tips on how to make your small store look bigger.
Welcome to another weekly roundup that features five informative articles about point of sale and small retail news. This week the internet had two highly talked about issues that involve small retailers so we have included them. The first deals with who is responsible in a point of sale software security breach and the second is about Square, a new mobile point of sale solution created by a co-founder of Twitter. The third feature this week is an advanced idea for retail coupons on the back of sales receipts issued at the point of sale. The next article is about a new search engine for local retailers that you should take advantage of immediately because it’s going to be big! We end the roundup with a quick but cheerful Holiday tip to increase the urge to buy.
Although many small retailers have offered early Holiday promotions at the point of sale, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quickly approaching. The weekly roundup is full of Holiday Joy, featuring articles on using Black Friday to your advantage, what retailers are expecting for Cyber Monday, two imperative tips to help increase your Holiday profits and mobile shopping first Christmas. The kick off to the Holiday shopping season is almost here…make sure you’re prepared to impress your customers.
As the Holidays approach it seems that is the only thing that is on everyone’s mind. Small retailers, big box stores, consumers and experts all have a prediction for the “Holiday Sale” season. This being so, you will see many articles featured in the upcoming weekly roundups about the Holidays but be sure to keep tuned in as many of these will be tips and suggestions for small retailers. This week we start off with a genuine point of sale software review which caught my eye since it’s about our featured sponsor. The next is a follow up article from Business Week naming the three small businesses they will be following during the next month. This week the must read is the Holiday Survival Guide put out by the National Retail Federation and that’s followed by a great suggestion about promotion to your customers. We end the weekly roundup with a few things all retailers could learn from Apple.