Level Up Customer Experience with the Right POS System for Grocery Stores

In the competitive grocery industry, technology-enhanced customer experiences can unlock greater success. A flexible, full-featured POS system for grocery store operations can help you position your business firmly at the top of your market. 

Most consumers have multiple choices of where to purchase their groceries. Your customers could shop at competitors’ stores, buy groceries at big box or dollar stores, or even order groceries online for home delivery. Knowing they have options, grocery shoppers won’t settle for experiences that don’t meet their standards. They expect grocery store software to deliver smooth processes, easy access to information, and personalized service — and the cost of not meeting those expectations is high. A PwC study found that 55% of consumers will stop buying from a company after bad experiences, and, for 32% of consumers, it only takes one bad experience before their wallet share goes elsewhere. 

Take Control with Grocery POS Software 

The Progressive Grocer’s Tech-Trends study found that grocers are investing in technology to enhance operations. However, to make a smart investment in a point of sale (POS) system for grocery store operations, you need to consider how it will help you enhance customer interactions, not just increase efficiency. Consider the advantages of a grocery POS system that gives you the tools you need to optimize these areas of your business. 

Pricing

When you’re thinking about offering the best possible customer experiences, it’s difficult to separate pricing. RDSolutions’ (formerly RetailData) consumer survey found that over 60% of shoppers would be willing to shop at a different store if they think prices are high, particularly in a turbulent economy. A POS system for grocery stores designed to maximize ROI will help you use data to set prices to capture the most revenue and maintain a strong competitive position. 

Electronic Shelf Labels

An electronic shelf label solution gives you centralized control and real-time price updates across your entire business to communicate prices accurately and compliantly. Electronic shelf labels also reduce labor costs associated with price changes and improve inventory management. The right POS system for grocery stores includes options to easily integrate electronic shelf label solutions. 

AI-Driven Data Analytics 

The survey found that 70% of grocers are investing in data analytics. Most grocers see personalizing customer experiences as the primary value of AI. With intelligent data analysis, you can increase customer satisfaction (and basket size) with suggestive selling based on past purchases and common cross-sells. However, AI can give you deeper analyses that help you build customer loyalty. For example, you can identify products that you stock that your customers may go out of their way to purchase at your store. Those products may not be high-margin items, but they could be a big contributor to customer loyalty. AI-powered analytics features in a POS system for grocery store management deliver the insights that help you make sure you always have the products your customers want in stock. 

Online Order Management

Online ordering and fulfillment are now a part of over 70% of U.S. grocery store operations in response to consumer demand. Grocery POS software needs to include a way to manage these processes efficiently. However, it also needs to give you a way to manage inventory across your store and online businesses. Look for grocery POS software that gives you total control of your data to provide customers with accurate availability information and to help you make informed ordering and transfer decisions. 

Customer Service Enhancement

Employee retention in grocery stores is a common challenge, but grocers focused on building loyalty can’t let the constant cycle of hiring and training interfere with shopping experiences. A POS system for grocery store management with AI-powered features can shorten the learning curve and streamline processes at the store level, so customer experiences are always consistent and exceptional. 

Flexible Payment Options

Waiting in line at the checkout can hurt otherwise great customer experiences. One way to keep lines moving is to take the friction out of the checkout with a flexible POS system for grocery store payments. Effortlessly accepting over-the-counter (OTC) and healthy benefit card payments, in addition to credit, debit, ACH, gift card, and other popular payment methods, will improve customer experiences — for the customer paying and the people standing behind them. 

Self-Checkout

Nearly three-quarters of shoppers prefer self-checkout over waiting for assistance from a cashier. Managing self-checkout is easier with a POS system for grocery stores that runs on any hardware, allowing you to manage kiosks along with traditional lanes and deliver consistent customer experiences with a single grocery POS software solution. 

Rewrite Your Brand Story as a Customer-Centric Grocer

You can update your business strategy with a focus on providing your customers with the best possible experiences, from the time they begin shopping, compare prices, respond to personalized offers, and pay with their preferred payment methods. The key is choosing a POS software solution that adapts as your operations and customer expectations change. 

We’ve designed our ThriVersA suite of solutions to let you choose the features you need to optimize retail performance, your way, while maintaining ownership and control of your data to offer personalized, efficient service. Contact us for a demo tailored to your business to see how it will positively impact shopping experiences, customer loyalty, and business growth.