Get POS-itively Gorgeous: Choosing the Best Point-of-Sale Solution for Your Health and Beauty Retail Business

March 06, 2023

The beauty industry generates over $100 billion in revenue worldwide every year, according to Statista. Yet it’s not all gloss and glam — if you run a health and beauty retail business, you know it’s no easy task to keep your customers happy, your inventory in check, and your bottom line profitable. 

That’s where a point-of-sale (POS) system comes in — whether you sell luxury skincare, eco-friendly makeup, the hottest new haircare, or any other health and beauty products. A good POS system can streamline your sales process, help you manage your inventory, and provide valuable insights into customer behavior. But with so many options available, how do you choose the right one for your business? 

What do health and beauty retailers need from a POS system?

Beyond standard POS features that make it easier to sell and manage stock, health and beauty retailers will want to make sure the system can handle the industry’s specific needs. These range from managing huge product ranges to selling at trade shows to meeting extra-high customer service expectations.

Here are some key considerations when selecting a POS system for mid-sized health and beauty retailers:

Advanced, flexible customer management options

Ever since the first in-store beauty counters appeared in the early 1900s, enabling customers to test products and receive expert advice, health and beauty shoppers have demanded a superior customer experience. Today, they expect personalized recommendations, loyalty programs, and high-quality customer service — all of which help boost sales.

A key benefit of a POS system is the ability to track customer information and preferences. This can help you build stronger relationships with your customers and provide a more personalized service. Look for a POS system that offers features like:

• Customer profiles with contact information and purchase history (both online and in-store)
• Personalized recommendations based on previous purchases
• Loyalty program integration

Speedy sales and payment processing

Slow checkout processing is a common bugbear that drives health and beauty retailers to upgrade their POS system, to avoid impatient shoppers standing in line — or abandoning their purchases altogether. While all POS systems need to be able to process sales and handle payments effectively, make sure yours has all the features that are particularly useful for health and beauty retail businesses:

• Quick and easy checkout process to reduce wait times and lines
• Mobile payment systems — especially useful for trade shows, pop-up stores and events
• Multiple payment options (cash, credit cards, mobile payments)
• Easy to scale up by adding extra POS terminals, for example during peak sales periods

Slow scanning and checkouts were frustrating for Make-up Designory (MUD)’s customers and staff alike. After switching to SuitePOS for NetSuite, MUD now enjoys ultra-fast, user-friendly checkouts, both in store and at events — helping the company sell more and provide the superb customer service it is known for.

Inventory management for large product ranges and multiple locations

While inventory management is a critical aspect of any retail business, it poses extra challenges for health and beauty retailers which typically stock very large product ranges — from hundreds of individual eye shadows through to pampering gift sets. 

You need to be able to track your stock levels, manage multiple locations and sales channels, and ensure you have the products your customers want in stock. Key POS features to look for are:

• Real-time inventory tracking across all locations and sales channels
• Barcode scanning and labeling to speed up inventory management
• Support for large product catalogs with lots of variants (e.g. different colors, sizes, scents)
• Wholesale merchandise management for selected customers

As Credo’s luxury, clean beauty products business grew, the company needed a faster, more flexible and scalable POS system that could handle its ever-expanding product range and multiple sales channels and locations. After trying a couple of options, Credo found SuitePOS for NetSuite gives the quick, smooth POS experience the company wanted, both in store and online, and handles its large product catalog with ease.

Integrated reporting and analytics

Finally, a good POS system should provide you with valuable insights into your business, so you can plan and manage your operations more effectively. Strong integration with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is key to ensuring up-to-date, centralized data integration and analysis. Look for a system that offers:

• Seamless integration with your ERP system
• Sales reports, including information on top-selling products and sales trends
• Inventory reports, including stock levels and movement across all locations
• Customer reports, including demographic information and purchase history

Choosing the right POS system for health and beauty retailers

Choosing the right POS system is a crucial decision for health and beauty retailers. By considering which specific, common industry needs apply to your business — such as large product ranges, personalized customer experience, wholesale merchandise, multiple locations and sales channels — you can make an informed choice that will help you streamline your operations and grow your business. Key features to look for include:

• Advanced, flexible customer management
• Speedy sales and payment processing
• Inventory management for large product ranges and multiple locations
• Integrated reporting and analytics

With the right POS system in place, you can take your health and beauty retail business to the next level.

To learn more about how SuitePOS can help your business, get in touch.

 

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