On the surface, most POS systems look the same. A slot for a card, a keypad, a simple interface, and so on. But beyond the surface, there are a number of different factors at play that shape which system a gas station or convenience store chooses to go with.
While every POS should first and foremost deliver a frictionless experience for customers, owners, and employees alike, that's just the bare minimum.
So in this post, we’ll be digging into best practices owners should follow when deciding on an upgrade to their locations.
If you’re an owner, chances are your locations offer some or all of the following: fuel, grab-and-go snacks, or more robust menu options.
Obviously, any POS you consider should be able to handle all three of these offerings. But beyond that, it’s also important to go with a system that makes your day-to-day operations easier, one that can track your inventory levels in real-time, manage reorders, and alert you when you’re low on stock.
Gas stations and convenience stores are one of the more popular targets for bad actors. Any POS system you bring into your locations must be:
As your business scales, you need your POS to grow along with it. Whether you plan to expand your product offerings or open additional locations, your system needs to work with — and not against — your plans.
Additionally, your POS of choice should integrate with any other business systems you have in place, whether that is accounting software, e-commerce platforms, or loyalty programs. Otherwise, you will spend far too much time juggling between systems and manually entering data.
The core components of your POS should provide you with a single system for managing:
Beyond these baselines, your POS system should also offer multiple payment options — credit/debit cards, mobile payments, contactless payments, loyalty programs — and rapid transaction processing to minimize customer wait times at the pump or inside the store.
POS systems are a promise between you and your customers that transactions will be accurate, smooth, and safe. So, obviously, you want a system from a company you can trust.
Some things to investigate when shopping around products from various vendors include:
Once you have made your decision on what POS system to bring into your locations, it’s important to come up with a plan of action for getting things running.
This plan should include a detailed implementation timeline, including key milestones and deadlines, as well as roles and responsibilities for who will be managing the implementation process.
Keep in mind that changing out your POS system will require a thorough and thoughtful plan for data migration, as all customer data, inventory levels, and sales histories will need to be moved to the new system.
Once you have plans in place, it will be time to deploy to your locations. A recommended process for doing so includes:
Post-deployment, it’s also important to monitor the sales and revenue impact the new POS system has, as well as both employee and customer satisfaction — after all, they will be the ones most affected by your new system.