Are you wondering what POS system to use for your jewelry store?
A good jewelry POS (point of sale) system lets you easily manage your jewelry store without the need for multiple software (at least in most cases). There are lots of POS options available, which means you might have a hard time choosing the best POS for your store.
In this article, we will talk you through the importance of choosing the right POS system for your jewelry store. We will also share the features that you should be on the lookout for when trying to determine which POS is right for your business.
A jewelry store POS (point of sale) system includes the hardware and software needed in order to easily manage your jewelry store.
For many retail stores a standard retail point of sale is well suited to meet any business needs. However, jewelry stores often have specific requirements, from work orders for engraving and repairs, to special orders and layaways. If you were to choose a POS system without these features, then you might need to buy additional software to manage them, or do a lot of manual work.
Jewelry POS systems help solve this problem by allowing you to manage all aspects of your business with the need for additional software or manual work.
Of course, if you already have software and systems in place that you wish to continue to use, a POS system or POS software that integrates with those systems can also be very useful for your jewelry store.
There is a wide variety of different POS systems and software out there, so which one should you pick for your store? Before you decide to move forward with any vendor, these are some of the features you should look for in a good jewelry point of sale.
Whether you want to offer your customers a simple battery change for an old watch, engraving services for their pendant, or something more complicated like a custom engagement ring setting, you need a POS that makes it easy for you to create and track work orders.
With the right POS, it should be fast and straightforward for you to create work orders for work that needs to be done, associate the work order with your customer and their information, and be able to give them a call when their item is ready for pickup.
Surprisingly many point of sale systems do not have this functionality built in, so you will need to confirm with your potential vendor that they will work with your store for services like engraving and more.
Jewelry stores can have a lot of inventory, far exceeding what is on display in their showcase. On top of this, they might be one phone call away securing an item requested by their customers, or even able to make custom jewelry based on the specifications of their customers.
With that much inventory, it is important to make sure it is easy to sort and filter quickly and easily, because not being able to do so could cost the store a sale.
With custom tagging you can easily sort your items by a variety of different filters from price, to style, to precious metal, stone, and more.
This allows you to match the preferences of a customer with inventory you have in stock or available by special order. That means that if your customer is interested in seeing all your four prong solitaire white gold bands with a princess cut 1 carat diamond engagement rings, you can instantly show them similar items in your inventory or a catalogue of rings that can be made custom order.
Your POS software should offer you and your customers plenty of payment options to choose from. This is especially true when it comes to jewelry stores that might want to offer their customers options such as buy now, pay later, layaways, down payments, and more.
A common misconception is that flexible payments are done through the payment processor, when in reality it is done by the POS which tracks which customer has paid what and when.
A jewelry store that has a POS system that can track customer payments regardless of whether they pay in full, put a deposit, down payment, or need other payment terms, means you can offer all the flexibility you need to your clients.
If your jewelry store makes its own jewelry, or puts loose diamonds in settings for engagement rings, you might have items that are considered non-barcoded. Although it sounds simple enough, it actually means that many POS systems will not work with your jewelry store.
The reason for this is simple, POS systems were originally designed to track retail inventory through barcodes so you knew how many of item X you had in stock, how to order more, what price you paid to get the item, and what price you are selling the item for.
So it stands to reason that if you sell custom made jewelry without barcodes or SKUs, systems that are dependent on barcode or SKU tracking will not work in your favor.
As such it is important to discuss non-barcoded items with your potential vendors to see if they can create item identifiers or if they have another workaround for such items.
If you own a jewelry store with a decent amount of high value items (diamonds, gold, silver), you probably want to make sure that you have retail insurance for your store.
One of the first things the insurance company is going to need is an itemized list of all your inventory, and you will need to keep track of new inventory (orders) and removed inventory (sales), in the event of a disaster.
Having a POS system with robust inventory management built in will make reporting on your inventory easy. This will make setting up coverage with your insurance company easier, and leave you with quick answers of what is and is not accounted for in the event that disaster strikes.
A great POS system should have everything you need for you to export data, sales, and other information and move it to other retail information systems.
For example, you may want to move sales data into your accounting software for your year end taxes, or customer information into your CRM for marketing promotions. Simplified data integrations make it easier for you to move your data around with ease.
Look for a POS system that offers REST API integrations, or data portability in their feature set, even if you are not that tech savvy, it will make your life easier in the long run.
Almost every point of sale software has something it is really good at. However, it is impossible for any POS platform to come equipped with every feature that would meet the requirements of every store.
Finding a POS system that gives you access to integrations, extensions, or addons helps to solve that problem. Typically these are separate partner software that you can connect or install on the backend of your POS software to improve or add on features that are not native to your POS system.
From loyalty programs, to reporting and analytics, to customer communication, there are plenty of addons, extensions, and integrations available for most POS software.
Although POS software systems aim to make the lives of retailers easier and their software as straightforward to use as possible, there is always the chance that you run into some problems.
Some POS providers will offer free support, some offer support for additional fees, and some have support that leaves a lot to be desired. When looking for a provider try to make sure support is included (ideally for free) and also ask about hours. Your business does not only open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, so your support should be available when you need it.
If your sales team is paid on commissions, you will likely want to keep track of commissions owed directly within your POS software.
The reason for this is the POS your jewelry store uses is going to be connected to your inventory (what was sold), your checkout (what amount it was sold for), and potentially even your accounting and payroll systems (profits and employee pay).
In other words all the data you need to properly pay commissions are in one spot, which will mean faster commission payouts and accuracy for your and your sales team.
Around $100 per month. There are some POS systems that cost more, some that cost less, but for the features you need expect to pay around $100 per month.
Also it might not be what you want to hear, but we strongly advise against any free or open source POS for your jewelry store, as the headaches they can create are very rarely worth the cost savings.
However, the only exception is when POS software is completely free WHEN you switch to the payment processor of the provider. Some POS providers are able to offer this as they make more money processing payments than they would from the monthly fee.
We encourage you to try and find out as much as you can about your potential POS system before signing a contract. If you do not have the time to do so, we recommend trying our jewelry store POS finder, we will ask you a few questions about your store and then match you with the right providers for free.
Not much nowadays. Historically jewelry store management software helped store owners perform every aspect of the store management. From inventory, purchasing, accounting, sales, commissions, customer management, and more. At the same time a jewelry store POS was usually focused on barcoding items, and the checkout and sales process.
Nowadays however, a good jewelry store POS can manage all aspects of your business, from those mentioned above to even more things like even your website and marketing.
Although there are some small differences, there are almost no scenarios in which a jewelry store would need both a POS software and management software, as the overlap of features would be too great.
