Pet stores are different from other retail stores in that they handle both retail goods (leashes and toys), perishable products (like pet food and treats), as well as live animals (from fish to dogs). That is why having a POS system built specifically for a pet store, is extremely important to ensure that your store has the tools it needs to track the relevant aspects of its business.
A good pet store POS will allow you to track inventory on hand, build your rapport with customers, and even let you sell offline to provide an extra level of convenience for your customers.
In this article, we we will cover:
A pet store point of sale system provides the hardware, software, and integrations that pet stores need to track and sell their inventory, manage their customer purchases, all the while keeping in mind the unique requirements that many pet stores have.
On top of common retail POS features, a pet store POS might have additional features like supplier integration, animal information, expiry date tracking, repeat order reminders, and many other features.
Pet owners need to buy food, toys, and treats regularly for their furry or feathery friends. If your store provides a pleasant one stop shopping experience for your customers, there is no reason they will not return each and every time they need something for their favourite pet.
Being able to track customer information like the name of their pet, what food they buy, how often they return to your store, and more can allow you to provide a custom tailored experience that your customers will remember and enjoy.
This often leads to happier customers and more return purchases for your business.
Pet stores are not able to have everything in stock all the time. However, this does not mean that they should not have the ability to offer items that are not on the shelves to their customers. With the right POS system, pet stores can have direct access to a wide variety of supplier inventory through supplier catalogs.
So if your customers are requesting items for their pets that are out of stock or just not something you typically carry in store, you can have peace of mind knowing that you will not miss out on the sale if your POS can get you those items in stock in a matter of days - through direct supplier purchasing.
If you are able to serve your customers better by spending less time behind the cash and more time answering questions or sending out marketing materials, you are almost certain to drive a better customer experience and more sales.
By tracking customer information, sending custom promotions and marketing materials, or even being reminded when it is time for someone to restock their pet food, customers love an experience that has been personalized and the right POS will help you deliver that.
One of the biggest benefits of a pet store POS system is that it enables pet store owners to very easily see store data, from what items sell the most (or least) to which offer them the greatest profit margins, to what items are not selling and perhaps need to be discounted to free up shelf space.
This easy access to key store data means that pet store owners can simplify their decision making, and spend more time running their store and less time crunching numbers.
Few retail stores have more inventory requirements than pet stores. From color variations, to size variations (big dog VS small dog), to material variations, and more, sometimes one item type can have dozens of skus that need to be tracked.
On top of this, it is crucial for pet store owners to be able to restock quickly whenever they run out of items and to be able to automate the tracking of reorder points, delivery times, and more.
Many pet stores sell food, treats, or other items that have limited shelf-life. If these items make up a big part of your pet stores business, you will want to find a POS system that can easily track expiry dates on any perishable items so that you: 1) do not sell expired food, and 2) know when discounts are appropriate to sell close to expiring merchandise.
Easy expiry date tracking means less lost inventory due to spoilage, and the elimination of the risk that your brand is damaged by selling products that have already passed their expiry dates.
As we (hopefully) enter the post pandemic era, one common feature that pet stores will likely want to keep is delivery integrations built directly into their POS system. Whether that weekly or monthly food shipment needs to be sent via a driver or via the post office, a huge benefit that many pet stores encountered were more delivery orders during the pandemic.
If 20% to 30% of your stores repeat business comes from repeat food orders, you want to make sure that you have a POS that offers the flexibility to deliver food and other items when your customers need them.
The old way of doing business was to contact manufacturers or wholesalers and get a product catalog list, and then order the items that you thought would sell well in your store. The new way of doing business is to have all suppliers integrated directly in your POS system so that you can see what they have, place orders for, sell, and restock, all within one simple backend.
For pet stores, this is a well loved feature that makes the ordering side of running a pet store that much easier. No more purchase orders, no more separate systems for tracking ordered inventory, everything is done directly from a single location.
A pet store POS system is ideal for:
