EPOS Advice & Guides

26
Jul

Does your ticketing system measure up?

How to better meet customers’ ticketing expectations

Customer experience (or CX) is crucial in contributing to various factors including customer satisfaction, loyalty and increased footfall. All business models can stand to improve by working on customer experience but for this article, we are focusing on tourism and attractions. Both these sectors have point-of-sale and ticketing at their core and as this interaction happens at the start of the customer journey it can have a lasting imprint on a customers’ expectations.

An ideal guide detailing how to guarantee outstanding customer service does not exist as each attraction and its visitors are unique. There are, however, key pillars that should be considered by businesses based within tourism and attractions that can help them meet and hopefully exceed expectations.

Trust

Stories regarding scam sites are unfortunately a common occurrence, therefore building trust with your potential visitors is key to giving them a pleasant ticketing experience. Two simple ways to do this is to ensure your ticket page looks like the rest of your site and to have integration with major banks. Software like Digitickets works seamlessly with your KCPOS solution allowing you to maintain brand integrity with a ticketing system that’s a visual match to your own website. This design element paired with bank and payment provider integration helps retain the customers’ trust and encourages the best possible conversion rate of website visitors into paying customers.

Control

We all have busy lives and our plans are often made on lunch breaks or late at night. Giving customers the ability to buy tickets directly from your website (without being redirected) has become best practice. Potential visitors are smart and expect all the information they require to be easily accessible, clear to read and available to them without having to make human contact. You must also consider that many visitors may be from different time zones or work unsociable hours meaning calling to book may not be possible. Having all this information available along with the option to buy tickets online puts control in the hands of the visitor (or the appearance of control). If your visitor can go through this entire portion of the customer journey without any difficulty, you are already creating a professional standard that can be continued on arrival.

Ease

Mobile ticketing is no longer the future, in fact, in some cases, it’s now expected. Giving visitors the freedom to choose how they redeem their ticket adds a layer of ease that can help meet customers’ expectations. By implementing software that works with your EPOS system (such as Digitickets) visitors can take advantage of mobile technology by buying and presenting their tickets on iPhone, Android or iPad devices.

 

For more advice on how to meet customers’ expectations during the ticketing process or to learn more about our point-of-sale software and hardware solutions please give us a call today on 0191 500 8150 or email us at info@monpellier.co.uk.

 

27
Nov

EPOS BUSINESS BENEFITS

Advantages of EPOS

There are several advantages for using an EPOS system in your business. If you are just starting out as a business owners or vendor, it can be hard to understand why you should invest into more expensive hardware rather than opting for the cheaper version, such as a simple cash till.

An EPOS system is an integrated system that can organise, control and analyse various parts of your business, from cash transactions to backend reporting, staff monitoring and inventory control.

The additional features an EPOS system offers over a cash till are interesting enough, however it is predominantly the integration of all features in a single system that makes life so much easier for the merchant.

With a sophisticated EPOS system, it is possible to get reports about best-selling items, best-performing staff, peak sales times and the best-performing sales channels, allowing you to optimise your business flow easily.

The five business benefits of EPOS

Financial accuracy

One advantage of EPOS systems is the increased financial accuracy when charging customers. Traditionally, businesses rely on their staff’s competence to correctly calculate sales transactions, which can lead to mistakes and omissions.

This can result in customers being overcharged, reducing the likelihood of them returning, or undercharged, resulting in a loss of profit. EPOS systems greatly reduce the possibility of such staff errors, ensuring that a business’ pricing and charging structure remains consistent.

Accountability

Electronic Point of Sale systems allow businesses to accurately monitor and record staff activity. Being able to pinpoint which staff members were responsible for specific transactions can prove extremely useful for employers.

For example, employers can identify employees with the strongest sales figures, or those displaying unusual sales activity, such as unusually high levels of voided transactions, can be easily identified.

Speed and efficiency

EPOS systems greatly improve the speed and efficiency of transactions, which will appeal to your customers and help your employees focus on serving more people. This can improve your customers’ overall experience and encourage repeat custom in the future.

Stock management

Modern EPOS systems can also be used to manage stock. Businesses have the ability to quickly review their current levels of stock, and easily identify areas in which a greater level of stock is required. The advantage of an EPOS system is that it can save a noticeable amount of time compared to traditional, manual stocktaking operations.

Reporting

A final advantage of EPOS systems is their ability to produce a variety of business performance reports. Such reports can range from a basic analysis of daily or annual profit margins, to an identification of the top selling products or services in a company’s range.

Such information can provide a business with a useful picture of their overall performance, and can help influence marketing campaigns. For example, you can apply discounts to less popular sales items at certain times in the year.

Making the most of your EPOS system

An EPOS system can bring huge advantages to your business, and there are steps you can take to ensure you maximise these benefits. Doing some research beforehand to understand exactly what you are looking for will help you find what you need more easily and ensure that you are not paying for unnecessary features.

The right EPOS system

While almost any EPOS system is an advantage over no EPOS system, you can maximise the benefits of investing in an EPOS system by making sure you buy the right system for your business. What kind of system you need depends on many factors including the industry you serve and the size of your operation.

The cost of an EPOS system

Understanding the costs associated with an EPOS system will help you choose the right product and pricing structure for your needs.

Cheap EPOS systems

Buying the cheapest EPOS system you can find can often turn out to be a false economy, because the advantages of your EPOS system can bring you will be compromised if you are missing vital features.

Understanding how EPOS works

Understanding fully how EPOS systems work will help you make the most of the benefits an EPOS system can offer. You will be able to pick up the system that complements your business the most and make the best use of its features.

Next steps

If you are interested in hearing about EPOS prices for your business, then give us a call on 0191 500 8150 or email info@monpellier.co.uk so you can speak to one of our Business Software Consultants.

16
Nov

HOW EPOS CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS

The primary concerns of businesses revolve around cutting down on costs, enhancing their employees’ productivity and boosting their sales. With these goals in mind, businessmen and retailers are determined to seek ways to implement the most convenient, practical and efficient system to run their stores day by day.

These concerns are basically the same issues that an EPOS system can resolve. They were created in an effort to utilise technology to solve the ever increasing problems faced by companies on a day-to-day basis. That is, an EPOS system offers a reliable, accurate and economical way to handle the demands of today’s businesses.

What is EPOS?

EPOS means Electronic Point of Sale. This is a computerised system commonly utilised by the service management industry. It is a self-contained equipment capable of performing the tasks typically assigned to a checkout counter. This system generally accepts payments made via debit or credit cards. In a nutshell, an EPOS machine can be used by businesses to let their customers pay for goods or services.

Apart from functioning as a checkout counter, an EPOS machine offers benefits beyond this. It can also verify transactions and create sales reports. The system can synchronise the inventory data. Overall, an EPOS system essentially provides similar services business owners gets from their employees.

Here are more ways an EPOS system can help your business

EPOS offers heightened accuracy and efficiency.

Businesses traditionally depend on their employees’ aptitude when handling sales transactions. Regardless of a staff member’s skills, errors can still be committed at any point. Customers face the possibility of being overcharged. Due to these mistakes, businesses are in danger of losing their clients who become disgruntled after experiencing such mistakes. Meanwhile, errors resulting to undercharging a customer would cause a loss in the company’s profits.

These concerns can easily be eliminated by using an EPOS system. The use of the equipment guarantees improved financial precision when dealing with customers’ transactions. By cutting down the costs brought about by an employee’s mistakes, an EPOS could encourage customers to return due to the improved experience in the store.

EPOS improves stock management.

Utilising an EPOS system allows businesses to quickly check the current status of their stock. Being able to easily determine the levels of need in the stock room provides a huge advantage for business owners. This saves a huge amount of time as employees would no longer need to go through hours of painstaking manual inventory.

Businesses constantly need to hit the right balance of holding just the minimum level of stock and meeting the demands of clients right away. Achieving this goal means that the company manage to reach their maximum productivity and decreased margins. Moreover, an EPOS system assists businesses to determine their most popular items or products in the warehouse and deliver these to the store in the shortest time possible.

The system tracks the information from the moment a sale is made and the transaction details are entered into the EPOS terminal. The data will automatically be sent to the manufacturing and supply facilities. Subsequently, the system’s prompts will signal the businesses to replenish their stock. This will result in an accurate and organised account of the company’s inventory.

EPOS increases workplace accountability.

An automated system like the EPOS provides business owners with an accurate record of their employee’s activities during work hours. This machine allows companies to determine which staff member should be held accountable for particular dealings on a day-to-day basis.

Apart from the accountability benefit, an EPOS system can also contribute to the growth of the employees. Business owners can utilise the machine to recognise who among the staff members earn the highest sales. This information could lead to better employer-employee relationships. Meanwhile, those who land at the bottom of the list could be identified as well. Employers could easily distinguish who are engaging in sales activities and who isn’t.

EPOS provides direction to your business.

Utilising the data gathered from an EPOS system, a business owner has the potential to turn his store into a bigger venture. EPOS systems are capable of providing business performance reports to users. These statements can not only provide rudimentary breakdowns of the profit margins of a company, but also determine the most sought after product or service of the company.

By using the information from the machine, businesses can conveniently determine the best ways to maximise their sales. At the same time, the data could help in formulating measures to better manage the company’s resources and cut down on expenses. On top of these, business owners can also use the information to manage their employees and implement better systems.

Conclusion

An EPOS system offers a lot of benefits that can push your business to reach the next level. By utilising this machine, you definitely lower the possibility of human errors affecting your profits and overall experience of your customers. You also manage to implement a system that provides quicker, accurate and more efficient transactions.

This system can provide you with better ways to manage your employees as well. By knowing who among your staff members perform the best and the worst, you can seek more effective ways to improve their performance at work.

All things considered, an EPOS system offers a myriad of possibilities to business owners. Its capacity to organise, coordinate and evaluate several aspects of your business makes it a valuable investment. The data it provides could cover various facets of your company from cash dealings to back end assessment, employee monitoring and inventory management.

So, what next?

If you’re starting to think that investing in an EPOS system could be for you, get in contact with one of our friendly Business Software Consultants and they will be happy to talk you through any questions you might have. Either give us a call on 0191 500 8150 or email info@monpellier.co.uk.

 

7
Apr

Common KCPOS Support Questions

The most common KCPOS questions our support team get asked.

KCPOS is a fully integratable EPOS software solution. Although KCPOS support queries are rare, Monpellier have compiled the most common questions our support team get asked. Here are the top four issues:

 

1. You’ve changed something in administrator but it isn’t showing on the till.

Sometimes, you might change something in KCPOS Administrator, but it doesn’t appear on the till like it should. This is because you need to do a branch data refresh in the KCPOS Link. If you or your colleague have access to the KCPOS Link, go into the branches tab and find the little arrow in the right-hand corner. Click on this, and go to branch operations. At the bottom, you’ll see branch data refresh, and you need to run this. Then restart your till and your changes should show.

 

2. You’ve created a menu page and it isn’t on the till after a branch data refresh.

This is quite a common one, and I have made the mistake myself. When creating menu pages, you must make sure you are in the Head Office section of KCPOS. If you mistakenly create a page at branch level, it will overwrite the page with head office data as soon as you do a branch refresh.

 

3. You’ve received a new receipt printer but it isn’t working.

If you are using a receipt printer with a serial/COM port (a trapezoid shaped connector with little holes), then this is set up in KCPOS Administrator at branch level. If you need to get a new printer and install it yourself, you must make sure you are plugging it into the right port. To check this, go into KCPOS Administrator at branch level, and select till configuration. Go to the Hardware tab, and where it says receipt printer it should tell you which port your printer should be plugged into.

 

4. You’ve changed the name of a menu page and now the button doesn’t work.

If you have a button on your till that opens a new menu page, you must make sure the button can find this page. When you change the name of a page, go back to the page that has this button and link it up. That way it will be able to find the new name of the menu page.

If you are interested in a new EPOS Solution or have any questions regarding KCPOS please contact our expert team on 0191 500 8160 or email us info@monpellier.co.uk.

26
Jan

PICKING THE RIGHT EPOS SYSTEM

Whether you are investing in a completely new system, expanding your current set up or upgrading your existing solution, choosing the right EPOS system for your business can play a large role in your future success. The key to finding the perfect EPOS solution lies in finding the solution that best suits your business. This means not settling for an off the shelf solution that expects all businesses to follow the same processes.

 

When it comes to EPOS solutions the word custom does not always mean expensive. With so many EPOS solutions to chose from companies have had to adapt and become mold-able. However, with so many customisable solutions out there, how do you narrow down the system that is right for you?

 

Monpellier have compiled the 5 steps you need to follow in order to ensure your next EPOS solution fits your business like a glove.

 

Define Your Needs  

If you have a current system try making a list of all the features that your system lacks. If you are looking at a new system use feature websites to create a list of all the essential and desirable features you require.

 

Hardware

Think about what hardware you require. This will change depending on your industry and your needs but will also help you when looking at the available systems. You might want a system that can be transportable, or a contactless system. Remember it is all about what is right for you.

 

Set Up

The last thing you want is to be burdened with a complicated setup process. Make sure you check with the EPOS provider to ensure you will have help on hand. Monpellier provide many different options depending on your individual needs. We can do anything from manually setting up everything for you to a simple web based walk through.

 

Set Your Budget

EPOS solutions vary greatly in price so make sure you research what’s out there and set a realistic budget based on your individual needs. Traditionally desktop-based software is more expensive than cloud based systems but the systems price will depend greatly on the complexity of your requirements and the size of the solution you need.

 

See It In Action

If you’re going to invest time in finding, purchasing, implementing and training staff you need to be certain you have chosen the right EPOS solution for your business and you can’t do that by simply looking at it on paper. Get the provider to demo the system for you. Watch out for the speed and be sure to ask the important questions such as, ‘talk me through the transferring of customer data’ and ‘how does it marry with my existing software?’

 

If you wish to find out more about the systems Monpellier offer please give us a call on 0191 500 8150 or email us at info@monpellier.co.uk. We would love the opportunity to help you find the right EPOS solution for your budget.

10
Nov

CAN A NEW EPOS SYSTEM BE AFFORDABLE?

Thinking of buying a new EPOS system?

Thinking of buying a new EPOS system for your business but are unsure on costs and which software to go for? Monpellier provide complete EPOS solutions for every need and budget.

 

While almost every EPOS system is an advantage over no EPOS at all, you need to ensure that the system you have and the software you chose is right for your business. Chose the wrong system and tasks can become elongated, resulting in staff and customers alike becoming frustrated.

 

Costs associated with a full EPOS System can become confusing with some companies separate all the costs. For example charging individually for each element; software, hardware, shipping, installation, maintenance and support. While you can choose from these elements to build your own bundle, Monpellier have found that the best way for clients benefit from EPOS is to subscribe to a whole package. This allows businesses to continue their everyday tasks with the peace of mind that everything is being looked after and is in control.

 

For as little as £25* a week you can benefit from a brand new system from Monpellier who can provide the hardware you need along with software from Kamarin to manage all of your point of sale requirements.

 

KCPOS from Kamarin is powerful EPOS software which seamlessly link with leading account packages such as Sage 50, Sage 200 and Pegasus Opera 3. By choosing a system that integrates with your accounts system you are maximising the benefits that can be gained from having a fully reportable EPOS system. When it comes to a new EPOS system businesses that find a system that can automate their existing processes and link with their existing systems experience the biggest rise in performance and revenue figure.

 

As well as affordable subscription solutions Monpellier work in partnership with KC Finance, leading independent IT finance specialists, so are able to provide a tailored solution that fits your business.

 

If you wish to find out more about the systems Monpellier offer please give us a call on 0191 500 8150 or email us at info@monpellier.co.uk. We would love the opportunity to help you find the right EPOS solution for your budget.

 

*For details of our £25 a week offer valid until January 2017 please ask to speak to a member of our sales team.