Starting a business is challenging, so you must make sure that you are fully armed with the right tools for it. One way to ensure that you have the right equipment is to break your business down into different components. For bakeries, this can include processing orders, purchasing ingredients, and even monitoring product turnover, spoilage, discounts, and promotions.
As a dynamic type of business, bakeries require POS systems and delivery management software that not only support product sales recording from the point of sale, but also make managing inventory, keeping track of sales trends, and customizing customer experiences easier. To accommodate these unique challenges, you need a digital management platform that serves as an all-in-one tool for business success.
That said, remember to choose a bakery POS and management software with a feature tailored for every aspect of the business:
Inventory
When running a bakery, you’ll have to make sure that your inventory is well-organized and recorded. This will ensure that you don’t run out of ingredients while streamlining the ordering process for new stocks.
Under this aspect, you may also need the following tools for more efficient inventory management:
Purchase Order Feature
Purchase orders are transactions performed with suppliers to keep the supply stocks topped up. This feature helps you order on the fly and have such expenses reflected automatically into the POS. Some even alert you whenever an ingredient is low on stock to keep business operations running smoothly.
Ingredient Inventory
Keeping track of your inventory is crucial in clearing the way for business success. It not only helps you ensure that you have something to offer your customers every time they visit, but also allows you to check whether sales turnouts are consistent with the actual count of remaining products and ingredients.
Ingredient inventory functionalities offer a way to keep track of precise ingredient counts in real time based on the goods produced. It can even monitor the number of ingredients used for customized or modified recipes to accommodate customer requests.
For example, if a batch of cookies didn’t turn out as you had hoped in the baking process, you can account for it by inputting the actual yield amount. It will then initiate a calculation of the exact inventory based on the loss and offer you a bird’s-eye view of how often this occurs.
Invoicing
Aside from being old-fashioned, writing invoices by hand is not an efficient use of your time. Plus, it increases the risk of the documents getting lost in a sea of papers. Even worse, paper invoices are at risk of accidentally being thrown out.
To avoid these, you must choose a bakery POS that will help you produce printed invoices that are far more professional-looking than handwritten ones. Often, these also record copies of the document digitally, making it easier to manage sales reports without the risk of losing the documents.
Sales and Analytics
Aside from invoicing, bakery POS programs also provide a way for business owners to monitor their sales and analyze which products sell – and which ones don’t. This makes it easier to adjust the number of goods produced, depending on customer preferences and even the time of day.
Online Ordering
Today, e-commerce is no longer limited to online shopping for smartphones, clothes, household items and other dry, non-perishable goods. Even baked goods can be ordered over the Internet now.
While it may seem quite advanced, offering your customers more ways to order is a recipe for success. Just imagine the long queues you’ll be cutting if your customers can pre-order their baked goods online to be picked up upon their arrival. Plus, it improves customer experience by offering a more convenient way to order pastries and drinks and reducing the time customers have to wait to get them.
Mobile Payments
When you acquire a system that offers online ordering, the need for mobile payments becomes more imminent. In fact, online ordering and mobile payment features should go hand-in-hand to improve customer experience and reduce the length of queues in the checkout counters.
Having said that, mobile payments are already highly sought out in almost all kinds of retail business – bakeries included. This is because mobile payment is a contactless payment method that is more secure, using encryption to keep transaction security airtight. Plus, it also mixes well with mobile loyalty programs.
On top of that, more and more customers are seeking out bakeries that offer this payment option. This is proven by the top Google search queries that go along the lines of “bakery accepting mobile payments.” So, at the very least, having a mobile payment feature is sure to bolster your online presence.
Customer Relationship Management
Loyalty programs essentially encourage one-time customers to come back more often. To maximize its benefits, you should look for a bakery POS software that keeps records of customer details, including their contact information. This way, you can use the data collected for customer relationship management campaigns.
Choose an All-in-One System
Although they sell goods in retail, bakeries have more needs than your average store. With this in mind, make sure that you choose an all-in-one POS system to suit the unique challenges and features of this particular type of business.
AUTHOR BIO
Ahmad Alzaini is the co-founder and CEO of Foodics, a fast-growing foodtech startup. A businessman by nature, Alzaini is an app aficionado, developing businesses in Saudi Arabia within several industries. Today, Foodics has extended to new markets across the MENA region, processing over 1 billion transactions, and offering the latest technology in POS and restaurant management.