Get Your Grocery a Seamless Upgrade With the Latest Grocery Store Software

Is your grocery falling behind the times? Read a guide on the latest grocery store software to upgrade your business and profits fast.

The food product and grocery industries are going through major changes but that does not necessitate your store getting left behind your competitors. It is possible to get your grocery a seamless upgrade with the latest grocery store software available now. Grocery retail software allows you to control your inventory, improve checkout speeds and increase customer service flexibility. Read ahead for a helpful guide on the latest grocery store software and how it can help upgrade your business and profits fast.

Grocery Retail Software 101

Running a grocery store used to be simplistic, at least conceptually. Cash was exchanged for fresh produce, seafood, meats, deli items and packaged goods. Personal checks, credit cards, debit cards and food stamps have now been commonly accepted for ages. Grocery store inventory and customer needs have increased in diversity and complexity, however.

Groceries, which include mom-and-pop corner stores and supermarkets alike, require software platforms capable of handling the increased needs of modern times. They also require software capable of handling industry-specific requests and problems. A point-of-sale (POS), otherwise known as a point-of-purchase, software system is used to create a seamless experience for employees and customers at checkout time. This is true for all businesses using a POS program but a grocery also needs its POS to process heavy perishable inventory volumes and include integration for scanners, deli services, butcher services and self-checkout options. A grocery store software program also needs to track when each employee clocks in and out, including for multiple breaks during a single shift when applicable.

Finally, and equally important, grocery-based retail software needs to be affordable. Most groceries do not make excessive profits. A grocery-based POS or full-service software system needs to help improve profit margins, not reduce them.

Inventory Management

Accurate inventory management is one of the key factors to a grocery store experiencing success - or not. Unfortunately, this has become more complicated to accomplish over the last several decades. Long gone are the days of taking produce and canned-goods counts by hand. Almost everything has a scannable barcode today, including individual apples, bags of ice all the way through pounds of steamed shrimp. Inventory is also more diverse today than ever before. For example, some grocery stores sell alcohol. Depending on state laws and the type of license a grocery obtains, a specialized POS might be required to operate a grocery-based liquor-and-beer sales department. Groceries also sell vitamins, essential oils and countless new brands generating the same types of products. Inventory management is essential to maintaining a happy customer base and solid profits.

Increased Checkout Speeds and Customer Service Flexibility

Customers abhor waiting in long lines at checkout time. Employees also dread it because they know at some point an unhappy customer will be heading their way. Grocery retail software helps speed up checkout times and increase customer service flexibility by:

• Integrating multiple payment methods (contactless, mobile, Google, Apple, Samsung and PayPal, etc.).
• Increasing ability to quickly open additional registers during rushes.
• Facilitating buy-online-pay-in-store (BOPIS) services.
• Improving staff training and working environment.
• Providing wireless terminals and email receipts.
• Allowing price-checking from any store location (eliminates lines at customer service desk).

Stickering (Product Price Labels)

If your grocery inventory is not labeled correctly, you will lose both money and customers without a doubt. Customers become outright angry if they are charged more than what is displayed on the shelf sticker where a product is located, and rightfully so. Your store has a responsibility to create an excellent shopping experience, which includes transparent pricing. Conversely, if your pricing stickers are not updated in a timely manner, you might be selling products at reduced prices without knowing it. This type of preventable error costs grocery stores significant amounts of money year in and year out. Grocery retail software helps avoid these mistakes and losses with notifications and reminders pursuant to inventory, sales, pricing and more.

Mobile App Options for Your Grocery Customers

Mobile apps for your grocery customers offer multiple benefits for your busines and customers alike. The mutual benefit is just one of the reasons behind the massive popularity of grocery-related apps today. Convenience is another, as is the ability for your customers to save more money. How do grocery store apps work? These apps work in a wide variety of ways. Notifications for sales are sent to customers. E-coupons are clippable from inside the store or before customers arrive. Some apps such as Flipp allow customers to compare brand manufacturer coupons with items available in store circulars. Some more popular mobile app options for your grocery customers in 2021 include:

• Grocery Pal.
• Buy Me a Pie!.
• Cozi Family Organizer.
• MealBoard.
• KeyRing.

Grocery stores also have their own proprietary apps. Kroger is a nationwide grocery with an iOS and Android app for its customers. Safeway is another nationwide grocery chain with mobile apps for deliveries, shopping lists, sales promotions and more. Creating a mobile app for your grocery store customers will only increase your customer base and profits at the same time.

Supermarket Billing Software - Products and Prices

Some grocery retail software products such as ITRetail claim to do it all. Pricing starts at $79 per month with increased prices for tiered-level packages. The base package includes (to name only some of its features) grocery-optimized checkout experiences, scanner and scale support, and full back-office reporting. The Revel POS system starts at $99 per month and is one of the best POS products available for groceries today. Revel is cloud-based with single dashboard functionality. Loyalty program management, gift card generation and barcode support are just some of Revel’s many top-tier features.

Square is widely considered the best overall POS platform with full-service features. This is not only for groceries but for any type of business requiring an advanced POS system today. Toast is a great option if your grocery has an in-house restaurant in need of its own POS support. Additional top supermarket billing software programs include:

• Vend (starting at $99 per month).
• Nextar (free!).
• eHopper (starting at $14 per month; limited free options also available).
• POS Nation (starting at $99 per month).