Given the importance of the cash front, it is important that this sector is always well structured. It is necessary to work with all defined processes and with trained professionals to provide the best possible service.
What is cash front?
The cashier is the physical space or stage of a purchase where the financial transaction takes place between the customer and the company. It is the point of contact where purchases are completed, payment for products or services purchased, as well as exchanges or returns.
How important is the cash front?
The cashier is part of the service process and directly impacts consumer satisfaction and loyalty .
For example, slow service can prevent the consumer from returning to the store for the next purchase or, an even more common and negative situation, is when customers give up on completing their purchase due to long queues.
In fact, a survey called Retail Reimagined revealed that 85% of Brazilians have already given up shopping to avoid queues .
Cash front processes
The procedures used in customer service and cashier organization may vary depending on each company, but in general, the processes are all that involve a sale, such as:
Registration of sales and payments;
Issuance of invoices;
Cash flow monitoring ;
box closing ;
Gift management;
Exchange and return;
Sales commission registration and management;
Integration with other sectors, such as inventory and finance to transmit sales information automatically and securely;
Creation of sales reports.
Are checkout and POS the same thing?
Cashier front and POS are not the same thing, but they are used together, as one depends on the other. The POS (Point of Sale) system is the software used to carry out cashier activities.
The cashier front is the physical space where the service takes place and, mainly, the financial transaction between the customer and the company. While the POS system is a technological tool that has the necessary resources to make the cashier's work more agile and secure.
For example, a POS system has features such as issuing and printing invoices, barcode reader, payment system, resource for managing gifts, exchanges and returns, access to stock control, secure integration with the financial sector, issuance reports, among other functions.
Existing tools for your establishment's cashier
The POS system is the main tool to use at the cashier, as the software has all the necessary features for customer service.
Some of the most common POS tools for the cashier are:
Issuance and printing of invoices and tax coupons;
Barcode reader;
Integration with an electronic payment device (such as a credit and debit card machine);
Integration with the ERP system to connect the POS with the financial sector, sales, registration and inventory, so all company information and transactions are stored securely;
Integration with scale;
Management of gifts, exchanges and returns of goods;
Customer base;
Issuing reports and monitoring data such as cash flow.
When to automate the cashier operation?
The ideal is to use a system that automates front-of-the-cash tasks as soon as it is possible to hire the tool, for the sake of security of payment data and customer information, in addition to being an indispensable resource for quickly issuing invoices, saving time and professionalization of the store.
If your establishment does not yet have some type of POS system, consider whether:
The store has queues of customers at the checkout;
Issuing invoices or tax coupons is taking a lot of time;
Spreadsheets are Email Marketing Database not capable of organizing payments and customer registrations in a secure way;
The integration of the sales department with inventory is not working and there are frequent errors in the quantities of goods.
All of these issues are an indication that your business needs a POS system to automate the front-of-the-box operation, avoid cash shortages, improve store organization and enhance the consumer experience.
Which establishments should invest in a POS?
Every establishment that makes direct sales to customers in a physical form needs a POS system to accelerate sales and improve service, whether micro or small business, whether selling products or services – as is the case with a pet shop, beauty clinic, store of auto parts, among many segments .