3 Things Every VAR Should Know to Sell Point Of Sale Software

If a value-added reseller (VAR) is to successfully sell POS software to the retail and hospitality sectors, there are key things to consider and industry-specific issues they need to know about.

I’ve written a host of blogs targeted at VARs over recent months, but on this occasion I wanted to be more specific and pick out the key criteria to think about when they come to sell POS software to the fast-changing retail world. My three rules on how to sell POS software are, as follows:

1. Know Your Target Industry
   Retail is not the same as it was just five years ago, and the changes it has gone through in the last 20 years are too lengthy to document – things are moving fast, and it can be difficult to keep up with business requirements if you’re not absolutely entrenched in the industry.If a VAR is going to sell POS software to retail – and the adjacent and similarly-structured vertical of hospitality – then it needs to be aware what businesses in this sector are going through. They are no longer operating in a solely shop-based world, so the technology needed to help a store function must be slick, easy to use for customers and staff alike, and it must help deliver a compelling customer experience – otherwise visitors will turn elsewhere or spend their money online.The term “customer experience” is high on the boardroom list of focus areas, with those running retailers and hospitality companies acutely aware that if they take their eyes of the customer for one minute they could well lose them for life.All of this means that ERP providers and other VARs have to find technology companies with a retail and hospitality specialism – especially if they’re not close to the sector themselves. These sectors require less a point of sale and more a point of service nowadays – which is achieved by ensuring they have everything at their fingertips to meet changing consumer demands.
2. It’s a Time of Disruption in Business
   It’s a great time to sell POS software to retail and hospitality because it is a time of great change.Those sectors are going through a significant period of digital transformation and they are in the market for new cloud-based, flexible technology that gives them a better opportunity to succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.IT budgets are being increased in all verticals. In grocery, for example, there’s a real push to make shopping in the aisles quicker and more stress free, and in fashion companies are looking to get closer to their customers by serving them away from a fixed till point and guiding sales.Store and restaurant revamps are commonplace, as businesses experiment with a whole range of tech-driven solutions to engage, monitor and serve customers in more appropriate ways. And it means their eyes are open to new opportunities, if there’s a tailored proposition out there for them.
3. Seek the Complete Package
   I always say to VARs looking to sell POS software that they should not cut off their thinking at the retail point of sale.At iVend Retail, we bring a complete platform – a comprehensive retail management suite – to the table unlike any other vendor in our category. We can plug our technology into an ERP for a particular need, but if your customer wants to go further, we have solutions for loyalty, mobile, e-commerce, reporting and analytics, and much more.If you’re looking to sell POS software, think about the bigger picture and how by choosing the right technology partner in the first instance, you can keep your customers happy and grow your business as you help them grow theirs.

We know retail and we know what their customers want – check out our comprehensive research into how the sector is changing and then give us a call to book a technology demo