In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, most Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) have acknowledged that the technological innovation of their company’s operational processes is a crucial element in competing with other rivals. Among a hodgepodge of software programs and platforms such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Point-of-sales (POS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and e-commerce, business owners may feel overwhelmed to make a decision. A recommended option is an ERP System integrated with POS Software, which can simplify the operational workflows and maximise sales productivity with various benefits explained below.
What are ERP and POS systems?
In layman’s terms, ERP software refers to business process management software that enables a company to incorporate, automate various back-office & front-office functions, and provide an overview of key business aspects. POS stands for Point of Sale; it refers to a front-end system that manages business transactions.
Although a POS system can help a business keep up with its sales transactions, it cannot provide the business with an all-encompassing view of the company’s processes, in terms of forecasting, inventory, supply, distribution management and stock analysis. Therefore, ERP and POS systems cannot be substituted for each other. Rather, they complement each other in order to create a streamlined process. Emerging companies who desire to grow and position their business as a large-scale enterprise should strongly consider utilising both of these beneficial systems.
Nowadays, the development and advancement of technology have enabled the combination and synchronisation of the two solutions. Synergix ERP System contains tailored and customisable functionalities integrate with other standalone POS software.
Benefits of POS and ERP integration
1. Real-time Data Accuracy
One of the highlighted advantages of integrating ERP and POS systems is ensuring the business data is updated in real-time, as well as, eliminating unexpected errors from manual data entry across functions within a company. It can be a serious issue if the data from the two systems are in different formats. This type of integration will assist employees in transferring information among departments much more easily and accurately. For example, when figures are adjusted in the POS platform, the ERP system will automatically update accordingly. This feature makes it possible for employees to keep track of every single activity, at the same time giving them more capability to generate higher revenue.
2. Inventory and Distribution Management
POS and ERP integration is also beneficial for retail businesses in inventory and distribution management. In detail, the two systems allow businesses to get overall visibility of their whole operations including sales, stock, inventory and capital budget. This aids the organisation’s managerial level in making critical decisions based on those important figures. For instance, after a front-end salesperson sells a number of items and makes changes in the POS system, the information will be updated in real-time and the back-end office inventory manager will immediately be able to see the updated changes. In the case of low inventory, the ERP system will remind managers when to stock up; providing alerts when inventory is approaching their safety stock level. The ERP system may be effectively used as a tool for forecasting and improving seasonal inventory orders based on historical data, hereby meeting businesses’ constraints of time, budget and space.
3. Customer Satisfaction Enhancement
Another benefit of the combination of ERP software and the POS system is significantly enhancing customer satisfaction by giving them various choices and pleasant experiences. First and foremost, by integrating a cloud-based ERP platform and a POS system, businesses can offer their customers more favorable choices of purchase. Besides business models such as brick and mortar, click and mortar, information synchronisation in POS and ERP systems can serve to operate bricks and clicks, which allows customers to order online and pick up in-stores. Furthermore, the sales staff is also able to instantly access customer’s information which aids in efficiently closing the deal. Salespeople may also require customer’s data resources and their purchasing histories to provide more suitable recommendations, enhancing customer’s pleasant experience, by that means, contributing to up-selling and cross-selling boosts.
Summary
To sum up, POS and ERP integration brings many valuable and long-term benefits for businesses. It has now become an expected norm for any company to put in place strategies to gain an advantageous edge over its competitors.
Being well-known as a reputable cloud ERP solution in Singapore with over 30 years of experience, Synergix ERP System from Singapore can enhance your business’ efficiency by providing ERP integration with other standalone POS software, at the most reasonable price. Our ERP system’s functions and modules can be customised to suit your business needs. Furthermore, our dedicated team will be happy to aid you in applying for Singapore government grants.
Contact our ERP consultants to raise your company’s productivity and utilise your budget with Synergix ERP System!