Switching POS Systems Should Not Feel Like Starting Over

Most pet retailers love their stores, but not their POS systems. According to research done by the creators of the PetStack platform, 75 percent of the stores surveyed had real, specific complaints about their current setup. But making a change often feels too disruptive, too risky or too expensive to justify.

In this in-depth report, JR Anderson, Director of Account Management, addresses the key frustrations he hears daily from pet retailers who crave the results of a unified commerce platform, but are not ready for an enterprise-level solution.

“We hear you,” Anderson says. “We know change is hard, especially for a small business. But with PetStack, you don’t need to be an expert in tech – you simply need to be experts in your craft – serving pet parents well.”

Launched by FieldStack late last year, PetStack is designed specifically to better meet the needs of independent pet retailers. It’s right-sized, and purposely built for pet retail. “We know how important pets are to your business,” Anderson adds. “And you deserve that same type of service on the tech side.” Here, he outlines why the time may be right for a change.

What effect does an ineffective POS system have on day-to-day retail operations?

Most pet retailers are already feeling the pain of disconnected systems. They’re often dealing with two to as many as four or more systems across different screens and devices. Transacting on one screen, same day delivery orders coming through on an iPad and then using a laptop to access the company website to check inventory. This makes it very difficult to analyze and manage operations, and takes time away from important duties such as staff training, adding a new product line and more. These issues become less concerning when using a unified system such as PetStack, and allows you to focus on your #1 job – making pet parents happy.

How do you address the very real concerns such as cost, data migration and staff training downtime?

Addressing costs can be challenging, because oftentimes people have been disappointed by what they’ve already experienced and are hesitant to invest again. But the better way to understand the need for change is to focus on the real opportunity to equip your business with growth potential through a unified platform. By using PetStack, retailers can add to their return on investment and lower costs in ways that their current system is not addressing.

Having all the data in one place offers opportunities to think about strategic initiatives like adding new product lines or working with vendors to negotiate better credit rates because you now have data to justify these points and back up those conversations.

One of the key components to our platform is our forecasting logic. Through one database we can understand consumer behavior and demand, and spin that out to orders that reflect your sales patterns in real time, for example. The combination of reducing complexity and forecasting capabilities significantly adds to our value, and to a store’s bottom line.

Making a change is about investing in the future and discovering how a unified system – without so many moving parts – can propel a business forward. Once a client starts to see that operations are simplified, they gain precious time back to devote to other responsibilities.

What feedback have you gotten from clients who have made the switch?

On the tech side, they really embrace how seamless ordering and forecasting becomes. They also discover how sophisticated our logic can be to project what they’ll need in a cost-efficient way.

But the real “secret sauce” of PetStack is our support model, and specifically, our support team. Their responsiveness and the relationships they have built are unlike any other in the pet retail arena. We not only provide the tech to grow; we also know how to support it.

Not every retailer is interested in growing and conquering the world. But if you’re trying to make your team’s lives easier, your costs and management more straightforward through a single database, and gain the ability to expand into services such as subscriptions and same day delivery, a unified system such as PetStack is the way to go.   

At PetStack, we know the unique challenges pet stores face, and we love solving them with smarter software. For more information, please visit www.fieldstack.com/PetAge.