Generic POS software isn’t bad software. For many businesses — a coffee shop, a pop-up market stall, a simple fashion boutique — it does the job.
But for specialty retailers, it often creates a slow accumulation of frustrations. Workarounds that take extra time. Features that are almost right but not quite. Data that doesn’t reflect how your business actually works.
If you consider your business to be unique, you want to choose software that supports your uniqueness, that serves it well, for you.
Here are five ways generic software lets specialty retailers down.
1. It can’t sell the way you sell
Generic POS assumes you sell individual units at a fixed price. But a garden centre sells plants by pot size, bulk soil by the bag, and services by the hour. A fabric shop sells material by the metre or fraction thereof. A produce business sells grain by weight on a government-certified scale. A jeweller sells items with serial numbers that need to be tracked individually.
2. It doesn’t connect to your suppliers
Independent specialty retailers buy through buying groups and industry-specific suppliers. Newsagents use XchangeIT. Bike shops use Bike Exchange. Produce businesses use AIRR. Bookshops use TitlePage and Pacstream. These connections save hours every week. Generic POS doesn’t know these networks exist.
3. It doesn’t handle the service side of your business
Many specialty retailers also repair, restore, or service products. Bike shops, jewellers, music shops, and sewing businesses manage repairs with parts, labour, warranty, and customer notification. Generic POS has no concept of a repair job.
4. Its reporting doesn’t reflect your categories
A newsagent needs to track magazine returns, lottery income, and greeting card performance by range. A jeweller tracks sales by metal type, stone type, and occasion. Generic reporting gives you sales by product and date — useful, but not enough.
5. Support staff don’t know your industry
Generic POS support staff are trained on the software. They may not know what XchangeIT is, how a magazine return works, or why your scale integration is measuring incorrectly. Specialty POS support staff deal with your type of business every day.
The alternative
Purpose-built POS software for your specific retail type has these answers already built in. Not as upgrades. Not as third-party integrations. Built in.
Tower Systems serves 19 retail categories with purpose-built tools for each. We’ve been doing this for over 40 years.
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