Introduction
A few years back, it might not have made sense to invest in a POS system for small spas or salon.
But as POS systems have become both more innovative and affordable in recent years, making use of one in your beauty business is now a no brainer.
But your business is all about pampering your customers, and a stock standard retail POS system won’t do the trick.
Luckily several POS providers have specially designed features to support your particular needs.
In this guide, you’ll find out everything you need to know about POS systems for spas, including what they are and where you can find them.
Ready?
What’s in this guide?
POS features designed for spas and salons
Taking payments, while of course important, is just the beginning.
Your business is all about customer loyalty, and so you need a POS system that can help you keep customers happy and coming back.
POS software providers have come up with a host of features for use in spas and salons, such as:
Appointment Management
Making and changing appointments takes up a whole lot of your team’s time, and doesn’t make you any money. A smart and intuitive appointment management tool can take much of the pain out of this process.
Some systems allow customers to book their appointments through your website, speeding up appointment set up.
If your appointment management systems are connected to your POS system, then things get even easier, as your customer information, staff management and payment processing tools are all linked together.
Loyalty Programs
Repeat business is essential for spas and salons and setting up a loyalty program is a tried and tested a way to get your customers back through the door.
A great POS system will allow you to digitise your rewards system, tracking visits or spend, and registering the appropriate discounts.
Customer Management (CRM)
You know your customers and make them feel beautiful and special, but as your business grows it can be difficult to keep track of them all.
You will need a computer system that can hold details of all your customers, including email addresses and preferences. This way your staff can use the system to serve each customer better.
Most POS systems will have at least some CRM functionality, but the linkages are where they differ.
With a great POS system, you can email receipts and appointment details automatically and inform your customers of customised offers and discounts from your loyalty program.
Staff Management
Your team are all skilled professionals, so you need a system that takes their different areas of expertise into account for scheduling.
In retail and hospitality staff are more interchangeable, so you need to make sure that the POS system you choose can serve your more complex needs.
It is essential that your staff and appointment management systems are linked because each service requires specific skills.
An automated system will only allow appointments based on the skills of scheduled staff, so you don’t end up with the manicurist trying to give a hot stone massage.
Gift Certificates
Let customers share your services with their friends and family by setting up a gift card program.
You can offer individual services or packages as gifts, or let the buyer pick the amount they want to gift.
Most gift cards today look like chip-less credit cards, while some companies offer digital vouchers that can be scanned from the recipient’s mobile. Either way, you will want your gift voucher system integrated into your POS system.
This way your staff can quickly create and redeem gift cards just like a regular purchase.
In addition to these special features, you will want many of the standard features of a POS system, including:
- Sales processing – ringing up sales, taking payment and giving change
- Payment processing – if you take credit cards you will need a service to process the transactions
- Reporting and analytics – know your business better through your sales data. You can understand your busiest times and most popular services.
- Inventory management – if you sell products as well as services then you need to know when it is time to reorder stock.
So now that your eyes are opened to all the smart tools you could have, where do you go to get the best system?
Here are the providers that have created POS systems just for spas and salons:
1. Square
Since Square launched in the UK in 2017, it has been taking the industry by storm. Square’s basic POS app is free, but you need to use their payment processing service, which is by all accounts good and has similar fees to other services.
Square has built additional features for the beauty industry.
Their appointment system links with staff management and allows customers to book their appointments through your website or using a link you can post on social media.
The system syncs with Google calendar so you and your staff can see all their bookings easily.
The customer information section lets you see what services each customer has had before and store notes so you can treat each one as a VIP.
You can pay to add on extra features as well, like email marketing software, a loyalty program and gift card tool.
2. Vend
Vend makes beautiful, intuitive POS software. They are a popular choice for spas and salons, with users especially liking the robust reporting functionality.
Vend doesn’t include many of the features you will need in its standard POS software, but they get around this by building strong links with specialist software providers.
Vend partners with Timely and Deputy for their appointment and staff management tools.
You can make appointments online as well as in store. MailSync can be used to email customers with offers and loyalty program information.
3. SalesVu
SalesVu prides itself on the broad feature set of its POS system and its excellent 24-hour customer support.
With SalesVu you can manage your sales and customers efficiently in the cloud. There is also a wide range of reports that you can view, including accounting statements.
The standard software package also makes it easy to sell through your website or facebook store.
SalesVu has designed appointment management, customer loyalty and gift card modules to cater to your business. SalesVu software is free from one terminal, but if you need more, then you will need to pay a monthly fee.
3. Clover
Like Vend, Clover offers a simple but effective POS system to manage your transactions. However, you can build up to the full system you require with Clover and external apps.
Clover has the Salon Scheduler, an appointment management tool designed just for businesses like yours.
It schedules both customer appointments and staff to work, so you are never caught out without the right specialist on hand for your treatments.
Clover has customer loyalty and gift card apps like other providers.
Additionally, they have an Automatic Marketing app that helps you create customised email offers, like a birthday discount or a special offer to entice customers back after a break.
Bundle discounts help you put merely together group discounts.
Clover’s Waitlist Me app could be useful if you take walk-ins, as it allows them to continue shopping until their appointment is ready, and they are notified via text.
3. Revel
As well as providing a great speedy POS system for transactions, Revel has put a lot of work into creating a bulletproof appointment management system.
This system has it all; your customers can schedule appointments online or in person, you can set up reminders.
You can customise the price, duration and commission level for each of your services and or staff, as well as defining which staff members can give which services.
You can even block out staff lunch breaks and holidays so that you don’t need to double check that you haven’t overbooked your team.
These specialist tools are in addition to Revel’s standard package that includes gift cards, a loyalty program and sales reporting.
3. EPOS Now
EPOS Now is based in the UK and can offer you local two-hour support. They offer Appointment management with integrated staff management so that customers can make appointments online.
You can reduce missed appointments with email or SMS appointment reminders.
You can add on a Loyalty Program tool, which is linked to customer information.
If you are running a tanning salon, then there is a tool just for you so that you can sell packages of “minutes”.
This versatile software system tops several lists for POS systems.
It is more flexible than other options, as it will run on any tablet or smartphone, and you can choose from several payment processing companies.
Final verdict
Running a salon or spas requires a different set of tools.
Managing bookings and staff become fundamental to profitability, as well as ensuring an excellent customer experience.
You are also much closer to your customers, and so Customer Management systems come into their own in your hands.
Therefore you need to make sure that the POS supplier you choose understands and serves your specific needs.
The suppliers above have all looked at POS from your perspective and can help you find a package to make your business easier to run. You can use our quote comparison service to get pricing from several suppliers quickly and easily.
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