Grocery Store POS & Inventory Management Software

Grocery stores have a difficult combination of high volume sales and an inventory that largely consists of perishable goods. Almost all grocery stores are automated to some degree, although the smallest stores may be limited to point of sales (POS). The three biggest issues for most grocery stores are inventory management, POS, and payroll. More sophisticated stores have began to focus on customer relationship management (CRM).

Grocery stores may receive multiple deliveries from multiple vendors every day. An efficient and accurate receiving system lets grocers verify new stock and enter it for immediate sale. Grocery stores and supermarkets typically have multiple checkout locations. While most items have UPC barcodes, some items, such as produce, is often keyed in by the cashier. The stores often employ minors after school, on weekends, and during school vacations. Work schedules and breaks are regulated for minors; the payroll systems should track minors’ hours, notify a manager if a minor is close to a violation, and complete all compliance reports. Recently, some supermarkets and grocery stores have started using email, text messaging, and social media to promote customer loyalty.

Accounts payable and general ledger are standard. For most stores, accounts receivable are also standard but some stores have running accounts for frequent customers. Most grocer point of sale software are installed on-premise. While software as a service (SaaS) options are available, there is generally little benefit for cloud-based POS software for grocers due to the investment required in POS terminals.

Key Requirements for Grocery/Supermarket Retailers

Grocery stores and supermarkets should evaluate the following functions, in addition to general business operations, to meet their unique requirements:

Recent Events in Grocery Store POS Software

There are three trends that supermarket owners should be aware of as they research new grocery POS software systems:

• Grocers using social media. A Februrary 2012 study from The Hartman Group found that over half of consumers learn about food through social media, and over 40 percent learn through blogs, apps and websites. Additionally, Progressive Grocer’s Independent Grocer Network now boasts over 900 members. As supermarket owners become increasingly active on social media sites, more supermarket POS vendors continue to add additional social couponing and CRM features.
• New solution options. In the past, there were only a few options for grocery store owners when it came to supermarket software. Now, there are a number of new vendors offering grocery store point of sale software. AisleBuyer, for example, provides an integrated e-commerce and in-store shopping application for Apple iOS devices that customers can use in the store aisles.
• Big shifts in checkout hardware. Some of the biggest stories over the past year have involved changes in technology at the grocery point of sale. In July (2011), Albertsons announced it would be removing self-checkout from all of its stores, while Kroger announced a similar experiment in some of its Texas-stores. NCR, one of the leading providers of grocery software terminals, acquired solution provider Radiant Systems. Meanwhile, IBM’s recently announced sale of its retail system business to Toshiba marks another move that will impact grocers as they research new grocery POS systems.

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