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Liquor Store POS Software
Liquor stores are subject to some of the most arcane rules in retailing and they vary dramatically by state or county. For example, certain types of liquor may not be sold at certain times. Record keeping is complicated and the costs for not complying can be very high. In some states, even the distributors are assigned by the state to particular retailers. Different tax rates may apply to different products, making point-of-sale transactions more complicated.
General ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll are typical to general retail. There are some customer relationship management issues. Inventory presents the biggest challenge because of the number of different items on-hand.
Key Requirements for Liquor Stores
While evaluating systems, liquor store owners should consider the following functions to meet their unique requirements:
| Localization | Liquor laws vary greatly, sometimes even within the same state. Compliance is particularly challenging to chain stores where each location may have different regulations. The system needs to support localization to support any required compliance reporting. |
| Inventory management | In addition to typical inventory management, liquor inventory software must show the supplier for each bottle. Jurisdictions have different requirements for how long records must be kept. |
| Integration with distributors | The inventory system should integrate with distributors’ systems to make ordering easier, and to provide advance shipment notice (ASN) to make receiving inventory more accurate and less prone to shrinkage. |
| ID scanning | The system should scan and retain ID information for buyers and verify that the format of the ID is correct. However, it is often impractical to validate the IDs against government databases. |
| Employee auditing | One of the key management reports is the employee audit, which looks at profitability and transactions by employee. This helps protect the bottom line and helps prevent inventory shrinkage by holding employees accountable. |
| Security system integration | Pawn stores in particular benefit from integration between the POS system and security systems, linking security recordings with transaction records. |
| UPC code database | Liquor stores carry small amounts of many items. Building an inventory from scratch could take weeks; the inventory system must include a UPC code catalog with descriptions for common items to save time in building the inventory. |
| Price maintenance and sale management | Prices in liquor stores usually change by manufacturer or by class of item. The system should accept percent or dollar amount price changes across these areas. |
| Gift set packaging | One of the key promotions for liquor stores are gift sets. The POS system must support gift set sales for a single price but correctly decrease inventory levels for the individual items when a gift set is sold. |
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mPower Beverage for Liquor Stores
mPower Beverage is the perfect POS solution for both single liquor store retailers and those looking for remote access to monitor sales and inventory at multiple stores. Supports case management and customer reward programs.
CounterPoint by Radiant Systems
CounterPoint by Radiant Systems includes ID processing, inventory management and reporting, and integrated customer marketing within its point of sale application. Can also process employee audits to help manage shrink.
Fishbowl Inventory
We recommend Fishbowl Inventory to liquor store owners because of its strong inventory and supply chain management modules. Also includes point of sale processing features, including price lookup, customer history, and more.
Visual Retail Plus
Liquor store owners can use Visual Retail Plus to manage and audit their inventory processing and point of sale transactions. Includes point of sale, CRM, inventory management, e-commerce, and basic accounting features.
Retail Anywhere
Retail Anywhere is a great on-premise liquor store management system. Store owners can use the system to directly market to customers and develop custom inventory reports. The system can also be deployed on mobile hardware.
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Retail STAR
We recommend Retail STAR for liquor stores because of its inventory management, CRM, and point of sale features. Cam Commerce also provides integrated hardware and software systems for liquor stores needing an complete solution.
Microsoft Dynamics GP
Beverage retailers can use the inventory, BI, and accounting features in Dynamics GP to help manage their stores. This Microsoft ERP product is offered as either a hosted or on-premise solution. Also includes POS and CRM modules.
Microsoft Retail Management System
No matter the size of liquor store, Microsoft Dynamics RMS is perfectly suited to handle a full range of POS needs. Provides easy integration of marketing, inventory management, and customer relationship management.
GoldTech Retail Manager
GoldTech Retail Manager is a reliable, secure POS and inventory management system for liquor stores. Offers remote updating and interaction between multiple registers and supports CRM, work orders, and purchasing/receiving.
POS Easy
POS Easy is a web- or cloud-based point of sale system that supports a range of store types, including liquor stores. The system can be set up quickly and accessed from any computer--Mac or PC--with an Internet connection.
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