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Sporting Goods POS Software
Fishbowl Inventory
Many sporting goods retailers need advanced inventory and item lookup capabilities with their systems. We recommend Fishbowl Inventory retail management software. The system offers POS, inventory, and supply chain functionality.
LightSpeed
LightSpeed from Xsilva Systems is one of the premiere point of sale solutions designed for Mac OS X. Retailers can deploy the system on mobile devices, integrate with the e-commerce platform, and develop apps with the custom API.
NCR Counterpoint POS and Retail Management
The inventories of many sporting goods stores varies drastically by season. This retail point of sale system allows users to maintain multiple inventories to help. Also includes CRM, merchandising, and e-commerce features.
RetailSTAR
RetailSTAR offers layaway management, a customer database with purchase history, targeted marketing lists, detailed purchase orders, as well as accounting and financials reporting within its main point of sale software suite.
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Visual Retail Plus
Features like custom item lookups, customizable product classifications, multi-store support, and UPS-shipping integration make Visual Retail Plus a good choice for both single- and multi-store sporting goods retailers.
MultiFlex RMS Fashion
MultiFlex RMS is a great POS system for sporting goods stores. It can support time-limited specials and create targeted mailing lists for every sports season. It also includes employee management and time clock features.
Snapfulfil
When running a gift shop, inventory management is essential to staying organized. Snapfulfil is a warehouse management system that tracks purchase orders, billing and fulfillment. It's great for large businesses.
Microsoft Retail Management System
We feel that the CRM and inventory features in Microsoft RMS make it a good option for retailers that sell sporting goods. The customer database and multiple item inventories are helpful for seasonal sport retailing operations.
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Sporting goods stores contend with multiple seasons. In addition to summer, winter, spring, and fall, they have baseball, football, ski, soccer, hockey, and back-to-school. Plus golf, camping, tennis, and cycling all year long. To further complicate matters, much of the inventory is available in different colors and sizes. Stock can span from pocket-sized to forklift-required and can cost from a few cents to five figures. In some cases, inventory is age restricted. Many sporting goods stores also do custom work, from team jersey monogramming to custom-fitted golf clubs. It is also common for sporting good stores to sell government-issued licenses for hunting and fishing.
Most of the issues for sporting goods retailers center around inventory and point of sales. General ledger, accounts payable, and accounts receivable are standard. Customer relationship management (CRM) plays a role in managing team and league sales. Payroll is a consideration since sporting goods stores often employ minors, who are more strictly regulated than older workers.
Key Requirements for Sporting Goods Retailers
In addition to core business functions, sporting goods store owners should evaluate the following functions to meet their unique requirements:
| Team and league management | As part of CRM, the system should track required gear for teams and leagues. Many teams have particular uniform colors. Leagues often specify gear like shoes, pads, and other equipment. The POS system should also track appropriate discounts for members and coaches. Some systems allow authorized league officials to create an equipment list online, complete with UPC codes. The list can be printed on request at the store and posted on the team’s website. |
| Seasonal sports ordering | Sports equipment and general merchandise change season to season. The sporting goods inventory software should make recommendations for new orders. In addition, it should track existing inventory and make sales-versus-storage recommendations. |
| Work order management | Sports equipment stores offer a variety of personalizing and customizing services. These range from monogramming and silk screening shirts and jackets to ordering custom made titanium shafts for golf clubs. The work order system should integrate with POS for deposits and the CRM for history and tracking. |
| School list management | Many school districts have specific requirements for physical education uniforms. Participants in school athletics approved uniforms and equipment. Identical in concept to team and league management, school list management tracks the equipment that students need by school. Some systems allow authorized school officials to create the list. The list can be printed on request at the store and posted on the team’s website. |
| Size, width, and color look-up | Many items in a sporting goods store come in different sizes and colors. The system needs to provide answers to questions like “Do you have this jersey in black?” or “Are these cleats available in 10D?” or even “Is there a 31” version of this bat?”. The system also needs to track historical size and color sales as a guide for reordering and ordering new, similar stock. |
| Integrated Internet sales | Many independent sporting goods stores are expanding online. The store system should integrate inventory and checkout functions with the online system, updating quantities and pricing as necessary. Advanced systems will also support team, league, and school list management for online purchases. |
| UPC code catalog | The items available to a sporting goods store are many and varied. Keying item descriptions in manually is labor intensive and time-consuming. The system should have an extensive catalog of items and descriptions and links to suppliers’ online catalogs to download inventory information. |
| Law enforcement reporting | If the sporting goods store sells firearms or age-restricted items (for example, paintball markers or spray cans of field marking paint), it should provide all required reports for local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. |
| ID scan | In addition to law enforcement reporting, sporting goods stores with restricted merchandise should perform ID scans. The system should scan and retain ID information for buyers and verify that the format of the ID is correct. |
| Spoilage reporting | Many sporting goods stores have perishable goods. Examples include bait and biological attractants. The inventory system should alert when the stock is expired and should provide spoilage reports. It should also generate restock orders to keep the inventory fresh. |
| License sales | Many states and the federal government allow sporting goods stores to sell licenses and specific hunting endorsements. Duck stamps are an example. The system must track such sales and provide any necessary reporting. In advanced software, the CRM system will notify customers when licenses will be available. |
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Retail Software Feature Checklist
