To run a business today in Kenya goes beyond just making sales. Whether you are operating a supermarket in Nairobi, a boutique in Mombasa, a pharmacy in Kisumu, a hardware store in Nakuru or a restaurant in Eldoret, it is very crucial for you to keep track of sales, inventory, customers, payments and general performance of your business. In this blog we will read about the best POS software in Kenya.
This is where having the best point of sale (POS) software comes in handy.
Today’s point of sale (POS) software has gone beyond just being a digital cash register. The software can be used by businesses to facilitate the process of making sales, managing inventory, managing customers, monitoring employees and generating reports.
But because there are so many POS systems in Kenya to choose from, picking the right one can be tough.
For those of you who need to implement a POS system that would include efficient billing, inventory management, reporting, and multi-store management, among others, HDPOS Smart is one of the best systems you should take into account.
In this article, we will discuss why POS software could be important for your business located in Kenya and why HDPOS could be the best POS software in Kenya for you.
What Is POS Software?
POS software is a system that assists businesses in conducting transactions at the point of purchase for the customers.
In its simplest form, it will track a sale and create a receipt. However, an advanced POS system has many more capabilities.
Some of the things that you could be able to do with a great POS system are:
Creation of invoices and receipts
Barcode scanning
Inventory management
Management of purchases
Sales tracking
Customer data management
Discounts and offers management
Different payment methods tracking
Business reporting
Management of multiple locations
Employee access control
Warehouses inventory tracking
The important thing about all these activities is that they are connected.
This means that for instance, you can automatically update your inventory when the products are sold. If your inventory reaches a certain level, you can find out that you have to make an order. At the end of the day, you will be able to see sales reports without the need to count everything yourself.
This is the difference between merely billing software and an actual POS system.
Why Kenyan Businesses Need Reliable Software
Businesses in Kenya run in a business environment whereby time, accuracy in stock control, and easy payment methods are critical.
Mobile payments, especially M-Pesa, have played a crucial role in daily transactions in Kenya, whereas businesses have to factor in the tax and electronic invoices. In current Kenya’s POS systems comparisons, M-Pesa compatibility, offline capability, inventory control and taxation have been considered key considerations in choosing a POS.
Think of a busy grocery store at peak hours in the evening.
Customers are lined up at the checkout. The cashier has to fasten the scanning of products. The owner wants the stock information. Transactions will be carried out using cash, cards or mobile money. At the close of the day, the manager wants to know the sales and performance of the products.
It is very hard to coordinate everything manually.
This is where a good POS system comes in.
What Should You Look for in the Best POS Software?
The problem of finding the most effective POS system for each enterprise arises, since there is no universal POS system which suits all kinds of enterprises.
Nevertheless, there are several criteria which should be considered by any business:
Fast and Simple Billing
Billing must be fast.
If the billing process takes too much time, long lines will appear, and staff may make mistakes.
HDPOS Smart offers an intuitive graphical interface for fast billing. You can add products by scanning the bar code of products or entering the name of products and their characteristics.
It is ideal for those businesses where the staff needs to process a lot of transactions per day.
Strong Inventory Management
Inventory management is often one of the biggest problems faced by many retailers.
This requires you to answer the following questions:
What inventory do we currently have?
Which products sell fast?
Which products don’t sell?
What should be re-ordered?
Where can I find a particular item?
What is the availability of inventory in other locations?
HDPOS Smart offers multi-warehouse inventory management along with inventory-related reports, reorder level and information regarding slow-moving and expiry products.
Where the business deals with items that have batches and expiry dates, then HDPOS Smart also offers batch management, expiration management and stock management based on either FIFO or expiry.
This would be highly beneficial for businesses like pharmaceuticals, supermarkets, food and other such stores.
Multiple Store Management
The POS system becomes increasingly useful when the organisation begins its expansion phase.
It will be hard for one to get the big picture of the situation if they have several stores that run on different POS systems.
HDPOS Smart has the capacity to manage multiple terminals and multiple stores. This will allow one to conduct their business operations via a centralised database.
The centralised nature of the HDPOS system will give the owner the following benefits:
Store sales
Movement of stocks
Product pricing
Customers’ information
Inventories
Business reports
For a growing retail business in Kenya, this feature is quite important, as it saves the administration much time.
Offline Billing
You don’t want your business to come to a halt due to the internet connection.
That’s why offline support is one of the key features to look for in the POS software you’re buying.
HDPOS Smart supports offline billing and also syncs with the restored connectivity.
For companies where every single transaction counts, the ability to do offline billing becomes very handy.
Sales and Business Reports
The sales information will be meaningless if it cannot be understood.
The POS system must be able to provide answers to questions like:
What have we sold today?
Which is our most popular product?
What is our slow-selling item?
Which store had the highest sales?
Which forms of payment have been used?
How many items do we have left in stock?
How is our sales evolving?
There are reports in HDPOS, including sales, cash collection, stock management, purchasing/sales and tax reports, among others.
This allows owners to make business decisions by using their real business information and not making assumptions.
Why HDPOS Is a Strong POS Software Choice for Kenya
HDPOS Smart is developed to be a rich POS and billing software for companies operating in a single store or multiple store locations.
One of the greatest features of HDPOS Smart is that billing is not seen as an isolated function.
The software unifies all aspects, including POS billing, inventory management, customer management, purchases, and reporting, among others, into a single software.
To the Kenyan businessman, this translates to a reduced number of separate programmes and greater visibility about operations within his company.
HDPOS for Supermarkets and Grocery Stores
Supermarkets usually have thousands of products and transactions every day.
Thus, barcode billing, inventory management, purchases and reporting become very significant.
Using HDPOS, supermarket businesses will be able to handle:
Barcode billing
Multiple checkout counters
Inventory of products
Reorder levels
Vendor data
Purchase management
Stock transfers
Customer details
Sales reporting
Rather than maintaining stock details in books and spreadsheets, the company would be able to maintain stock via the POS software.
HDPOS for Boutiques and Fashion Stores
Fashion stores have unique challenges when it comes to their inventory.
There could be one type of item but in varied sizes, colours, brands and designs.
HDPOS has options for specifying attributes like size and colour and hence is appropriate for fashion and footwear businesses.
Customer details, loyalty schemes, offers and previous transaction history also aid in creating an overall personalised shopping experience for the customers.
HDPOS for Pharmacies
Pharmacies require increased control of their inventories due to the different batches and expiration dates of each product.
HDPOS has the functionality of managing batches and expiration dates of items, thus enabling businesses to manage their inventories based on batches and expiration dates.
HDPOS for Restaurants & Cafes
The restaurant requires a POS solution that will cope with the fast pace of operations.
Everything starting from orders, billing, table management, payment and inventory needs to be synchronised.
With an appropriate POS solution, restaurant owners will be able to eliminate routine operations and gain more visibility into sales and inventory control.
HDPOS can be considered as a POS platform by restaurants and cafes that need a solution with the functionality for billing, inventory and reporting.
However, before purchasing any POS for a restaurant in Kenya, businesses should check what payment options, taxes and restaurant workflow integrations they require.
HDPOS for Hardware Stores and Other Retail Business
Hardware stores have a lot of diverse products, various measures and pricing and even bulk orders.
A POS solution will help them to find a particular product, create invoices and manage inventory and sales.
Likewise, electronics stores, bookshops, shoe stores, salons and other businesses can have POS solutions with specialised workflows.
The main feature of HDPOS is flexibility for various business types.
What About M-Pesa and Kenyan Payments?
Payment compatibility is among the first questions that must be addressed when selecting a POS solution in Kenya.
As one of the leading payment systems used in Kenya, businesses should not take it for granted that all POS systems work in the same way with M-Pesa.
While some POS solutions provide natively integrated solutions, others may implement payment gateways or third-party integrations. Comparisons of current POS systems for Kenya reveal many discrepancies in how M-Pesa is integrated and processed.
HDPOS offers payment flexibility through its ability to accept different types of payments: cash, cards, credit, cheques, gift cards and bank transfers with payment solutions integration.
In case direct M-Pesa integration is a required functionality for your business, you need to clarify the current integration and reconciliation solutions for Kenya with the HDPOS team.
HDPOS vs Choosing a Basic Billing App
Simple billing software might suffice in cases where all that is required is receipt generation.
However, it’s not long before companies outgrow such an approach.
When a company starts to deal with various products, people, customers, and branches, more control is needed.
That’s where a full-scale POS system comes into play.
Using HDPOS, companies can incorporate:
Billing + Inventory + Purchasing + Customers + Reports + Multi-Branch Operation
rather than handling each operation in separate software.
Tips on Choosing the Appropriate POS Software in Kenya
When shopping for POS software, never go for a solution whose monthly charge is the lowest.
On the contrary, consider what your business really needs.
Answer such questions as:
How many items do you sell?
In case you sell hundreds or even thousands of SKUs, you need a good inventory management feature.
Are there branches?
If yes, go for software that can enable you to enjoy centralised control and reporting based on each branch.
Do you need offline billing?
If internet problems can affect your business, offline features should be among the criteria.
How do your customers pay?
Find out if the POS software can support the payment options your customers can use.
Do your items have batches/expiry dates?
If your business involves a pharmacy or food store or other types of stores, this is one of the important considerations.
Do you need customer loyalty?
If recurring customers matter in your business, customer profiles, loyalty points, and promotions are something you should consider.
Is it scalable?
The software you choose today shouldn’t limit you as you expand and set up your second, fifth, etc. store.
Why HDPOS Makes a Wise Investment for the Future
The common mistake that companies make is selecting software just based on their present needs.
Your company might have one outlet now.
The next year, your company might have three outlets.
Your number of products might increase from 500 to 5,000. Your company may employ more staff members and have more warehouses or outlets.
An ideal POS software must support growth.
HDPOS provides various types of installations, including single-computer installation, client-server and cloud-based solutions, for both single and multiple stores.
Furthermore, its cloud version can allow centralised management of several retail outlets, along with stock transfer and location-wise promotions.
Conclusion: Which Is the Best POS Software in Kenya?
The best POS software is not always the software which has a lot of features listed.
The best POS software is the software which suits your actual needs in business.
If you are searching for the POS software that provides more than just billing for your Kenyan business, HDPOS Smart is worth considering.
With its ability to quickly process billing, handle inventory, manage multiple stores, perform customer management, provide reports and even operate offline, HDPOS software can be used by any type of business.
From supermarkets and boutiques to pharmacies, electronics shops, hardware stores and even expanding retail chains, HDPOS software can help businesses to stop using manual methods and control their processes.
Most of all, the ideal POS must make the running of your business easier.
It should not be difficult for your employees to charge your clients. Your inventory should be easily visible. The reports should be simple to interpret. As your business grows, your software should grow with it.
This is what HDPOS Smart is out to change.
If you are looking at various POS systems in Kenya, do yourself a favour by going beyond just the billing section. Think about inventory, reporting, scalability, offline capability, payment methods, and customer and multi-store management.
And then pick the system that simplifies your business operations instead of complicating them. HDPOS is indeed the best POS software in Kenya.
Want to learn how HDPOS can work for your business? Contact us for a free demo.