How to use customer data from your POS system to increase sales
Only using your Point of Sale system to take payments? You're missing a trick. A good POS system doesn't just let you physically complete a sale — it also contains powerful data that can help you optimize your business.
Here's how to transform these valuable insights into strategies to win new customers and improve your business performance.
Why customer data is your untapped advantage
In the old days of mechanical tills, merchants had almost no way of collecting and analysing customer data — but the world has moved on since then. Nowadays, you have access to insightful information in just a few clicks. A good POS system, like the SumUp POS Pro, can be one of the most powerful tools in your business arsenal.
Unfortunately, many small business owners don't realise how this data can help them. This means that they may struggle to identify patterns in customer shopping or fail to spot opportunities for upselling.
Whenever you make a sale, your POS records vital data that can help your business. It's time to use it.
What data your POS is already gathering
Customer data sometimes gets a bad rep. To be clear, your POS is not breaking any data protection laws. Instead, it's recording anonymised information about when, what, and how much customers are buying. POS customer data includes:
Sales trends. What are people buying? When are they buying it? What items do they commonly buy together?
Your business performance, hour-by-hour. When is it busiest? When do people make the largest transactions? These may not be at the same time of day.
Popular items. What does everyone want to buy?
Underperformers. You know what people are buying — so here's the flipside. What's gathering dust on your shelves?
Basket size. Are people coming in to buy just one item, or are they walking away with their shopping bags full of goodies?
Inventory alerts. Are you running low on some stock? Have you overordered something that you may struggle to shift before it expires?
If you have a loyalty scheme, your POS system may also record data about specific customers. This can lead to greater retail customer data insights, allowing you to create personalised offers for specific shoppers. However, don't rush to set up a loyalty programme if you're not convinced of the idea. You can still perform valuable analyses using your basic POS customer data.
Simple ways to turn data into sales
Now you're faced with a mountain of data, and you're probably wondering how to increase sales using POS. Here are some methods that don't need a degree in data science — just a basic understanding of POS analytics.
Make better stock decisions
Smart decisions start with simple insights. Your POS system tells you which items are selling like hotcakes and which are languishing behind. Use this data to change the way you order stock. Ensure you've always got an inventory of your hot ticket items, and don't order too many items that are hard to sell.
Using your POS data to make restocking decisions can require some flexibility. Remember that shopping patterns can change depending on the season and the weather outside. If you're running a food truck that sells hot and cold drinks, you shouldn't apply data collected in the middle of a July heatwave to your projections for January.
Run more effective promotions and bundles
Use your POS data to make better pricing decisions and develop promotions that work. One of the best ways to improve sales with POS is by examining the things that customers frequently buy together. Your POS sees patterns you might miss — and that’s where opportunity lies. Consider a special promotion on two items that complement each other. You'll probably find that new customers will take advantage of this bundle deal, leading to more sales.
A more sophisticated take could see you using your POS data to introduce new products through a promotion. If a new product is similar to an existing, popular item, try bundling it with the popular item. For example, if you notice that customers often buy tea bags and digestive biscuits together, offer a promotional price for a bundle of tea bags and your brand-new chocolate-coated digestive biscuits.
Organise your staffing schedule more effectively
Your POS system tells you when your business is at its busiest. Use the data to ensure you have enough staff on duty when the customers are flooding in — and to avoid inefficiency by putting fewer workers on the rota during quiet times.
Personalise deals for regular customers
The simplest loyalty schemes generally consist of a card to be stamped. After collecting 10 stamps, customers get a freebie. However, if you know how to use POS system data effectively, you can make a more sophisticated programme to boost customer loyalty and reward your most faithful customers.
If you want your POS data to record loyalty schemes, customers will need to give you some personal information, such as their phone number. Make sure they consent to your use of their data; if they do, you can analyse the specific things that individual customers buy over time, and create tailored deals especially for them.
Use cases from retail and hospitality
In a coffee shop, your POS can help you identify what customers buy at different times of the day. For example, you might find that people on their way to work stop for a coffee and a croissant, while the lunchtime crowd are more likely to opt for a sandwich. Offer special deals, like a discount on that coffee and croissant, that's only valid until 10 am each day. This way, you can also ensure you've got enough staff to cover the morning rush.
Retailers can use their POS data to focus on effective stock rotation and ordering, and to stop ordering too many units of items that are hard to shift. Use your POS data over time to analyse things like when customers begin their Christmas shopping or when their spending patterns start to shift from winter boots to summer sandals, and you can stay on top of the stock game.
Running a bakery? Use your POS to analyse which cakes are, well, selling like hotcakes. Tailor your social media marketing to these products; you might offer promotions based on them, or ensure they're front and centre in all your Instagram stories. This can get more customers into your shop and generate buzz.
Overcoming the "I'm not a data person" mindset
It's time for some real talk: not everyone enjoys crunching numbers. Of course, data analysis includes looking at stats and trying to make sense of them. If that very thought sends you into a tailspin, take a deep breath.
You don’t need to be a data expert — you only need to know what to look out for. If you're not great with numbers, try baby steps. Start with a clear target. For example, you might want to identify your bestselling products. Use your POS data for this, act on it, and give yourself a pat on the back. Next time you come to the POS data, you can have a new target in mind, such as identifying two products that people often buy together.
Data analysis doesn't have to take hours of your precious time, especially if you've got a solid POS system to work with. User-friendly tools like our dashboard can make a big difference to how long it takes you to check your POS data.
Final tips: use insights weekly, not once a year
Analysing POS data is a task that business owners often add to their to-do list, but never actually get around to. After all, you have a huge number of commitments to keep your business running, and data analysis never really feels like a priority.
It's important to make the time to look at your customer data regularly. That means blocking off an hour or so on your calendar, rather than just sticking it at the bottom of your to-do list. Customer data analysis lets you identify trends — but trends, by their very nature, change regularly. If you're only looking at it occasionally, you'll miss crucial insights, and the information may be outdated by the time you get around to it.
What's more, making it part of your regular schedule means you'll get better and better at handling the data. After a few weeks, it'll take you no time at all.
