Best Point of Sale System for a Pet Shop?

[Goanna]

I am looking to upgrade to a point of sale system but I dont know which one to go with.

Quickbooks Point of Sale seems like the best bet but I want to be sure I can indicate things such as losses (feeders, animals, etc) and using products for the store, etc.

I searched around for Point of Sale software specifically made for the pet industry but it all seems really basic in comparison with the bigger guys out there, like Quickbooks and Cougar Mountain.

I was just wondering if any of you retail shop owners are using point of sale systems, and what you think about the software you are running?

Also, if you converted from a traditional register to a POS system, how long did it take to get your whole inventory into the system? I am kind of dreading that part, lol.

As for the hardware itself I'll probably go with a complete system from Dell or HP just so I can get a business deal and good customer service (Normally I dont buy a PC from a big name, I build them myself).

Any info here wouldbe greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[sfaoldguy]

Good post man... I am king of curious about what others say here too...

Quick books is probably going to be one of your best bets... And yes it is going to be a serious pain in the butt to set it up, especially if you are not used to the software... If you are not able to get it professionally installed, be ready for a serious learning curve...

Good luck...

[Goanna]

Quickbooks offers a free trial of the Point of Sale system if your interested. I have played around with it and I dont think it will be hard to learn. It's just the data entry part that scares me, having to spend endless nights scanning each item and entering how many I would like to keep on hand.

The only other thing I want to make sure I can take care of is losses and store usage items, which I dont think quickbooks will let me enter, but I guess I can find ways around it.

But if there is some POS software out there made especially for pet shops (Perhaps one with a fully stocked inventory of items :D) I would like to check it out as well.

[sfaoldguy]

Quickbooks offers a free trial of the Point of Sale system if your interested. I have played around with it and I dont think it will be hard to learn. It's just the data entry part that scares me, having to spend endless nights scanning each item and entering how many I would like to keep on hand.

The only other thing I want to make sure I can take care of is losses and store usage items, which I dont think quickbooks will let me enter, but I guess I can find ways around it.

But if there is some POS software out there made especially for pet shops (Perhaps one with a fully stocked inventory of items :D) I would like to check it out as well.

I downloaded UPOSS and tried it out a little while ago... It is free to use for a small shop with only 2 users (admin and another)... I really wasn't too impressed, but it was easy enough to set up...

About the Quick Books POS, I bet it does have it where you can enter losses or at least be able to adjust inventory levels... You may have to purchase an accounting software to get those additional features...

[sfaoldguy]

If I was to set up a POS, this is what I would do if I was closed on weekends.

The first weekend, I would make sure I have a good list of all of the various items and animals I sell. If you already have an inventory list, great. If not, break out the spiral notebook and get ready to do some walking and writing.

After you have a list of everything, the next weekend I might think of ways to organize them like snakes -> corns -> untramel -> male. Another example may be reptiles -> heating -> UTH -> ZooMed small. Once you get everything organized, I would think of how to do my SKU numbers.

I would use 6 or 8 digits with each pair of digits describing something about the product from the organizing I did. The following is an example.

Snakes(01)
Corn(11)
Ultramel Corns (22)
Female (99)
Male (98)

So the SKU for a female ultramel corn would be 01112299 and a male would be 01112298.

You get the idea. You could set it up anyway that would work best for you. You just want to be able to look at a SKU and be able to easily think of what that is or look at something and be able to think of what it's sku is.

After you got all of this done if you haven't already implemented this in your store, a weekend of data entry will look a lot more fun I guarantee lol... :rofl:

[Goanna]

I wasnt even thinking about the livestock yet, I figured I would just print out sheets of barcodes to scan for each animal, and have one to stick on each tank so the employees can write the UPC code on the bag or something.

What I was thinking of was all the products and having to scan each one and then enter the quantity I keep on hand, the reorder quantity, etc. I would probably try and do this with a wireless UPC reader that has a good range, just so I didnt have to carry every product up to the counter 1 by 1.

[ExoticPetsWS]

We use quickbooks and have since 1998. I like it. Now, with all the new features it's worth the money. It saves me time with invoicing and shipping.

But, we also use Regit (http://www.apipos.com/) Many pet stores use it. You can have your distributors catalogs put into it. Woks great and is easy to use most of all it's CHEAP!

They have a demo also and it free for (I think) 30 days.

[Goanna]

So you use normal Quickbooks, not Quickbooks Point of Sale? For POS you use Regit? Or do you use both as your POS system?

I know I could just contact Quickbooks and ask some questions but I hate that they dont have any email customer service. I either have to call them, or have them call me back. I guess I am just being stubborn but I like typing all my questions in the form of an email. On the phone I will often forget to ask something, lol.

[ExoticPetsWS]

We had a store and used Regit. I purchased the hardware on ebay for approx. $200 shipped, I had the pc. The software was under $100.

Since we no longer have a store, we use Quickbooks only. It's easier for the invoices and shipping. The 2006 features are great and we process our credit cards right in the software. GREAT!

You can also look into purchasing the package through Sam's Club. It's cheaper! I'm all for saving money when you can and on good stuff. Check out Sam's website it's less than going to Staples or ordering direct.

I'd ask QB who is using the system around you and then go ask questions and check it. Many business owners understand and want to help the new guy/gal.