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R E A D O N L I N E 51 A t one time, a point-of-sale (POS) system referred to the cash register in a retail shop. So, by that definition, pretty much every brick-and-mortar retail shop has a POS system. e purpose of a good POS system is to save the retailer time, money and effort, all the while helping keep the infrastructure of the business up to date. Oh, and providing the bonus of developing customer satisfaction. And yet, many a retailer has opted to go without one. In today's world of business, if you aren't using digital technologies, like a POS system, to your advantage, you are not using your time effectively. And all you need is an internet- enabled device like a computer, tablet or smartphone—and POS system software that is specific to the retail florist sector. e important thing for any flower retailer to know is that a POS system must meet the specific, unique demands of his or her flower shop. Although there are companies that offer POS systems developed more for wholesale florists, such as Komet Sales, there are others who specialize in POS systems for retail florists, such as the flowers-by-wire services, including FTD, and BloomNet, as well as GotFlowers, QuickFlora, Floranext, FloristWare, BloomNation, Flower Shop Network, e Floral POS, MAS Direct Network, IRIS Software Systems, Hana Florist POS, POSiFLORA and Floral Frog, among others. For this article, I spoke with Sundaram Natarajan, founder and CEO of GotFlowers, a Fremont, Calif.-based florist software developer. He explains that there is a big difference between general retail point-of-sale systems and retail-florist-specific POS systems that his company and others have developed: "A florist POS system has more features than what might be found in other retail POS systems, and there are many flower-shop-specific challenges that a florist POS system needs to get right." WORKING FOR THE CUSTOMERS Customer satisfaction is a key element of a florist POS system. Natarajan says it could be something as simple as being able to support the latest payment methods, such as Apple Pay. Within the POS, it needs to be "very simple and straightforward, and it should work for the merchant and the customer," he points out. For many customers, there's a very real concern that they won't get what they paid for when ordering a floral product for gift delivery. For example, a customer in California wanting to send flowers to his mother in New Jersey wants HAVING A POS SYSTEM SPECIFIC TO YOUR FLOWER SHOP CAN HELP YOU SAVE AND MAKE MONEY WHILE BUILDING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. By Andrew Joseph Extra Features and Video Online FloristsReview.com

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