When you are opening your own retail store you need to make sure that you have the right supplies to facilitate your sales. There are some supplies that you need to buy that will display your products and they can often be a one time purchase, but there are other things that you need to replenish regularly. Receipt paper and shopping bags are just some examples of regular replenishing items.
Your inventory is not the same as your store supplies, but if you want to make your store stand out then you need to think about the fixtures needed. Think about shelving and clothing racks or cabinets with hooks, tables and even jewelry displays. All of these things are going to help you to show off your products, but where possible you don’t want to have them fixed into the walls just in case you decide to move your shop around from time to time. So, what equipment does your retail store need?
- Start with your point of sale system. It’s the equipment that you need to be able to get paid and you’re going to be able to make it easier for customers to pay you in different ways when you have one of these. A fully functioning POS terminal available here can help you to ensure that you make your sales and your shoppers don’t have to worry about carrying cash. Most people pay with their credit cards, Apple watches or their phone wallets, so if you ensure that you have an up-to-date and readily available P OS system, you’re going to be able to nail it with your customers.
- Accessories to go with your point of sale system. If you want to make sure that you get the most out of your point of sale, you need to have the right hardware. These include barcode scanners, a Castro, tagging guns and a label printer. The hardware is great but also the tech accessories have to be considered. The earlier that you set these up the more useful they are, and that includes analytics and reporting and accounting integrations. You can do all of this with your point of sale system to make your back office life so much easier.
- You will need checkout supplies. Shopping bags should be at the top of your store supply list, but not just shopping bags. Being a little sustainability conscious, you can make sure that you have shopping bags of different sizes in paper or cloth, reusable bags that you can add your logo to, and boxes. You might also consider printing some business tape or stickers that you could add to the bags or boxes, and if your store is big enough that you may consider shopping carts or baskets. The whole point of these checkout supplies is to make your store as easy to navigate as anything else, and if you sell apparel then garment bags are a great idea.
- What about furniture? Depending on your particular retail store you might want to have a few chairs or a sofa nearby to fit rooms or simply in the middle of the store. There are furniture options that allow you to have a table surrounded with chairs facing outwards so that people can sit and try on shoes. Furniture is important, so make sure you make a list.