Is your legacy point of sale (POS) system holding you back?
A legacy POS refers to a system that stores data on an internal server. A cloud-based system, on the other hand, connects to the internet, stores data in the cloud, and offers a variety of additional features that modern business owners need. Maybe you’ve been interested in implementing a new, cloud-based system at your fabric store, but you have one big concern: your data. You’ve built up an archive of customer information, purchase histories, work orders, and product descriptions, and you don’t want to lose it all.
Well, good news: Modern POS providers can migrate your data from your existing system to your new one so your business doesn’t skip a beat. In fact, these providers employ entire teams to make sure your new system has all the data you rely on.
In this blog, we’ll explain the benefits of a cloud-based POS system and the process of migrating your data — plus offer five tips for a simple data transfer process.
There are many advantages of using a cloud-based POS system for your fabric store. Here are a few of the key benefits:
A cloud-based POS system can be accessed with any device that connects to Wi-Fi, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This means you can check inventory totals, communicate with customers, or update work orders on the go.
When you make a sale, online and in-store inventory levels automatically adjust. Sales numbers and performance insights are reflected automatically with a cloud-based POS system, too..
At your fabric store, you likely have specific reports you use to track your key metrics. These might include weekly sales by fabric type, seasonal revenue and profit, or sales numbers by staff member. Cloud-based POS systems have custom reporting capabilities, allowing you to recreate these reports in your new system and create new ones. You can use these findings to adjust your purchasing strategy and make better business decisions.
Related Read: How To Increase Sales in Retail: 7 Quilt Store Strategies
Some cloud-based POS systems give users access to industry-specific catalogs. Access to fabric suppliers helps you price, compare, and find the products your customers want. You can even place orders for inventory within the system, simplifying the process of stocking your shelves.
Even when you understand these advantages, the process of POS migration can still seem overwhelming. These are some of the top concerns, and how to overcome them:
A top concern with changing POS systems is data loss. Rest assured, modern POS providers are equipped to move your data to a new system, including:
Data migration specialists are knowledgeable and experienced with this process. They can resolve problems like duplicates and incomplete data.
Some business owners worry about the difficulty of learning the system and fear their employees will also struggle to adapt. Many modern POS providers have a dedicated onboarding team to help you and your employees learn the system well before it goes live. Look for a fabric store POS provider with unlimited support so you can get help with your system if you have an issue.
Another concern is that the business will experience downtime during the period of transitioning between the two POS systems. Look for a point of sale provider who can migrate your data seamlessly — and train you on your new system while you’re still able to make sales on your old one.
Once migration and training are complete and you and your staff are ready, you can then launch your new POS system smoothly, avoiding downtime and providing your customers with consistent service throughout the entire process.
Related Read: Seasonal Cash Flow for Fabric Stores: Surviving Post-Holiday Slumps
Your new POS provider’s data migration specialists shoulder most of the load of transferring your data, but there are a few things you can do to make this process easier — and to ensure your essential data is safe:
The first step in the data migration process is to request data from your current provider. CSV or Excel files are ideal for moving your business data to a new system. Most POS providers are willing to help with this, so make sure to request all the data sets you need, like customers, products, inventories, and sales history.
Most fabric stores sell a variety of fabrics, patterns, threads, and notions. Migrating your product data prevents you from having to recreate or reassemble your product catalog with a new system, and risk losing data on the products you’ve been selling.
You likely don’t need all of your data to be transferred to your new POS system. When you begin this process, you may be assigned a data migration agent to work with from your new provider. They can make recommendations about what data you need to keep and what’s OK to let go.
For example, most businesses only migrate over 1-2 years of sales data. If you have information about customers, you can bring over their names, phone numbers, and email addresses. For products, include the SKU, barcode, vendor, cost, price, and category. If you have serialized inventory, like sewing machines, include the serial numbers.
If you have extra notes about products you’d like to transfer but they don’t fit cleanly into a category, save these entries. They can be copied to custom fields in your new system.
A common issue with business data is duplicates. You may have the same fabric listed multiple times, or two profiles for the same customer. Look through your data and try to find these instances. Merge them to eliminate confusion.
You might also find incomplete data. Fill in missing entries to the best of your knowledge. If an incomplete entry isn’t useful, delete it.
These actions help you clean up your data set so it’s ready for migration. Don’t worry if you miss some things — data migration specialists have tools to help further clean up the data so it’s ready to be transferred.
If your fabric store offers repairs on sewing machines, this is also important data to migrate to your new system. Make sure you have a record of each machine’s serial number, the customer it belongs to, its repair status, and any replacement parts needed.
Related Read: Sewing Machine Repairs: 11 Tools and Management Tips
Even after the new POS provider has migrated your business data from your old system to your new system, it’s still a good idea to keep the CSV or Excel file for a brief time just in case. If there’s a problem or you find data missing, you’ll have this documentation to fall back on.
Once you’ve been using your system for a while and you’re confident you have all the data you need, you can delete the external file of existing data.
Moving from a legacy POS to a cloud-based system changes how you run your fabric store. These modern systems have more features — and greater capabilities — than their legacy predecessors. Despite these advantages, it’s normal to be concerned about data loss and business downtime.
Cloud-based POS providers understand these concerns and have built processes to help you navigate POS migration. This includes data transfer and extensive training so you and your employees are confident in using your new system before it goes live.
Though there are many retail POS providers on the market, a software designed for your industry is the best fit for your business.
Like Sew is a cloud-based POS solution built specifically for fabric stores. Our software has a full suite of both general and fabric-specific features to lighten the load of running your business, and our dedicated migration specialists are experts in transferring your data to your new system.
At Like Sew, we want to help you get all the features you need at a price that works for your business. Check out our Build and Price tool to see what package is right for your fabric store!