Thrift stores exist to benefit their communities.
By offering an affordable option for customers to buy clothes and an alternative to throwing unwanted items away, nonprofit stores promote sustainability and reduce waste.
They also provide job opportunities for members of the community, which contributes to the local economy — but to maximize this impact, thrift store owners need to put the right digital systems in place.
You know how much inventory you have to deal with. New donations need to be priced, catalogued, and prepared for sale. If you’re doing all of this by hand, as well as managing the other aspects of your business, things can quickly get overwhelming.
Luckily, modern point of sale (POS) systems lighten the load of running your business by automating processes you used to do by hand. These systems help you manage your inventory, process quick transactions for customers, and track your thrift store’s data.
But with various options on the market, which is the best POS for nonprofits? In this blog, we’ll explore your options, listing the top features you need and the providers who offer them — this way, you can make the best decision for your thrift store.
Some POS systems are designed with general features to serve various retail industries. Others are designed for specific kinds of businesses, like nonprofit thrift stores. At your store, you need both general retail features and thrift-specific features. Let’s dive into the most important features your store needs.
Thrift stores have unique inventory needs compared to other retail stores. For example, thrift stores often run discounts on certain items or sections of the store to move stubborn inventory. A thrift-specific POS system allows you to implement these specific discounts. You can designate certain items as different colors and run color-based discounts. You can also run time-based discounts that run until a certain time or date.
Make sure you choose a POS system that easily integrates with a barcode system. Barcodes are the easiest way to catalog inventory and quickly identify items when ringing up a customer.
Related Read: Where Do Thrift Stores Get Their Inventory? Guide + FAQs
Thrift stores run on donations — so it’s important that your POS system can help you organize, accept, catalog, and increase the donations your store receives. The easier it is for someone to donate to your store, the more likely they’ll be to return.
If you’ve set up donation stations in external locations, you can use your system to schedule routine pickups. When you bring back your items or when items are dropped off at your thrift store, you can use your system to input these items to prepare them for sale.
A great way to increase financial contributions to your nonprofit is through roundup donations. With a thrift-specific POS system, you can ask your customers to round up the total of their purchase to the nearest dollar and donate that money to your cause. Over time, this money adds up, allowing you to expand your operations and better compensate your employees.
Related Read: What Are In-Kind Donations? (& How To Accept Them)
The most basic function of a POS system is to process sales transactions. Modern POS systems accept a variety of payment methods, including cash, cards, and digital payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay. The ability to accept these payment methods means you can serve more customers, and help each one more quickly, improving customer experience.
POS systems also offer additional security, protecting your customers from fraud, and give you the ability to create and distribute printed or electronic receipts. In the thrift industry, receipts represent proof of donations that customers can use for tax deductions, making reliable receipt creation especially important.
Related Read: How To Create Your Thrift Store Pricing Strategy: 8 Steps
Accurate data tracking allows you to find insights that help you improve how you run your nonprofit. POS systems keep record of your inventory numbers and automatically adjust when you make sales and catalog new inventory additions.
These records allow you to generate reports with key metrics from your nonprofit, including revenue and inventory turnover. These reports help you see where you can improve, and are also useful in sharing information with key stakeholders.
Related Read: How To Write a Thrift Store Business Plan in 9 Steps
If your thrift store engages in e-commerce, you can manage these operations from your POS system. Running your online and physical stores from the same system allows you to keep your information consistent across all areas of your business.
Many POS systems offer tools to help you create and maintain your online store. You can use the templates provided by POS providers while making your website your own with graphics, images, and descriptions that are unique to your thrift store.
Loyalty programs incentivize your customers to make frequent visits to your thrift store by rewarding them with extra value. This may come in the form of free items, discounts, or other rewards. POS systems offer controls to help you track customers’ loyalty points — this makes it easier for both you and your customers to use a loyalty program and helps you create a network of recurring customers.
These are our top four picks for the best POS for nonprofits. Pay close attention to the features these systems offer to determine which option will work best for your thrift store.
ThriftCart is a POS system built specifically for thrift stores. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to learn and implement. The software supports businesses with multiple locations and includes tools for customer communication.
Top features: ThriftCart Includes thrift-specific inventory management features, easy discounting, and robust donation features, including simple round-up donations.
Pricing:
Core: Starts at $249 per month.
Plus: Contact for custom pricing.
Thrift Works is another thrift-specific POS software that packages its features into app-like modules. Thrift Works is cloud-based, supports multiple locations, supports price-tag printing, and comes with remote consulting resources.
Top features: Thrift Works integrates with accounting software and is compatible with scannable cards for customers.
Pricing: Starts at $100 per month for the first register, $25 per month for every additional register. Hardware not included.
AccuPOS is a general POS system that serves various business types, including thrift stores, retail, restaurants, and grocery stores.
Top features: AccuPOS integrates with accounting programs QuickBooks and Sage for easy business accounting.
Pricing: Starts at $84 per month, $45 per additional station.
Square is a general POS that’s easy to learn and customize. It’s a flexible system that can adapt to a business’ needs and can be used in many industries.
Top features: Square offers a fast and simple checkout system to help you complete sales quickly. Square allows you to easily sell both online and in store.
Pricing:
Free Plan
Plus: $29 per month
Premium: Contact for custom pricing.
Implementing a POS system makes a huge difference in how you run your nonprofit. It changes the way you process donations and handle inventory, increases the amount of customers you can serve, and speeds up your workflows.
A POS system frees up time so you can focus on your nonprofit’s mission — helping others. But for best results, you need a system designed with the needs of your industry in mind.
To maximize your nonprofit’s success, you need ThriftCart — a cloud-based, all-in-one system with all of the features you need to run your thrift store. Our software’s extensive thrift-specific features make it the best POS for nonprofits. To see it for yourself, schedule a demo today!