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If you own a beauty salon or spa, a quality POS system can be a gamechanger. Particularly a salon-friendly point of sale solution like Square Point of Sale solutions for Beauty professionals, which has been designed to help you manage your entire beauty business – from integrated payment processing to team and inventory management, bookings and more.
Square helps make beauty business a little less work – giving you more time to spend with your clients and less time on admin. Our stylish hardware also looks fantastic on salon counters!
Not sure if Square is right for you? Read on for some pointers on the features you should look for when choosing a POS system for your beauty salon or spa business.
Square for Beauty
Connect booking, selling online, and payments for one seamless solution.
What is a POS system?
A POS (point of sale system) is a combination of hardware and software that helps retail businesses process sales, handle payments, and manage inventory, employees and customers. Compared with traditional cash registers, a POS system will help you run your beauty business more efficiently and effectively, and give you access to detailed reporting and analytics.
What features should I look for in a beauty POS system?
The right POS system for your salon will depend on your beauty business’s type, size and operating model, but there are some common features you should look for. Your salon’s POS system should support you to spend less time on admin and more time with your clients, so look for a beauty POS solution that supports the following features:
Online booking
An online booking system takes the hassle out of managing appointments for your beauty business. Tools like Square Appointments allow clients to view your availability, pick a date and time that suits them, choose the services they want to book and make payment – without you lifting a finger. No more missed calls, customer call-backs and double bookings; Square Appointments lets you accept appointments 24/7 and manage your schedule with ease.
Employee management
A point of sale system that lets you manage your staff from your POS will reduce your admin, help you optimise your roster and give you detailed insights into staff attendance and performance. Square Team Management offers complete employee management functionality, including timecard reporting, break tracking, system access management and more.
Inventory management
Whether you sell products directly to customers or just need to keep track of the products you use to deliver your services, managing your inventory well will mean you’re never caught short. Square’s intuitive inventory management module lets you manage unlimited items and product categories, view stock levels across multiple locations, and manage vendors and purchase orders. You can also access smart stock forecasts and create email alerts for when stock levels of a particular product are running low.
Online sales
The COVID-19 pandemic saw many physical businesses that had never considered an online presence pivot to selling via an eCommerce store. Square Online lets you supplement in-store sales with a free online store that syncs orders and inventory with your POS in real time. Clients can even buy directly from your Instagram page.
Customer relationship management
A good salon POS system will have CRM capability that supports you to build strong customer relationships. Square for Retail creates customer profiles automatically, syncs customer sales history across in-store and ecommerce channels, and lets you add custom notes to each customer profile. It also allows you to offer a customer loyalty program via Square Loyalty.
What else should I consider when evaluating beauty POS systems?
Aside from functionality, other aspects to consider when comparing salon POS systems include:
How much does it cost?
Comparing costs between point of sale solutions can be challenging. Depending on your provider and how you manage payments, you might need to buy hardware and pay a monthly subscription fee to use the service. You’ll also generally pay a percentage of the value of each transaction you process to your POS provider.
Our free Square Point of Sale allows you to use a POS app and set up an online store with Square Online, with the ability to add unlimited items. There are no hidden fees, and you can cancel anytime.
Does it let you take payments over the phone?
Even if you usually take client payments over the counter, there may be times you need to accept payment by phone. Tools like Square Virtual Terminal lets you manually process credit and debit card payments – perfect for times when your client isn’t in front of you.
Is it secure?
Security is critical when you’re dealing with clients’ personal and payment information. Your salon POS should offer multiple layers of encryption and real-time transaction monitoring.
Does it offer comprehensive reporting?
Your beauty salon POS will capture a wealth of data – check that you’ll be able to use this information to make informed business decisions. From reporting on cash flow and employee performance to stock levels, tools like Square POS give you access to invaluable information 24/7 from wherever you are via our free POS app.
Whether your beauty business provides tanning, waxing, facials, hair styling, tattooing, lash extensions or cosmetic injectables, you’ll want to deliver a smooth and seamless customer experience for your clients. Choosing the right POS system will allow you to spend more time on this, while giving you access to detailed data to optimise your operations.
What hardware is the POS system compatible with?
You may want to consider whether you would prefer an all-in-one integrated POS system – such as Square Register or Square Terminal – or a separate hardware option, like Square Reader.
Options like Square Reader and Square Terminal offer more movement of the point of sale hardware, allowing you to take payments from different locations in your salon, whereas an option like Square Register (featuring a customer-facing display) is a more fixed option.
All of Square’s hardware integrates with Square’s free Point of Sale for ease of use.
Visit the Square website for more information about Square POS for Beauty businesses and how to get started.
