Book Store Point of Sale

Specialty book stores are focused on the sale of books, magazines, and sometimes even music sales. The best POS systems for book stores scan bar codes, take deposits, process payments and manage inventory. Book stores range in size from small specialty stores to very large book “outlets”. Many of these book stores have reading and study areas for their patrons and may even sell coffee and snacks. Specialty book stores compete against larger top retailers by maintaining popular books in stock while offering unique and hard to find merchandise and high levels of service and expertise. The top book stores used their point of sale or retail management system to manage costs and capital requirements by keeping close track of inventory.

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Book Store POS specific features in MicroBiz Cloud include:

Textbook ISBN tracking – You have the ability to enter the ISBN number as alternative SKU in the product record. This will allow you to look up the book in MicroBiz by ISBN number. Note that MicroBiz does not have a link to a master ISBN database that will enable you to look up books not already in the MicroBiz system, or ‘pull’ books into MicroBiz using that data.
Special orders/back orders – allows you to track special order items (such as out of print books), from the customer order to receiving, to inventory to the POS transaction.
Group pricing or discounts – based on customer level or group, such as book club members, faculty and students.
Editable product description on receipts – ability to edit from the front register the short product description which appears on a receipt. Helpful when selling unique or customizable items.
Layaways – collect deposits while holding the item out of inventory.
Trade ins – trade in feature allows you to accept a trade in of a book as a return transaction of a new item, and then through the back end set a resale price and cost for the book.

Ecommerce Integration – WooCommerce POS integration allows you to publish products and images to Woo, sync stock levels between your store and website and capture online sales in MicroBiz.
Markdown management – easily manage time-based promotions, group markdowns, quantity pricing and multi-buy items.
Product images – so clerks can see a picture of the book being rung-up at the register.
Phone orders – ability to manage phone orders for pick-up, shipment or delivery through the Orders in Progress module.
Restrictions on discounts and returns – management settings allow restrictions to be placed on discounts and returns of products.

Killer POS Feature for Book Stores: Customer Sales History

MicroBiz allows you to look-up a customer sales history with one touch from the front register. Sales clerks can view customer history by transaction, items purchased or orders. This is a great way to offer better customer service for reorders or suggestions for complimentary products and services.

In addition to the Book Store POS specific capabilities listed above, MicroBiz Cloud includes the following standard features and functionality needed to manage Book Stores:

Register

Register Quick Pick Keys
Bar code label scanning
Transaction holds/recalls
Returns and Voids
Split Tenders
Item and Transaction Discount
Stock-level Look-up (multi-store)
Store Credits
Gift Cards
Customizable Receipts
Custom Tenders
Print or Email Receipts
Customer Sales History Look-up
Register Close/End of Day Reports
Integrated Credit Card Processing
Advanced Filterable Product Search
Editable Item Descriptions on Receipt

Integrations

WooCommerce Integration
QuickBooks Online Integration

Multi-store Inventory Management

CSV File Import of Products & Inventory
Inventory Adjustment Audit Records
Purchase Orders/Vendor Shipments
Minimum Inventory Reorder Points
Special Order Tracking

Catalog Management

Customer-based Pricing/Product Pricing Levels
Product images
Categories and Sub-Categories
Product Tax Classes (multiple)
Quantity-based Tiered Pricing
Time-based promo pricing
Alternate Product IDs
Auto SKU number generator
Print Barcode Price Labels

Customers

Multiple Shipping/Billing Addresses
Customer Tax Classes/Tax Exempt
Import Customers via CSV File Import

Store Management

Store Transfers (multi-store)
Support of Contactless Payments
PCI/PA-DS Compliant Payment Processing
Flexible and Filterable Reports
Enforceable Business Rules on Discounts, Returns, Deposits
Employee Roles and Permissions
Minimum Deposit Requirements

Orders

Phone Orders/Layaways
Special Orders (out of stock items)
Pick-up, Shipping, Delivery Dashboard
Deposit Collection and Refunds
Tax Calculation based on Ship Address
Backorder Creation and Filling

Expand Functionality of MicroBiz via Integrations with Popular 3rd Party Apps

Publish register batch financials to QuickBooks Online with one-touch

Map POS financial activities to QuickBooks GL accounts
Publish register batch financials to QuickBooks with one touch
Sync revenue, COGS, inventory values, customer liabilities and payments with QuickBooks
Create QuickBooks invoice payable from received vendor shipments
Push POS sales taxes to QuickBooks Sales Tax Center for payment management

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Integrate your POS system with your Woo! ecommerce site

Link product records and sync changes in product fields from MicroBiz to Woo!
Automatically adjust stock levels in Woo! for store sales to avoid sales of items not in stock
Pull online orders into MicroBiz for order and inventory management
Capture customer records created online in MicroBiz

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Useful Links and Resources:

American Booksellers Association – The American Booksellers Association, a national not-for-profit trade organization, works with booksellers and industry partners to ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book.

Independent College Bookstore Association – Since 1927, the Independent College Bookstore Association (ICBA) has been focused exclusively on serving institutionally-affiliated, self-operated college store Members. Its mission is to support the independent operation of a college store, which is the most effective way to serve campus stakeholders.

Midwest Independent Booksellers Association – The MIBA is a nonprofit trade association that supports and celebrates locally owned and operated independent bookstores and booksellers throughout a 9+ state portion of the Midwest.

National Association of College Stores – The National Association of College Stores is the professional trade association of the campus store industry. We are the leading resource and advocate for the higher education retail market.

The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America – The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America was founded in 1949 to promote interest in rare and antiquarian books and book collecting, and to foster collegial relations. We strive to maintain the highest standards in the trade. All members agree to abide by the ABAA’s Code of Ethics.

Great Lakes Booksellers Association – GLIBA represents over 200 independent bookstores throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

Mountain and Plains Bookseller Association -The MPIBA is a non-profit professional association of bookstores, booksellers, publishers, authors, and industry professionals. The Association began over fifty years ago in Denver, Colorado, and has grown to represent hundreds of bookstores across fourteen western and mid-western states.

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association – The NAIBA is a regional trade association of locally-owned, independent booksellers, and the authors and publishers who enjoy working with them and promoting their books through the independent bookstore.

Independent Booksellers Consortium -The Independent Booksellers Consortium is a group of booksellers that get together and talk about how to be the best booksellers they can be. Founded in 1993, it is a self-funded, limited-membership organization devoted to sharing ideas and improving its members’ business operations.