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Did you know that many small business owners still use spreadsheet systems, like Excel, to run their businesses? As businesses grow, they develop a greater need for optimizing their procedures. While tracking data with spreadsheets may work just fine while a business is in its infancy, adding a back-office system adds real value to a growing enterprise. Here’s how having a back-office system can help increase profits, save time, and offer better business insights.
One of the trickiest things to navigate in retailing is how to set the prices of merchandise in the store. For convenience stores, this gets even trickier, as even the smallest convenience store has over 500 SKUs and likely buys from dozens of vendors. As vendor prices fluctuate, it can be hard to determine what the best price for individual items is. Furthermore, dynamic pricing that changes due to item popularity can help boost profitability. A back-office system can take advantage of business data, such as inventory reports and sales data, and make suggestions for pricing changes. That way, retailers can boost their profits by having a back-office system that utilizes store data.
45% of small business owners say they spend a full business day per week on paperwork. A back-office system significantly reduces the amount of time spent on paperwork for owner/operators. For example, in convenience stores that sell fuel, the government mandates a Statistical Inventory Reconciliation reading be taken of underground fuel storage tanks to ensure they aren’t leaking. While SIR readings can be collected and collated by hand, back-office software is able to do the reporting much faster. Provided that the reading entered in the system is correct, the software will easily be able to alert to any fuel leaks. This is just one example of back-office systems being able to save small business owners time on paperwork.
When retailers can save time, they’re able to save money. According to Forbes, labor is the biggest expense for a small business, accounting for 70% of spending. With a back-office system reducing the time spent on paperwork, store owners can save money on labor by being on the sales floor, instead of at the computer. For small businesses, these labor savings can make a huge difference in the bottom line. By not needing as many employees on the floor at once, labor costs are reduced, and savings help to turn more of a profit.
For c-store owners looking to enrich their back-office capabilities, Petrosoft can help. CStoreOffice is designed to help retailers make the most of their data to increase profit, save time, and gain better business insights. CStoreOffice offers reports on sales, inventory, workflows, and more. With CStoreOffice, you’re able to optimize your pricing, purchasing, and labor decisions to make your business more profitable. To learn more, schedule a demo with our team.
