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Thrifting Makes Cents with Point of Sale Software for Thrift and Consignment Shops

June 13, 2024 / 10 minute read / By Nick Borowitz

2024

In a retail landscape where every SKU has a history, thrift and consignment shops need a point of sale system designed with their unique business models in mind.

We’ll cut to the chase: thrift and consignment stores need to use the right point of sale software to ensure they make the most sales while adequately reporting on every product and transaction.

In the unique retail landscape where thrift and consignment sellers operate, using the right point of sale system is essential. There are numerous factors that they need to take into consideration. We’ll break them down below and dive into the specific aspects of each one:

Point of Sale Integrations for Connected Transactions in Thrift and Consignment Shops
Smart Inventory Management for Unique Products in Thrift and Consignment
Balancing the Books and Tax Automation with Accounting Software Integrations
Deploying Crafty Digital Marketing Campaigns that Bring Customers into the Store

In addition to the right thrift POS software, it is essential to have a digital marketing strategy that entices customers to return to your business. Because of how specific some shoppers can be when they’re out on the thrifting and antique circuit, keeping their attention is crucial if you want them to return.

When pairing that digital marketing strategy with a loyalty rewards program or membership system, the opportunities open up for repeat business. With digital marketing being important, rewarding customers for their purchases ensures they’ll return to the store and keep digging around on the shelves for new items.

With our thrifty outline established, let us dive into what each one looks like in practice!

Point of Sale Integrations for Connected Transactions in Thrift and Consignment Shops

Today’s shoppers hop between in-store, off-site events, and online shopping, which means having point of sale integrations that keep up with each.

An integrated POS system makes transactions easy, whether customers browse racks of vintage clothing or scroll through an online catalog. A mobile point of sale system can be used at a vintage expo, processing transactions seamlessly alongside the store’s daily purchases. Similarly, eCommerce transactions should flow into the same record register, ensuring a unified and efficient system.

Thrift and Consignment Shop Mobile Point of Sale

How might this look?

Thrift and consignment shops can unify the shopping journey in several ways:

Mobile in-store kiosks on Windows-based tablets that employees can use to help customers from anywhere within the store, be it looking up products, prices, or inventory counts.
Those same mobile in-store kiosks are connected to the store’s system via cloud connectivity and can be brought to off-site events like craft fairs and vintage expos.
eCommerce orders that flow into the unified retail system can be processed and managed from the same mobile kiosks as they come in and from anywhere the tablet is.

When using eCommerce marketplaces and the thrift or consignment store having their website where they can sell products, several websites can get a store’s products in front of more customers.

Marketplace	Purpose
eCommerce Website	Draws customers' eyes to your business, where they can purchase products directly through your website.
Amazon Fulfill by Merchant (FBM) and/or Fulfill by Amazon (FBA)	Offers many sale options and fulfillment choices to increase opportunities to get in front of new customers.
eBay	An incredibly popular website primarily for the resale of used merchandise, especially popular with the thrift and antique crowd.
Mobile Shopping Apps	Branded mobile shopping app where customers can download it and shop your business directly from their cell phones and mobile devices.

An integrated thrift shop POS system across the store, mobile units, and eCommerce ensures connected inventory updates in real-time with each sale. This prevents stockouts, over-ordering, and canceled orders, protecting your reputation on third-party marketplaces.

By synchronizing inventory across all platforms, you can expand your reach through marketplaces and maintain accurate product counts, avoiding order cancellations.

Pro Tip:

To expedite the in-store and online checkout process, offering a range of payment options is essential. While many shoppers still use cash, others prefer cashless alternatives like credit cards, mobile payments, and digital wallets. Retailers can enhance convenience and boost conversion rates by offering options such as ‘buy now, pay later’ and ‘buy online, pickup in-store.’ These payment methods ensure the retailer receives full payment while allowing customers to break payments into manageable schedules, including pay-in-2, pay-in-4, and financing options spanning 3 to 48 months.

Smart Inventory Management for Unique Products in Thrift and Consignment

When consignment, thrift, antique, vintage, and other resell retailers receive new merchandise, they must tag it and assign a SKU.

This process is vital for proper reporting for tax regulations and ensuring an accurate inventory count within the store. It can become time-consuming when a lone employee counts each new item and adds it to the system.

Watch how Buffalo Exchange Speeds up Point of Sale Transactions and Compliance

By introducing automation and using applications such as mobile scanners, employees can take pictures of the items and enter a quick description. This generates a new SKU and serves the dual purpose of getting the product listed directly into the inventory and onto the eCommerce website and marketplaces.

There are different types of scanners that a retailer can use which will be connected to the inventory management system. Each one comes with their own benefits and drawbacks.

Thrift and Consignment Shop Inventory Management System

Scanner Type	Pros	Cons
Portable Data Terminals	Sturdy and built for wear-and-tear Ideal for high-volume inventory Data transmission via wireless connection Advanced data entry functionality	Prohibitively expensive for small businesses Needs device updates for proper functionality Can be costly if repairs are needed
Mobile Devices with Attachments	Affordable for most businesses Suitable for small to medium inventories Scanner attachment choices are plentiful Fast uptime since only need to download an app to get going	Often have to attach device to computer to upload data Consumer-grade devices have less durability Limited functionality to only basic duties

Other methods to simplify the inventory management process can take different forms.

Method	Purpose
Physical Counts	Conduct regular physical inventory counts to ensure accuracy and schedule them on a time frame that works for your store. On average, weekly or monthly are best to track stock levels. Compare physical counts with the recorded inventory.
Reconciliation	Utilize the rollback feature in your thrift and consignment POS retail software. After completing cycle counts, adjust inventory levels to reconcile any discrepancies. This ensures your records match the actual stock on hand.
Item Inspection	Streamlining the intake process with configurable settings makes inspecting new items fast and allows for quick categorization. They can be checked over, have a picture taken, and sent to the floor.
Categorization	Tagging and barcode printing is easy with large buttons on the POS screen. They are customizable to create and print barcodes quickly. This makes auditing sales more straightforward and prevents shrink.

Having a good insight into your thrift and consignment store’s inventory is essential to keep the floor stocked and have accurate insight into your inventory.

This makes planning and demand forecasting more effective. By leveraging holidays and seasons, resale stores can use their point of sale system to plan sales around when demand will be highest and reduce the intake of new items as the year slows.

Learn More: Personalize your Retail POS Reports for Sale Insights you Can Actually Use

Balancing the Books and Tax Automation with Accounting Software Integrations

Navigating tax regulations is an essential aspect for thrift and consignment retailers. But the process can be much easier when they incorporate the correct automation for their taxes and compliance.

Automation ensures compliance with local, state, and federal tax regulations, reducing the risk of errors and penalties. Suppose the consignment store needs to consider eCommerce.

In that case, the accounting software integration should be able to apply, remove, or reduce the tax amount properly. In addition to the local, state, and federal taxes, there are additional fees for eCommerce sales.

Read through the following examples below:

Custom Tax Setup:
The software should enable the setting up of taxes for various shipping destinations, covering both store taxes and non-taxable sales.
Detailed Tax Reports:
Reporting features should offer insights into taxable and non-taxable sales, breaking down tax rates for different jurisdictions. Detailed reports on whom to pay and how much make tax filing straightforward.
Itemized Tax Breakdown:
Reporting features should provide insights into taxable and non-taxable sales, breaking down tax rates by jurisdiction. Detailed reports should itemize taxes, showing what was and was not taxed.

Watch how Goodwill of Central Oklahoma Saves 50% of Time with Point of Sale Automation

Pro Tip:

Retailers must ensure their reporting software is accurate beyond having sales data immediately available for viewing and analysis. At the top of the list should be an easy-to-navigate interface with extensive functionality from a POS system provider that can fine-tune your reporting. A retail software with a custom report designer is a bonus, allowing you to create any financial report on the fly to track your company’s performance better.

Leveraging Accounting Software for Better Inventory Tracking

Thrift, resell, and consignment shops can also leverage their accounting software POS integrations for their inventory management in addition to what’s above. The point of sale system can offer real-time insights into inventory performance, helping resale retailers make strategic decisions and get the most from their inventory.

Detailed reports generated by the integrated POS system pinpoint sales trends, enabling proactive inventory management.
Automating inventory tracking and replenishment processes further streamlines operations, ensuring optimal inventory levels and reducing stockouts.
Retailers can track merchandise performance on an SKU-by-SKU basis, aiding in forecasting supply and demand.
Stores can customize inventory reports by department, providing a granular view of inventory levels and costs.

For retailers in the consignment and resale space who have an accounting program that they’re already comfortable with, such as QuickBooks Online or the desktop version, they’ll want to ensure that the point of sale system is flexible and allows for different accounting options.

Learn More: Benefits of Integrating Accounting Software with Your Consignment Thrift Store POS

Deploying Crafty Digital Marketing Campaigns that Bring Customers into the Store

In the digital era, thrift and consignment shops have a unique opportunity to reach a wider audience and drive sales through effective digital marketing strategies.

It’s no secret that customers within the resale space are always looking for inspiration from their favorite social media accounts, boards, emails, and wherever else they receive ideas.

A simple starter for any thrift or consignment shop is making the most of their retail SEO strategy. The best area to focus on is your local SEO, with metadata being optimized on the website backend to attract as much local-area traffic as possible.

There are 4 main types of SEO for consignment and thrift shops to keep in mind:

Technical SEO:
Optimizing the eCommerce website for your thrift shop for crawling and indexing by search engines.
Content SEO:
Creating high-quality digital content that uses keywords which are commonly searched for and relevant.
On-Site SEO:
Optimizing metadata, URLs, imagery, and more on your consignment and thrift eCommerce website to be easy to find.
Off-Site SEO:
Using back-links from other high-quality websites and 3rd-party sources to drive traffic to your thrift and consignment eCommerce website.

Thrift and Consignment Shop SEO Marketing

Another simple strategy is to create a robust social media presence focusing on the customer demographic that thrift and consignment stores want to reach. Some of these tips share similarities to SEO, but are unique specific to the social media algorithms.

Three main pieces need to be set for this part of the social media strategy:

Social Profiles:
Make sure when you establish your profiles that they’re optimized and integrated to work with your blog and eCommerce website and for best local reach.
Social Content:
Create unique and engaging content that draws the eye to the unique offerings of your store and everything that people might be able to do with your merchandise.
Social Analytics:
Monitor and see what your analytics are telling you about your content and engagement across posts, products, groups, and others.

In addition to having a social media presence, thrift and consignment stores can use their point of sale system to grab customer information when they’re checking out. The same goes for online checkout.

Marketing Tools for Retailers	Benefit
CRM with Tablet Checkout	This is the best opportunity to grab the information from the customer and get them into your marketing segments.
Automated Emails	Use these to send emails based on purchase behaviors and follow up on prior purchases. Also can use personal information like birthdays and holidays.
Push Notifications	Mobile push notifications bypass email spam filters of provider inboxes, send marketing material directly to their phone, and put you “directly in their pockets!"

Learn More: Benefits of Integrating Accounting Software with Your Consignment Thrift Store POS

Keeping Thrift and Consignment Shops Current with Retail Point of Sale

While consignment and thrift shops might sell treasures of the past, that doesn’t mean they too need to go down the same path.

By embracing technology and utilizing the right point of sale system in tandem with a few simple integrations, thrift, consignment, mercantile and resale shops will hold a place in the retail landscape.

Setting up the right profiles to sell on marketplaces helps to get more eyes on their wares and using proper SEO techniques will keep them front and center. By embracing a solid social media strategy, they can let the social landscape do the advertising for them.

Inventory, both inbound and outgoing, is simplified with simple management tools. Paired with an accounting software that makes tracking financials simple and reporting compliant, any thrift or consignment resale store will stay relevant now and into the future!

Explore Thrift Solutions

Retail Resources You May Be Interested In…

How an outdated POS system can hold back your Goodwill store

2024

Thrifting Makes Cents with Point of Sale Software for Thrift and Consignment Shops

In a retail landscape where every SKU has a history, thrift and consignment shops need a point of sale system designed with their unique business models in mind.

Point of Sale Integrations for Connected Transactions in Thrift and Consignment Shops

Pro Tip:

Smart Inventory Management for Unique Products in Thrift and Consignment

Watch how Buffalo Exchange Speeds up Point of Sale Transactions and Compliance

Balancing the Books and Tax Automation with Accounting Software Integrations

Custom Tax Setup:

Detailed Tax Reports:

Itemized Tax Breakdown:

Watch how Goodwill of Central Oklahoma Saves 50% of Time with Point of Sale Automation

Pro Tip:

Leveraging Accounting Software for Better Inventory Tracking

Deploying Crafty Digital Marketing Campaigns that Bring Customers into the Store

There are 4 main types of SEO for consignment and thrift shops to keep in mind:

Technical SEO:

Content SEO:

On-Site SEO:

Off-Site SEO:

Three main pieces need to be set for this part of the social media strategy:

Social Profiles:

Social Content:

Social Analytics:

Keeping Thrift and Consignment Shops Current with Retail Point of Sale

Retail Resources You May Be Interested In…

How Using Outdated POS Systems Can Hold Back Goodwill Businesses

How to Use AI in Retail to Complete Tasks Faster

How to Choose the Right POS System for Your Goodwill Store

About Celerant

Learning Center

Partners

Thrifting Makes Cents with Point of Sale Software for Thrift and Consignment Shops

In a retail landscape where every SKU has a history, thrift and consignment shops need a point of sale system designed with their unique business models in mind.

Point of Sale Integrations for Connected Transactions in Thrift and Consignment Shops

Smart Inventory Management for Unique Products in Thrift and Consignment

Watch how Buffalo Exchange Speeds up Point of Sale Transactions and Compliance

Balancing the Books and Tax Automation with Accounting Software Integrations

Watch how Goodwill of Central Oklahoma Saves 50% of Time with Point of Sale Automation

Leveraging Accounting Software for Better Inventory Tracking

Deploying Crafty Digital Marketing Campaigns that Bring Customers into the Store

There are 4 main types of SEO for consignment and thrift shops to keep in mind:

Three main pieces need to be set for this part of the social media strategy:

Keeping Thrift and Consignment Shops Current with Retail Point of Sale

Share this entry

Retail Resources You May Be Interested In…

How Using Outdated POS Systems Can Hold Back Goodwill Businesses

How to Use AI in Retail to Complete Tasks Faster

How to Choose the Right POS System for Your Goodwill Store

About Celerant

Learning Center

Partners