I get to see sales data from many newsagencies and one of the most frustrating lines in sales data is a line labelled as unknown. This is where the software does not know what has been sold. Most often, it is because the sale has been done as what is a called a department sale. The sales person presses, say, stationery, and enters the amount for an item. While this does track the sale as stationery, it does not track the item itself.
There is a cliché saying: you can’t manage what you don’t track. The thing is … this saying is true.
Every department sale, where a physical item is not tracked specifically, is an opportunity for fraud. It is also a missed opportunity to know about your business and therefore to make better business decisions.
Most concerning of all is the message that a department sale gives your employees. It tells them that you don;t respect data. They can take this as leadership and not respect your data too. We need to lead by example in our businesses. respecting business data is an important part of this.
There are no excuses for department sales, for using a computer system as a glorified cash register.
Get rid of the department sale and you will reduce the opportunity for theft, know more about your business, save time through fewer keystrokes, save mistakes through fewer keystrokes and be a better newsagent.
Your software company should be able to help you eliminate department sales. It’s easy.