A good cash management system is one of the most important things a retail business can invest in.
If your cash processes and procedures are slowing you down or costing you money, it may be time to update your system. Automation can help. How do you know if it’s time for an upgrade? Consider these three signs.
1. Employees Spend a Long Time Counting Money
Do your employees spend a long time counting cash at the end of their shifts? When employees spend 30 to 60 minutes counting cash, that’s time they could instead be spending out on the floor interacting with customers or prepping for the next business day. It’s also time they could spend at home in order for you to reduce labour costs.
Don’t spend money paying your employees to count money. It’s a waste. Instead, invest in retail cash management hardware like a currency counter. The currency counter can count the money in moments and is 99.9 percent accurate. You can completely eliminate human error.
Your employees will be able to finish counting in minutes, giving them time to get back to customer service.
2. High Shrinkage
Shrinkage is considered normal in retail, and most companies even have a line in their accounting for it. It’s considered a cost of doing business, but it doesn’t have to be.
When shrinkage occurs, it’s often due to counting errors or employee theft.
To eliminate shrinkage from your back room, invest in a smart safe. A smart safe automatically calculates the cash placed inside it. It also recalculates when money is added to the safe or taken out of it. It can help you keep your employees’ hands off your cash.
On top of that, it requires that everyone who has access to it have a username and password. This means that you’ll know immediately who the last person was to open the safe and if any money is missing. It makes employee theft virtually impossible.
If you’re taking on more shrinkage losses than you can accept, it’s likely time to take action and invest in automation.
3. Accepting Counterfeit Money by Mistake
Counterfeit is a problem for virtually every business, but it’s especially problematic for businesses that handle a lot of cash, such as retailers. Every time your employees mistakenly accept counterfeit money and you try to deposit it, it creates problems for you at your bank. It also means you’re out that money. No business wants to lose money, and so it’s important that you clamp down on accepting counterfeit money.
The easiest way to stop accepting counterfeit money is to invest in a counterfeit detector. When your employees place a bill into the counterfeit detector, it’ll inform them if the cash they’re about to accept is counterfeit. If it is, they can politely inform the customer that it’s fraudulent and ask them if they have another method of payment they would like to use. Your business will stop losing money because of counterfeit bills, and you’ll see your bottom line increase.
If your business is experiencing any of these three signs, then it’s time for you to update your retail cash management. When you automate your system, you’ll stop losing money and start working more efficiently.
