Your cashiers are probably under a lot of pressure. In a busy retail setting, they’re tasked with delivering great customer service, as well as ensuring accuracy during each transaction. They may feel the need to be quick and efficient. On top of that, you may ask them to be sure they’re paying attention to their surroundings, so they can be on guard against potential problems.
Handling cash is much trickier in this situation. Cashiers must handle cash quickly, but also accurately. If your business is experiencing losses, it could be time to look for some of these five mistakes. Even the best of cashiers slip up sometimes. Guarding against these common errors is a step in the right direction.
1. Keeping Too Much Cash on Hand
How often do your cashiers call for pick-ups from their till? If you have scheduled pick-ups, then they may never call, even if the till drawer is overflowing. This situation increases the possibility of error or accidental loss. It may also make the cashier a target for a would-be fraudster.
Instead of timing pick-ups, have them coincide with the till drawer reaching a certain dollar amount. That way, there’s never too much cash on hand. An even more robust solution is to use cash recyclers, which store your cash more securely until it’s ready for pick-up.
2. Transactional Errors
The point-of-sale terminal is a hectic place throughout the day. At times, your cashiers may be processing dozens of transactions per hour, quickly ringing customers up and counting back change as they try to keep long lines moving.
In this situation, it’s much more likely for a cashier to incorrectly count change, to ring in the wrong total, or to forget to check for counterfeits. If a customer requires something more complex, such as using a coupon or getting a refund, your cashiers could make more errors.
These common mistakes can be reduced by training your staff to use proper cash handling procedures. Automation can also help reduce the number of errors.
3. Manually Counting Cash
Manual cash handling can be inaccurate and inefficient. In addition, it drives up labour costs due to the time involved. If your employees have to double or triple check their counting when balancing the cash registers, it could take a lot longer than you anticipate. Investing in automated cash management technology like currency counters and discriminators will guarantee that you have an efficient and error-free cash counting process.
4. Checking for Counterfeit without the Right Equipment
Counterfeiting technology has advanced right alongside the advancements in security features on bills. With the right training, cashiers can sometimes spot counterfeit bills simply by looking at them. The right technology improves accuracy, and most devices are easily incorporated into your cashiers’ workflow.
Making use of a counterfeit detector allows your staff to identify and confidently reject bills with greater ease.
5. Switching Cash Registers
On a busy day, cashiers may switch from cash register to cash register in order to maintain efficiency at the point-of-sale terminals. While this can be good for keeping customers moving through the store, swapping cash registers can become a big problem as it reduces the accountability of your staff in maintaining proper cash handling procedures.
It isn’t always practical to assign each cashier a till, though. That’s where a coin and banknote recycler can help. This device keeps a running total of what comes in and out of it, tallying up all your cash and then making it ready for use again. It also has additional security features, which offer you better protection. In a busy retail environment, a cash recycler may be your best bet to reduce errors.
If you think your cash handling processes could use a hand, then it’s time to get in touch. Let the experts help you identify issues and the best solutions to resolve them.
