Retail is an industry with fairly slim margins and high overhead costs. After all, you need to pay for the physical space for your store, as well as for employees to staff it. Merchandise must be ordered and put on the floor for display. Then there’s the cost of technology as well.
Success in retail is often predicated on operating a tight ship, which means keeping tabs on all your overhead costs.
Have you thought about how reducing manual cash counting could save your business money? It’s one of the most commonly overlooked methods for reducing overhead costs and boosting the bottom line in the retail industry. Here’s how it can work for your business.
Save Time by Making Cash Counting More Efficient
Manual cash counting has long been a staple of the retail industry. Your cashiers may need to count their tills before and after every shift. A cash supervisor may need to dispense floats, top up change drawers, and even prepare bank deposits and tally up day sheets.
In the past, all of this had to be done by hand. As technology has progressed, new machines have been able to help businesses in many industries automate these sorts of tasks. No longer do your supervisors and managers need to sit in the office, sorting out bank notes or counting bills and coins. Instead, machines can do it for them.
The same is true of your cashiers on the floor. With coin and bank note recyclers and other innovative cash handling equipment, they will not need to tally the till at the end of the shift.
All of this equates to your staff members spending less time on these often time-intensive tasks. The less time you spend on cash counting, the less it costs you.
Reducing Manual Counting Increases Productivity
As your cashiers, supervisors, and even managers spend less time counting cash, they can turn their attention to other tasks in the business. Your cashiers may be able to spend more time on the floor assisting customers. Your supervisors and managers may be able to complete other administrative or strategic tasks.
Reducing cash counting by hand has the effect of increasing productivity, since it frees up employee time to work on other tasks.
Reducing Errors and the Time Spent Fixing Them
Another issue with manual cash counting is human error. Your staff members are only human, no matter how detail oriented they are. At some point, they’re bound to make a mistake or two.
This can run up costs, since it means someone has to spend time and effort sorting out the error. It might also mean your business loses money, which can decrease your revenue.
The right cash management technology will not only reduce how much cash counting you need to do by hand, but it will also reduce the number of errors that are made. Fewer errors mean less time spent fixing them, as well as more time to complete other tasks in the business.
Do Benefits Outweigh the Costs?
One of the questions retailers ask is whether the benefits of automated cash handling outweigh the cost of investing in cash management solutions. The answer is absolutely.
While cash management solutions may seem pricey on paper, the advantages they offer your business accrue year over year. Efficiencies in counting and handling cash translate into higher productivity, reduced errors, and reduced overhead costs. These solutions more than earn their keep in a business over time.
If you’re wondering which cash management solution is right for your business, talk to the experts. They can help you decide which solution will help you maximize the benefits.