Firearm and Gun stores can range from a single FFL licensee selling used firearms at a gun shows or online to large, complex multi-store, multi-channel businesses that sell firearms, sporting goods and tactical gear. The best gun store POS systems should not only help you efficiently ring up sales and manage your operations, but also help you manage your regulatory requirements. To help you research the different options to identify the best POS system for your firearms business, we have put together a list of the top 10 POS features for gun stores.
1. Inventory Management with Barcode Labels
Inventory management is critical for gun stores, as margins are tight. The best gun store POS systems track every item acquired from vendors and distributors as well as very item sold. For multi-store retailers, the top gun store POS systems also include real-time stock data across all locations – including open stock, committed stock and items on order. Given the increasing cost of hourly employees, it’s important to make sure that backend operations run efficiently. Tools to make managing inventory and ordering and receiving items from vendors can really make a difference. Also, automating your ordering process from vendors by auto filling purchase orders by reorder levels with one click can help reduce labor costs.
2. Affordable Pricing
Let admit it, you really have to watch your expenses when managing a gun store. Many top gun store POS systems are expensive, which cuts directly into your profits. Others charge you for set up fees or an upfront licensing fees. Others charge more for each additional add on or module used for your store. GinBiz POS by MicroBiz offers a simple pricing program starting at $60/mo with no upfront or hidden fees. You can cancel anytime that you like.
3. Tracking of the Serial Numbers of Firearms
Track the serial number of regulated items such as guns and firearms is essential for firearms business. Top FFL POS systems allow you to enter the serial numbers of firearms acquired at the point that the items are acquired from your vendor. Serial numbers should be able to be able to be scanned using a barcode readers - or manually entered into the POS software. When managing a firearm and ammo store, you will need to add serial numbers at several points during the sale process - when receiving products in a shipment from a distributor, when transferring a gun with serial numbers in a store transfer, and when selling and returning serialized items at the front register. Serial numbers should also be displayed on printed receipts/invoices. Your FFL POS software should also include a Serial Number History report to search for serial numbers - and also view the transaction history for each serial number assigned to an item.
4. Electronic Gun Registry (A&D Book with 4473 Registration)
A FFL business is highly regulated, so the best POS systems for gun stores and FFLs include an electronic A&D book integrated with the POS system. That way the A&D book can automatically record every firearm sale, allowing you to record and view the history of any firearm acquired or disposed of, and produce ATF-formatted reports and can be backed up daily. These electronic registration systems include 4473 forms - and can be used to managge the 4473 registration process required for a purchaser using on any device, including iPads, while processing NICS background checks in minutes. These solutions for FFLs enable FFLs to scan driver licenses to detect fraudulent IDS and prevent dispositions when data entered by a purchaser is invalid. Some FFL POS systems include their own electronic bound book, while other modern cloud-based FFL POS systems integrate with best-of-breed cloud electronic A&D registration apps, such as FastBound, for ATF compliance.
5. Mobile Point of Sale Capabilities for Gun Shows
Gun shows are a great way to increase your sales and visibility. Cloud-based POS systems are great for gun stores - allowing you to operate a mobile POS register using a laptop connected to a network. No need to set up large PC-based systems or copy files back and forth between computers. These mobile gun store POS systems can quickly scan items into inventory or for sale at the register using barcodes. You can quickly and easily discount items, capture customer data, check inventory quickly and make sales. The cloud-based architecture of the best gun store POS systems allow you to access your POS register any place and at any time, including gun shows, swap markets and other marketplaces requiring a gun store mobile POS system.
6. Service Orders for Gunsmithing and Repairs
Many gun stores use services such as gunsmithing to compete against larger online and general shooting sports retailers. Managing a repair or service department is a key feature for leading gun store POS systems. Services such as gun smithing, modifications and repairs of firearms can generate high margins. Work order features needed include the ability to check in a customer owned item, add parts and services, print a quote, assign to an employee and collect deposits with ease. Customer owned items checked in for gunsmithing (such as firearms) should be linked and displayed in the customer record, including service history of work done on each item. A service calendar to help with scheduling your work orders can also be helpful.
7. Payment Processing that is Firearm-friendly
Many payment processors have policies that prohibit them from working with firearms merchants - or are not competitive on rates. This is why it’s critical for your gun store POS system to integrated with a 'firearm friendly' payment processor. Firearm friendly payment processors: do not place any restrictions on products that you sell, even Class III / NFA items; have rates that do not change over time; offer competitive pricing; do not impose any early termination fees; have dedicated customer support knowledgable on firearm issues; integration with a good POS and ecommerce platform and support of a variety of POS hardware. Leading payment processors for firearms dealers includes Gearfire Payments.
8. Ammo and Firearm Vendor Catalogs
Firearm stores can carry a wide variety of items from a range of distributors and vendors. The best gun store POS systems make it easy for FFLs to import products from a variety of vendors catalogs. This can be done via a simple and reliable data import tool that allows you to import firearm vendor product data via CSV files. FFL POS systems also offer am accessible repository of item data that can searched and used to pull product information into your POS system. These tools allow you to import product data without entering the product information manually.
9. Integration with Ecommerce Site for Online Sales
Ecommerce is a great way to increase your market and promote your brand. The best POS solutions for gun stores allow you to integrate your firearms store with an ecommerce website. This can be either a customed design - or a ready-made gun store template that can be used with popular ecommerce platforms, such as WooCommerce (the free ecommerce site for the WordPress content management platform). These intgrated ecommerce solutions let you display your store inventory online - and even manage shipping to your customers. It’s critical that your gun store POS system syncs current stock levels between your store and ecommerce website and update prices - as you do not want to sel mispriced items or sell items that are no longer in inventory.
10. Trade-ins and Management of Used Firearms
Managing trade ins can be tricky - as the price paid for a trade in becomes the cost basis once the item is added to stock. The best POS systems for gun stores can manage this processes. Be sure that you can set up sellers or consignors as vendors, and generate sales and inventory reports by each vendor. For trade ins, you must be able to quickly create the item in the POS system and issue the trade in on in cash or a store credit.