5 POS Integrations Every Liquor Store Owner Needs

If you run a liquor store, you probably use your point of sale (POS) system constantly to handle payments, check inventory, and perform other tasks.

But did you know that adding POS integrations can help your system do even more? 

Many POS systems for general retail boast thousands of integrations or APIs that help businesses run smarter and faster — but many of those integrations come at an extra cost and aren’t particularly helpful for liquor store owners.

In this article, we’ll explore five POS integrations that can help your liquor store save time, boost sales, and stay compliant. 

What Is a POS Integration?

When you talk with POS vendors or research the best POS system for liquor stores, you’ll no doubt hear a lot of chatter about “integrations” without anyone explaining what they actually are.

Put simply, an integration refers to the connections between different pieces of software. Software developers build integrations so popular tools can work together (which means you don’t have to use multiple systems that don’t communicate with one another). 

For instance, think about when you visit a new website. In some cases, you can sign in using Google or Facebook instead of creating a new account. This website uses an integration with another service to make signing in easier for customers. 

For specialty retailers, various POS integrations help your store management software share stock, customer, and financial information between different systems (e.g., e-commerce, social media marketing, etc.) to save time on certain tasks, offer new services, or allow your POS system to do more without having to use separate software.

5 Crucial POS Integrations for Liquor Stores

Modern POS systems can have a lot of integrations with other software, but not all are useful for liquor stores.

Here are five POS integrations that are game-changers for independent liquor stores. 

1. Vendor Integrations: Faster & More Accurate Stock Updates

When it comes to least favorite liquor store tasks, invoicing and stock updates are at the top of the list. When you have to manually check each purchase order against new shipments and then update your stock, the act of invoicing can turn into hours or days of work.

One of the best reasons to invest in a liquor-specific POS system is for integrations with vendors and automated invoicing.

Vendor integrations allow you to browse a vendor’s entire stock catalog and pricing, and then generate POs directly from your system. In many cases, a liquor system matches a vendor’s selection against a UPC database to update product descriptions and provide median pricing.

Once you receive a shipment, automated invoicing integrations digitize the invoice for you within 24 hours. This way, updating your stock is as easy as confirming (or updating) the invoice with a single click. This simple feature ensures that your stock stays up to date and saves your employees time on manual data entry.

2. E-Commerce: DoorDash & Online Sales

People are increasingly used to having everything delivered, from groceries to electronics. And now that many states are easing their liquor delivery laws, online liquor sales are on the rise. Offering online sales is a great way to put your business in front of new customers that might never step foot in your store otherwise.

While many POS systems offer some e-commerce functionality out of the box, many need special e-commerce integrations to set up a proper online store or to work with third-party services like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

At a basic level, an e-commerce integration allows your system to sync stock and pricing information between sales channels. It also centralizes how payments are processed. This means that, no matter where you make a sale, your system keeps your stock updated and helps organize orders and pick lists.

Some systems, like Bottle POS, also allow you to integrate with popular services like DoorDash — without extra hardware or software requirements. Simply onboard and work directly with the third-party vendor to set up online orders.

Even if you don’t plan to offer delivery, listing your stock online has many benefits. Over half of customers say they like to browse a store’s selection online before going in person. And 76% of “near me” searches lead to a store visit within 24 hours. 

3. Register Webcams: Better Security & Accountability

Unfortunately, running a liquor store comes with more security, fraud, and shrinkage risks compared to other types of businesses. Integrations with security tools make it easier to protect your business. 

Whether it’s not scanning a customer’s item, not checking ID, processing a fraudulent return, stealing cash from the drawer, or any other issue, one of the main security and compliance hot spots is the register. 

Register webcam integrations are extremely helpful for preventing fraud by connecting webcam footage to specific transactions. This way, if there’s an incident, you can pull the financial information, the employees who were working, and the footage — all at the same time.  

Related Read: Liquor Store Security: 6 Tips for Keeping Your Store Safe

4. Marketing Tools: Targeted Promotions & More Customers

Customer communication is essential for main street success. It forms personal connections and lets them know what’s new in your store. While a basic newsletter and social media are a good start, it can be a bit impersonal when sharing specific deals or store promotions. 

SMS and email marketing integrations make it easier to send highly personalized offers directly to customers without having to manually look up individual profiles. It does this by linking your inventory information with customer information.

Here’s how it works. You collect customer contact information (usually through a loyalty program). Once customers are in the system, it tracks their purchase history. This allows you to market to them in two key ways:

1. Create customer groups: You can create unique customer groups (e.g., whiskey connoisseurs, craft beer lovers, frequent visitors, bulk buyers) by filtering by purchase history. This gives you a base group to send targeted offers to, regardless of when they last shopped with you.
2. Filter by product purchase: For more immediate offers, you can also filter recent sales (e.g., anyone who’s bought bourbon in the last two weeks or people who’ve bought red wine in the last month).    

You can then set up one-time SMS or email messages or a messaging campaign right in your POS system. 

Using customer groups or product filters lets you quickly set up marketing emails tailored to customers’ interests. This lets you do things like:

• Announce a limited, rare bottle release only to loyalty members who have over 1,000 points saved.
• Send a buy one, get one (BOGO) 50% off deal on select craft beer six-packs to anyone who’s bought craft beer in the last month.
• Send an invite for an upcoming whiskey tasting event to your “whiskey lovers” customer group.

Marketing integrations collect and help organize your customer information for quicker, better promotions and more sales.

5. Accounting Integrations: Accurate Taxes & Profit Reporting

When business is booming, it feels great… until you get hit with an unexpected tax bill or discover your cash flow isn’t as healthy as you thought. 

Your liquor store POS system inherently tracks prudent financial information like sales numbers, total inventory costs, refunds, losses, and tax rates. Yet, many stores hire a separate accountant and share only the most basic figures.

Accounting integrations allow you to export your detailed sales and inventory reports as CSV files that can be used by QuickBooks and other accounting software. Liquor-specific solutions like Bottle POS also support advanced configuration of different tax rates, bottle fees, and other costs often overlooked by generic POS software.

Related Read: Liquor Store POS Reporting: 6 Benefits, Tools, & Tips

Get Everything You Need for Liquor Store Operations — All in One Place

POS integrations help liquor store owners get more done without having to invest in brand-new hardware or software. A good integration takes the system you’re already comfortable with and makes it better.

But while many POS systems built for generic retail have more integrations, they don’t necessarily connect to the services that liquor stores actually need.

Bottle POS was designed by liquor store owners, for liquor store owners, to give you the features you need without the fluff. We also support optional integrations that help you coordinate with regional suppliers, share metrics with your accounting team, market to customers, and expand your sales online.

Want to see what your dream liquor POS system looks like? Use our free Build & Price tool to create a system that’s best for your business.