A layaway program is a kind of a plan where the consumer pays for merchandise in parts. The consumer will not take the merchandise home with them until the full payments are made. This is an advantage to consumers, instead of buying on credit and the price being higher because of the interest. The store will hold the merchandise while at the same time keeping a record of how the customer is paying for it. Once they make full payments, the company releases the merchandise for them, and the customer takes the delivery. One advantage of a layaway program is that there is an assurance that the chosen merchandise will be in stock and ready for delivery when the item is fully paid for. This can come as an advantage to consumers who buy merchandise that runs out of stock quickly, and they don’t have the money to buy it instantly.

For a layaway program to work efficiently, the business must have a good layaway point of sale. The POS system will keep a record of how many customers are paying for their layaway programs and how they are paying them. Remember a customer can shop for different items in the business and at the same time he has a layaway plan for an individual item in the same business. A layaway program is beneficial to both the retailer and the customer.

The POS software should be able to keep track of the stock that customers are paying layaway programs for. The POS system should calculate the amount of stock remaining based on the data of the customers paying layaway programs. If the stock that is remaining can only fit the layaway program customers, the POS system will alert you that there is going to be a low stock condition and make the order for more stock. A good layaway point of sale should not sell stock that is already on the layaway plan. This is because the customer is expecting to find the stock in place after making full payments of the item.

Layaway programs help businesses compete by installing trust in their customers. The customer is always assured that the item they are paying for will be waiting for them in stock after they finish paying. This way the customers are more likely to be shopping in the same place to keep in check with their layaway programs. When a customer goes for shopping, they will always remember the store they made a deal with in a layaway program and they will have the feeling of honoring the store by visiting more often.

A layaway program is kept in track by the layaway point of sale. If you have an inadequate and ineffective POS system, your layaway program will fail terribly. Acquire a good point of sale system that will keep track of the layaway programs payments and coordinate that with the stock. The program is an advantage to most of the retailers in that it allows them to offer products to low-income customers. The customer will consider this like a savings plans where they will not fail to pay when the time comes.