Making Cents of Financial Management Software: Point-of-Sale (POS) Data

Date:

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Time: 

6:00pm – 7:30pm

Location:

Virtual Online Session  

Cost:

Free

Related Program(s):

LINK TO: January 6, 2022 Workshop Recording

Join in to learn from top farm financial consultants and farmers on using POS (Point-of-Sale) data for financial management, to inform market practices, and make business decisions.  Grocery stores have used scanner data to inform marketing techniques for decades. Farmer-friendly point of sale software, such as Square, now gives farmers market vendors similar potential to track their sales. Learn how Cornell researchers used this technology in conjunction with eight NY-based vegetable production farms. Hear from farmers about how they use POS data to manage financial risks.  Leave this session with specific takeaways and tips for your own production and sales methods.

Presenters:

Matt LeRoux, Extension Associate, Cornell University.  Matt has 20 years’ experience serving farms through Cornell Cooperative Extension, non-profits, and consulting. Specializing in market strategy, Matt works with a diverse mix of produce and livestock farmers and food businesses. Career highlights include developing the Marketing Channel Assessment Tool for produce growers and the Cornell Meat Price & Yield Calculator.

Becca Rimmel is co-owner of Bottomland Farm in Berkshire, NY, a diversified farm raising broiler chickens, egg-laying hens, pigs, ducks, goats, rabbits, turkeys, and a small amount of specialty fruits and vegetables.  The farm sells year round at four area farmers’ markets in Central New York.  Becca is also the former manager of the Ithaca Farmers Market and supported Cornell Cooperative Extension’s POS research with participating farmers.

Pete Lowy is the Farm Manager of Codman Community Farms in Lincoln, MA, a diversified pasture-based livestock and produce farm managing town and conservation land.  The farm operates a year-round self-serve honor store and farm stand and uses Toast to manage inventory and self-check out services.  Learn how they track inventory, data, and manage their systems to make business decisions.
 

LINK TO: Fact Sheet

Additional Resources:

  • Square POS App – not just a “credit card machine” but a robust and free data collection tool (fees are only for credit card processing fees)
  • Square Dashboard App – look at daily sales snapshots (total gross sales, average sales, # customers, comparisons, etc.)
  • Square Invoices App – can invoice customers directly via email
  • LeRoux, Matthew; Schmit, Todd. “Electronic Point of Sale Systems Bring New Opportunities to Improve Sales for Farmers Market Vendors.”  Smart Marketing. Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. (2020): 4pp
  • Modernizing your Farm Sales with Mobile Point-of-Sales Systems – publication by Grown NYC.  Features a comparison charge of various POS services such as:  Square, Shopkeep, Infotouch, Mobile Market Register, Revel, Clover, and NRC Silver Basic (attached)
  • Local Line – online e-commerce platform for selling local food online
  • Toast – a POS system more geared to the restaurant industry; has decent interface for self-serve check out terminals; can be adapted for farm stands/retail operations
  • ECRS – self-checkout terminals / POS for retail operations with scale integration and accepts SNAP/EBT transactions.