When a warehouse falls behind, your entire business feels it.
Delayed orders stack up, products go missing, and inventory counts stop matching what’s on the shelves. But a good warehouse point of sale (POS) system can make a real difference — if it’s built for the job.
This blog covers must-have features for your warehouse POS system, plus some of the most popular providers currently on the market.
Let’s get started.
When you’re managing multiple high-value items like smartphones, tablets, and accessories, each one tracked by its own stock-keeping unit (SKU), accuracy becomes even more critical. Mistakes like shipping the wrong device or miscounting inventory can lead to returns, delays, and frustrated customers.
A warehouse management system (WMS) built into your POS helps prevent order errors, stockouts, and missed sales opportunities by giving complete visibility into inventory across your business.
Here are some essential features your system needs to keep things on track.
Nothing is more upsetting for customers than receiving the wrong products. Even one wrong item — the wrong phone model, missing accessories, or incorrect quantities — can lead to returns, negative reviews, and lost business.
But with a built-in quality control feature, you can verify that orders are correct before they ever leave the warehouse.
Use this feature to:
This is especially valuable for phone retailers dealing with bulk accessories, small boxed items, or mix-and-match product bundles. With a WMS built into your POS, warehouse staff can double-check items quickly and accurately before labeling and shipping.
Related Read: Running A Cell Phone Store: 5 Challenges + Solutions
If you’re managing multiple warehouses, backstock locations, or distribution points, knowing where products are and how many are on hand is essential to fill orders correctly.
A strong warehouse POS system lets you monitor inventory levels across all locations from one dashboard.
Use this feature to:
This tool helps keep orders moving without overstocking every location. If one warehouse runs low on a specific phone model, for example, you can reallocate from another without overordering or waiting on new deliveries.
Running out of top-selling products can cost you sales, but overselling can cause even more issues — especially when customers expect fast fulfillment. Quantity buffers are a safety net, alerting you before your stock hits a low threshold.
Your warehouse management system should allow custom buffer settings for each product, so you can set stock alerts based on real sales patterns and lead times instead of relying on blanket thresholds.
Use this feature to:
Say you’re down to your last 100 units of iPhone 13s. A set buffer can keep those devices off the retail site or flag the item for restock so you don’t have to cancel orders after placing them, keeping your inventory data up to date and reliable.
Warehouse inventory counts take time. If inaccurate, they can lead to misshipments and customer service issues. A WMS speeds up the process by giving warehouse staff tools to scan, log, and reconcile items on the go.
Use this feature to:
If you carry similar products with minor variations, like different storage sizes or accessories, this feature is a must-have. By quickly identifying gaps and mismatches, you can fix problems before they affect customer orders.
Related Read: Inventory Management for Electronics: 5 Digital Inventory Tools
Reports are one of the most practical tools your warehouse POS system can offer. While they help track sales activity, they also provide data to guide warehouse planning, vendor relationships, and purchase decisions.
A strong warehouse management system should include reporting features that pull from real-time inventory movement, not just POS data. That way, you’re working from the full picture of what’s coming in, going out, and sitting too long.
Use this feature to:
Let’s say your reports show that a specific charging cable sells out every December. Instead of reacting at the last minute, you can place larger purchase orders in advance.
Looking at trends year over year also helps you see which products are consistently worth restocking versus phasing out.
Now that you know what to look for in a warehouse POS system, here are some providers that support strong warehouse and inventory features, especially for businesses with extensive product catalogs or multiple locations.
With a built-in dashboard explicitly designed for electronics retailers, CellSmart POS makes managing serialized inventory, warranty tracking, and bundled products easy.
This POS solution connects storefronts and warehouses in one system, giving real-time visibility across multiple locations. It stands out by combining inventory tracking with built-in quality control to catch shipping errors before orders leave the warehouse.
This platform offers:
Ideal for phone and accessory retailers, CellSmart reduces manual inventory checks by integrating warehouse management directly into the POS.
Lightspeed stands out with its various integration capabilities, giving retailers visibility into both warehouse and online stock in one place. This combined view of all operations can help business owners identify historical sales trends to inform purchasing and stocking decisions.
This platform offers:
Lightspeed is a solid warehouse POS system for retailers looking to reduce manual inventory updates and base restocking decisions on detailed data instead of guesswork.
Unlike other warehouse POS solutions, Advantive works best for exclusively wholesale distributors, with features to manage bulk pricing tiers and complex order structures.
This system’s strengths lie in its integrated sales processing and quick inventory updates, keeping both front- and back-end operations aligned.
This platform offers:
While applicable to many businesses, Advantive notably works well for wholesalers with B2B accounts and large, recurring orders.
What sets NetSuite WMS apart is its ability to scale with enterprise businesses and support advanced functions like wave picking, lot tracking, and automated putaway rules.
This warehouse POS solution handles high-volume, multi-warehouse operations with a focus on guided mobile workflows to help reduce mistakes during order fulfillment.
This platform offers:
NetSuite WMS can manage large SKU counts, making it particularly valuable for companies that need end-to-end visibility across supply chain, finance, and fulfillment systems.
Managing inventory doesn’t have to feel like a constant scramble. With the right warehouse POS system, you can reduce errors, speed up restocks, and keep better tabs on all of your products.
CellSmart POS brings together sales, stock, and shipping tools in one system designed specifically for electronics and wireless retailers. Whether you’re managing multiple warehouses, tracking bundled accessories, or logging serial numbers, CellSmart keeps everything synced and accurate.
Schedule a free, personalized demo and see why thousands of repair shops and phone retailers rely on CellSmart for all their daily operations.