Register 2: Customers

October 01, 2024

You can get to this part of the system when you first log in by clicking the Register icon on the far left of the blue Admin Toolbar.

Customer Functions in the Register

The first thing you have the option of doing is adding the customer to the transaction by either searching for the one you want, as shown below, and clicking on their name in the drop-list that comes up, or by clicking the New Customer button to the right and creating a new Customer entry for them in the system. Customers can check out anonymously, but if their name is in the Register, they will benefit from gaining Reward Points and coupons, and it will be easier for you to work with returns they might need to make.

Please Note: To look up Quotes, Account Balance, Layaways, Special Orders, Work Orders, Transaction History, and Items Purchased, the customer's name will need to be loaded into the Register.

customer search.png

If you click to create a New Customer, you'll see the Add Customer panel pictured below. If you click on a Customer's name that is already in the system, you'll see a much more detailed Edit Customer panel, with info about all of their activities. For more information on how to create Customers and work with Customer data, click here (this link will open in a new browser tab for you): Adding and Editing Customers.

Customer Information - Enter general information about the customer such as Name, Phone numbers, Email, and Company. Please note that Email is a unique identifier and is the best way to look up customers, since they can have the same names and in rare cases, might have the same phone.
Driver License - There is a field you can store driver's license numbers for your customers, if needed. You can use the Image Upload button to upload a photo of a driver's license. Please Note: It is illegal to keep permanent records of anyone's ID without their consent, so please be sure you have that before saving anyone's ID with this function. It may be possible that your state has specific laws regarding this practice, so please check with your local chamber of commerce on the legality of this practice before using it.
Other Information - If you need to save other information about the customer, such as their Anniversary Date and Birthday(for both of these, the Year is optional), Language (there is a long list of major languages from which to choose), and Gender.
Till Alert - If there is special information the sales clerk needs to be aware of regarding the customer, you can add that here and whenever the customer is loaded into the Register, the Till Alert will pop up, see the example below.

Address - You can enter separate shipping and billing addresses if you need, and full support for different countries is there for you.
Custom Customer Data Fields - If you click the Admin Button with your username in the upper right and go to Settings > POS Settings > Customer, you are able to add custom fields to collect and use information for your customers. For more information on how to create these custom fields, click here Custom Data Fields for Customers. In this example, custom fields for Club (drop-down) and Member Since (date field) are used by the example store to track club member information.
Click Save at the bottom when you have added the info for the new customer that you need.

Once you have the Customer loaded, you can see a lot of useful information about them in the upper bar, as pictured below.

You'll see 1) Contact Information (the small X button will remove the current Customer and let you search for another, clicking on the name will open the full details view), 2) Rewards program info and Customer Balance (credit balance in green numbers or balance owed in red), and 3) Customer Actions. In order as shown below, the Customer Actions are Quotes, Customer Notes (these will be visible when viewing the full customer details), Work Orders, Reward Coupons, Short-Term Rentals, Layaways, Special Orders, and Rental Contracts. Any of the icons highlighted have entries that are active in the system for the Customer. Clicking on any of the Customer Actions icons will open the Customer Actions panel, showing you all current activities for the customer. Please note, there are some newer elements in the Customer Actions panel that do not have an icon, such as the Waitlist, Invoices, Payment Plans, Consignment, and Trial Purchases.

Here is a breakdown of the various Customer Actions currently usable in the Register (see image below):

Waitlist - If the customer has any products or classes on their Waitlist, you can open the list and work with those items by clicking the Open Waitlist button. Click here for more info: Waitlists
Quotes - A Quote is a permanently saved transaction and is used to either print and give to a customer for a requested quote, or just to permanently save a set of items that have been loaded into the Register for later purchase. To create a Quote, load the item(s) needed into the Register along with the Customer, open the Customer Actions panel and click the + for Quotes. From then on, that Quote will be accessible here whenever the Customer is loaded into the Register. You can open a saved Quote by clicking the Load button, you can also Print it at any time, or Delete it as needed. Click here for more info: Create a Quote
Account Balance - If the Customer has a balance, it will display here; numbers like those pictured below are for a Balance Owed, and a negative number represents a Credit Balance. Clicking on the balance will add it to the Register as a line item, either to be paid or as a credit to whatever is being purchased. NOTE: If the Customer has a credit balance larger than the transaction total, we highly recommend NOT adding the credit to the Register in this way. Instead, use On Account as a payment method, which will allow you to use only the part of the credit balance needed. If it is loaded as a line item and exceeds the transaction total, you will owe the customer change.

Reward Coupons (Not Pictured) - If the Customer has any Reward Coupons that are available for use, they will appear here. You can click on the coupon to add it to the Register, and it will appear as a Discount. Clicking the Discount button in the Register will show you details about the applied Reward Coupon. You also have the option to Apply All if you allow coupons to be stacked(in your Coupon & Discount settings under Settings > POS Settings > General).
Invoices - If the customer has any open Invoices, they will appear here. You can click on the invoice to open its full detail view. You can click the Pay button to pay all or part of the balance owed on the invoice, and you can see here any that are overdue. Click here for more info: Invoices for Billing Your Customers
Layaways - Any active Layaways for the Customer will be listed. You can start a new one by clicking the + Button. The Customer can make a payment if you click the Pay button, and that payment will go into the register as a line item with any late fees accrued, or the customer can pay off the entire Layaway if you click the Pick Up button. You can learn more about how to work with Layaways by clicking here: Layaways.
Special Orders - If a Customer wants you to order them an item from one of your Vendors, you can click the + to create a Special Order. Please note that if you are not using our Purchase Order system, you will NOT want to use Special Orders, since each must be associated with a Purchase Order and then received in order to be picked up from the Register. You can view any active Special Order for the Customer by clicking on the Order Number, and once it has been received, you can click the Pick Up button to add the item to the Register. Click here to learn more about how to process Special Orders.
Work Orders - If the customers have any Work Orders that are in process or ready to be picked up, they will appear in this area. You can click on the Work Order listing to add it to the Register. Click here to learn more about Work Orders.
Rental Contracts - Any active Rent to Own / Rent to Rent contracts the customer may have will be listed here. You can click on the Contract Number to open the full details of the contract in a panel, or you can click the Pay button if the customer wants to make their payment in the Register. Click here for more info: Creating Rental Contracts

Short Term Rentals (Not Pictured) - If the Customer has any Short-Term Rentals that are currently Out or Overdue, they will be listed here. Rentals that are Out will display that in green, and Overdue Rentals will display in red, either can be adjusted by clicking the Edit button to alter the terms of the Rental. You can click the Return button to complete payment on the Rental. The Rental will be loaded into the Register as a line item and can be paid for in the normal way. To learn more about how to work with our Rentals system, click here: Using the Short Term Rentals Module.
Payment Plans - If the customer has an active Payment Plan, you can click the Payment Plan number for full details, or click the Pay button to make a payment in the Register. Click here for more info: Payment Plans
Consignment - If the customer has brought you inventory to sell on consignment in your store, open Consignment Contracts will display here, and you can click the contract number to view full details. If you are making a new consignment contract for new inventory they are bringing in, click the +Button. Click here for more info: Consignment Selling in the Rain System
Trial Purchases - If this function is active in your store you can either click the +Button to start a new Trial Purchase, or you can click the Trial Purchase Number of any items in the list to view full details. Click here for more info: Trial Purchases
Transactions - A list of the customer's Transactions is in this area, with the most recent at the top. You can click on any of them to view the transaction details.
Search - The Search module for the Customer Actions is robust, and allows you to search for specific transaction or items, just enter a Transaction ID (or scan a receipt barcode) or enter keywords for products or scan a product barcode label. The list will filter down to display only the items that match the search.

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Register 2: Customers