The modern retail point-of-sale (POS) has come a long way from the cash register of decades past. “Old school” retail shop owners have come around to the benefits of a modern POS system with a product catalog and contactless payment options. Yet many brick-and-mortar retail operators struggle to see the POS as anything more than a fancy cash register.

Here are three key integrations that can give your retail business the most bang for your buck and help you stay competitive with larger chain retailers.

1. Ecommerce & online retail: Opening an online store has traditionally been challenging for smaller retailers. Sure, do-it-yourself ecommerce platforms have been around for years, but they require you to design and launch it yourself or hire a web developer. Add to that the upkeep of managing two separate product catalogs—one for your online store and one for your in-store POS—and it’s no wonder many independent retailers bowed out of the ecommerce game altogether.

2. Local delivery: Most persons would be more likely to purchase from a store that offers both in-person and online purchase options over a store that offers only one or the other. Once again, an omnichannel point-of-sale solution makes this a possibility for small retailers. In the same way you can use a third-party shipping integration for national shipping, you can use a third-party delivery service to provide same-day delivery for local customers.

Simply add both shipping and local delivery options to the checkout options on your online store and pass on however much of the costs you want to the customer. And when it comes to pricing, your POS integration should also help you save money with an affordable flat-rate delivery fee rather than a commission-based fee.

3. Accounting: Whether you have an accountant or do the bookkeeping yourself, keeping up with accounting can be time-consuming and costly, even when using accounting software such as Quickbooks. Here, a third-party accounting automation integration such as Shogo can save the day. The integration allows you to save time and frustration by automatically syncing your sales transactions from your POS to the accounting software of your choice.