Why Pawn Shops Need Technology

Posted on 28 Nov 2017


The success of a pawnshop is reliant on many factors. In today’s world, countless technologies exist that help improve exposure and traffic, encourage professional education, utilize e-sales channels and, above all, empower pawnshop owners to achieve what they set out to do and allow them to be current while maintaining a high level of productivity. Pawnshops that want to stay relevant know that they must incorporate these technologies into their growth strategy.  In doing so, they reap additional benefits that keep them ahead of their competitors who fail to embrace technology, including:

  1. Staying virtually connected

Pawnshops that create e-sales channels benefit in more ways that just additional revenue and profit.  With values for all inventory in constant flux, having real-time data from these online channels give pawnshops a sense of relevance and currency – a distinct advantage over any competitor who fails to embrace the need for technology and rely on outdated, archaic methods of evaluation.  In other words (as my kids keep telling me), if you’re not online, you’ve flatlined.

  1. Monitor productivity and employee progress

Pawnshop owners and managers have to stay on top of everything that is going on within the store(s) and be aware of any and all issues that may arise. Utilizing pawn shop software solutions helps them keep up with all of the details while requiring only a few clicks on the computer. They can check whether sales and loan balance goals are on track to be met, compare (in real time) performance to previous years’, and analyze employee metrics. Additionally, it helps to constantly challenge everyone on the team to do their best work as they learn skills that will benefit them in the future.

  1. Creating an open and communicative environment

Pawnshops that take advantage of the benefits of their software and it’s respective reporting abilities can create performance appraisals which makes it much simpler to communicate the fundamentals of the business strategy. Likewise, it becomes easier to get that information to other team members. This enables owners and managers to keep better track of specific daily, weekly and monthly goals while making sure everybody is on the same page for the future. Incorporating the information that you gather from your software also improves employee accountability. Everyone will be able to see the importance behind their work and how it will assist the store in reaching its goals. It gives them a feeling of ownership over it and, in turn, helps them feel part of the team. They become engaged and are more likely to understand their value.

  1. Advanced business reporting and analysis

Pawnmaster (and other software options) offer several reports with specific, targeted information to analyze employee performance, efficiency and improve employee scheduling. By analyzing the results, owners and managers can figure out how to maximize the pawnshop’s potential and pick out weak points that require further training to empower every employee to work smarter.  From macro-style reporting like dashboard reports all the way down to specific productivity for each hour of the day, software simply gives you more information to work with.  All of this will give each pawnshop a distinctive competitive edge over others.

  1. Improve employee motivation

Most successful pawnshops utilize employee performance evaluations for pinpointing individual shortcomings and how to fix them.  This opens opportunities for further education for certain employees in specific fields i.e. jewelry and diamond knowledge, loan values, customer service, and sales opportunities. By offering these additional avenues for improvement, pawnshop owners and managers allow workers to feel like the company cares and that their skills are valuable and vital to the store’s success.

Corby Logue

Written by Corby Logue

Mr. Logue has over 30 years of experience in the pawn and collateral loan industry. He has held and operated almost every position the industry can offer including tenured positions at a strategic level in the sales, operations and acquisition lines of business. Before coming to Data Age Business Systems, Mr. Logue was the Chief Operations Officer at National Pawn and Jewelry, one of the largest privately owned chain pawn shops in the United States with 33 stores. Prior to that, Mr. Logue began his career with EZ Pawn, his family’s pawn shop, which grew from a privately owned, single-store operation to 225 publicly traded locations. He managed operations on the private side and lead the acquisitions team on the public side. Mr. Logue has an extensive business background and earned a degree in Communications from The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Logue’s success and contribution to the pawn industry has gained him great respect and visibility which he will use to advance the success of other pawn shops.

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