How To Track Musical Instrument Rentals With Your POS

Written by Taylor Harnois | Feb 4, 2025 4:00:00 PM

Instrument rentals can bring in significant revenue for a small music store — but they can also be a hassle to manage.

When you offer rentals, you have to keep track of all your instruments, stay in contact with renters, take payments, and keep rental instruments stocked to keep your rental system running smoothly — all while running the rest of your business. Luckily, you don’t have to keep track of all of this by hand — you just need a quality point of sale (POS) system.

POS systems are digital platforms business owners can use to make running their store easier. These systems have features for facilitating sales transactions, purchasing inventory, managing e-commerce — and if you use an industry-specific solution, features for musical instrument rentals.

In this blog, we’ll explain how you can use a POS system to simplify rental management — in seven easy steps.

Let’s get started.

1. Track Instrument Rental Information

POS systems can track and store large amounts of data, and cloud-based POS systems can store this information in the cloud rather than taking up space on your device.

A reliable POS system stores the following information about rentals:

Serialized inventory: You can use serial numbers to keep track of specific instruments, so you always know which instruments have been rented out. With serialized inventory, rather than just knowing a guitar was rented out, you can know exactly which guitar it was — this way, every piece of your inventory is accounted for.
Renter details: POS systems allow you to easily store information about your renters, so you can contact them if necessary. This includes phone numbers, addresses, and other information necessary for the rental process.
Rental duration: POS systems help you keep track of due dates, which can get confusing if you have many instruments rented out at one time. You can search for a customer and check their due date at the touch of a button, allowing you to let new customers know when an out-of-stock instrument rental becomes available.
Payment: You can use these systems to take payment, whether the rental is completed online or in store. Your system tracks all payments made so you have a complete record, avoiding errors and simplifying the rental process for customers.

Rather than using pen and paper or typing out this information, the system tracks the rentals you complete — plus, it stores the information to be searched later, eliminating steps in the rental process and allowing you to serve more customers.

2. Launch Online Rentals

Allowing customers to book musical instrument rentals online is more convenient for them. It also helps you avoid crowds and wait times at your store, which can happen at busy times of the year, like back-to-school season. Customers who reserve a rental online can come to your store to pick up their instrument. Many POS providers offer web development services, either creating a website for you, or providing tools so you can design your own website.

This also allows customers to make payments online, including setting up automatic payments for those who’ll keep an instrument for a longer period of time. This reduces the occurrence of issues like late payments and creates a recurring revenue stream for your music store.

3. Automate Customer Communication

When you offer musical instrument rentals, some of your customers will inevitably forget their due dates. However, you can reduce late returns with automated reminders. Systems can be set up to automatically remind customers by text or email when their instrument is close to being due.

In addition to automated messages, using a POS system allows you to easily communicate with customers over text or email so you can more quickly resolve customer service issues and answer questions.

4. Monitor Inventory Levels

Using a POS system keeps your inventory levels synchronized between your physical store and your website. When a rental is processed, your inventory levels are automatically adjusted so you always know which instruments you have available. This also allows you to keep your website up to date, so customers can see an accurate catalog and no instrument is double-booked.

POS systems work with barcode scanners, allowing you to identify an item at the touch of a button. This allows you to quickly check out and check in rentals, making the process more convenient for customers. Having all of your rental data in one place ensures you’ll never lose track of an instrument or renter.

5. Improve Customer Relationship Management

Another feature that’s often available with a POS system is customer relationship management (CRM). CRM tools keep records of your customers’ information, so you can improve your communication.

These tools keep a history of a customer’s rentals, purchases, and customer service issues — this way, when they return to your music store or call in, you can quickly pull up their profile to help them resolve concerns, locate a specific item, or offer customized recommendations.

6. Implement Flexible Rental Policies

A POS platform gives you the flexibility to offer customized rental durations and multiple rental price points, so you can serve a customer base with diverse needs. While a customer who’s a student may want to rent a trumpet for a semester or school year, for example, a different customer may want to try a guitar out for a month. Using a POS system allows you to set customized agreements for these customers.

You can also set customizable rates based on the value of an instrument, so you’re getting the most value out of instrument rentals possible. If you need to adjust rates over time, a POS system allows you to easily do so, then synchronizes the changes across your entire business.

7. Gain Insights Through Data

The data stored by your POS system is useful for helping customers in the moment, but it can also be used to observe overall trends in your business. By paying attention to which aspects of your business are bringing in the most revenue and profit, you can optimize your operations to make the most money— and serve more customers in the process.

This can apply specifically to managing instrument rentals. Pay attention to which instruments are being rented the most and which instruments are rented less often. You might try to advertise the lower performers to boost their popularity. However, if interest remains stagnant, it might be in your best interest to offload some of this inventory.

If you have more demand for a popular instrument than you can supply, consider purchasing more inventory to meet this demand. As you notice trends and gain insights from the data your POS system stores, use this information to improve your rental system so it works for your customers and for your business.

Streamline Musical Instrument Rentals With Music Shop 360

Modern POS platforms offer a more convenient way to manage musical instrument rentals than traditional pen-and-paper methods. With sophisticated data tracking, simple online rentals, automatic inventory adjustments, and other useful features, you can spend less time on logistics and more time serving your customers.

To reap the full benefits a POS system has to offer, you need a platform designed specifically for music stores: Music Shop 360. This cloud-based platform offers both general retail features like website development and marketing tools, and music-specific features like rentals, work orders, and scheduling tools for music lessons. With this full suite of features at your disposal, you can take your store to the next level.

To see Music Shop 360 in action, contact us to schedule a demo today!

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