POS Buyer's Guide
Table of Contents
1. What is a POS System?
2. Why Use a POS System?
3. POS Software Options
4. POS Equipment and Hardware
5. POS Pricing and Costs
6. How to Choose a Vendor
7. Implementing a POS System
8. Expert Tips for Success
1. What is a POS System?
“POS” or “point-of-sale” systems can make your life much easier. A POS system is designed to do all of that tedious, by-hand computation work, such as tallying sales, salesperson totals, or even employee hours automatically. Technically, any system that can process and record transactions falls under the category of “POS-” even cash registers. Today’s POS systems can perform even complicated computation functions in seconds.
Chances are, you’ve had at least some experience with a POS system, or maybe you’ve seen one being used. Retail stores, restaurants, hotels, gyms, and numerous other businesses use POS systems to “scan” or input items for purchase, to place orders, and to calculate receipt totals.
The first POS systems were basically cash registers- developed in the 1870s. Flash forward 100 years, and computer-driven registers were becoming widely used. As businesses began taking advantage of options such as client-server technology, peer-to-peer communications, data backups, and remote access, POS systems emerged as the dominant technology among large retail businesses. POS systems not only process transactions, they can also be linked can be linked to your merchant account services account, so that you can accept credit cards using the system.
POS systems are highly customizable, using different methods to input items or compute sales. POS systems can be used for scheduling, computing employee hours and commissions, or analyzing sales data by department. The right POS system can keep track of any sales information you need to know.
Choosing the right system is key if you hope to gain any of the benefits associated with using a POS system. This guide helps you choose by offering basic information about POS components, giving tips on software and hardware, and providing advice for choosing a system. Make sure you shop smart- arm yourself with the right information so you can make an informed choice.
