 • Compare POS Suppliers in your Area
• Read our Purchasing Advice
• View Listings of Leading Suppliers |
Point of Sale Systems Purchasing Overview
Point of sale (POS) systems replace standalone cash registers with computer-based sales software. A POS system may include a touchscreen, scanner, or keyboard for inputting prices, as well as a display and a computer.
POS systems offer several advantages to hospitality and retail businesses. By helping track inventory, they reduce "shrinkage" and employee theft. Automatic price tracking improves price accuracy over traditional cash registers. And built-in reporting lets you collect detailed information on how your business is really performing.
Specialized POS systems are available for a range of industries: restaurants, retail outlets, hotels, and more. Other POS systems are more general and allow you to customize the interface and options to your business.
The two most prominent point of sale systems are retail POS and hospitality POS. Businesses that need retail point of sale systems typically look for solutions to easily support refunds or exchanges, handle special offers and sale promotions, and create inventory databases to track specific items sold. Retail computer systems can also keep tabs on items that either sell out quickly — or don't sell at all — to determine future inventory needs.
Hospitality POS systems can help ease operations in the hotel industry, bars, and especially in restaurants. A restaurant POS system can add efficiency for casual or fast food establishments that need to quickly complete orders and ensure they are correct. For more exquisite dining, restaurant systems can manage open checks and track server responsibilities.
There are many pieces of POS equipment that come with a standard system. Most are furnished with touch screens which are optimal in POS retail systems and POS restaurant systems for their functionality and flexibility. A supermarket or fast food franchise may opt for keyboards since they can program certain keys to represent specific items. Scanners allow businesses to quickly read bar codes on items for swift and accurate checkouts. And of course, you need a printer to print receipts for credit card and cash transactions.
You can also add other peripherals to your POS equipment such as wireless handheld terminals, cash drawers, magnetic stripe readers for credit cards and gift cards, and personal check readers.
|
