POS (point-of-sale) system

Definition of a POS system:

A point-of-sale or POS system is a collection of different software and hardware, which, when combined, allow customers to complete their purchase.

When did POS systems originate?

The cash register was invented nearly 150 years ago. This was the first POS system. Back in 1879, James Ritty invented the first cash register and named it the “Incorruptible Cashier”. Ritty’s invention was continually developed, and in the 1980s and 1990s touch-screen POS systems started appearing in restaurants. These touch-screen systems were a total game-changer.

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What industries use POS systems?

The main industries that use POS systems are retail and hospitality. These industries include airlines, hotels, clothing stores and restaurants.

How does a POS system work?

A POS system is a collection of different software and hardware, which, when combined, allow businesses to process their customer-facing transactions. The setup depends on the payment methods that your business accepts. Every company will use their POS system in their own way, based on their business needs. The secret to finding the perfect POS system for your business is to research and choose the POS system that best suits your needs.

What are the benefits of having a POS system?

Higher efficiency

With a POS system, your business can keep track of the products leaving your store/restaurant and their delivery. All transactional data is recorded, and you can always keep track of what items are in stock and which items you need to re-order.

Easily manage your employees

POS systems come equipped with time clock functionality. Your employees can then easily clock in and out using the POS system. This gives you transparency on your employees’ working times. It can also be used to manage employee theft and help with your schedule planning.

Minimizing errors

With a POS system, you can easily change product prices, eliminating the need to manually enter prices. This helps to minimize human error. The POS system also provides you with all real-time inventory data.

What are the challenges with a POS system?

While POS systems offer plenty of benefits, even the best system on the market can have IT issues. For the most common issues, you can train your staff to solve these themselves.

Software issues

To avoid software issues, you need to search for a POS system that fits your business’ needs. Not all systems are suited to all business types. An out-of-the-box solution might be cheaper and work for one company, but it might not fit your business needs and end up costing more than you bargained.

Security concerns

Security is one of the biggest concerns with any electronic system. Hackers are especially interested in POS systems, because these systems store sensitive information like credit card data. So, it is essential to your business’ success to choose a POS system provider cautiously, meaning the cheapest solution might not always be the most secure.

Charging

There’s nothing worse than trying to take an order with a mobile POS system and discovering that it’s dead, because no one put it on the charger the night before. The first step to ensuring this doesn’t occur is to train your employees to charge the mobile POS system. But of course, employees are only human and might forget, that’s when having a spare battery for your mobile POS comes in handy.

WiFi connection

Your WiFi connection is the key to your POS system’s success. Without it, your business will not be able to use its POS system. So, make sure to pick a trusted WiFi network for your company.

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