POS Systems: Revolutionising the New Age Retail Business World

In today’s competitive retail landscape, business owners require more than just a simple payment processing tool like a cash register. They require a comprehensive solution that is capable of micro-managing the retail operations such as managing inventory, building and maintaining customer relationships, managing employees, analysing and generating sales reports, and more. Thanks to the constant technological advancements that the cash registers from yesteryear have evolved into an all-inclusive solution we now know as the ‘point of sale (POS) system’.

As the name implies, a point of sale is the place in a store where a customer pays for the product/service and gets a receipt from the merchant/store executive with all the purchase-related information like date and time of purchase, product name and SKU number, price, tax amount, etc. This receipt acts not just as a transaction proof but is also a marketing tool for business owners. These slips also come in handy if the customer wishes to return/exchange any purchased item. For example, the checkout counters at retail stores. The entire purchasing and selling process is facilitated and monitored with the help of a combination of hardware components and a software (operating system), called the point of sale (POS) system. Modern-day point of sale (POS) systems offer better inventory management, easy invoicing and payments, better customer orders and management, enhanced customer relationships, and more.

POS Systems

The point of sale (POS) software is the operating system that manages the store operations, for example, Vend, Lightspeed Retail, TouchBistro, Shopify, Square, etc. The point of sale (POS) hardware components are the physical tools such as POS terminals, barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, and payment processors. Scale, customer-facing displays, self-service Kiosks, or label printers for small businesses are some of the other hardware components that are used.

In this article, we have discussed the different components and advantages of owning a point of sale (POS) system.

Advantages of a point of Sale (POS) System

The point of sale (POS) system is the heart of any business. Owning the right and premium quality solution is your business’s first step to success.

  1. Saves Time: With the help of the hardware components, the checkout process gets expedited which is convenient for both the customer and the employee. All the employee needs to do is use a barcode scanner to read the barcode and all the product-related information gets displayed on the POS monitor via the POS software. Once the amount owed by the customer gets displayed on the customer-facing display, the customer makes the payment for the product and the employee issues a receipt of payment using the receipt printer. Since all these hardware components and software are integrated, the wait time gets minimised. Also, you can help customers search for products using the software instead of rummaging through the entire inventory.
  • Enhances Customer Experience: Your employees can locate products the customer requires in just a few seconds, thereby providing customers with a convenient shopping option. There are retail stores that provide self-service kiosks for the customers to search for the items they are looking for. Also, the point of sale (POS) system stores customers’ purchase history, referring to which businesses provide personalised coupons and rewards to the customers. That said, the security of customer data is of utmost importance. The cloud point of sale (POS) system stores customer data securely and remotely, eliminating the risk of data loss.
  • Facilitates Inventory Tracking and Management: Integrated point of sale (POS) systems allow retailers to track their inventory across multiple stores at multiple locations. They can track the stock availability in each store and can re-stock the items that are running out of stock.
  • Provides Precise Sales Reports: The biggest advantage of a point of sale (POS) system is that you can generate comprehensive sales reports that will help you determine the total number of products sold, bestselling products, profit margins, etc. Also, the chances of human errors get minimised, ensuring accurate report generation.
  • Expedites Product Return Process: Another benefit of point of sale (POS) systems for retail business is that it expedites the product return process. This is more beneficial if you have an online store. The customers can return any purchased product in just a few clicks.

Types of Point of Sale (POS) System

  1. Desktop POS System: This type of point of sale (POS) system works on laptop or desktop computers on an on-premise system. It is linked to the cash drawer, barcode scanner, and payment processor, and hence, works like a traditional cash register. This type of point of sale (POS) system is perfect for high-volume businesses like grocery stores, book stores, restaurants, etc.
  • Mobile POS System: As the name implies, this point of sale (POS) system is portable, compact and extremely convenient. These devices come with an attached card reader and do not require many accessories to function. Mobile point of sale (POS) systems do not take up much space and are perfect for small-scale businesses like street vendors, contractors, etc.
  • Tablet POS System: These point of sale (POS) systems function like mobile point of sale (POS) systems. These are connected to the receipt printers and payment processors. The only difference between the mobile point of sale (POS) system and the tablet point of sale (POS) system is that the tablet point of sale (POS) systems have larger screens and the images are sharp with distinct colours. Tablet point of sale (POS) systems are a good option for businesses with a large inventory and ease the ordering and purchasing process.
  • Self-service Kiosk POS System: These point of sale (POS) solutions appear like a desktop point of sale (POS) systems but are equipped with extra security so that all transactions are one-ended, eliminating risks. Customers can shop products by themselves without assistance from employees with self-service kiosks, making business operations efficient while saving money and manpower.

Components of Point of Sale (POS) System

As mentioned, the point of sale (POS) system uses hardware and software components to function.

Hardware Components:

  1. Monitor: Typically, it is the most important part of a point of sale
    (POS) system as it displays the product-related information on the screen for the cashier to collect the payment from the customer and process the transaction. The latest monitors are touchscreens and do not require a mouse or keyboard to function and hence, consume less space.
  • Barcode Scanner: These devices are also quite essential and they ensure the efficiency of the point of sale (POS) system. These devices minimise the scope of human error since the cashier will not require filling in the information manually. All the cashier needs to do is point the scanner towards the barcode label and the device automatically reads the barcode, decodes the information, and displays it on the monitor connected with the scanner. Barcode scanning is more accurate and fast. Most retail businesses these days opt for handheld cordless scanners as they are accurate and easy to use
  • Payment Processor: These devices are extremely essential these days to allow customers to choose their payment mode. Nowadays, customers prefer paying using debit/credit cards and to process them, you would require a premium quality payment processor that facilitates cashless transactions.
  • Cash Drawer: Even though most businesses have switched to cashless transactions, cash payments are still very much in-demand. To store the cash and other important bills and slips securely, a cash drawer is used. The cash drawers usually have compartments to arrange currency denominations and other receipts systematically. This makes the cashier’s job easier and less time-consuming. Usually, the cash drawers are connected with the monitor and it opens and closes on receiving a command via the point of sale (POS) software.
  • Receipt Printer: Another essential hardware component of a point of sale (POS) system is the receipt printer. These devices are used to print invoices that contain all the purchase-related information that maintains transparency with the customers; and also act as proof of transaction. While purchasing a receipt printer, make sure that you have all the right receipt printer accessories handy so that it makes the printing process easy. There are two prominent types of receipt printer- thermal receipt printer and dot matrix/impact receipt printer, of which, thermal receipt printers are more popular.

Point of Sale Software

The point of sale (POS) software is the operating system that is used to manage retail business operations. The operating system is used to find products, manage customer orders, complete transactions, generate sales reports, manage inventory, etc. Some of the popular point of sale (POS) software are Vend, Shopify, Revel, TouchBistro, Square, etc.

Conclusion

To connect and engage with customers in the modern world requires out-of-the-box thinking around establishing and maintaining customer-relationship based on trust. To do so, retailers must recognise their best customers and create tactics to entice them and build a strong customer-bond. But, to serve the customers better and architect personalised offers for them, you need to have the purchase history, which modern-day point of sale (POS) systems are capable of doing.

If you are a new retail business owner, looking for a point of sale (POS) systems in Australia, then you are in the right place. POS Plaza is the one-stop destination for all point of sale (POS) needs. Our selection of high-end brands with personalised assistance from our professionals will definitely provide you with a comfortable shopping experience.

Location: Australia

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