POS System – Main Questions and Answers

Anyone who doesn’t already use a POS system could have many questions, including:

• What is the POS system? 
• How can the POS system help my sales business?
• What main components does the POS system include?
• What requirements does the POS system have to meet?
• What major software solutions does the modern POS system provide? 
• What benefits does the advanced POS system provide?

What is the POS system?

The POS system is the abbreviation for the point-of-sale system that includes hardware and software components enabling sellers to take transactions and simplify their day-to-day business operations.

• Hardware: 
  • Register touch-screens display the product database and enable easier order entry; 
  • Barcode scanners allow automating the checkout process;
  • Credit card readers allow collecting payments via credit cards; 
  • Electronic cash drawers allow collecting payments via cash and store cash for transactions; 
  • Receipts and invoice printers provide customers with a fast snapshot of their purchases. 
• Software: 
  • On-premise: traditional software installed on the computer or server;
  • Cloud-based: access to the POS system and its support realized via the Internet.

Requirements for the modern POS system:

• High operating speed 
• Reliability and ease of use 
• Simple customization and remote supportability
• Rich functionality and low cost

Software solutions of the modern POS system:

• Inventory management
• Accounts monitoring
• Employees tracking 
• Auto-synchronization
• Mobile payment support
• Automatic backup
• Recording sales and reporting 
• Automatic POS system updating
• Secure remote server support
• History data

Benefits the advanced POS system provides:

• Allow receiving payments 
• Automate the transaction process 
• Coordinate data collected from daily purchases
• Automatically update the accounts receivable records
• Enable tracking sales and pricing
• Improve pricing accuracy
• Give a clear, real-time view of inventory
• Automatically update inventory information
• Help to analyze sales data: 
  • to figure out how well items are selling
  • to forecast trends of the seasonal purchasing and future demands
  • to adjust purchasing levels 
• Enable tracking of the business’s cash flow
• Allow providing strict control over cash receipts