Point of Sale (POS) System
Running a retail store requires a range of managerial, leadership, and marketing skills. From ensuring you have sufficient inventory to producing monthly sales reports, these skills are essential to keeping your store running smoothly. A point of sale (POS) is a place that allows you to sell, accept payments, and process customers.
The term “POS System” is used to record your payments on registers. But today, most POS systems are software-based and can be used on any tablet or phone. It allows you to serve customers and receive payments anytime, anywhere, without books. Having a good point of sale system in a business can go a long way in making your entire business work together, and reputable retailers need that. Invest time and resources in it and it will pay off.
What is POS?
Point of Sale (POS) or Point of Purchase(POP) is the time and place where sales are made or sold. During the purchase, the Company calculates the customer’s money, distributes this money, the customer prepares a document (perhaps an account), and provides payment options to the customer.
What is POS System?
A POS system allows your business to accept payments from customers and track sales. It sounds simple enough, but the setup works differently depending on whether you’re selling online, in a physical store, or both.
Difference Between POS and POS System
The place or point of a retailer’s shop where a customer can go and pay for the goods he bought from the shop is POS. Whereas the system which is the mixture of hardware and software (maybe a computer, or tablet ) that allows a customer to check all his goods and make a payment for his buying and allows the customer for feedback on the shop is called the POS System.
To understand better, think of the shop’s counter as the POS, and the merchant on the shop’s counter that is available to serve customers as a POS System but in a digital form.
Why is POS helpful?
POS is helpful in many ways:
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- Using a POS system can have a positive impact on your business.
- It helps you think, analyze and plan better.
- This allows you to increase the efficiency of your business.
- This enables you to build a strong personal relationship with the customer.
The evolution of POS
Once, POS was typically reserved places with cash registers where customers could exchange cash for goods and services. As technology changed, so did POS systems, introducing barcodes in the 1970s, graphical interfaces in the 1980s, and online ordering in the 1990s in point of sale system. The 21st century has changed dramatically. Mobile technology has liberated the traditional register-to-register system and transformed entire stores into point of sale via tablets and other devices. A recent survey by 4 Dimensional Retail found that 60 percent of consumers surveyed want mobile payment options in-store.
How POS works?
- A customer chooses to purchase your product.
- POS system calculates the total cost.
- Your customers pay.
- The point-of-sale system closed.
Cloud-Based POS Systems
Due to the advancement of cloud technology, Point of sale systems are emerging as cloud-based POS Systems. These devices can be accessed directly from the website and the user interface is available for remote control in a short time. The design of Cloud POS systems is to be compatible with a wide variety of POS hardware. Cloud POS also helps to extend the Point of sale system from PCs to mobile devices and tablets. For example, a cloud-based POS system that runs on iOS devices can also be use in an iPad-based POS system.
