POS Services
One of the most basic needs of any business is the ability to accurately track sales and other vital transactions.
While many small or new businesses typically keep track of sales manually with a written ledger or utilize spreadsheet software like Excel, POS (Point Of Sale) systems provide automatic record keeping solutions along with many other advantages that can help small businesses succeed in a competitive economy.
A POS system typically consists of software installed on a cash register terminal that communicates with another standard computer that stores transaction data and other vital information that is vital to maintaining a business’s bottom line.
The POS market is very strong and increasingly profitable with an estimated market value of nearly $15 trillion, up from less than $10 trillion only two years ago. Furthermore, the market is projected to grow another $5 trillion by the year 2020. The largest demographic of the POS market has consistently been the retail industry, with food service also having a sizeable presence.
Advantages of POS System
A POS system allows a business to effectively track sales, analyze profits/expenses in detail, maintain inventory, analyze sale trends, as well as allow you to manage employees and other store operations.
A POS system allows a business to effectively track sales, analyze profits/expenses in detail, maintain inventory, analyze sale trends
In essence, the point of sale software combines managerial duties, bookkeeping, and transaction management into a small automated system that costs far less to utilize as opposed to hiring employees to handle these duties.
POS Software
In addition to the hardware, the system operates on, POS units include proprietary software that collects and analyzes detailed information about purchases and other transactions. This data typically:
Item Information
Costs/Expenses
Stock/Inventory
Purchase/Transaction Records
Tax/Discount Calculation
POS management software can assist a store manager by constantly collecting analytic data to produce detailed spreadsheet reports, eliminating the need for manually inputting formulas and data into a spreadsheet program. This helps business owners and managers to determine the best way to maximize sales, determine what inventory restocked, easily and accurately do taxes, and other vital operations.
POS management software can assist a store manager by constantly collecting analytic data to produce detailed spreadsheet reports
Some POS systems even save information that shoppers submit (such as email addresses), or that it gains from credit card users. This information can then be used to send customers special deals, or alert them of upcoming events or sales.
There are several different kinds of POS software that determine how and where the databases can be accessed by a user. An older POS system typically keeps all data on a server in your store, which means the user needs to export it manually from the source.
A significant advantage to this is that a business will not have to worry about internet outages freezing their business and adversely affecting their profits for that day. The newer and more popular alternative is a web-based POS. Though they are more expensive and have a degree of complexity to them (some believe that it is not as secure as traditional POS methods), they provide huge advantages in contrast to these issues.
Web-based POS systems often feature very focused and on-demand customer support than traditional POS software, with more frequent updates and an easier method of delivering them.
There is also the huge benefit of being able to access business analytics and statistics from the POS software remotely without having to manually export files from a store terminal. Also, because the files are hosted online remotely, any damage or interruptions to the server or other hardware will not destroy or corrupt data.
These systems also allow the use of POS on mobile devices as well, which allows employees to engage customers directly and eliminating the need to bring them to a register to complete a sale.
