Want to know what POS Systems can do for your business?
POS means Point of Sale.
This can be defined as the commodities offered for sale, displays and business transactions.
In this article, we’re talking about the hardware and software that runs your business from the front counter to your back office.
In a small card shop, a basic POS system would consist only of a computer, cash drawer, barcode scanner, receipt printer and the appropriate POS software. A service organization, like a lawn care company, doesn’t need a cash drawer or a receipt printer.
But they they may want to use a laser printer for their service invoices.
Again, you can easily customize a POS system for your particular business.
Remember that the central nerve of your retail POS system is the computer running the POS software.
We do understand the deep temptation of using older computers or even the cheap computer models that can be bought at “superstores”.
But keep in mind, once up and running, your business will be depending on this equipment, so a good quality computer is a must.
If you seek to have high quality use a custom built POS system, branded parts will work reliably for years.
The same advice goes for all the other components.
You may be able to get the job done using the basic cash drawer, but the heavy duty models are built much better and can last longer.
CCD barcode scanners are more reliable than the old pencil type wands, but they’re still designed to work with flat, easy to read barcodes.
About laser scanners, they not only have a greater range, but the laser can wrap around bottles, bags or follow irregular shapes which is way better than the CCD models.
Printer technology is also improving. The workhorse of the industry used to be dot-matrix printers, and they’re still fairly popular, but thermal technology is faster, quieter and reasonably priced.
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS’s), or battery back-ups, are light on the budget and can keep your business up and running during short outages and power glitches. Remember, your business will be depending on this equipment. If you’re going to be using it a lot, do not hesitate to use the extra bucks to get the heavy duty models and UPS units.
Keep in mind that your retail POS system doesn’t only provide you over all control of your business, it also puts a wealth of information at the tip of your fingers.
Imagine being able to compare months and even years to date of sales with just a few keys. You’ll begin to reliaze that a database of your customers’ data can be a powerful tool to boost your sales.
A POS system can also track your inventory, automatically creating order lists as needed, even adjusting quantities for seasonal demand.
Al in all, a POS system helps you keep a constant eye on your bottom line.
If you want to know more on how to choose the right retail point of sale system provider visit Retail-POS-Solutions and you will receive information on a system designed for your specific business and retail business needs.
The author of this article is a retail POS sytem professional who has been counseling businesses of all sizes from single locations to national chains for over 20 years.