Point of Sale (POS) System – Features, Benefits & mPOS
An efficient Point Of Sale (POS) system ensures all your business operations are carried out effectively and in unison with different functions and departments. A POS system can help companies manage administrative tasks, including having adequate stock to meet consumer demands and creating monthly sales statistics.
Simply put, a POS brings together customer management, inventory management, sales, purchases, transactions, etc. It is the point of completion of the retail transaction.
This blog helps you understand the POS system in detail. Read on!
What is a POS?
POS or Point of Sale refers to the time and place where transactions in a retail store are completed. Furthermore, it is also referred to as the Point of Purchase. You can think of the Point of Sale (POS) as the check-out counter at a retail store, where customers make payments and complete the transactions.
How Do POS Systems Work?
A Point of Sale system is a combination of hardware and software that helps your retail business make sales in person and accept customer payments. Furthermore, a POS system also routes payments to your bank account after the completion of each sale.
It helps your retail business track sales performance, manage inventory, collect customer payments and information and more. Nowadays, most POS systems are software-based, contributing to maximum efficiency and convenience while managing different aspects of a sales journey.
Let’s find out how Point of Sale systems works with the following steps:
- Once the customer has chosen which products they want to buy, the barcode scanner can be used to add those products to their shopping cart
- Once all products have been added to the cart, the total cost is calculated and the POS system updates the inventory to reflect the products sold. Furthermore, promos and discounts are applied at this stage
- The customer makes the payment
- Once the Point of Sale transaction is completed, the receipt of the transaction is generated
A POS system’s most fundamental functions include:
- Adding up the products a customer wishes to purchase
- Processing the payment
- Updating your business’s inventory levels to reflect the sale
Also Read: What is Mobile Banking and What are the Types of Services Offered?
Common Features of POS
Listed below are the must-have features of a Point of Sale system:
Integrated Payment Processing
It is one of the core functions of a POS system since a transaction is considered complete only when payments are made. A POS system might enable you to accept multiple forms of payments, including cash, debit or credit cards, secure online payments and more. Furthermore, it should allow you to accept in-store and POS online payments.
Multichannel Inventory Management
Effective inventory management is crucial for every business, particularly those that run more than one store. Most Point Of Sale systems come with an inventory management feature. However, most don’t help business owners control their inventory across numerous channels, including multiple stores, online stores and warehouses.To handle all of your inventory from a single location, use a POS system that centralises it into one system. Furthermore, you can place orders for the right amount of inventory to meet demand without overbuying, running out of stock or using too much capital. Additionally, you won’t have to physically count and reconcile inventory daily to ensure the available list accurately reflects the amount of stock you have.
Centralised Reporting and Analytics
Choose a POS system that combines your online and in-store data into a single place. You will learn how each channel interacts, how customers utilise both, and how your business drives local online sales.
Multi-store Management
You should choose a Point Of Sale system that enables you to manage multiple stores from one place as you scale your business operations. Furthermore, it should allow you to track sales across all stores, drive revenue and profits, handle staff and customer data and more.
Customer Relationship Management
Ensure your POS system enables you to build customer profiles that consolidate customers’ contact information and their history of purchases, including online and in-store purchases. It will support your email marketing efforts and loyalty programmes, both of which assist in boosting customer lifetime value, repeat purchases and retention.
POS Reports
Choose a POS system that generates POS reports. These give you a quick look into how many products you sell and how much revenue you earn. With detailed information, you can deal more and make better business decisions.
Benefits of POS Systems
Listed below are the primary benefits of Point of Sale systems:
- It helps you centralise your inventory management
- It also helps your business collect and visualise sales data
- It enables you to develop in-depth customer profiles
- You can accept payments from anywhere
- A POS system improves in-store sales
- It also helps you adapt to changing customer and market trends
- It automates the transaction process
What is a Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS)?
A mobile POS system enables your customers to skip the tiring process of waiting in a queue to complete the payment process. Mobile POS systems allow the store staff, who frequently serve many customers at once, to save the customer’s cart and recover it later. It saves time at the checkout by preventing them from having to enter items again into the consumers’ shopping carts when they transition from one customer to the next.
Customers often avoid standing in a long queue to check out; thus, bringing your check out to them is one way to help them deal with long queues at the checkout. With a mobile POS system, store employees may check inventory and handle sales, exchanges, and returns while staying by the customer’s side.
Modern consumers anticipate hassle-free customer service like these. Since there is less friction during the purchasing process, shopping is more straightforward, and customers are more satisfied overall.
What is a POS Payment or POS Transaction?
Any transaction that takes place within a business qualifies as a POS transaction. A point-of-sale transaction happens when money is exchanged for your product or service, whether you’ve sold food, a retail product, or a service. When a customer and a merchant exchange goods or services to complete a POS transaction, also known as a Point of Sale payment, that is when the ‘point of sale’ payment occurs.
The distinction between POS and POP depends on the context in which they are employed because the Point of Purchase (POP) is defined as the actual transaction’s physical location. A form of payment is usually required to complete the purchase, including credit cards, cash, debit cards, EMV and contactless payments.
Advantages of a Cloud or mPOS System
Here are the primary benefits of a cloud or mPOS system:
- Access data from anywhere
- Cost-effective with a monthly subscription fee and no contractual obligations
- Easy to use with a short learning curve due to the familiarity with mobile devices
- With regular updates, you always have the program’s latest and most secure versions
- Most providers also offer 24/7 customer support
- Enables to accept orders and payments from anywhere and at any time
Disadvantages of a Cloud or mPOS System
The primary drawback of the mobile POS system is that it is wireless. Thus, it would be best if you had a fast and good wi-fi connection for it to work effectively.
A strong wi-fi network also helps in effortlessly syncing data in real-time on a cloud POS system. Other drawbacks of an mPOS system include high cost, the constant need for technical support, and greater vulnerability to cyber security issues.
Generally, cloud-based software is internet-dependent, non-customisable and has limited customer support.
Software and Hardware Components of a POS System
Hardware Components
The hardware components of a point-of-sale system include the following:
- Interface
- POS terminal
- Cash drawer
- Receipt printer
- Label printer
- Barcode scanner
- PoS machine – Credit and debit card reader
- Network devices
- Shipping scale
Software Components
The software components of Point of Sale systems include the following:
- On-premise software
- Cloud software
Also Read: What Is Retail Banking and How Does it Work?
Traditional POS vs Web-based POS
Traditional point-of-sale systems are mainly independent. Software is occasionally a part of the product; other times, it is requested explicitly. It often requires licence fees, installation on the system, and monthly updates.
A traditional point-of-sale system’s main drawback is that you cannot connect it with other software very well. A web-based POS can be beneficial in this circumstance. The evolution of the POS follows technological advancement. All the elements of a conventional POS system are present in a web-based POS connected to the internet.
One exception to using web-based POS is that you can use it to sync accounts and inventory between online and physical stores. You don’t always need POS hardware to run web-based POS.The web-based POS is portable and comes in a small package. It has created a chance to combine POS with mobile POS devices, transforming web-based POS systems into mobile POS or EPOS.
Things to Know About POS Evolution
Since its beginnings as a primary cash register, the Point of Sale (POS) system has evolved with features like inventory, transactions, sales, customer connections, bookkeeping and more. It is now a full-fledged retail management software that allows retailers to automate and oversee these operations from a single platform.
POS developed into a more complex, digitised system as technology advanced. The system was automated and moved to the cloud. Many businesses are utilising complex POS systems, while many still choose simple ones.
Final Word
A customer pays money for goods or services at a Point of Sale. A retailer’s technology to handle transactions and take payments is referred to as a point-of-sale system. Cash, debit or credit cards, gift cards, and mobile wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay are all acceptable forms of payment for this transaction. The word formerly referred to a store’s cash register before POS systems could be deployed on portable devices like tablets and smartphones.
FAQs on Point of Sale System
Ans: A POS system’s must-have features include a user-friendly interface, a seamless checkout process, customization, customer data management, mobile accessibility, inventory management, a card scanner and processor and more.
Ans: There are several types of POS systems. These include iPad POS, mobile POS, Android, web-based POS, traditional touchscreen, and self-service kiosks. Mobile and iPad POS have become quite popular in recent years among the hundreds of different POS systems on the market.
Ans: Among various others, the primary benefits of a mobile POS system include enhanced business mobility, higher efficiency, improved customer experience, convenient transactions and more.
Ans: Your business’s ability to accept payments from clients in exchange for goods and keep track of each sale you make is made possible by a POS system. Whether you sell from a physical store, online, or both, a POS can be set up to help you.
Ans: The standard retail point-of-sale system consists of both hardware and software. You can install POS software on a portable POS device, such as a smartphone or tablet. The device on which you install POS software becomes the POS system. A cash register, receipt printer, barcode scanner, and card reader are among the hardware components in most POS systems.
Disclaimer
This article is solely for educational purposes. Navi doesn't take any responsibility for the information or claims made in the blog.
