What is a Point-of-sales System?

Point-of-sales System: The Basics and Its Importance in Business

Point-of-sales System (POS) is the place where the transactions for products and services offered by your company are carried out. Likewise, this system acts as a core part of your business and can carry out a multitude of important tasks such as inventory management, sales management, employee management, and pricing and service customization. Furthermore, POS systems consist of POS hardware and software systems.

 

Components of a Point-of-sales System

A complete POS system consists of hardware and software components. The POS software runs inside the POS hardware, and you can buy the entire system together or separately.

Hardware Components

• Computer Screen
  There must be a computer screen that you will use to view and update databases and reports. The screen can be a monitor or a tablet device.
• Barcode Readers
  Most of the items in a retail store have a barcode embedded on them which contains pricing information. A barcode reader can automatically interpret and enter the price in the checkout total.
• Card Readers
  The use of credit/debit cards has become increasingly popular because it is fast and safe. Thus, there must a credit card processing hardware at every terminal. Most importantly, your card readers must be in compliance with security and fraud protection laws.
• Printer
  The printer prints the receipt for all the transactions that take place in the POS system.

Software Components

The software components are the brains of the POS system. There are several options to choose from, but all of them offer basic functionalities required for business transactions. You can choose between a terminal POS or a cloud-hosted POS.

• Terminal POS
  A terminal POS requires the software to be installed in specially designed hardware. Likewise, you must buy, maintain, and upgrade your software license periodically.
• Cloud-hosted POS
  A cloud-hosted POS can be accessed from any device through the Internet. Likewise, you must only pay for the cloud-based services periodically without having to worry about buying and installing software. Furthermore, if you are a newly found business or a startup, this is the more suitable option because of its high flexibility and low maintenance costs.

 

Benefits of a Point-of-sales System

Quick Checkouts

With a POS system, your cashier can carry out the entire checkout process very quickly. With a barcode scanner automatically entering the price and the software calculating the total amount in an instant, you can sell more in less time.

Increased Accuracy

Since there is no human intervention in price checking and calculation, there is very little chance of errors. Furthermore, no time is wasted on rechecks and validation.

Supports Different Payment Methods

Since cash is unsafe and difficult to carry, many people are moving into cashless payment methods. Likewise, credit/debit cards and digital payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay are the preferred options for young buyers. A POS system allows you to accept various methods of payments with the help of card processing hardware or payment gateway software. Thus, a wide range of payment methods means you can gain a wide variety of customers and hence increase your revenue.

Management of Sales, Customers, Inventory, and Employees

A POS system acts as a management system for all the essential components of a business transaction. You can store and maintain customer, inventory, sales, and employee information in a single system. Such information is useful to understand the performance of your business, the contribution of each employee, the status of your sales, and your entire inventory.

 

How Can We Help?

From this blog, we have learned what a point-of-sale system is, what are its major components, and how it helps manage your business operations.

3E Accounting is a highly-reputed Singapore digital advisory company with decades of experience. Our digital advisory specialists have unmatched expertise in this field and hence can suggest the best POS options according to your business needs. Furthermore, our services are extremely affordable, which means you don’t need to splash the cash heavily.

Check out all the details of our top-notch digital advisory services or contact us for more information.