Generally Merchants uses a POS system to complete a sale transaction. A POS system is a combination of POS hardware and POS software for process a transaction and payment.
Cash registers are not evolved as the use of a POS system and in the modern POS system you will see lack of many functions and features. Technically a cash register could be considered as a point-of-sale solution; however, by our definitions, we will focus on point-of-sale machines (also known as POS terminals) that involve in both software and hardware.
What is a POS system?
A POS system is synonymous with Terminal POS. However, a POS terminal is the electronic equipment that performs the sales transaction and processes credit card payments. In most stores, the computer terminal combined with POS software that helps to manage daily transactions and sales operations.
A point-of-sale system is the heart of a business and it is used for many essential tasks such as inventory management, Employee reports, menu customizations, price adjustments, personnel management, sales reports, customer management, marketing initiates and much more. The next time when you go to a restaurant or retail store, ask the employee what kind of system you are using and you will find that there are hundreds of different types of systems.
To delve into the meaning and definition, we will also explore the different types of POS systems that are available on the market:
Restaurant POS Systems
Why a point-of-sale system is needed for a restaurant? For aceepting the cash and credit card payments, you need a point of sale for a restaurant. To receiving payments, you must be able to track all your financial and tax data. Most point-of-sale solutions, such as the SalesVu restaurant point of sale, have built-in reporting capabilities to monitor your transactions by date, time and type.
There may be hundreds of features that can help you to optimize your operations and make your restaurant more efficient. For example, most restaurant POS systems allow you to place an order and submit the request directly to a kitchen printer that helps you to reducing errors in the kitchen and increasing the efficiency of food preparation. Another benefit would be the monitoring of the inventory and use of food. You can also follow the payroll with the built-in time clock function.
The main drawback of new or proprietary enterprise software is that there may be a slight learning curve when discovering a new technology.
Restaurant Pro Tips Summary: If you’re getting started, make sure your restaurant management system has all the features that you need to run your business at an affordable price.
POS Systems for Bars
Most point-of-sale systems used by restaurants can also be an excellent solution for bars. A fast, efficient and reliable bar and restaurant point of sale system, such as SalesVu Bar & Restaurant can make the difference between success and failure in the bar and restaurant business. Particularly for busy bars, your system needs to have speed functions and features for fast order entry and quick check.
The faster you are able to process a transaction; you will have happier customers and generate more revenue for the business. Most iPad-based systems fall short for bars due to dependency on a fast and stable Internet connection and the speed of the Internet can be unreliable or sometimes slow. iPads can be complicated and require constant updates for iOS and the application. So consider your options carefully before placing an iPad POS system in a busy bar environment.
For a nightclub or bar system should include bar tab management, customer management, employee management, inventory controls, recipe features, beverage reordering, and quick check-out. For reports, you’ll want to see your Employee costs compared to sales, product reports and all your sales and tax reports.
Bar Pro Tip Summary: If you are starting a new bar or upgrading the bar makes sure your bar and terminal software are quick and easy to use. Don’t rely on an iPad or a cloud-based system that relies on the Internet to run a busy bar or restaurant environment unless you have a failover internet connection.
Retail or retail POS systems
Retail Point of Sale (POS) systems are primarily for retail environments. So that means you will never use restaurant software for a retail store and vice versa.
Some programs or applications in the market claim to be cross-platform, but that doesn’t mean you should ever use them.
Retail companies may have some particular requirements and features that other programs will not have. They can have retail store features such as color and size plate, inventory tracking, employee fees, gift registration, customer database and purchase orders.
A retail point of sale system such as SalesVu can include a digital balance or a barcode scanner to weigh or scan items respectively.
Retail technology has been developed to get almost any report that you might want. Specifically search for reports such as detailed sales reports, customer reports, vendor reports, and inventory reports.
Retail Pro Tip Summary: If you’re getting started, make sure your retail program has all the features and reports that you need and have all the hardware that you need to manage your business properly.
Small Business POS Systems
A small business point of sale system can have many shapes, sizes and flavors. Looking for small business point-of-sale systems online and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a battle for the last product of the week because there are hundreds. Most of the new technology for small businesses is application-based and mobile platforms.
Remember that I mentioned earlier in bar systems, that it’s probably not the best idea to use a cloud-based system? In the case of small businesses, let’s cut some tablet applications. This is because most mobile small business systems are designed to be lightweight, flexible, and cost-effective.
If you are not processing a huge amount of volume and the speed is not so critical (as in a restaurant or bar), then a mobile POS could be the answer to save you some money. Many of these applications can have many functions and have everything that you need without spend thousands of dollars on a “traditional” touch-screen POS terminal.
For example, an iPad or tablet is perfect for environments such as a small retail store, a small restaurant, a boutique or a cafe.
POS Systems for Salon and Spa.
Nail salons, beauty salons and spas require a particular set of POS options due to the nature of the business. Options such as online appointment calendar, appointment reminders, customer database with details of a previous haircut or nail styles, retail functionality, inventory management, online employee scheduling and employee management are vital. So not any software system will work.
Point of sale systems of beauty salons and hairdressers can be crossed for other types of businesses such as hairdressers, gyms, beauty schools, massage salons, pet grooming, and tattoo salons. This is because these other types of businesses will especially require an appointment calendar and may need commercial functionality with inventory control, and not all software programs have those features.
Salon and Spa POS Pro Tips Summary: If you have a small salon then you may not need all the features of a more advanced salon software system. You might be able to use something simple and inexpensive like Echo for small businesses. If you have several employees and if you rent a stand, you can carefully consider a full-featured salon system, such as SalesVu Salon & Spa.
The right choice of a POS System for your business depends on what type of business have you? According to this category, you must choose either a POS Point of Sale Terminal, or a POS Point of Sale System. We suggest you that get advised by a professional before adopting this solution, because your POS will determine how will you work in the future for growing your business..
