Point of Sale Systems (POS)

POS or PoS is an abbreviation for point of sale (or point-of-sale, or point of service). This can mean a retail shop, a checkout counter in a shop, or a variable location where a transaction occurs in this type of environment. more...

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Additionally, point of sale sometimes refers to the electronic cash register system being used in an establishment. Point of sale systems are used in restaurants, hotels, stadiums, casinos, as well as retail environments — in short, if something can be sold, it can be sold where a point of sale system is in use.

Traditional stores

A check-out counter, checkstand, or checkout is the aisle where people place items they have chosen to purchase from a store, such as a supermarket or department store. This is typically a long counter, which usually contains a moving belt or sometimes a rotating carousel, and a photocell to stop it when items reach the end. The cashier rings up each item on the cash register and obtains the total. The items are placed in bags and the customer can take them after paying.

Point-of-sale technology

The term is often used in connection with hardware and software for checkouts, and in the case of variable locations, with wireless systems.

POS systems evolved from the mechanical cash registers of the first half of the 20th century. Examples of this type of register were the NCR registers, operated by a crank, and the lever-operated Burroughs registers. These registers recorded data on journal tapes or paper tape and required an extra step to transcribe the information into the retailer's accounting system. The next step in evolution was to move to operation by electricity. An example of this type of register was the NCR Class 5 cash register. In 1973 new registers that were driven by computers were introduced, such as the IBM 3653 Store System and the NCR 2150. Other computer-based manufacturers were Regitel, TRW, and Datachecker. 1973 also brought about the introduction of the UPC/EAN barcode readers on the POS systems. In 1986, the POS systems became based on PC technology with the introduction of the IBM 4683.

During the late 1980s and throughout the 90s stand-alone credit card devices were developed so credit card processing could be more easily and securely added. Some popular models include the VeriFone Tranz 330, Hypercom T7 Plus, or Lipman Nurit 2085. These relatively simple devices have evolved in recent years to allow multiple applications (credit card, gift card, age verification, employee time clock) to reside on one device. Some wireless POS systems for restaurants not only allow for mobile payment processing, they also allow servers to process the entire food order right at tableside.

As of 2005, retail POS systems were among the most sophisticated and powerful computer networks in commercial use. In fact, most retail POS systems do much more than just "point of sale" tasks. Even for the smaller tier 4 & 5 retailers, there are many POS systems available that include fully integrated accounting, inventory management, open to buy forecasting, customer relation management (CRM), service management, rental, and payroll modules.

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