The point of service is the time and place where a retail transaction is completed. Point of sale or point of service systems (POS) are useful services in the retail industry. They allow a merchant to easily calculate and display the amount owed by a customer, make exchanges, process orders, and provide receipts for transactions without any need for a price tag. POS systems' functionality differs for different business depending on a business models and processes. Modern POS systems are reliable, easy to use, low cost, and run many different functions with a high and consistent operating speed. They can aid in the growth of a business by acting as a strategic service center.
Most POS systems involve highly complex programming to create because of the extensiveness of the operations involved. A POS machine may need to process a products price, balance, average cost, quantity sold, description, and department. While one of the main components of a POS system involves taking inventory, it could also be used to add stock, create barcodes, hold membership records, track a customer's purchase history, and run reports. These systems have to account for sales and the constantly changing prices of products. Overall, each POS system holds a wide range of capabilities, but requires a certain amount of customization based on what an end-user needs.
A POS system requires a high level of accuracy in its code because of the high demands of the performance of the system. It is constantly receiving submissions and retrievals of data to process transactions, and most transactions are monetary. An inventory list is maintained on the system's hard drive. In order for a POS system to be a successful product, much testing and debugging is required before the product goes on the market so the system can be as efficient as possible.
In recent times, cloud computing has allowed POS systems to be accessed directly from an internet browser instead of installed locally. This allows user data to be stored remotely instead of on a local server so data can be accessed from anywhere, and the system can be continually remotely updated. However, POS systems that use the cloud cannot function without the vendor, forcing a company to be less self-sufficient and secure.
References:
Content:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_sale
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/77960
http://www.mobiletransaction.org/how-pos-system-work/
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/pos-systems-work-41627.html
Images:
http://www.fourlane.com/product_images/uploaded_images/qbpos-sys-land.jpg
http://mms.businesswire.com/media/20130620005353/en/373576/5/Heckler-with-SK-screen-1.jpg
This is a very interesting way for companies to keep track of their transactions. I wonder if similar technology, or even the same devices, are used to track customer information as well.
ReplyDeleteI have never given much thought to how much computer system calculations are involved with cash registers and similar systems because of how common they are, so this was a very useful and insightful post. The consistency and concentration of use of this technology makes its programming and accuracy so important.
ReplyDeleteI found this article interesting as I worked heavily with a point of sale system at my summer job. While working the job I had never considered how much was going on within the computer to simply make charges on the computer.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting article that brings technology in depth of how are we actually benefiting from it everyday with our daily transactions.Thank you for such a great article !
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