Point of Sale (POS)
What is a point of sale (POS)?
A point of sale, or POS, is the place in a store, restaurant or lodging where sales transactions are completed. Most often, POS alludes to the hardware used to complete sales transactions, for example, cash drawers, cash registers and computer terminals. A self-administration supermarket look at, a distributing cart on the walkway, a tablet with a credit card reader at an open air market or a mechanical cash register at your neighborhood bar: All are points of sale.
More profound definition
POS terminals process credit card transactions, record and track customer orders, oversee store inventory, and interface with different systems in a network. POS terminals are personalized to serve specific businesses. A restaurant might have menu things stored in its database while a car parts store would have a database full of vehicle parts.
A handheld POS terminal is a mobile form of a larger terminal. Habitually utilized by small business owners, for example, hairdressers and art sellers, a handheld POS has every one of the highlights of a standard terminal, however permits traders to move from one place to another. As a matter of fact, a few large retailers like Apple, Nordstrom and Home Depot have started to utilize handheld POS terminals when their foundation is crowded and lines are long.
Hacking and identity theft have turned into a major problem from point-of-sale systems. There have been a few immense, widely discussed incidents of theft, including a Home Depot breach in 2009 and the scandalous Target hack in 2013. Groups of thugs have widely targeted POS systems, and POS malware has arisen as a subcategory in the hacking dictionary. This has driven the adoption of more grounded security schedules for retail businesses and card issuers, for example, chip-and-PIN cards.
Seeking buy a POS system for your business? A HELOC is a great method for funding better technology for your firm.
Illustration of POS systems
Gustavo is hoping to open a new chain of seared chicken restaurants all through the southwestern region of the United States. As a very keen businessman, he needs simply the most recent, most cutting-edge technology in his point-of-sale systems, particularly as he manages considerable opponents. Gus has outfitted his most up to date restaurants with a tablet computer-based POS system that connection points with his inventory management backend and requires the utilization of chip cards. These are impressively safer and assist with diminishing a system's weakness to hacking.
Features
- POS systems are progressively interactive, particularly in the friendliness industry, and permit customers to place orders and reservations and pay bills electronically.
- A POS transaction might happen in person or online, with receipts created either in print or electronically. Cloud-based POS systems are turning out to be progressively famous among shippers.
- A point of sale (POS) is a place where a customer executes the payment for goods or services and where sales taxes might become payable.
