In retail establishments, hotel and smaller commercial establishments the ability to manage sales and accurately invoice customers is essential. One of the most critical processes in the sale transaction is the point of sale. The point of sale (POS) is described as the process in the sale transaction where the customer’s items are calculated and payment is rendered. The transactions may occur at a checkout location either at a physical location or online through a merchant’s website. Depending on the nature of the business, the equipment needed at the POS is different. For grocery stores, the point of sale may include checkout lanes with conveyor belt counters and scales. The majority checkout lanes consists of computerized cash registers and debit/credit card machines. Each computerized register is connected to the retail POS software.
The point of sale software is tailored for each business. For large chain stores, the software may be more complex than that of a smaller boutique. In general, retail POS software is designed to calculate the price of the item scanned, total the sales tax and remove items sold from the store inventory. POS software provides a receipt to the customer and calculates change if required during the transaction. Retail stores that carry a large inventory of products usually benefit from use of point of sale inventory management software. Inventory management software can help business owners track shrink in their inventory. Inventory shrinkage is defined as the unaccounted for loss of product from the time it is received from the manufacturer to the time it is sold to a consumer. Each product lost through theft or point of sale errors during checkout, cost retailers money.
While lost prevention procedures and security can help deter theft, a well designed retail POS software can also help flag any irregularities in sales and inventory. Point of sale software can also aid in the day to day management of the business. Along with tallying sales and inventory management, the software can be used to streamline the mark down process. POS software can mark down the related items in the system and accurately track the items as they are sold. Smaller businesses can also benefit from retail point of sale software with inventory management capabilities and data storage for product sale analysis.
