Point of Sale or POS technology is a set of devices and computer-based programs. The list of POS equipment may include following items:
- Card readers and pinpads
- Check scanners
- Signature capturers
- Electronic cash drawers
- Barcode scanners
- Label printers
- Receipt printers
- Data collectors and other mobile scanning devices
- Customer displays
- Digital signage
- Touch screens
- Specialized POS computers
A separate part of retail technology is security:
- Video surveilance
- Electronic item surveilance
There's often a confusion regarding the POS terminology. Many retailers and banks refer to the credit or debit card processing terminal as a Point of Sale terminal or just a Point of Sale. That leads to misuderstanding about what the POS technology is really about.
The POS and inventory management (control) technology is a set of hardware and software designed to process the customer checkout more efficiently and have beeter control over the in-store inventory. The core of a POS and Invneotyr Management system is some sort of a database software, such as Microsoft Dynamics RMS, which allows to keep track of inventory, customer, sale transactions etc. and report information in a business format suitable for analysis.
The peripheral POS devices such as card terminals, receipt printers, barcode scanners, mobile computers and even the POS computers themsleves etc. are just tools to enable the core business software to operate more efficiently.
Remeber that when buying a POS technology, you're buying software first (that is - the "brain" of the retail techynology system) and that everything else matters less that this.That is why we're talking about a "POS system" rather than a "POS computer" - the computer without it's sfotware "brains" is just a pieac of metal and plastic. Only POS software and not the computer hardware has the ability to enhance yuour business operations, and that is only when it is used properly.